Chapter 1

The entire pack fell into stunned silence, every pair of eyes turning to Felix, their future Alpha.

Rejecting a fated mate, and doing so during an Alpha ceremony, was nothing short of blasphemy, a heresy against the Moon Goddess herself.
Felix’s smile froze mid-gesture, like frost cracking slowly across stone. He stared at me as if I’d completely lost my mind.

“You dare?” he growled, his Alpha command crashing down on me like thunder splitting the sky. The weight of it slammed into my chest, a force that had once been enough to shatter me entirely. My knees trembled, barely holding. The bond between us howled in protest, tearing at my wolf from the inside out.

I bit down hard, copper flooding my mouth, grounding me.

“I’m just setting you free,” I said quietly, forcing a small, brittle smile. “You and Bianca. I hope you’ll be very happy together.”

His expression darkened in an instant, storm clouds gathering behind his eyes. Bianca’s face drained of all color. Felix’s gaze snapped back to me, sharp and dangerous.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he barked, his voice rising.

But I had already turned away. The scent of them, thick with betrayal, coiled in my gut, turning my stomach until I could taste the bitterness of nausea in my throat.

“Stop,” he ordered, but I didn’t. I couldn’t.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

[I’m outside, waiting for you.]

I pushed open the heavy doors and stepped into the cool night air, not once looking back. Behind me, silence lingered, pierced only by shock, and the soundless roar of his rage.

For the first time in a long, long while, I didn’t care.

I had returned to Silver Lake three days before Felix’s Alpha ceremony. The very first thing I did was reach out quietly, through a trusted channel, to the Alpha of the Northern Pack: Aiden. The only one who had ever shown me real kindness in my previous life.

In that past life, Felix had locked me away during my first heat, leaving me in isolation while he marked Bianca as his mate. When the bond between us finally shattered and my wolf withered, he abandoned me like a broken thing, left to die, forgotten and alone.

Only one person came for me. Aiden, the Alpha of the North.

But this time, I didn’t wait to be rescued. I reached out first. I asked him to mark me. Yes, it was reckless. Yes, we had never even met in this life. But he agreed, without hesitation.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said.

I didn’t understand what he meant at the time. Still don’t. But I knew one thing for certain, he was my only chance. The only Alpha strong enough to stand against Silver Lake Pack. The only man who could truly free me from Felix.

The night air bit at my skin as I stepped outside. A sleek black car idled at the curb. Aiden stood beside it, tall and still, his figure bathed in moonlight. His chestnut hair ruffled gently in the wind, his posture calm but alert.

As soon as he saw me, he straightened and walked over. He smelled faintly of cedar, crisp, clean, grounding. The scent brushed softly against the ragged edges of my spirit, and for a moment, my wolf stirred, not in pain, not in fear, but in recognition.

“Are you alright?” he asked, voice low and steady, deep and smooth like velvet wrapped in steel.

I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could form the words, he reached out, not to grab, not to restrain, but simply to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

When his fingers brushed my skin, a jolt of something electric and undeniable surged through me, not pain, but pleasure, sharp and startling, deeper than instinct, more intense than any heat I’d ever experienced.

My wolf whimpered softly in delight.

This wasn’t forced. This wasn’t a bond imposed by fate.

This was real. The Moon Goddess’s true answer.

Aiden stepped back, the corners of his mouth curving into a faint smile as he took in my flushed cheeks, my wide eyes.

“Looks like you’re doing just fine,” he murmured.

My phone buzzed again.

[Riley, what the hell are you doing?]

[You really think there’s a better Alpha out there than me?]

[Who are you screwing out there, you disloyal little Omega?]

Bile rose in my throat. Without hesitation, I deleted every message.

Aiden glanced at the screen, but said nothing. Instead, he reached over and quietly opened the car door.

“Let’s go home,” he said.

And for the first time in my life, home didn’t sound like a lie.