Chapter 1: Broken Hearts & Bad Decisions

I should have known something was wrong when Marcus didn't answer my texts that morning. I should have turned around right there on his doorstep. But I didn't. I had chocolate croissants in my hand and a key he gave me six months ago.

The apartment was quiet. Too quiet. The bad kind of quiet.

I heard her laugh first. I knew that laugh. It was Sophie's laugh. My best friend.

I dropped the white bakery box. Marcus and Sophie were in his bed. Her red hair was all over his pillow.

"Della—" Marcus jumped up. He held the sheet around his waist. His face went white.

"This isn't what it looks like," Sophie said.

Really? What else could two naked people in a bed be doing?

"How long?" I asked.

"Baby, let me explain—"

"How. Long."

Marcus looked at the floor. "Two months."

Two months. We were planning a trip for our anniversary. We'd been together for three years. I thought we would get married.

I didn't wait to hear more. I just left. I ran to my car and I hated myself. I hated that I cared. I hated that I woke up at five in the morning to bake his favorite croissants.

I sat in my car and cried for twenty minutes. I cried so hard my eyes got puffy and I could barely see.

I couldn't go home. I didn't want to be alone in my empty apartment.

Club Moonlight wasn't expecting me. I only dance there on Fridays. But I needed the noise. I needed the lights. I needed to be someone else for a while. Someone who didn't just get cheated on.

Rico looked at my face and let me in. He didn't ask questions. He's good like that.

"North Pack's here tonight," he said quietly. "Just so you know."

I left my pack five years ago. I still get nervous around other wolves. But the club is safe. No pack owns it. That's why I picked it.

The dressing room was bright and loud. Makeup was everywhere. Maya's terrible pop music was playing. Someone's perfume was so strong it made my nose hurt.

"Della? You're not working tonight." Maya stopped putting on her mascara. She looked worried.

"I changed my mind." I sat down in my usual chair. I got out my costume. Red tonight.

Crystal was watching me in the mirror. "You okay?"

"I will be."

I wasn't ready to talk about it. If I said it out loud, it would be real.

The mask went on last. Red leather. It covers half my face. It makes me someone else. Behind it, I'm not Della Chen who owns a bakery. I'm just the dancer in the red mask. And she doesn't care about anything.

"Three shots of vodka," I told Jake at the bar.

He laughed. "You never drink before you dance."

"First time for everything."

The vodka burned my throat. Good. I wanted to feel something that wasn't heartbreak. My wolf body would burn it off fast anyway. That's one good thing about being a werewolf.

The stage lights were too bright. The music was too loud. I danced like I was angry. Like I wanted to get all the hurt out through my body. Usually I love dancing. Tonight I just felt stupid and used.

When I came back to the dressing room, Thomas was waiting for me.

"I need to talk to you." He looked nervous. Thomas is never nervous.

"If this is about the vodka—"

"Someone wants to meet you."

I took off my mask. I wiped the sweat off my face. "You know the rules. I don't meet customers."

"This isn't a customer." Thomas was sweating now. "This is the owner. The club owner. He's an alpha, Della. And he asked for you."

Everything felt wrong. "What do you mean, owner? I thought no pack owns this club."

"No pack does. But he owns it. He's always owned it. Shadow Moon Pack."

Shadow Moon. The biggest pack in the west. I spent five years hiding from them. And now their alpha wanted to meet me.

I should have said no. I should have grabbed my stuff and run out the back door. But alphas don't ask. They tell you what to do, but they make it sound nice. And I worked too hard on my human life to mess it up now.

"Where?"

"Private room in the back. You don't have to—"

"I'll go."

The room was dark. He stood by the window. He didn't move. Like a hunter watching prey.

When he turned around, I forgot how to breathe.

He wore a mask too. Black. It looked expensive. But even with half his face covered, I could see he was beautiful. The dangerous kind of beautiful. Sharp jaw. Big shoulders. A suit that cost a lot of money. And his eyes.

Silver. Bright. Looking right at me like he could see everything.

The power coming off him made my wolf wake up. She hadn't done that in months. She was responding to him before I could stop her.

"Dance with me," he said. His voice did something weird to my stomach.

For just a second, his eyes turned gold. Wolf eyes. He knew what I was. Of course he knew. Wolves always know.

I should have been scared. I should have been looking for a way out.

Instead, I said, "Why?"

His mouth smiled a little. "Because I've been watching you dance for six months. Tonight you looked angry. Like you wanted to burn everything down." He stepped closer. "I thought you might want company."