CHAPTER 3

TAMARA.

For a moment, I could not speak. Of all the people who could have witnessed what had just happened, it had to be him.

Atlas had heard Darius threaten me with banishment, and judging by the calmness in his eyes, he seemed completely satisfied by it.

I forced myself to straighten.

“Exactly how much did you demand in exchange for protecting my pack?”

He answered without hesitation.

“For now, just you.”

My fists tightened.

“As your mate.”

It wasn't a question.

His eyes remained on mine.

“As whatever I desire you to be.”

He stepped closer.

“And there are many things I can think of at the moment, Tamara.”

I held his gaze even though every instinct told me to step away.

“I am not your property.”

“Not yet,” he agreed.

The answer surprised me.

Then his voice became colder.

“But you're about to be. Because you are a woman who has agreed to mate the enemy because your people need what I control.”

Anger rose inside me.

“I did not agree willingly.”

“You are still standing here.”

His words left me with nothing to say. He was right in the cruelest possible way.

I could hate him. I could hate Darius. I could hate the elders for turning my life into a bargain. But none of that would change what would happen if I walked away.

My people would pay for my refusal.

There was no choice. Only a price.

By sunset, I was standing beside Alpha Atlas at the mating altar. Half the pack had gathered around us. Their whispers followed me from every direction.

“I can't believe she is betraying Alpha Valentine like this, barely six months after his death.”

“She is saving us.”

“She has no choice.”

“She will belong to Shadow Crescent now.”

“My goddess, Alpha Atlas will tear her apart. The man is more beast than man.”

I kept my eyes ahead.

Nobody was looking at me as Tamara anymore.

I was Valentine's widow. The sacrifice. The traitor. The woman who would save Moonlight Pack.

Darius stood among the elders, and the relief on his face made something inside me ache.

Atlas looked different. He looked satisfied.

The ceremony began.

The priest spoke the ancient words, but I barely heard them. My attention remained fixed on the altar beneath my hands.

When it was my turn to speak, my throat tightened. I repeated the vows. Each word felt like another door closing behind me.

When the final vow left my lips, I knew there was no returning to the life I had known.

I was now Atlas's mate.

Valentine's widow had become the wife of the man who had hated him enough to carry that hatred for years.

As the ceremony ended, Atlas leaned toward me.

“Do you know what I wanted when Valentine died?”

I turned toward him.

“Peace?”

A part of me already knew that wasn't true, but I asked it anyway.

A faint smile touched his lips.

“No.”

His eyes held mine.

“I wanted the chance to make him watch me take everything he loved.”

The words stole the air from my lungs.

Before I could respond, his hand settled against my back. He guided me away from the altar.

I stopped.

“Where are we going?”

He looked at me.

“Home.”

I stared at him.

“Your pack isn't my home.”

He stepped closer.

“You're right, it's not. But you're going anyway. Because I said so.”

I swallowed.

“I haven't packed anything.”

His expression hardened.

“You won't be touching your things.”

I frowned.

“Why?”

Something flashed in his eyes.

“I don't want anything that bastard bought for you inside my house.”

The bitterness in his voice should not have surprised me anymore, but it still did.

I knew he wasn't just talking about clothes. He was talking about Valentine. About every gift. Every memory. Every piece of the life we had shared.

Or at least, that was what he seemed to believe.

If only he knew half the truth of the life I had with my late mate, he wouldn't have bothered with this at all.

Atlas turned toward the waiting cars. A man I didn't recognise walked up and opened the nearest door.

Atlas looked back at me.

“Get in.”

I stood still for another moment. Then I looked over my shoulder at Moonlight Pack.

The people I had spent years calling family stood watching me leave. Nobody came after me. Nobody stopped him.

So I stepped into the car.

The door closed behind me.

As Atlas walked around to the other side, one thought settled heavily in my mind.

I had not simply married my enemy. I had placed myself in the hands of a man who had been waiting years to find a way to get his revenge for something I didn't even know about.

As the engine roared and the car drove away, I found myself asking the same question I'd been asking for years without an answer.

What exactly happened between Atlas and Valentine to lead to so much bitterness between two men?

By the time the cars finally arrived at Shadow Crescent, it was deep into the night.

I stared through the window as the gates opened, revealing the enormous estate beyond them. Everything about the place felt unfamiliar. The tall stone walls, the armed warriors stationed around the entrance, and the cold silence that seemed to hang over the grounds.

I had been brought here as Atlas's mate. But nothing about this place felt like home.

I followed him inside, keeping a few steps behind as we walked through the long corridors. Atlas didn't say a word to me. He simply walked, as though he expected me to follow without question.

Eventually, he stopped in front of a large door. He opened it and stepped inside.

I followed.

The room was spacious and beautifully furnished, with a large bed in the center and tall windows overlooking the grounds.

I looked around. Then I turned toward him.

“Where is this?”

Atlas's expression remained unreadable.

“This is my room.”

I stared at him. I looked at the bed. Then at him again.

“Your room?”

He didn't answer.

My stomach tightened uncomfortably.

“I thought I would have a separate room.”

“That wasn't discussed.”

His answer was so simple that it made me more irritated than if he had argued with me.

“I won't be intimidated just because I'm in your territory, Alpha Atlas.”

For the first time, something flickered in his eyes. He took a slow step toward me.

“Did Valentine enjoy that stubbornness?”

My body went still.

The mention of Valentine's name always did something to me. It brought back too many memories at once—the sound of his voice, the way I had once believed I knew the man I married, and the life I thought we would have.

I forced those memories away.

“Whatever happened between you and Valentine has nothing to do with me.”

Atlas's jaw tightened.

“You carry his name.”

I lifted my chin slightly.

“I carried it because I was his mate.”

My voice rose a little, but I made myself continue.

“I did not carry his sword or his sins!”

His eyes remained on mine.

The silence between us stretched.

I wasn't trying to challenge him. I simply wanted him to understand that being Valentine's wife did not mean I had been part of every decision he made.

Atlas didn't look convinced. Instead, he turned away.

“You will follow my rules from now on.”

I said nothing.

“You don't leave my territory without permission.”

I remained silent.

“You don't interfere in pack matters.”

Still silent.

“You don't contact Darius or anyone from your former pack privately without my permission.”

My fingers curled into my palms.

“And you will not undermine me, especially in front of my people.”

I finally looked up.

“And if I do?”

His eyes met mine.

“Then you'll learn why people don't disobey me.”

“I'm not a good person, Tamara. But I can become worse. I can become your worst nightmare if you push me.”

A chill moved through me.

I lowered my eyes. There was no point arguing with him. Not yet.

Then Atlas spoke again.

“And do not, under any circumstances, touch any of my Omegas.”

I frowned.

“I wouldn't—”

“Unlike your dead mate, we actually value lives here, regardless of rank.”

His voice had become colder.

“The day your mate murdered my brother in cold blood marked the very last day any member of the Moonlight Pack would ever lay a hand on a member of my pack.”

I froze.

My mind struggled to process what he had just said.

“Your brother?”

Atlas looked at me.

“You didn't know?”

I slowly shook my head.

“Know what?”

A cold chuckle escaped him.

“Of course you didn't.”

I stared at him.

He continued.

“You never asked what your dear Valentine was doing whenever he left home to lead his warriors against my pack, did you?”

My chest tightened.

“I didn't know about your brother.”

“I'm sure you didn't.”

There was no sympathy in his voice.

“You were the perfect little Luna who never questioned her mate and Alpha. The kind who believed whatever he did was right while sitting at home and waiting for him to return.”

I shook my head.

“That isn't fair.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

His eyes narrowed.

“You think I'm being unfair?”

Atlas took a step closer.

“Your mate slaughtered my little brother in cold blood right before my eyes!”

My heart stopped.