Chapter 2

"True feelings?"

Over the phone, I let out a bleak, cold laugh.

"Maya, did you forget how I ended up by his side?"

I was a low-ranking half-breed.

And Chloe was my half-sister, the high and mighty pureblood Alpha heiress.

She was as dazzling as the sun, and Sterling's fated mate.

Seven years ago, Chloe's throat was ripped out in a rogue attack.

That day, the supreme Alpha who controlled the entire North aged ten years in an instant.

My family needed the territory alliance.

So, they threatened my mother's life.

They boxed me up like a cheap prize and shoved me at Sterling.

When I first arrived by his side, I walked on eggshells.

I was terrified of being kicked out. I was even more terrified that my mother, controlled by the family, would be killed because of it.

I started wearing the white dresses Chloe loved. I sprayed her favorite rose perfume. I even poorly imitated her spoiled tone.

Until one day, Sterling slammed me against the wall in the Packhouse hallway.

His tall body pressed me hard. His strong thigh pushed between my legs.

The overwhelming aura of a supreme Alpha made it almost impossible for me to breathe. His intense pheromones made me tremble all over.

His fingers pinched my chin hard, forcing me to look up.

"Stop acting, Harper. You are not her. This imitation of yours only disgusts me."

I squeezed my eyes shut in terror, thinking I was dead.

But the next second, he let go. He smoothed out my messy collar.

He looked down at me, his tone returning to its usual gentle cruelty.

"Be yourself. Stay, and be a proper mate. But I will never love you."

For that single word "stay," I suppressed my true nature and stayed with him for seven full years.

For these seven years, I was like a soulless puppet, perfectly fulfilling the duties of a fiancée.

Until I got the acceptance letter from the High Design Academy in Halo City.

That was the first time in my life I wanted to live for myself.

Holding my ticket and waiting to board at the airport, I thought I had completely let him go.

But just as the final boarding call echoed through the speakers, a tall figure savagely broke through the gate.

It was Sterling.

The usually arrogant Alpha wasn't even wearing his suit jacket. His tie was pulled loose and crooked.

With red-rimmed eyes, he yanked me fiercely into his burning embrace.

"Don't go, Harper. Please."

He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his voice hoarse, even choking back a sob.

"If you leave, my world will be completely empty. I thought I would never love again in this life, but I found out I've unknowingly fallen in love with you. I can't lose someone again."

He cupped my face and kissed me hard.

That kiss was full of an Alpha's feverish, desperate, and intense possessiveness.

He pried my teeth apart, brutally ravaging my breath, as if wanting to devour me whole.

For someone like me, who grew up starved of love, that kiss and that confession were deadly poison.

I fell for it.

I tore up my ticket to freedom, gave up my studies, and stayed behind heart and soul, ready to become his Luna.

"But Maya, it was all fake."

Sitting in the SUV, my tears finally broke like a dam, smashing against the back of my hand.

"Last month, I moved into the master bedroom on the top floor of the Alpha estate. He was taking a shower, and his safe wasn't fully locked."

On the other end of the phone, Maya held her breath.

"Inside was a dark leather diary." I gritted my teeth, my voice shaking. "Every page was packed with one name. Chloe."

I would never forget the words I read that day.

They were like sharp razor blades, slicing away my pitiful remaining pride until nothing was left.

He wrote in the diary:

The elders want me married. I only agreed because the half-breed has your eyes. Chloe, I wish you would tear me apart in my sleep. Just so I could see you again.

And the handwriting on the last page was so deep it almost pierced the paper, as if written in blood.

[Chloe, I promise you. No matter who stands beside me as Luna, my soul and my body will forever remain loyal to you alone.]

The date it was signed... was the exact night he tearfully begged me to stay at the airport.

Maya gasped over the phone, too shocked to say a word.

How cruel.

His vulnerability and tears at the airport. His feverish, deep kiss in front of everyone.

It was all just to fill the void after losing his first love.

He used the most affectionate disguise to tie me, his useful stand-in, firmly to his side.

"I tried to lie to myself."

I clutched the fabric over my chest tightly, as if that was the only way to ease the ripping pain in my heart.

"The day I found the diary, I spent the whole night mentally preparing myself. I told myself, as long as he doesn't kick me out, as long as he's still willing to pretend to love me, I can pretend nothing happened."

Even if he kept the necklace with Chloe's lingering scent close to his heart, I could turn a blind eye.

I closed my eyes.

In the fitting room, his heavy panting roared in my ears again.

His burning body heat, his large hands gripping my waist, his fangs piercing the skin of my artery...

"But today..." I choked back a sob, almost grinding my teeth to dust.

"When he pinned me in front of the mirror... forcefully claiming me... and in his passion, he moaned Chloe's name..."

I took a deep breath and violently wiped the tears from my face.

"I realized I just can't do it."