Chapter 1

Penelope’s POV

“The results are ready. Your heart matches Hazel perfectly. Get to the pack hospital in thirty minutes for the transplant surgery.”

My husband’s cold voice came through the phone line. Julian was the heir to the Blue-Claw Pack, but he sounded like a stranger. The words turned my blood to ice. Inside me, my Lycan spirit, Aria, went completely still. Her regular, low growl cut off in pure shock.

“Are you listening, Penelope? Answer me.” Julian’s tone sharpened. He used the heavy weight of his Alpha command, mixed with clear irritation. That sharp tone cut right through the thick emotional wall I had built over the years.

I forced air into my lungs. I swallowed the lump in my throat and pushed down the frantic rage building inside my chest. Aria began to thrash against my ribs. My proud, powerful Lycan spirit wanted to take full control of my limbs. She wanted to tear through the distance and rip the man on the phone to pieces for treating his own mate like property.

“Julian,” I said. My voice shook, though I fought to keep my tone even. “I am your Luna. I am your fated mate.”

The Moon Goddess herself joined our souls together. Our scents matched perfectly. I could not understand how he could ask me to cut open my chest for a random Omega wolf who had arrived at our borders only weeks ago. He threw my life and my worth into the dirt for her.

“I know who you are,” Julian said. His voice remained flat, hard, and entirely indifferent. “Hazel is not my blood relative, but her brother died to save my life in battle. I will not watch her die. You are my mate, Penelope. We share a bond. A Lycan can survive without a heart. My wolf will share his strength to keep you breathing. Your heart will grow back over time. You will be weak for a few months, but the pack doctors will take care of you. You will recover.” He spoke about my organs the way a man speaks about cutting a lock of hair. “You are only losing a few months of health. She is losing her entire life. Stop being selfish.”

Selfish. I squeezed my fingers into my palms until my sharp nails cut into the skin.

Aria let out a loud howl of pain and anger inside my mind.

He actually called me selfish. This was the same Alpha who stood under the full moon and promised to protect me until his last breath. He was the man who made my inner wolf bow in respect the moment we met. Now, he viewed me as a monster because I wanted to keep my own heart in my chest.

Before I could speak, a sharp beep signaled the end of the call. The dial tone rattled in my ear like a cruel joke.

Beside me on the stove, a pot of venison broth bubbled away. I spent the entire afternoon preparing it to help sustain an Alpha wolf. Ethan, Julian’s second in command, mentioned during a pack meeting that Julian was exhausted from tracking Hazel’s illness. He said the Alpha was barely eating.

I stayed up late, worried about his health. I only wanted to ease his burden.

The memory made me want to laugh at myself.

I am not the weak, helpless Omega wolf they think I am. I only pretended to be small. I am the only daughter of the Lycan King. My veins carry the purest, most dominant Alpha bloodline in the entire region. My inner spirit, Aria, has the power to force ordinary Alphas to their knees with a single glance.

I hid my true rank. I played the role of a quiet, obedient mate in the Blue-Claw Pack because of that ancient, heavy mate bond. I was tired of the palace, tired of the heavy duties of a crown princess. I wanted a normal life with a partner who loved me.

I truly believed my fated mate would respect me.

This phone call broke that illusion completely.

For three long years, I lived like a servant in this pack house. Julian stayed away on pack business constantly. We went weeks without a single conversation. His mother, Chloe, the current Luna, hated my presence from the start. She treated me like a beggar who crawled into her home to steal their wealth and title.

Chloe fired the housemaids and piled the heavy laundry, scrubbing, and cooking onto my shoulders. She told the pack council it was a necessary step to save funds. I held the title of an Alpha mate, but I scrubbed floors like a low ranking wolf.

I took the insults quietly because I loved him. I trusted our bond.

Then, four weeks ago, Julian walked through the pack gates with an Omega named Hazel. He told the elders she was his new sister.

She shared no blood with his family.

Chloe immediately loved her. The older woman regularly muttered loud complaints in my presence, wishing Hazel had been Julian’s true mate instead of me. Julian spent every free evening at the pack hospital, holding Hazel’s hand while she rested. He never stayed by my side when I was sick.

Now, he expected me to die so she could live.

The humiliation and anger made it hard to breathe. My phone buzzed on the counter with a loud alert. It was a bank notification.

Julian sent one million alliance credits to my personal account. A text message followed the money. The surgery starts in thirty minutes. Do not be late.

He always did this. Whenever I questioned his choices, he threw money at me to force my silence. He honestly believed every item on earth had a price tag. My heart, my devotion, and my pain were just numbers on a screen to him.

I cleared the alert and opened the image message that arrived an hour earlier.

The photograph showed Julian and Hazel asleep in her private hospital room. Julian looked tired, his head resting against the mattress. Hazel looked straight at the camera with a small, smug smile. Her cheek rested against his shoulder.

Her hospital shirt slipped down, showing her bare skin. Even through the digital screen, I could sense the thick, desperate Omega pheromones she used to claim him.

A line of text sat below the image. Julian stayed with me all night. A useless woman like you should pack her bags and leave this pack territory.

Hazel sent it.

The picture destroyed the very last piece of hope in my chest.

I am done with the Blue-Claw Pack. I am done with Julian.

I breathed out slowly, forcing Aria to suppress her urge to kill every wolf in the building. I unlocked my phone and dialed a private number I had not touched in three years. It was a secure line to the highest royal authority.

The line clicked open. A deep, familiar voice spoke. Hearing it made the tears spill over my eyelids.

“Father, I made a massive mistake.”

The line went silent for a few seconds. Then, a deep, heavy sigh came through the speaker, full of old grief and love.

“If you see the truth now, just come back to the palace. We will fix your mistakes together. Nobody has the right to touch my daughter.”

The call ended. The remaining tension left my muscles, leaving me feeling lighter than I had since the day I arrived at this estate.

Three years of hiding my strength and taking abuse were finally over.

Julian and his pack will realize exactly what they threw away.