Marked by the Alpha Who Mourns Another

"Relax, Harper. Give yourself to me."

Sterling's voice was terribly hoarse, mixed with a beastly low growl.

He pinned me hard against the full-length mirror in the fitting room.

His large, burning hands gripped my waist. The Alpha's strong chest pressed tightly against my back. The overwhelming aura of an apex predator completely wrapped around me.

His rough thumb rubbed hard against my spine, sending shivers down my body.

The moment he entered me, his sharp fangs pressed against the artery on my neck.

My coronation dress dropped to our ankles.

A half-million-dollar custom piece, ruined.

I tilted my head back, meeting his passion.

"You smell so sweet..." he panted heavily in my ear.

The next second, a name slipped from his lips.

"Chloe."

Those two syllables were like an ice-cold blade, stabbing ruthlessly into my heart.

Chloe. My half-sister, and his dead first love.

My blood froze instantly.

Everything stopped. I pushed him away.

The lust vanished from his eyes.

No guilt. No remorse.

He stepped back. He zipped his pants. He buttoned his shirt to the very top.

He was back to being the high and mighty, flawless pack Alpha.

He looked down at me, a gentle smile playing on his lips.

As if nothing had happened, he picked up the dress for me.

"You look perfect today, Harper. This dress suits you."

I stared at him, my nails digging deep into my palms.

"More beautiful than my sister?" My voice trembled.

Sterling's eyes darkened, carrying the absolute pressure of a dominant Alpha.

"Harper," he said softly, but without a single trace of love. "Tomorrow is the coronation. Don't bring up your sister. Be a good girl."

He was the one who brought her up first.

For the past seven years, as a low-ranking half-breed, I had always been "a good girl."

I suppressed my inner wolf, hid my claws, and carefully played the perfect stand-in.

I took a deep breath and forced my tears back.

The pack's exclusive tailor pushed the door open right then.

"Oh my Goddess! Miss Harper, you are absolutely the most beautiful and happiest Luna in the world!"

The tailor fawned over me, eagerly helping to lift the hem of the dress.

"A custom fee of half a million dollars! Alpha Sterling paid it without batting an eye! He spoils you rotten!"

I looked at my pale self in the mirror. The praise was incredibly ironic.

Sterling controlled the most profitable moonstone mines in the North. But he was reserved by nature and deeply hated extravagance.

During the three months of preparing for the ceremony, he warned me countless times. A Luna must be frugal, low-key, and never flashy.

But what about this dress?

The skirt weighed twenty pounds, hand-studded with ten thousand crushed diamonds. It was the absolute height of luxury.

This wasn't my style at all.

This was Chloe's favorite design.

He didn't throw down half a million dollars to spoil me.

He was just paying for the real Luna in his head.

I changed out of that heavy shell and stepped out of the studio.

The late autumn wind was freezing. It stung my face.

Sterling was leaning against his black SUV.

His head was down, a lit cigarette between his fingers. The pale blue smoke blurred his cold, handsome face.

My steps halted. My heart clenched hard.

Seven years ago, the day Chloe died in the rogue attack, he smoked in the snow all night.

Later, he broke his cigarettes in front of me. He swore to pull himself together for the pack. He would quit smoking entirely, and never let tobacco cover his natural, cold pine scent again.

It had been seven years since he last touched a cigarette.

But now, he broke his vow.

The faint embers flickered at his fingertips.

I wondered if he was reminiscing about the past again.

I didn't step forward to break this affectionate scene.

Only when his frown completely smoothed out did I walk back to his side.

"It's getting late. Let's head back to the territory. The elders are still waiting for us at the Packhouse."

The lighter clicked repeatedly in Sterling's hand.

After a brief silence, he let out a soft sigh.

"Let's go."

He resigned himself to it.

Marking a woman he didn't love, all for the pack's stability.

Getting into the car, Sterling habitually reached for his chest pocket.

His calm expression suddenly turned to sheer panic. He violently pushed the car door open and rushed back into the studio.

I guessed he was looking for the moonstone pendant he left in the changing room.

That was his and Chloe's love token. It even had a lock of Chloe's hair inside.

At the Full Moon Festival three years ago, he "burned" all of Chloe's belongings right in front of me.

He held my face and swore, "The mate bond has faded with the wind. For the rest of my long life, my mark will belong only to you."

It was all a lie.

He kept the hair carrying his sister's lingering scent close to his heart. He hid it day and night for three years.

My inner wolf let out a miserable whimper, then fell completely dead silent.

You can't compete with a ghost.

I took out my phone and tapped on my best friend Maya's chat.

Without any hesitation, I typed a line:

"Help me contact the High Design Academy in the neutral city of Halo. I'm leaving the North. The sooner the better."

Maya's messages blew up my phone.

"???"

"Harper, are you crazy?! Tomorrow is your Luna coronation!"

"You're giving up the Alpha who is about to fully mark you?"

"What about the pack alliance between our families?! Did Sterling bully you, or did he change his mind?!"

I looked at the jumping messages on the screen and forced a bitter smile.

Not really.

After all, his heart never belonged to me.

I explained to Maya what happened in the studio.

She immediately called me.

"Harper, you have to think this through."

"Your families have an alliance. Him missing his fated mate isn't exactly a dealbreaker."

"We've all seen how good he's been to you these past years. You can't doubt his true feelings over this one little thing."

I knew.

But the straw that broke the camel's back is never just one straw.

Just like my decision to sever the bond with Sterling wasn't just because of this one little thing.