CHAPTER 1

IVY’S POV

I came home early because I forgot my necklace.

The charity gala I had organized was still going on, but I could not stand there without my mother’s necklace, so I drove back to the pack house to get it.

The house was strangely quiet when I entered. Too quiet.

Then I started walking up the huge staircase quietly. The steps was dark and the only light shining in the hall was from the moon above.

Then I heard it.

A soft sound. From upstairs and I stopped.

I heard it again. A breathy moan.

My heart began to beat faster, but I told myself I was just imagining things and kept walking.

Then I head a giggle. A woman’s giggle.

My heart stopped and I froze.

The sound was coming from my bedroom. From the room I shared with my mate. My husband.

I changed direction as my feet moved on their own and walked towards the sound.

I met the door opened a little. Just a crack and peeped through.

Rays of moonlights slipped through the curtains inside. I could see shadows moving. Two shadows. Tangled together in the sheets I picked out this morning.

I heard the bed creaked and there was another moan. But this time, I heard a man’s voice. Deep and familiar.

Damon. My husband.

My hands began to shake terrible and quietly, I pushed the door open.

The moonlight rays was on their faces, so I could see them clearly.

Damon was on top of a woman. A woman with blonde hair spread across my pillow with her bare shoulders against my sheets and her arms wrapped around his neck.

I could not see her face at first. Only her hair and her skin.

The air was thick with the scent of their lovemaking and something else….some that told me this was not the first time.

“Damon?” I managed to get whisper croakingly.

He turned and looked at me with his dark eyes that was filled with passion, and for a second, I saw guilt. Then it vanished.

“You are back early.” He said flatly in a cold manner like I was the one who did something wrong.

The woman underneath him lifted her head to look at me and smiled.

Then I saw her face.

Serena.

The woman he swore that he had forgotten. The woman he had said meant nothing to him. The woman who left him years ago.

And here she was. Naked on my bed.

“Oh, Ivy.” She said softly with an evil smile on her face. “I am sorry you had to see this.”

Sorry? She was not sorry.

“Get out of my bed.” I said shakily.

She did not move. “Ivy, please. Let us talk calmly.”

“Calmly?” I laughed coldly. “You are in my bed with my husband. And you want me to be calm?”

Damon sat up and ran a hand through his hair and barked angrily, “Lower your voice. You will wake Miles.”

Miles.

My son. My baby.

I opened my mouth to scream, but I heard something else.

I heard small footsteps running down the hallway.

No. Please. No.

“Miles!” I called out in panic. “Stay in your room!”

But it was too late.

My five year old son ran through the doorway. His little feet carried him past me. Straight to the bed. Straight to Serena.

“Mummy! I found you!”

He happily climbed unto the mattress and wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, then he pressed his face into her bare shoulder like he had done it

“Mommy, you promised we would play!”

My whole world tilted before my eyes.

Mommy. He called her Mommy.

I staggered and help the door frame to support my weight from falling.

“Miles.” I croaked out terrified. “Come here. Now.”

He looked at me and blinked in confusion. Then he said in a small voice. “But I am playing with Mommy.”

“She is not your mother.” I shrieked shakily as hot tears trickled down my cheeks. “I am your mother, Miles. I gave birth to you. I raised you. Come here now.”

He dropped his face to look at his knees with tears gathering in his eyes. He did not understand why I was yelling.

Serena stroked his hair gently, like she had done it a thousand times.

“It is okay, baby. Mommy is here. Ivy is just upset.”

Baby. Mommy. Ivy.

She was erasing me. Right in front of my eyes.

Samon got out of bed and pulled on his pants. Then he stared at me and said angrily, “Ivy, you are scaring him.”

“I am scaring him?” I laughed coldly. “She is in our bed. She is naked in our bed. She is calling herself his mother. And I am the one scaring him?”

Serena shifted Miles on her hip. She looked at me with soft eyes. With fake pity.

“I never meant to hurt you, Ivy. I just wanted to be close to Miles. He is such a sweet boy.”

“How long?” I asked quietly. “How long have you been coming here?”

Damon clenched his jaw and replied flatly. “Months. She missed him and I let her visit.”

“Months.” I gasped and pressed my hands to my chest. “You let another woman raise my son for months? Behind my back?”

“She is not raising him.” He said flatly. “She visits. Plays with him. You are still his mother.”

Still his mother. Like I should be grateful.

Miles tugged Serena’s hair and said softly, “Mommy can we play now? You promised.”

Serena kissed his forehead and replied lovingly, “Ofcourse, baby. Go pick out a toy. Mommy will be right there.”

He happily slid off the bed and ran towards the door. Past me. Without raising his head up to glance at me. Without saying goodbye.

I stood there. In the doorway of my own bedroom. My son was gone. My husband stood nect to another woman.

Damon stepped closer to me and said calmly, “Ivy, you do not have to make this difficult.”

Difficult. I caught him in bed with another woman and watched my son call her Mommy. And I was the one making things difficult.

Serena slid off the bed and walked towards me, still wrapped in my favorite sheets.

“Ivy,” she said softly. “Damon and I are fated. We always were. You have to understand.”

Fated. The word no wolf can ever deny.

“But I do not want to take anything from you.” She continued in a fake sugary voice that made my stomach burn. “There is room for the both of us. If you just accept it.”

Both of us. She was red me to share. My husband. My son. My life.

I looked at her. At the woman who stole everything while I was not watching.

And something cracked insode me. But a new resolve began to take shape.

“No. I am not going anywhere.” I whispered. “No matter what you do.”

Damon blinked. “What?”

“I am staying,” I said defiantly and lifted my chin. “You want me to leave? You will have to throw me out.”

Then I turned and walked down the hallway. Past Miles room. Past the family photos. Past the life I thought I had.

I went straight to the guest room and closed the door behind me and locked it.

And for the first time in seven years, I let myself feel the cold truth.

I had been replaced. And I never even saw it coming.