Chapter 1

"No invitation, get out!"

The summit was about to start. A hulking guard shoved my shoulder hard, his silver baton glinting in my face.

I stumbled back, nearly dropping the file in my arms.

The entire Blue Lake Resort was on high alert. A VIP’s moonstone necklace had gone missing, and guards with silver weapons were everywhere.

"These are urgent documents—"

"The Lycan King doesn't see just anyone!" the guard sneered. "Especially not a she-wolf like you, trying to claw her way up."

He sniffed the air, his eyes full of contempt.

"You don't even have a pack scent. I hear the King is holding his mating ceremony soon. Who knows what desperate she-wolves like you are plotting!"

He shoved me out the door. I lost my balance and slammed right into a solid chest.

A familiar scent of cedarwood surrounded me.

I snapped my head up.

Alec.

Three years. He was still tall and imposing, his tailored suit perfect. But his eyes were colder than ever.

Shock flashed in his eyes when he saw me, then it was gone, replaced by that same old arrogance.

He waved a hand, dismissing the guard.

The guard, so cocky a moment ago, now scurried away with a sheepish grin, shooting me one last dirty look.

"Elena?" His voice was low, dangerous. "What are you doing here?"

I stood up straight, putting distance between us. "None of your business."

"Following me?" Alec walked slowly down the steps. "It's been three years. I thought you had more pride. You abandoned the pack. Why come back now?"

I watched his lips move, but the words were just noise. My mind was already somewhere else.

The endless torture in that silver room taught me one thing: I didn't need him.

So, I found a way to contact the pack. I accepted the new mate the elders arranged for me: Lycan King Damien.

A month later, Alec came to the silver room to "release" me himself.

I never once met his eyes. I just climbed into Damien's car and left for the South to complete our mating ceremony, leaving him in my dust.

Not long after, Damien was elected the new Lycan King.

Before I could answer him, a sickly sweet voice came from behind.

"Alec, who's making trouble here?"

Serena glided over, dressed in a custom moon-silk gown.

She clung to Alec's arm intimately.

When she saw me, she put on a perfect, fake smile.

"Elena? Oh my god, it's really you!" She feigned surprise. "It's been three years. Are you… doing okay?"

Her eyes lingered on my jeans and sneakers.

"Looks like life's been rough."

"What's that in your hand?" Her sharp eyes noticed my file.

Alec snatched it from me.

"Give it back!"

He dodged easily and tore open the seal.

"'Report on the Genetic Decay.'" He read the cover, his brow furrowed. Then he sneered.

"I heard you bonded with some rogue with a tainted bloodline just to spite me. Looks like it's true."

My heart hammered in my chest.

"You left without a word, and now you're stuck at the bottom of the werewolf world?"

His voice was laced with pity. "Packless, mated to a useless, dying wolf. Elena, is this how far you've fallen?"

"What are you talking about?"

I snatched the file back.

The number of wolves in the North with genetic decay had been surging. That's why Damien was so desperate to start this research project.

The Alliance headquarters is in the South. I've refused to come to the North with him for years, so it's no surprise nobody here knows me.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue now that I've exposed you?"

Seeing my silence, he mocked me with a sneer.

"There's a major Alliance summit here today. If the King finds a common wolf trespassing, you're done for."

A flicker of charity crossed his eyes.

"But for old times' sake, I can get you inside. All you have to do is beg. Show me your submission. I can even clear out a storage room in the pack house for you and your pathetic mate."

Submission? A storage room?

For me?

The woman whose mate controlled the entire Alliance?

The woman who could have anything she wanted?

Who the hell did Alec think he was?

"Elena, you're still so stubborn." He shook his head at my expression. "Three years, and you haven't grown up at all."

Furious, I stomped on his foot.

My sharp heel dug right into his expensive leather shoe.

"Ah!" Alec cried out in pain, but quickly grabbed my wrist. "You—do you think you own this place? That you can just walk in? This is Lycan King Damien's territory! Even I need an invitation!"

"Three years, and you're still the same spoiled brat. For God's sake, grow up!"

"Look at you now! Was the Luna title really worth all this? Worth throwing a tantrum and running off with some dying rogue?"

Just as we were about to explode, Serena clutched her chest and started to gasp.

"I'm sorry... If I hadn't lost my mate..." she said weakly, "Alec wouldn't have felt so sorry for me that he wanted to give me a mating ceremony..."

Here we go again. Same old trick.

"After you left, the pack was in chaos. For a while, Alec couldn't explain the loss of his mate," she continued her act. "But now that you're back, you can have it all back. I'm just an omega. I'll step down..."

Seeing her pale, weak act, Alec immediately steadied her.

"Serena, don't say that." He comforted her gently, then glared at me. "Are you happy now, Elena?"

His voice turned cold and cruel.

"My Luna is Serena. It will always be Serena. Even if you crawl back on your hands and knees, begging for a scrap of my attention, I wouldn't waste a single glance on you."

In his arms, Serena shot me a triumphant smile only I could see.

Everything from three years ago rushed back—the altar I decorated, used for another woman; the pain in the silver room, the despair as the poison ate at me...

But this time was different.

I was no longer the Elena who cried in the silver room.

"Don't flatter yourself," I sneered. "My mate is Damien. The Lycan King. Why on earth would I regret anything?"