Chapter 00001

The Sour Taste Of Rejection

Phil's POV:

In my head, I wanted Lucy and I to be together. I loved the woman she was, and I still do. The wild flame in her, the freedom that danced behind her eyes.

And damn, I admired the way she saw the world—so untamed, so open, so hers.

She once told me. “Phil, I love the man that you are. I do. The leader you want to become. The way you throw yourself in for the Pack…”

My heart latched onto those words, hungry for more. “Then be my woman, Lucy,” I remember saying, voice barely steady. “I glow brighter with you by my side. I bloom better with you in my corner.” I’d looked into her eyes, hoping—praying—that somewhere deep in there was a place where I belonged.

But Lucy… Lucy was never that kind of wolf. She wasn’t the settling type. She craved open air, the thrill of new territory. While I was building a legacy, she was chasing the wind.

“I can’t, Phil,” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. “There’s just too much on the line for me. I’ll be crushed by the weight of the responsibility.”

She touched my face gently. “Phil, you know me. We can only ever be this…”

“Only ever be this…”

Those words still echo every time I shift. It’s been two years, but that night never left me. The ache and the taste of rejection still lingered.

I heard about her about a year after that. Word came from the East—she’d been caught in the middle of a pack war.

Some misadventure or work, maybe. But it sounded like her. My first instinct was to say what I always said: “She can handle herself.” And she could.

Because she was strong, capable, and relentless.

But my rejection from Lucy wasn’t the only thing that haunted me. The Grand Pack Committee made sure of that.

“Find a Luna or forfeit your title.”

That was the ultimatum.

“But Ray, he’s only a growing child,” My mother said during the meeting. Always the mother hen, always my shield. She was a statutory member of the Committee, but even her influence couldn’t tip the scales.

“Oh, woman. This growing child will need to become a man soon.” My father, Ray Hammerstock said.

He was not only my father, he was also the Former Alpha and the head of the Committee. He was a Living, breathing proof of what discipline and leadership looked like.

His battle scars—over four hundred claw marks—were a constant reminder that leadership wasn’t given. It was earned. He wore them like medals.

While I just wore expectations like chains.

“What qualifies him more than all the victories and expansions he’s brought to this pack since he became Alpha?” My mother snapped back.

“What qualifies him more is a Luna,” Alexander cut in.

Alexander was an ancient, wise, and infuriatingly calm man. He’d seen three generations of Alphas come and go. So his words held weight.

“Alpha Phil needs a Luna.” He declared. “He needs an heir, he needs to know what fatherhood is. To raise a wolf, teach him to hunt.”

“And he cannot do this without a Luna,” My father added.

It didn’t matter how many battles I’d won or how many lands I’d claimed. Without a Luna, I was incomplete in their eyes.

That left me cornered. Because I had only Three weeks left on the Committee’s deadline. Which meant that there was no time to build a bond, and no room for mistakes.

That’s when she came into the picture—Cassie Alonso.

I’d never met her before, but the black market whispered her name with caution. And from what I heard, she was smart, greedy, and impossible to control.

“I have a niece,” She said with that velvet voice, watching me like a cat studying a cornered mouse.

“What about your niece?” I asked, trying to mask the desperation creeping into my voice.

“She fits the role because she won’t give you trouble. But…”

“But what?”

“She has a little anomaly,” She said. Of course, there was a catch. There’s always a catch.

“What anomaly? How can it be fixed?” I snapped. “Isn’t there anyone else in the pack?”

Desperation was choking me by then. My time was running out, and from what my contacts told me, Cassie’s niece was my best—and only—option.

“She hasn’t been able to wolf out since attaining full circle,” Cassie said.

Silence.

I should’ve walked away.

But I didn’t.

“I’ll have her like that,” I heard myself say. I didn’t even recognize the sound of my voice. Was it me talking? Or was it the pressure? The suffocating need to prove something to everyone? “I’ll have her for myself. As long as she can give me an heir.”

Cassie chuckled. That knowing smug chuckle made me want to punch a wall.

Another deal closed for her.

Another pawn moved on the board. She was marrying off her wolfless niece to the Alpha of the Black Diamond Pack. Probably already celebrating in her mind.

“You know where to drop the middleman f*e.” She asked and I nodded. “This is what she looks like,” She said, sending over a picture.

And damn it—she looked like Lucy. Same sharp eyes. Same dentition.

That small detail hit me harder than it should have. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe I was trying to convince myself she could be something she wasn’t.

Our first meeting was… ordinary.

“Hi, my name is Vera. I was told I’d meet you here,” She said, boldly.

I raised a brow, impressed but careful not to show it. This wasn’t romance, it was an arrangement.

“What would you have?” I asked, trying to take control of the moment.

“A dry martini,” She replied, like she belonged there. Like she belonged with me.

Vera, for someone who couldn’t shift, carried herself like a queen.

“Join me for a dance,” I said, extending my hand.

The moment our fingers touched, something surged through me. A spark—no, more than that.

Suddenly, the wolf stirred, then howled. “Mate!”

Fuck.

The word left my lips before I could stop it. The Moon Goddess, in her twisted ways, had paired me with a wolfless woman.

And I didn’t know what the hell to do with that.

She was meant to be a Luna for the show, an heir-giver, and a formality. But now?

She was my Second Chance Mate?