Chapter 1

“I thought Mike wasn’t like other Alphas, but I never thought…” My mother’s voice was thick with regret.

Up until tonight, I believed it too.

On my eighteenth birthday—the day my wolf woke up—I felt Mike.

We bonded almost right away.

As Alpha of the Moon Shadow pack, Mike was one of a kind. Not arrogant or bossy like the rest—he was gentle, respectful.

For ten whole years, he stayed completely faithful. Even Luna herself saw us as the pack’s perfect pair.

But tonight’s engagement party shattered all that. A decade-long dream, gone in a second.

Mike had invited the one person I never wanted to see—Sandy, my stepsister, an omega.

Seeing her felt like a punch to the gut. All those old, painful memories rushed back, which were cold and sharp.

I remembered every daily humiliation from her and her mother.

Although I was a warrior werewolf, my stepmother, as a Luna, she had the right to punish me at anytime.

My wolf stirred, agitated, and before I knew it, I’d crushed my wine glass.

Startled, I did what I always did—I ducked behind Mike.

But this time, he pushed me away, hard. “Lizzy, how could you? Apologize to Sandy.”

I stared at him, stunned.

Then I followed his eyes and saw it—a tiny drop of wine on Sandy’s high heel.

I couldn’t take it. I called a few betas to drag Sandy out.

Mike lost it. His Alpha power rolled off him in waves.

He called me rude, said I didn’t deserve to be the future Luna of Moon Shadow.

Then, cold as ice, he turned and walked out with Sandy crying softly in his arms, in front of everyone.

I couldn’t face the stares. I ran.

My wolf howled inside me as I wandered the streets for three hours, only heading back to Moonshadow Villa when I had nothing left.

If it had been anyone else tonight, maybe I would’ve forgiven Mike. Maybe I would’ve stayed another ten, twenty years.

But it was Sandy—the one I hate most.

The one who took everything from me.

Two shadows of my wolf clashed — one straining toward the bond’s fading warmth, the other baring teeth at betrayal’s scent.

The question pierced like fangs:

Should I still reach out to Mike?

A few meters from the villa, I caught a glimpse through the window—two familiar shapes, tangled together.

My heart raced. I remembered the camera Mike’d installed in the room for Alpha's protection; my hand flew to my phone, fumbling to connect to it.

What popped up on the screen was a sight I’d never be able to erase from my memory.