Chapter One

Rhea's POV

The grand hall was suffocating. The atmosphere tensional.

Eyes. Everywhere. Walls packed with elders, guards, ministers, every rank imaginable, all pressed in to witness my ruin.

“Today, we gather not to celebrate, but to pass judgment on Luna Rhea Griffith for violating the sacred mate bond….”

Violating the sacred bond?!

I snapped my head up to know what evil intentions she had this time. She had always wanted to bring me down at all costs but failed times without number.

Then she said it. Loud and clear.

“By fucking her guard, Cyrus!”

What?!

I couldn't believe what I just heard. My heart stopped.

No. No, I didn’t hear that right.

I whipped my head toward the voice. The blood drained from my face the second I saw her.

Natalie, my mate's beloved mistress.

Sitting tall on the edge of the platform like it belonged to her. Her golden hair fell in soft waves, her red lips curved in a smirk she didn’t bother to hide. The sunlight caught her satin dress, making her look like a goddess.

But to me, she was devil in disguise.

The hall erupted. Gasps. Murmurs. Faces twisted in disgust.

From the moment she stepped into this packhouse, everything changed. Logan, the mate the Moon Goddess chose for me—grew colder, distant.

She was the lone survivor of a rogue massacre. Her entire pack had been wiped out in one bloody night. Men, women, children—slaughtered like animals. And somehow, she crawled out of the ruins, her body drenched in blood, her eyes blank.

I found her on our borders, barely breathing, trembling in a puddle of her own tears. The warriors were going to leave her. Logan said she was a liability. Might even be a trap for our pack.

But I begged.

"She’s alone, Alpha Logan. We can’t turn our backs on her. She needs help. We have to save her."

He didn’t want to. At first. But he relented.

So we brought her into our home.

I gave her my warmth, my food, my clothes. She clung to me like a child. She screamed in her sleep. She flinched at every shadow. And I stayed. I held her. Fed her. Washed her hair. I told her she was safe now.

Then Logan began helping too.

Small things at first. Checking on her. Sitting by her bedside.

Until the small things became too much.

He lingered. Watched her. Listened to her. Smiled at her.

He stopped touching me. Stopped sleeping beside me.

One night, I woke up and found him in her room, caressing her skin slowly.

"She’s just hurting," I told myself. "He’s just being kind."

But the kindness turned into something else.

He started laughing again—but only when she was near. He looked at her like she hung the stars.

He didn’t kiss me anymore.

Didn’t look at me like I mattered.

Cyrus, my personal aide, noticed. He pulled me aside more than once. "He’ll come around," he said. "The bond will bring him back to you. You’re his true mate."

I clung to those words. Until the day I walked into the training hall.

I was looking for Logan. I heard noises.I thought he was sparring.

I opened the door. Just a crack.

What I saw crushed my lungs mercilessly.

Natalie. Bent over the sparring table. Logan behind her, his shirt gone, his muscles tensed as he pounded his di* into her from behind.

Her moans filled the air—high, needy, hungry. His hands gripped her hips, pulling her back into him with every thrust. Their bodies slapped together, sweat glistening, skin meeting skin.

He groaned her name.

She turned to kiss him over her shoulder. Her lips swollen, her eyes glazed with lust.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn't utter anything. The scene before me got me shattered.

I pushed the door wider.

She saw me first. And smiled.

I stepped back, trembling. "Logan...?"

He froze, pulling away from her just slightly. But there was no shame in his eyes. Just irritation.

“Don’t you know how to knock?”

My mouth opened, but no words came. “You… you’re my mate.”

Natalie sat up slowly, her hair wild, her bare chest rising with each breath. She didn’t cover herself. Her confidence burned through the air like poison.

“You should really learn some manners, Luna,” she said, voice like silk laced with venom.

“You were nothing,” I whispered. “We saved you. I saved you.”

“You really should knock next time. It’s called privacy, Luna.”

Luna.

She said it like a joke.

I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. My knees nearly buckled under me. I felt something squeezing life out of me. Everything before me seemed like a dream. No, it wasn't a dream but a vivid reality.

“After everything,” I whispered,my heart pounding faster that I could hear the rhythm. “I took you in. I saved your life.”

She wrapped her arms around my mate, kissing his cheek. And he let her. I saved her from the rogues… and now she’s the one devouring me alive.

From that day on, Logan stopped sleeping in our room entirely.

Every night, I lay awake in a cold bed, listening to the sexual moans and cries echoing through the hall. Her cries. His. A knife driving deeper into my chest with every sound.

I’d press my hands against my ears until they bled. I cried myself to sleep more nights than I could count.

Still… I stayed quiet.

Still… I hoped.

But Natalie? She didn’t stop there.

Instead of remorse, she grew bolder. Crueler.

She strutted through the packhouse like she already wore the Luna crown. Mocking me in silence, whispering lies to the guards, sweet-talking the elders.

She didn’t just want Logan.

She wanted everything, my title. My life. My name.

And now… she was here accusing me for nothing but adultery!! With Cyrus.

Cyrus. Of all people, Cyrus??

“No!” I shouted, the word tearing through my chest. “You want the Luna title so badly, Natalie? At least come up with a better lie! Not with adultery, you evil liar!!”

My voice cracked. “Cyrus is my guard! Assigned by Logan himself! Everyone here knows that, everyone can testify for me!”

Natalie’s expression didn’t budge. She tilted her head slightly, like I was amusing her.

“Is that so?” she said sweetly. “Then tell me—who’s willing to vouch for you now?”

My eyes darted to Elena. My maid. My friend. The one who had stood beside me during the worst storms. I have never for once regretted helping her and her family and bringing them to my side.

“Elena,” I breathed. “You have been with me quite long. Tell them the truth. You know I never betrayed Logan. Not once.”

She stepped forward, slow and shaky, as if she carried the something huge on her shoulders. She couldn’t even look me in the eye.

“Elena…” I whispered, already feeling something crack beneath my ribs.

She dropped to her knees.

“Luna Rhea… is guilty.”

I couldn’t move.

No. No. No.

“Elena?” I choked, “What do you mean?” My heart beating very fast “You know me well. I can't do this……” Now, tears were pooling down my eyes, the sting of betrayal pressing hard on me.

She snatched her hand back as I reached out to her like I burned her. Her voice trembled, but her words cut deep.

“I saw them. Yesterday. In Cyrus’s chambers. He was half-dressed, and she was touching him. Caressing his skin slowly. When I tried to speak, she threatened me not with anything but my life!!! Help me, please….”

My heart slammed against my ribs, beating faster than I could imagine.

Threatened? Elena, another person I helped was now stabbing me in return…

“Please, Natalie,” Elena whimpered, crawling toward Natalie like a scared child. “Protect me…”

Natalie stood and placed a comforting hand on her head. “You’re brave, Elena,” she murmured like a benevolent queen.

Brave—for stabbing me in the back?!

I stared down at the girl I once held when her world collapsed. The same girl I fed when she had no coin. She was shaking in Natalie’s shadow now… and I was the enemy.

“You’re lying,” I whispered, voice barely audible over the pounding in my head. “I never… I didn’t…”

Natalie didn’t let me finish.

“Oh, but you did visit Cyrus, didn’t you?” she purred, her voice dipped in fake concern.

“I did. To check on his wound. He was injured during patrol. That’s it.”

A soft gasp. Elena lifted something from her pocket—something black and delicate.

Lace.

My stomach turned.

“This was found in Cyrus’s room,” she said. “Lingerie. Hers. It still smells like her.”

I staggered back.

I had never seen that before in my life. Never owned it. Someone had planted it.

The courtroom exploded with gasps and murmurs. Disgust twisted on the faces of those I once led. "Shameless!!" I could hear one of the elders yelled.

Natalie watched, glowing with satisfaction.

“I’m not the only witness,” she said calmly. Then she waved her hand.

More maids stepped forward. More traitors. More lies.

“I saw her sneaking into his room.”

“I heard sexual moans.”

“They’ve been at it for weeks.”

Each accusation sliced me open. The floor beneath me felt like it was spinning. Natalie has prepared herself better this time. She must have bribed or threatened these people.

“Bring Cyrus!” I shouted, desperate. “He’ll tell the truth.”

Natalie only smiled. She didn't flinch.

That was when dread gripped me. I eyed her suspiciously. Did she bribe Cyrus too? No, this can't be.

“You heard her,” she said with a deadly sneer. “Bring him in.”

The doors opened.

Two warriors walked in, dragging something between them.

A stretcher.Covered in a sheet.

No movement.

No scent of life.

No........no.....no.

“What… what is that?” I asked, voice cracking. I rushed forward, gripping Cyrus's lifeless body. My eyes etched in disbelief.

Natalie stood slowly, every step deliberate. “Oh, Rhea,” she said, her smile widening. “Didn’t you hear? Cyrus took his life this morning. Guilt, I suppose.”

The hall erupted.

Screams. Gasps. Cries.

Cyrus was gone?!

My last thread of hope, my friend—dead. And I knew. I knew he didn’t take his life. He wouldn't have committed sucide for something he didn't commit.

She did this.

Natalie had him killed.

"You murdered him!" I screamed, my voice raw. “You silenced him so no one could defend me!”

Natalie laughed, a sharp, cruel sound. “Me? I had nothing to do with it. He died because of shame. Because of you.”

“Liar!”

“Logan hasn’t touched you in weeks, you have become extremely horny and now this? You opened your slutty hole to your guard like some desperate omega? That’s pathetic.”

“Enough!” I cried. “Elders! Ministers! You know me! You watched me serve this pack......”

No one moved.

No one looked at me.

I was screaming into a void.

Natalie’s voice was soft, but it echoed through the hall. “You’re finished, Rhea. You’re alone. No mate. No pack. Only disgrace.”

Tears poured freely now. I couldn’t stop them.

“You framed me!” I sobbed. “Please, someone—just look at me! She set me up! She’ll destroy this pack! Arrest this devil. Throw her into the dungeon!!”

No one moved. Not one. They knew Logan loved, cared and favoured her than me. They knew Alpha Logan would do anything to satisfy her even despising me. Touching her will mean touching the Alpha himself.

Then without warning, the doors burst open with a crash.

BANG!!!

Every head turned towards the handsome towering figure.

Alpha Logan.

My mate.

He stood tall, wrapped in his Alpha aura, his presence swallowing the room whole.

My heart lifted.

Until he spoke.

His voice was cold.

“Who dares speak of imprisoning Natalie?”