Chapter 1

*Rylee*

On Friday evening, I was in the pack’s hotel working as a cleaner when my phone rang.

I held a mop in my right hand and reached for my phone to see who was calling. It was my best friend, Elizabeth Brown.

“Hey, Elizabeth. What’s up?” I asked. It was past 8 p.m. and the surroundings had turned dark.

“Hey, Rylee! Where are you?” Elizabeth asked, and I could hear the nervousness in her voice.

“Where else could I be? I’m in the pack’s hotel working as a cleaner, on the sixth floor,” I told her.

“Good. Come to the first floor. Nash is about to propose to another lady there.”

“What?!” I gasped. I felt the blood drain from my face.

Nash Cameron had been my boyfriend for five years. I supported him through college, believing that once he graduated he would marry me.

How could he do this to me? How could he betray me at the time I needed him most?

“You’re lying, Elizabeth. I cannot believe Nash would cheat on me. He loves me,” I told my best friend, unable to digest the idea.

I knew Nash and I were not true mates. But he loved me. He cared for me despite knowing I was an orphan in this pack.

“Rylee, I cannot lie to you. Hurry and come to the lobby now, unless you don’t want to crash this. I’m sending you a picture of the two of them.” Elizabeth quickly ended the call. My eyes widened in shock as the text notification appeared on my phone.

I looked at the phone screen and was shocked to see a picture of my boyfriend, Nash Cameron, on his knees. He wore a crisp white shirt, black trousers, and a pair of polished black shoes. His hands held a ring box as he proposed to the lady in front of him.

Tears welled in my eyes as I tried to look at the young woman’s face. She was younger than me. I am a 20-year-old woman. I didn’t have a wolf or a mate, but Nash promised to marry me despite knowing that. He had never had sex with me and said we would do it after he married me.

Little did I know he had lied to me and tricked me into giving him all my salary as a cleaner in this pack's hotel.

My teary eyes wouldn’t let me see the photo of the lady Nash had proposed to clearly.

I immediately let go of the mop and rushed into the elevator, heading down to the first floor to find out if the image was real or AI-generated.

When I reached the first floor, I saw many young people gathered, cheering for the lady to say yes. She looked so emotional, tears of joy welling in her eyes.

This was my boyfriend of five years, Nash Cameron. How could he do this to me?

“Nash!!” I yelled his name. The crowd that had gathered and been cheering parted to let me through.

“Nash, what’s the meaning of this? Why are you proposing to her and not me?” I asked, trying to contain my anger.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Why would he do this to me?

“Rylee, what are you doing here? Please wait. I will explain everything to you,” Nash said. He refused to get up from the floor. He was still holding the golden ring, waiting for the young woman to say yes.

I looked away from Nash's face to the young woman’s face and saw that she was our Beta’s daughter, Bella Harvey.

Nash’s yellow eyes glowed, confirming they were true mates. Bella screamed, “Yes, Nash. I will marry you and I accept you as my mate.”

My heart shattered. I couldn’t stand there like an idiot and keep watching them. I immediately ran and made my way to the second floor, where the club was.

“Rylee! Rylee!” I heard Nash’s voice as he rushed into the elevator to catch up with me.

“Let me go, Nash! What do you want from me again?” I asked, smacking his hands away when he tried to touch my arms.

“Rylee, I am so sorry. I always thought I had no mate. Bella just turned 18 and she is my true mate. You know I cannot reject her. It’s against our pack rules for mates to reject their true mate,” Nash tried to explain.

As soon as the elevator stopped, I told him in the coldest voice I could muster, “Get out! I do not want to ever see your face again. You lied to me. You used me. Didn’t your mother reject her true mate to marry her boyfriend? Why can’t you do the same?” Tears of betrayal filled my eyes.

“Rylee, you are aware that my grandfather cut ties with my mother because of that mistake. I thought I had no mate. I am sorry, Rylee. I am really sorry. Everyone in this pack knows that I love you. Please…” Nash tried to touch my face, but I smacked his hands away and stepped back.

“It’s over, Nash. Completely over! Stay away from me and go back to your true mate!” I turned away as tears flooded down my cheeks.

“I love you, Rylee. Please try to understand me!” Nash pleaded, but I moved away from him and went to the bartender for a drink.

The music in the club was loud, so many people might not have heard Nash.

My best friend, Elizabeth Brown, rushed into the bar of the pack hotel to find me.

“Rylee, what are you doing, trying to drink and drown yourself in alcohol? Come, let’s go home,” Elizabeth said, reaching to take the wine glass from me.

“Stay away from me, Elizabeth. I need this,” I cried, grabbing the bottle from her hands and chugging it instead of sipping from the glass.

“Rylee!” Elizabeth exclaimed. She knew I was an Omega, considered almost like a human because I had no wolf and no strength. But I smacked her hands away.

“Stay away from me, Elizabeth! What can you do to help me? Are you going to give me a new mate? You have your mate, Kelvin Owen. Do you know the agony that comes with being mateless at twenty?” I asked her in a loud voice despite the music booming in the club.

Elizabeth looked guilty and apologized. “I’m sorry, Rylee. I’m only looking out for you.”

“You’re not. Just get out and let me enjoy my night before I cut my friendship with you. When I need you, I’ll send for you,” I told her. She looked hurt by my words.

Elizabeth was an Omega, like me, so she couldn’t blame me for becoming harsh.

Five good years of dating Nash Cameron. I supported him even when his Alpha’s relatives refused to help him.

Nash’s mother was our Alpha’s first daughter, but she rejected her true mate for her boyfriend, who was a palace guard. Because of that sin, our Alpha sent her away from the palace. She had to live a hard life and could not provide for Nash’s college education.

I supported Nash throughout university, buying him handouts and covering several tuition payments even though I wasn’t a graduate. Yet he left me for his true mate. What has his true mate done for him?

Now Nash had graduated as the best in his class in cybersecurity. And he chose another woman over me.

As I drank my liquor and ordered another bottle, my gaze landed on a pair of deep blue eyes watching me like a hawk.