CHAPTER 1

(Rylee's POV)

It was Friday evening. I was in the pack's hotel working as a cleaner when my phone rang out.

I held a mop in my right hand and reached out for my phone to see who was calling me. However, I saw that it was my best friend, Elizabeth Brown, who was on the line.

"Hey, Elizabeth. What's up?" I asked her because it was past 8 p.m. on the clock and the surroundings had turned dark.

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

"Where else could I be? I am in the pack's hotel working as a cleaner on the 6th floor," I told her, and she said, "Good. Come to the first floor. Nash is about to propose to another lady there."

"What?!" I gasped. I felt the blood drain out of my face.

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

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

"You are lying, Elizabeth. I cannot believe that Nash would cheat on me. He loves me," I told my best friend, as I could not digest the fact that Nash would cheat on me.

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

"Rylee, I cannot lie to you. Hurry up and come now to the lobby, unless you don't want to crash this. I am sending you a picture of the two of them now," Elizabeth quickly ended the call, and my eyes widened in shock as I got the text message notification on my phone.

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

Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to look at this young woman's face. She was younger than me. I was a twenty-year-old woman. I didn't have a wolf or a mate, but Nash promised to marry me despite knowing that I didn't have a wolf or a mate. He hadn't had sex with me and said that we would do it after he married me.

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

My teary eyes couldn't allow me to see the photo of the lady that Nash had proposed to.

I immediately let go of the mop as I rushed into the elevator and went down to the first floor to find out if this image was true or if it was AI-generated.

As I got to the first floor, I saw many youths had gathered, cheering for the lady to say yes as she was so emotional and tears of joy welled up in her eyes.

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

"Nash!!" I yelled his name, and the youths who had gathered and were cheering them parted ways for me to pass.

"Nash, what's the meaning of this? Why are you proposing to her and not me?" I asked Nash, 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, as he refused to get up from the floor. He was still holding onto the golden ring and waiting for the young woman to say yes to him.

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

Nash's yellow eyes glowed, and that confirmed to me that they were mates. Then 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 continue to watch them. I immediately ran away and made my way to the second floor, which was the club.

"Rylee! Rylee!" I heard Nash's voice as he rushed into the elevator to catch up with me.

"Let me go! What do you want from me again?" I asked him, as I smacked his hands away from touching my arms.

"Rylee, I am so sorry. I always thought that I had no mate. Bella just turned 18, and she happened to be my mate. You know that I cannot reject her. It's against our pack rules for mates to reject their fated mates," Nash tried to speak to me, but as soon as the elevator stopped, I told him with 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 mate to marry her boyfriend? Why can't you do the same?" I asked Nash as tears of betrayal filled my eyes.

"Rylee, you are aware that my grandfather cut ties with my mother because of this. 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 off and stepped away from him.

"It's over, Nash. Completely over! Stay away from me and go back to your fated mate!" I turned away from Nash 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 to have a drink.

The music in the club was loud, and so many might not hear Nash.

My best friend, Elizabeth Brown, rushed into the bar of this pack's hotel to meet me.

"Rylee, what are you doing trying to drink and drown yourself in alcohol? Come, let's go home," Elizabeth said, as she reached to take the wine glass from me.

"Stay away from me, Elizabeth. I need this," I cried as I grabbed the bottle from her hands and chugged it down instead of sipping it through the glass cup.

"Rylee!" Elizabeth exclaimed. She knew that I was an Omega and considered like a human because I had no wolf, no strength. But I smacked her hands off.

"Stay away from me! 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 Elizabeth with a loud voice despite the music booming in the club.

Elizabeth looked guilty, and she apologized, "I am sorry, Rylee. I am only looking out for you."

"You're not. Just get out and allow me to enjoy my night before I cut my friendship with you. When I need you, I will send for you," I told Elizabeth, and she appeared hurt by my words.

Elizabeth was an Omega too, like myself, and she could not blame me for becoming harsh with my words.

Five good years of dating Nash. 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 mate for her boyfriend, who was a palace guard. Because of this sin, our Alpha sent her away from the palace, and she had to live a hard life and could not provide for Nash's college education.

I supported Nash throughout his university, buying him handouts and paying several other tuition fees even though I wasn't a graduate. Yet he left me for his mate. What has his mate done for him?

Now, Nash had graduated as the best in his class of 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.