CHAPTER 1

Chapter 1 : The Betrayal That Shattered My Soul

The night was supposed to be perfect.

Tomorrow, I would take Elisabetta as my Luna, my mate, my forever.

I, Alejandro Rossi, Alpha of the Garcia Pack and heir to the Rossi wine empire, had everything. Power, wealth and the love of my life.

Until one phone call cracked the foundation of my world.

“Ale… I won’t make it tonight. I’m really sick, brother. I’m sorry,” Giovanni’s voice rasped over the line.

I frowned, tightening my grip on the phone. “What are you talking about, Gio? You’re my best man. You can’t miss my bachelor’s night.”

His breathing was ragged. “Forgive me, Ale. I can’t stand it. I can barely walk ” His words faded into silence.

“Rest then,” I sighed, disappointment tugging at my chest. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Thanks, brother.”

“Yeah… you’re the luckiest man alive, Ale. Don’t forget that.”

The call ended, but something, something itched beneath my skin.

I shook it off.

I needed Elisabetta. Just one touch from her would calm this storm.

The Rossi villa buzzed with life. The wedding eve party roared downstairs, but I barely noticed. I searched for Elisabetta through the sea of guests. She wasn’t there.

“Where’s Elisabetta?” I asked a passing omega.

“She said she was going to rest, Alpha.”

Relief softened my chest. Of course. Tomorrow’s a big day.

I took the stairs two at a time, my wolf pacing eagerly beneath my skin, desperate to see our mate.

But then I heard it.

Moans.

At first, I smiled. Even after all these years, my parents still can’t keep their hands off each other? I thought to myself. 

But as I moved closer to the master bedroom, the female voice laced with soft cries of pleasure became painfully familiar.

“Elisabetta…”

Her name trembled from the lips of my father, the Alpha King himself.

My blood turned to ice.

No. No, this isn’t real. This is a nightmare.

I shoved the door open, heart banging in my chest.

There she was.

My mate, my destined Luna, my promise forever.

In my father’s arms, naked. Laying beneath him, gasping his name.

Time collapsed. My heart ripped apart inside me.

“Elisabetta?” My voice was strangled, disbelieving.

Her sapphire eyes, the same ones that once looked at me with pure devotion widened in terror.

“Ale...Wait, please, it’s not what you think.”

My father paled, the mighty Alpha King reduced to a guilty coward.

“Son. Alejandro !!!”

“Don’t call me that!” I roared, my wolf clawing savagely at my chest, demanding I tear them apart.

“You…” pointing my fingers at him, my hands trembling. “You are my father! My Alpha! How could you? How could you do this to me?”

Elisabetta scrambled toward me on her knees, desperation flooding her scent. “Please, please, listen to me! It's not what you think. I didn’t mean to”

“You didn’t mean to spread your legs for my father?” My voice cracked, venomous, my soul splintering with every word. “You’re my mate! The moon goddess chose you for me!”

Tears streamed down her face. “I I was confused! He’s the Alpha King! I had no choice, she said between tears.”

“You chose power over me,” I whispered, my voice dead, hollow. “You chose him.”

Her sobs echoed in the grand room as I stepped back, my wolf howling in agony, betrayed and bloodthirsty.

“It’s over,” I said, my fangs threatening to snap through my gums. “The mating ceremony is off.”

“Ale, please …”

“Enough!” My roar shook the walls.

Without another word, I turned and walked away from the pieces of my shattered life.

My mother rushed to me as I descended the stairs, panic in her eyes. “Alejandro? What’s wrong? Where’s Elisabetta? Everyone is waiting.”

I couldn’t look at her.

“Call off the wedding.”

Her lips parted. “What? No. What happened?”

“She was in bed,” I whispered, my heart barely able to beat, “with your husband.”

Silence.

My mother staggered backward, clutching her chest as if the words physically struck her.

“No… no, that can’t be.”

“I saw them.” It was the only thing I could say.

I kept walking, ignoring her desperate cries, ignoring the pack members who called after me, ignoring the world that suddenly made no sense.

The next morning, the news hit like wildfire.

The Alpha heir called off the wedding.

His mate slept with the Alpha King.

The disgrace of the Garcia Pack.

Whispers, stares, pity and mocking laughter was what I received from people. 

They said I was cursed.

That the moon goddess had forsaken me.

But the worst was far from over. Another betrayal came weeks later.

Giovanni. My best friend and brother in all but blood got married to Elisabetta. My mate.

They left the Garcia Pack and joined the Silver Claw Pack, far away from the ashes of what they destroyed.

My wolf mourned for her. But I refused to. I buried her. I buried them all.

Eight moons passed and I had stayed hidden, unable to carry out my plans of leaving the pack because of my mother. Though I was ready to leave. Ready to abandon everything tied to their memory, then fate struck again.

An accident happened. Giovanni died instantly, while Elisabetta fell off the car while it summersaulted, before it burst into flames and plunged into the river. Passersby helped Elisabetta, who was in a bad state and rushed her to the hospital.

She survived long enough to give birth to her child and died afterwards. 

The daughter of betrayal, the daughter of my father.

I was torn between feeling sorry and feeling vindicated for what had just happened to Elisabetta and Giovanni. 

That evening, when my father heard of the accident, he decided to go claim his child. When he brought her into the Rossi villa, I saw her.

I took one long last look at her, trying to suppress the emotions welling up in me, and I turned away.

That was all I needed to make up my mind.

But am I really going to abandon my whole life, my Pack, my investment in the company and my title, just because of my father’s betrayal?