Chapter 1

TASHA

He slapped me across the face so hard that my ears rang.

"You'll pay for this," he hissed. "I swear to God, I'll kill you for hurting her."

I touched my burning cheek, shocked. "Kirk... she's faking-" 

"Shut up! Guards, seize her!" 

I'd slapped her because she'd made fun of my miscarriage, but she fell to the ground like I had knocked her unconscious. She screamed and cried and rolled around like she was dying. 

When my husband ran in and saw her on the floor, he'd come straight for me without questioning anything, eyes full of rage. 

And that's how my life fell apart. 

He had me arrested and locked up right after. A week later, I was in court, facing one year in a mental asylum because apparently, the report file said Violet had suffered "blunt head trauma" causing seizures and loss of consciousness. And not just that, he'd made someone plant drugs in my room to prove that I was really mentally unstable.

A year later, I squinted as the blinding lights of the morning sun hit my face the moment as I slowly stepped through the heavy doors of the mental health unit, clutching the small plastic bag that contained my clothes, looking for him. 

My mate, My husband. My Alpha.

Kirk.

I soon spotted his tall figure, leaning against the black SUV with arms crossed over his perfectly sculpted chest. 

Tall, disgustingly handsome. 

He looked perfect, but he was a demon set loose from hell in the skin of an Alpha. 

His eyes didn't soften when they saw me, not even a little. If anything, he looked annoyed, because to him, I was now a burden. 

"Hi, Kirk." I whispered.

But he didn't say it back, instead he opened the car door with an expression that said he couldn't wait for this to be over.

I climbed into the passenger seat, my heart hammering inside my ears as he shut the door and walked around to the driver's side. He got in, started the engine, and didn't even look at me.

Not once.

"Don't even think about acting like you're fragile." He said flatly after several minutes. "You're trying too hard."

"I... I'm not acting," 

He snorted. "Sure."

I bit back a sob, looking down at my hands. 

Why did he think the worst of me for everything? 

If only he knew what I'd gone through inside that hellhole. 

During my time there, I slept with my back against the wall most nights, scared someone would stab me in my sleep. There were nights I cried so hard I couldn’t breathe. Nights I thought I'd die there. Nights I almost died. 

But I knew the answer. Kirk never loved or even saw me. 

Not truly. 

Not as the woman who gave up her dreams for him. Not as the woman who carried his child. Not as the woman who nursed him back to his health when he was paralysed and couldn't walk.

He used to say it plainly. "I don't love you, Tasha."

But I stayed. I stayed because I loved him, because I hoped he'd change. I stayed because of our son.

My throat tightened as the memories came rushing back.

I still vividly remembered the day everything changed a year ago. The way he pulled away from me without explanation.

"Kirk, did I do something?"

"No.” He'd always say. “Drop it."

He'd never explain. 

He'd sit there, pretending to read something on his phone , acting like I wasn't even in the room. And I'd sit there too, trying to think of what I did wrong, thinking if I worked harder, if I showed him more love, maybe he'd love me back.

Then Violet came back.

She was his first love. And she'd left him when he lost his ability to walk after his spine injury, the one who'd abandoned him when he was done, yet somehow still mattered more to him than I ever did.

He drove in silence until we parked in front of the Pack house, then he finally spoke again. "Don't embarrass me today, understand?"

I nodded, my throat tight. "...Okay."

"You're doing it again," he snapped.

"Doing what?"

"Pretending. Acting weak. Stop it."

I pressed my lips together. If only he knew. If only he had lived every single day in that place, he would understand why. But he didn't care, and he wouldn't care anyway. 

Inside the house, Violet was waiting in the living room, sitting on the couch like it was a throne. Perfect hair, legs crossed and eyes laden with fake pity.

"Oh, wow," she said, looking at me up and down. "You look worse than I expected."

I lowered my eyes. "Good morning, Violet."

"What was that?" She mocked. "Speak up. Or did the doctors forget to fix your brain?"

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Kirk's jaw tighten, already irritated. 

I whispered, scared I'd make him angry. "Please stop, Violet."

"Enough," Kirk barked.

I swallowed my tears and forced the words out. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I just... I want to see my son. Please."

Violet leaned back and sighed loudly. "Here we go again."

Kirk looked at me with clear disgust. "He'll be here soon. Try not to scare him."

My heart twisted painfully again. Kirk never, for once, brought him to see me while I was locked up. Did he miss me? Was he angry? Did he even remember me?

A few minutes later, our nanny finally walked in with him and the second I set my eyes on him, my breath caught. He was taller. Older. His hair was a little longer. That came with a wave of emotions because it made me realize just how much I'd missed him. 

"Baby," I whispered, stepping towards him.

But what happened next was so shocking. He looked away, like he didn't want to see me. 

Then he clung to our nanny's hand for a moment before he suddenly let go of her and hurriedly walked into Violet's open arms.

No.

I felt myself already shaking. But that wasn't the worst part, because right after that, he called Violet, "Mom,"

The word stabbed through my chest like a knife. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears.

“Tamrine!” I called him, but he wrapped his arms tighter around her, not even sparing me a glance.

My own child didn't even recognise me anymore?!

What the fuck. 

It felt like my whole world was crumbling.

"I'm your mother," I said weakly, already hyperventilating, walking towards them. "Sweetheart, I'm-"

But Kirk didn't let me take more than two steps. He grabbed my arm and growled. "Shut up. What do you think you're doing?"

I glanced back at Tamrine. Violet was now stroking his head and back, whispering into his ears.

Good Goddess, what had they done to my baby?

“I'm talking to you!” Kirk growled, before he grabbed my jaw and forced me to face him.

I stared at him, the trembling intensifying now. 

"She's not his mother.” I felt stupid explaining this to him. “I carried him, I-"

"Enough," he growled. "You're here for one thing and that's your duty as Luna. He's no longer your son, you crazy psycho bitch. You think I'll let you anywhere near my son again after you nearly killed Violet?"

My heart stopped beating. "What?"

Kirk looked at me like I was slow, it was a look of pure disgust and irritation. "You didn't think I brought you back because I wanted you here, did you? You're my mate. My Luna. This Pack needs a Luna."

I felt my skull implode in shock.

So that was it.

The only reason they dragged me out of that hellhole was so I could serve them again.

Not because my son needed me, or because anyone cared.

Just... duty.

I felt something inside me collapse. That thinning thread of hope that'd been holding me together snapped and every iota of hope I'd gathered in the past 1 year dwindled.

And the worst part?

I couldn't even leave him. 

Rejection from a mate like him could kill me. And I loved my son too much to risk never seeing him again.

Kirk released my arm and pointed toward the stairs. 

"Go get ready. The Blood Moon Ritual is tonight."