CHAPTER ONE

My hands shook visibly as my pen hovered over the paper in front of me.

"Sign it already. This is the only chance we have," my father said impatiently, and I swallowed.

So, this was how it was all going to end? I was going to end up in the bed of a stranger just to save my pack. I guess I was never going to know how it felt to have a mate, since the Moon Goddess had already given me my punishment by not granting me any other mate since the night I rejected Kaelan.

I bit my lip at the thought of that name. Even though it had been ten years, I still couldn't forgive myself.

Time has passed so quickly, yet every minutes of those years felt like a shackle. Ever since that night, I had lived in regret, and the never-ending questions of "what-ifs" filled my head.

What if I hadn't said the word that night?

"I, Seraphina Blackwood, hereby reject Kaelan Thorne as my mate."

I could still vividly recall the broken look in his eyes after I spewed those words without batting an eyelid on my eighteenth birthday. I didn't mind how hurt he was, when I believed he had hurt me first.

I had caught him in bed with my best friend and I was livid. It was the perfect chance for me to revenge, so I did. I renounced the mate bond in front of everyone, knowing fully well that this would be disastrous to him.

His family was next in line to rule his pack, and since he was the first son, he was the one that was next to rule.

But this open rejection would actually cause some backslide in that motive, if not ruin it for him. But I didn't care. He hurt me, and he deserved a payback in full force.

I watched as he walked out of the hall that night without turning back. He left, and that was the last I saw of him.

I loved him, but it was nothing compared to the betrayal I felt. However, table turned when my best friend finally confessed to me that Kaelan never slept with her.

"I'm sorry, Seraphina. I—I actually drugged him that night. I told a maid to give you the tip-off that I was in Kaelan's room, and I sealed it by making you walk in on us that night. It was all my plan," She shook her head, her eyes tearing up.

My eyes widened as I tried to process what I just heard. No. This can't be true. I waited for her to tell me it was all a joke, but none of that was forthcoming, and I gasped.

"Why?! Why would you do that?!" I yelled, running my hands through my hair. "Tell me you're lying, Arielle. You're just trying to cover up for him, right?" I asked, with a raised hope, my hands gripping her shoulders, but she shook her head once more, and my shoulders dropped.

"I'm sorry," She muttered. "I was jealous, okay? I really was. I had known Kaelan, even before you knew him. I saw him first, and yet, he chose you. He loved you even more than he loved himself, and I couldn't just bear it. So, I decided to ruin the relationship between you both," She confessed, and pangs of pain and regret filled my chest.

"How could you?! "

"I knew you'd trust me when I told you that he raped me and that wasn't his first time, and I just couldn't bring myself to tell you because I was ashamed. You believed me, and broke up with him immediately. And I was happy I got what I want. I'm so sorry," She apologized, and I swallowed a bitter lump that formed at my throat.

"Why...why are you telling me this now? It's been a year since I broke up with him!"

"The thing is..I thought he'd come to me after you broke up with him. I wanted to show him that I was more than enough, but he never spared me a glance. It was later I found out that his family lost the Kingship because of the humiliation they faced. It was all my fault," She cried, falling to my feet, and my whole body trembled.

Kaelan lost the Alpha role? He was never guilty? I shamed him in front of a multitude of crowd when he was innocent all along?

My head spun around and my world shattered before me. I looked at the devil I had thought was my friend all along and rage filled my inside.

"Out!"

I said in a calm voice that was the total opposite of the turmoil brewing in me.

She looked up at me, and she pursed her lips. She knew that calm voice all too well, and she knew I was about to explode into a raging fit.

But maybe, she decided to try to apologize even with the known fact, I don't know what she tried to do, but immediately she opened her mouth, to spew another word, my inside burned, and I lashed out with great fury,

"Out!!!"

She scurried out, and I broke down immediately. Things had been ruined beyond repair. It wasn't totally my fault. Arielle deceived me. Then, she told me that Kaelan drugged her and had raped her, whereas it was the other way round.

Bitter tears cascaded my cheeks, and I hated myself. I made up my mind to apologize, even though I knew it was going to be a futile effort. I had caused him so much, and I didn't even give him a listening ear.

I had dragged myself to his pack to apologize, but my heart fell when I heard that he had left the pack. How? Why?

"He couldn't handle the shame, I guess. An Alpha's daughter rejected him, he made his family lose the the mantle of leadership when it finally got to their turn. Of course he left. No one knows where he is," an inhabitant had told me.

I'm sure she didn't know I was the Alpha's daughter in question, because I doubt if she would have given me that information if she did.

After that day, I tried asking around neighbouring packs, but I got no positive response. I searched for him for two more years, and when I didn't get any result, I relented. Yet, the guilt ate me up every single day.

I guess the moon goddess never stopped punishing me, for I wasn't mated to any one since then. And now, I was being offered as a truce to stabilize the pack. I'm getting married to an Alpha I've heard to be nicknamed Lucifer, because of how merciless he was.

Here I was,about to sign a contract that bound me to him.

"You are really testing my patience, Seraphina! You've been come nothing more than a liability, and the only time you get to make yourself useful, you're hesitating?" My father lashed out, and I flinched.

I've been called a liability ever since my wolf refused to bond to any other person. I took in a deep breath, as I signed under the contact: Seraphina Blackwood.

My father looked at me with contempt, as he snatched the paper from my hands.

"Is she ready?"

I heard a deep voice that made the hair on my skin stand. The thickening aura that surrounded the premises couldn't be denied.

I heard footsteps from behind me, and I gulped. This is it. I'm very sure the Alpha I have just been signed to is here.

My breaths hitched as I turned around to look at the said Alpha, and the world suddenly came to a silent pause as my eyes met a deep blue one staring back at me.

My blood ran cold immediately as I took in his features. No. My eyes is probably playing tricks on me. This isn't who I think it is.

My breaths shook as he took a few more steps towards me, his cologne hitting my nostrils, and his overbearing aura threatening to tear me apart.

My eighteenth birthday played before me again in a flash, and I shook my head slowly.

"No." My voice came out broken. I didn't want to believe it. This isn't Kaelan before me.

But the smirk that danced on his lips confirmed it. "It's been a while, dear wife."

His lips curved up into a venomous smile, and a gasp escaped my lips.