Chapter 1

Karina POV

Through the half-open door of the Alpha's conference room, I watched my werewolf mate cheat on me.

He was tangled up with some blonde she-wolf. His fingers threaded through her hair. His lips pressed to her neck in that same way he used to kiss me.

I felt the sight in my gut—a tight, nauseating clench that had nothing to do with the physical agony of a broken mate bond, a pain my human body couldn't feel.

Eight years, just like that, they were gone, shattered in a single moment.

I was frozen there, my heels feeling like they'd been glued to the marble floor.

A nasty little voice in my head started laughing, mocking the naive human girl who thought she could hold a werewolf's heart forever.

My throat tightened and my stomach churned, but I shoved it all down.

After a moment that stretched into an eternity, I finally managed to lift my hand and knock.

"Come in," a deep, husky voice called—Edward's voice.

My knuckles went white around the edges of the files I was holding as I fought for control. If I let my composure crack for even a second, the other pack members would smell the panic on me.

Being the human wife of the Blood Moon Pack's Alpha had taught me one thing: how to build a fortress around my feelings.

I pushed the door open, plastered on a practiced smile, and walked right up to his desk.

I was careful not to breathe in too deeply. The last thing I wanted was her scent on him—the same one that had been clinging to our house for weeks.

"Busy?" I asked, keeping my tone light.

It was a stupid question.

I'd already set the files down right in front of him, open to the pages needing his signature, just playing the part of the perfect helpful wife, while my heart turned to a block of ice.

He'd just gotten back from Switzerland this morning and gone straight to the office.

His desk was already a disaster, and his handsome face was etched with a fatigue that I knew had nothing to do with work.

He didn't even glance at what he was signing; just scrawled his name across the bottom of each page.

"Thanks for handling this," he said, his eyes already drifting back to his monitor.

I gathered the signed papers, clutching them to my chest.

"Will you be home for dinner?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"Have plans," he muttered. "Don't wait up."

"All right," I said, turning away. "See you later."

The second my back was to him, the smile melted off my face, curdling into a sneer.

Every step toward the door felt like it was cracking the mask of the devoted Luna a little more.

As I passed the private lounge attached to his office, a soft thump from inside made me flinch, like someone small trying to move without being heard.

My eyes shot to the side, taking in the scene: snack wrappers littering the coffee table, a half-finished bubble tea, and a single pale pink high heel lying on its side, and just like that, whatever was left of my heart burned to ash.

The walk back to my office drained the very last of my strength.

I collapsed into my chair, letting out a long, shaky breath before pulling one specific document from the stack I was carrying—the divorce papers.

I flipped to the last page, my finger tracing the fresh ink of his signature.

It was a bitter sort of victory.

I could still hear him swearing I was his one true mate, chasing me all through high school, insisting the Moon Goddess had destined us for each other, human or not, and I could still see the sneer on his mother Victoria's face.

"Wolves may claim to mate for life," the elder Luna had warned me, "but an alpha will never be satisfied with just one woman, especially a human one."

I'd actually defended him.

"Edward is different," I'd insisted.

What an idiot I was.

He wasn't different at all.

He was just better at hiding it, sneaking around with some younger she-wolf and taking her on his business trips right under my nose.

I snapped a quick photo of his signature and sent it to Victoria with a simple message.

He signed it.

The deal was done.

A week ago, she'd offered me a quiet exit to avoid pack gossip over our secret marriage.

I'd countered with a demand for $10 million.

One more month, and Edward would be out of my life for good.

A sharp knock on the door jolted me from my thoughts.

I shoved the papers under a stack of ledgers, just as Daniel, Edward's beta, stepped inside.

"Come in," I called out.

A second too late.

"Luna Karina," he said, setting a dark green velvet box on my desk. "Alpha Edward asked me to give this to you."

I pried it open, feigning casual interest.

Inside was an obnoxiously expensive-looking diamond set, but all I saw was her—a girl with short hair, probably wearing nothing but a bathrobe, playfully dangling a necklace just like this one.

I imagined the messy sheets, the romantic lighting, the fresh kiss marks Edward had left on her skin.

Bile burned the back of my throat.

Just one more month.

I just had to survive one more month in this kingdom of lies.

Nothing was going to stop me from leaving.

"Thank you, Daniel," I said, my voice dangerously soft.

"The alpha picked it out himself," he added, his voice cracking slightly under my gaze. "It's one of a kind, unique."

Too bad his loyalty isn't, I thought.

The idea of wearing something he'd touched after being with her made my skin crawl.

I let a smile spread across my face, one that felt sharp enough to draw blood.

"How thoughtful!" I cooed. "Imagine finding time for jewelry shopping in between all those meetings and, well, his other appointments."

The sheer panic that rolled off him was almost satisfying.

He looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole, stammering some excuse as he scrambled out of my office.

They had no idea I knew.

Once he was gone, I stared down at the box, the diamonds looking like maggots crawling on velvet.

I grabbed my phone.

My fingers flew as I found the contact for Lux Resale Serena and sent her a photo.

I texted: "This set. Sell it now. Donate every penny to the Sunrise Pediatric Rehab Center."

Serena replied, "Estimated value is over $500,000. Are you sure?"

I wrote back, "The sight of it makes me sick. Get rid of it."

She responded, "Okay."

It was 5 o'clock, and I was making my way through the parking garage.

I had just reached my car and was pulling the door open when my gaze snagged on something a few rows over.

A sleek black SUV was idling, and through the tinted window, I could see Edward in the back seat.

Pressed right up against him was a girl with short hair, a sweet round face, and the kind of vibrant energy that my alpha mate apparently couldn't resist.

Tires shrieked across the concrete as his driver, Daniel, slammed on the brakes.

"Alpha Edward—"

His voice was pure panic, but it was too late.

Even through the glass, Edward's eyes found mine.

They flared, turning black with pure fury.

Mine just stared back, flat, dead, utterly empty.

The girl saw me too, but instead of pulling away, she doubled down, winding her arms around Edward's neck and whispering something that made her lips brush against his ear.

A burn, sharp as acid, seared my eyes.

Even our incomplete mate bond made his betrayal physical agony.

I knew exactly what she was doing.

This was a public challenge for my position as Luna.

I ripped my gaze away, slid into my car, and peeled out of the garage without looking back.

Every instinct screamed at me to march over there to confront them, to put her in her place.

But I wasn't a wolf.

I was just a human, and I'd been stupid enough to think forever with an alpha was actually possible.