Chapter 1

Damon paused, his gaze sweeping over my collar and wrists.

A trace of mockery flashed through his eyes.

"What's with the proud act? After all these years, you're still nothing more than a packless rogue."

I froze for a moment before realizing what he meant.

When Kieran and I became mates, we hadn't held a public ceremony. We had only exchanged our vows before a priest.

I had always preferred to keep a low profile, so outside the Frostmoon Pack, very few people knew that I was the Luna Queen.

Even today, I wasn't wearing a single insignia that identified my pack.

I hadn't wanted to make a spectacle of arriving with an entire escort either, so I had come to the celebration alone ahead of them.

Which meant that, in Damon's eyes, I was still just a rogue with no pack to call my own.

"You made such a scene when you left back then."

He lifted his chin slightly. "Regretting it now? Too late."

He pointed toward Vivian in the distance.

"Greyrock already has a new Luna and an heir of its own."

I followed his gaze.

Vivian was holding a one-month-old pup in her arms, with two attendants standing behind her.

For a brief moment, I found myself lost in thought.

Vivian had once been the friend I trusted most, the woman I had always imagined would be my maid of honor one day.

Yet she had betrayed me with Damon.

When I confronted him back then, Damon had answered as though what he'd done was perfectly reasonable.

"Vivian's father can fund my bid for Alpha. Can you?"

"Evelyn, stop making a scene. I'll mark Vivian, but I can still make room for you in my bed."

Blinded by rage, I had slapped Damon across the face in front of everyone.

That same day, I left the Greyrock Pack and ended things with him for good.

"Damon?"

Vivian's voice pulled me back to the present.

Dressed in an elaborate gown, she frowned slightly as she stared at Damon.

"Why did you let her in?"

Damon's expression darkened.

"Don't start, Vivian."

Vivian pressed her lips together, then swept her long hair aside, deliberately revealing the mate mark on the side of her neck.

As though she was afraid I might miss it.

I smiled.

"You two seem happy. Congratulations."

Damon's body swayed almost imperceptibly.

"Evelyn, stop pretending you're so calm. Didn't you come back because you wanted to see Vivian and me miserable? Sorry to disappoint you. I became Alpha, while you're still nothing but a rogue."

Vivian immediately chimed in.

"Couldn't make it out there on your own, so you came crawling back to us for help?"

Muffled laughter rippled through the banquet hall.

"After the scene she made back then, I thought she actually had some pride."

"Five years later, and she still came crawling back to beg them to take her in."

"If it were me, I'd already be on my knees apologizing. I certainly wouldn't keep the Alpha waiting."

Listening to them, I couldn't even be bothered to argue.

Kieran would be here in half an hour.

I couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces then.

"Since you've come back to beg me, I won't leave you with nowhere to go."

Damon spoke with the condescending pity of someone offering charity.

"If you really have nowhere else to stay, you can remain here and take care of our pup."

Vivian frowned as she looked me over.

"Who knows if someone as clumsy as her can even manage that?"

I looked at the pup in Vivian's arms and answered calmly.

"Sorry. I'm not interested."