Chapter 1: The Night They Tried to Break Her

"Hey… isn’t that Elena Monroe?" The highest scorer on the entrance tests for California State University-Northridge?

A voice wriggled through the crowd, mocking, cutting, and spiteful.

"Who would have imagined she was so uninhibited when no one was watching?"

Gasping reverberated through the opulent banquet room like talons ripping through cloth.

"I heard she managed to get into Drake's bed by using deceitful methods." "Perhaps it is indeed true?"

"Given her history?" "What other ways might she be able to enter California State University?"

Elena lingered, rooted at the grand threshold of the hall. The space seemed to constrict as her eyes settled on the luminous display, pulsing at the core of the hall.

Indecent images of her appeared on the screen, one after another. Photos she had no recollection of being captured.

Laughter and hushed voices drifted like distant cries under the glowing moon. Keen. Imitating.

Her heart pounded against her ribs.

Her fingers gripped her dress tightly, knuckles white from the strain.

Drake...

Her wolf whined within her, hurt.

A sudden roar surged through the gathering as Marcus Paterson, Drake's trusted friend, emerged from the crowd, carved his way through, brushing past stunned onlookers without a second glance.

He darted toward the power box flanking the banquet stage, and with a quick, deliberate motion, the screen faded to black.

Silence.

Then, footsteps echoed on the marble floor.

Marcus whirled around to face Drake, rage pouring from his eyes like a tempest.

"Drake!" “Have you totally lost your sanity?” His voice sliced through the thick silence like nails scraping stone.“Aren’t you afraid… that when your memory returns, you’ll choke on the weight of what you did to her?”

Drake moved ahead, yet the chill in his gaze revealed no feelings.

“If you still wish to stand by her, Marcus,” his tone was devoid of kindness, “then as my friend and brother, I have nothing else to add.”

His subsequent words struck like whips.

“However, Elena? She's nothing more than a dirty former girlfriend. "Never bring up her name to me again."

The word slid into Elena’s heart like a silver-tipped dart and was impossible to ignore.

Her lips faltered, trembling… then twisted into a harsh, mocking smile. A tremor rippled through her knees, yet she refused to fall.

Her wolf whined once more. Her mate... could no longer identify her scent.

Drake Hamilton.

Beta heir of the Crescent Moon Pack.

The same man who had previously knelt, his presence enveloping her with care, his promises resonating through the hallowed space beneath the Blood Moon.

The very same man who promised to marry her on the day of their mishap.

And then... everything broke apart.

He forgot everything.

She spent two years of her life in a coma.

Upon her awakening, her universe had shattered.

Her companion had selected someone else.

Her position in the pack was taken away.

She made an effort. Moon Goddess was aware; she made an effort.

To recover what they possessed, the connection and to restore his memory.

However, that evening, she had been drugged by someone.

Her sight became hazy. Her limbs became frail.

She had accidentally entered the wrong room... and found herself in his bed.

And at this moment… this.

Humiliation is harsh and permanent.

Her fingertips pressed into her palms, blood about to seep through the skin.

Marcus snarled, his hand shooting up and grabbing Drake’s collar with intensity. The material stretched taut between them.

"Are you still thinking clearly at all?" Marcus’s voice shook with rage. “Had it not been for your fixation on the mating bond, she wouldn’t have been in that vehicle! "You were adamant about formalizing it, wanting to obtain the seal before the Blood Moon."

Marcus's wolf surged under his skin, almost uncontrolled. “She protected you when that outlaw struck!” She absorbed the blow intended for you! And this is how you want to repay her? "Do you want to take away her dignity and make her humiliation public?"

Drake effortlessly pushed him away, exuding an aura of dominance in chilling waves.

"Did she take the hit for me?" His tone expressed no regret. “Alright.” “Then we’re even.”

His subsequent words boomed like thunder.

“She made me take drugs.” Crawled into my bed like a needy fool. "Is she now trying to portray herself as the victim?"

Elena locked eyes with him, and what she glimpsed broke her apart.

“If not for Cassandra,” Drake went on, “I would have gone much beyond by revealing what she did.”

The room hummed once more.

Voices resurfaced, honed like talons.

“Elena ought to be ashamed of herself .” The first voice

“She ought to appreciate being regarded as Drake Hamilton’s wife.” The second voice

"She has no good background." Which means that she's nothing." The second voice added.

But she wasn’t insignificant. He belonged to her. At least, she was.

Elena felt the wolf awaken within her. Silent. But not vanished.

At this point, she was merely a shadow of what they had become.

"Marcus, take it easy," a person remarked with an anxious laugh. Today is Drake's birthday. "There's no need for these reactions from you.”

“Exactly,” another concurred. “Elena needs to let go of the past.” “Cassandra is now with Drake.”

"She stated she would hold off on agreeing to a divorce until his memory comes back." But what if he doesn't ever? "Will she always be a presence in his life?"

“She ought to understand her role.“She never belonged with us.” said one of Drake’s friends, Noah

“Drake’s family accepted her solely because he compelled them to,” Noah added.

Elena's sight became hazy once more, though not due to tears this time. Something primal awakened within her veins.

They wished for her to crawl, plead, and leave silently. But she refused to grant them that pleasure.

They ought to have recalled that she was more than merely a woman.

She inhaled slowly, forcing her pulse to settle, chaining the beast that stirred inside her. She then moved ahead.

Every step sliced through the murmurs.

Her dress rippled behind her like a warrior’s cape. The air distorted around her, her contained aura escaping slightly to quiet the crowd.

She stopped in front of Drake.

The man who previously held her cheeks with admiration. The man who once called her name to the heavens.

The man who now stood like a statue, his mate connection broken by memory and treachery.

She gazed into his eyes.

And grinned.

“Drake.”

Her tone was excessively serene. She delved into her handbag.

Took out a document. One piece of paper. The ink was new.

"Let’s sever the mate bond."