Chapter 1

Only then did Victor notice me. He hesitated before striding over. "Tia, what happened?"

Before I could answer, Louise waved her hands frantically. "I-I was only trying to help, but I accidentally knocked over the shelf, and it fell on the Luna. I'm so sorry!"

She looked so pale and helpless that anyone would have felt sorry for her.

Whispers broke out around us.

"Fated mates really are different."

"Louise is an Omega. Of course she needs extra protection."

"The Luna shouldn't be so petty."

I gave Victor a bitter smile, but his attention had already turned to the crowd. His eyes narrowed, and a wave of Alpha authority swept through the room.

He scooped me into his arms. "Everyone, clear out," he ordered.

But as we passed Louise, he faltered, as though some invisible force were pulling him back.

"Alpha..." Louise called softly, her voice full of longing.

Victor stopped dead.

I felt him hesitate and finally spoke up. "Victor, I need to get this treated."

Even then, it took him several long seconds to start walking again.

I stared at his clenched jaw, my heart sinking.

Ever since Louise joined the pack, she'd found one excuse after another to summon him. Two days ago, she'd gotten lost in the Misty Woods. Yesterday, another wolf had bullied her. Today, she'd managed to drop a shelf on her hand.

And every single time, Victor had rushed to her rescue, unable to take his eyes off her.

Even as Victor tended to my knee back in our bedroom, I couldn't get the way he'd looked at Louise out of my head.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked, looking up into my eyes.

"No," I answered curtly and pulled my skirt down to cover the bruise.

Victor gently took my hand, his voice hoarse. "Tia, wolves are instinctively protective of their fated mates. What I feel for Louise is nothing more than instinct."

My nose stung.

"Victor, when you marked me, you said loving me was instinct, too. How can your wolf feel that way about two different women?"

Something flickered in his eyes, and then he smiled.

"I misspoke. You're the only one my wolf is drawn to. That's why I brought you home, remember?"

He stroked my hair and pressed a warm kiss to my knee, as if all my doubts existed only in my head.

How could I doubt him?

We'd grown up together. We'd always been there for each other.

When he went on his first hunt at seven, he'd insisted on giving me half the rabbit he'd caught.

When he first shifted at 15, the pain had left him drenched in sweat and collapsed on the ground. As soon as he came to, he nuzzled me with his furry wolf head.

"Tia, my wolf says he really likes you."

At 23, after he took over the pack, his voice shook as he asked me, "Will you be my Luna?"

Surely everything we'd been through couldn't be undone by some outsider.

Or so I thought.

The very next day, Victor brought Louise home.

The guilt written all over his face was almost laughable.

"We don't have any spare rooms," I said coldly.

"Tia..." There was a hint of apology in Victor's voice, but he'd clearly already made up his mind. "Louise keeps getting hurt. She needs to stay close to me."

I slammed my fork down and cut him off.

"You promised I'd always be the lady of this house."

"Tia." His voice went flat, clearly annoyed. "Louise is just staying here for a while."

I knew that look all too well.

It was the same frown he wore whenever I confronted him about abandoning me.

"She's new to the pack, and she's my fated mate. As Alpha, it's my responsibility to look after her."

Somehow, I was always the unreasonable one.

My chest tightened until I could barely breathe.

"Fine." I rose from my chair, too exhausted to argue anymore. "If that's what you want, let her stay."

My eyes fell on his hand resting against Louise's calf. Just last night, those same fingers had caressed the mating mark on my neck.

Now they were touching another woman.

For a moment, I wanted to sink my teeth into his hand and tear it right off. But I held back.

Losing my temper would only give Louise another excuse to play the victim and Victor another reason to rush to her defense.

And I was done fighting for a place in his heart.

Back in my room, I texted Teresa Holloway, the witch. "Any progress? Have you figured out how to break the bond?"

Her reply came almost immediately. "Not yet, babe. Why? Has our oh-so-devoted Alpha already fallen for his fated mate?"

I ignored the jab. "What about the mating mark? Is there any way to remove it?"