Chapter 4

The next morning, Celeste arranged to meet me at a high-end private club.

This time, she didn't pretend not to know me.

“Aria, I recognized you the second I saw you at the headquarters yesterday.”

I stared at her, stunned.

She explained calmly, “I knew about you before Declan and I were mated. In our world, every powerful Alpha has a few lovers on the side. Declan is actually quite restrained. You’re his only one.”

“I’m not his lover! We’ve been together for seven years!” I shot back.

“What you are is irrelevant.”

Celeste scoffed, resting a hand on her belly. "I am carrying the heir. The Northern Pack has its future, and my father's clan has a powerful new ally. I wasn't going to bother with you, but then you overreached and made a scene at the Elder's Council. You forced my hand."

She pushed a non-disclosure agreement and a blank check across the table.

“Sign this, make a public apology, and leave the Northern Territory. You can fill in any amount you want on the check.”

Humiliated, I stood up to leave, but Celeste’s voice stopped me.

“Aria, you won’t survive in the North. If you change your mind, you know how to find me.”

Celeste was right.

After being rejected by the Council, my reputation as a "shameless mistress" was set in stone.

Finding a job to support myself was impossible.

I went to several medical clinics. My skills as a healer were more than enough for any position, but the moment they saw my name, their faces changed.

"Sorry, we're fully staffed."

"Miss Aria, we can't afford to offend the Luna. You should try somewhere else."

One clinic owner even mocked me. "Why does a mistress need a real job? Didn't your Alpha give you any money? Or can't you just find another wolf to keep you?"

News of my job search reached Declan.

He called again, his voice angry and impatient.

“Aria, how long are you going to keep embarrassing yourself? I offered you a job and you refused, just so you could be a laughingstock out there? Can you just stop?”

“Declan, do you also see me as your mistress?”

The cold northern wind cut like a knife against my skin.

Declan went silent. After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“Aria, I…”

I didn't want to hear his excuses. I hung up.

But then, a call came from my mother.

My reputation as a "homewrecker" had reached my home pack.

Her voice a heart-wrenching sob on the other end.

“Aria! How could you do this? Do you have any idea what this has done to your father and me?!”

“Your father’s old illness flared up from the stress! The doctors said only a ‘Moonheart’ herb can save him, but that’s a medicine only Alphas can get. Where are we supposed to find that…”

My mother's words knocked the air from my lungs.

As I stood there, lost, a few young wolf pups saw me and started yelling, “Homewrecker! Get the homewrecker!”

They started throwing small stones at me. I tried to dodge, but one hit my forehead. Blood trickled down, blurring my vision.

My hands trembling, I dialed the number.

The woman’s smug laugh echoed through the line. “So soon? I knew you’d come around.”

My voice was a raw whisper. “I’ll do it.”