Prologue: The Night I Became the Alpha's Wife

The night I ran away from my husband, the moon was red.

I remember staring at it through the window of the car, my trembling hands wrapped around the tiny bundle against my chest.

My baby.

My daughter.

The only piece of him I had allowed myself to keep.

“Mommy?”

Her sleepy voice made my heart ache.

I looked down at her.

Five years old.

Small fingers clutching the edge of her blanket.

Silver-gray eyes that were far too familiar.

Eyes that belonged to the man I had spent five years trying to forget.

“It's okay, Lyra,” I whispered, brushing her hair away from her forehead. “Go back to sleep.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

I kissed her forehead.

Then I looked out the window again.

We were getting farther away.

Farther from the northern territory.

Farther from the Draven estate.

Farther from the man who had once been my husband.

Kael Draven.

The Alpha.

The man who married me for revenge.

The man I loved anyway.

And the man I had promised myself I would never see again.

Five years ago, I believed I understood exactly what I was getting into.

A contract.

A marriage.

A name.

A temporary arrangement between two powerful families.

That was all it was supposed to be.

Kael didn't love me.

He barely tolerated me.

He looked at me like I was a reminder of everything he had lost.

And I knew why.

My family had destroyed his.

At least, that was what everyone told us.

So when Kael offered me a contract marriage, I should have refused.

I should have walked away.

I should have protected my heart.

Instead, I signed.

I became his wife.

His Luna.

His enemy.

And eventually...

the woman who loved him.

That was my first mistake.

My second was believing he could never love me back.

My third was staying after I discovered why he had really married me.

And my greatest mistake?

Believing I could survive losing him.

The car suddenly slowed.

My heart stopped.

I looked at the driver.

“Why are we stopping?”

He didn't answer.

Instead, his eyes lifted toward the road ahead.

My blood turned cold.

There were shadows between the trees.

Too many.

Then I heard it.

A howl.

Low.

Deep.

Familiar.

My fingers tightened around Lyra.

“No.”

Another howl answered from somewhere behind us.

Then another.

They had found us.

I looked at my daughter.

Five years.

I had spent five years protecting her from this exact moment.

Five years hiding her existence.

Five years convincing myself that Kael would never find us.

But I had forgotten one thing.

He was an Alpha.

And Alphas never stopped searching for what belonged to them.

The car door suddenly opened.

A man stepped into view.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Black coat.

Cold silver eyes.

My breath caught in my throat.

I knew those eyes.

I had dreamed about them.

Hated them.

Missed them.

Loved them.

Kael.

My husband.

My Alpha.

The man I had run from five years ago.

His gaze found mine.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then his eyes slowly dropped to the little girl sleeping in my arms.

Everything about him changed.

The anger disappeared.

The arrogance vanished.

His expression became something I had never seen before.

Shock.

His lips parted.

“Is she...?”

I said nothing.

His eyes moved back to mine.

“Elara.”

My name sounded different coming from him.

Not like a threat.

Not like an accusation.

Like something he'd spent years trying to find.

He stepped closer.

I instinctively stepped back.

His jaw tightened.

“Don't.”

“Stay away from us.”

His eyes returned to the child.

“Who is she?”

I swallowed.

My arms tightened around Lyra.

“She's my daughter.”

Kael stared at me.

Then at her.

Something flickered across his face.

A realization.

A terrible, devastating realization.

His voice came out barely above a whisper.

“She's mine.”

I couldn't answer.

I didn't need to.

Her silver-gray eyes were enough.

Kael took another step forward.

For the first time in my life, I saw the most powerful man I knew look completely helpless.

“You had my child.”

I looked away.

“You were never supposed to know.”

His expression hardened.

“Five years.”

His voice trembled with anger.

“Five years, Elara.”

I closed my eyes.

“I had to leave.”

“Why?”

Because you married me for revenge.

Because I loved you.

Because you broke my heart.

Because I was terrified you'd take my daughter away.

Because I couldn't let you destroy us the way you destroyed me.

But only one sentence escaped my lips.

“Because I was afraid of what you would do when you found out.”

Silence.

Then Kael looked at our daughter again.

His daughter.

The little girl he had never held.

Never watched grow.

Never heard call him father.

His voice broke when he spoke.

“You should have told me.”

A tear slipped down my cheek.

“You gave me a reason not to.”

His eyes met mine.

And for the first time, I saw regret.

Real regret.

Not the cold Alpha.

Not the ruthless husband.

Not the man who married me for revenge.

Just Kael.

The man I once loved.

The man I never truly stopped loving.

He stepped closer.

I stepped back.

But this time, he didn't chase me.

He simply looked at me.

At our daughter.

At the life he had missed.

And I knew something had changed.

The contract was over.

The revenge was over.

The running was over.

But our story?

Our story had never really ended.

Because five years ago, I became the Alpha's wife.

Five years ago, I fell in love with my enemy.

And five years ago, I ran away carrying his greatest secret.

Now... the Alpha had found us.

And this time, there was nowhere left for me to run.