Chapter 1

"Chloe," I whispered, my voice trembling. "In three days, after the coronation… I need you to detonate a silver bomb."

Her eyes widened in horror.

"Aurora, are you insane? Silver? That's a death sentence!"

I held her terrified gaze. "You have the power to get me out during the blast. To make it look like I vanished without a trace. Everyone will think I'm dead."

“You’re the future Luna of the Black Moon Pack. Alaric's whole world. If you got so much as a paper cut, that madman would tear the North apart. Everyone says the Moon Goddess cursed him with a possessive madness, and you're his only cure."

A cure?

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

My stomach churned. I fought back the nausea and took a sip of lemonade.

"You said it yourself. That's just what 'everyone says'. He has a child with Rowena."

Chloe's eyes went wide, her face a mask of disbelief. "Even if he cheated, you can't fake your death! You're fated mates! The bond will let him feel that you're still alive!"

I looked at her and gave a broken, mocking smile.

"The mark he gave me was never real."

The air froze between us.

"What?"

"The fated pull between us was real. But the bond… he faked it all with a witch's potion." I pointed to the delicate crescent moon mark on my neck. "Including this."

The color drained from Chloe's face, but she fought to control her shock and came toward me.

"Aurora…" Her voice trembled. "That bastard! No wonder you didn't feel the bond snap when you found out he cheated!"

I nodded. "Now do you get it?"

Chloe clenched her jaw, her eyes blazing with fury. "Alright. I'm in. I'll go get everything ready. Let that son of a bitch think his mate is dead!"

As I watched her leave, I walked alone down the stone path back to the pack house, a wave of heartbreak washing over me.

Three years ago, I was just a rogue.

Worse, I was an Omega.

The bottom of the food chain. Easy prey.

Even after I managed to join a pack, I was given the worst jobs, ordered around by everyone.

Then one night, while gathering moonpetal herbs in the wilderness, I found Alaric. He was injured and unconscious.

The scent of his blood, mixed with the raw power radiating from him, made my inner wolf stir.

Fated mate.

I realized this man, as beautiful as a god, was the mate the Moon Goddess had chosen for me.

I used what little healing talent I had to save him.

The moment he opened his eyes, his golden gaze was filled with surprise, then a burning possessiveness.

"You're mine," he said.

The next day, he brought me back to the pack house and announced he was mating with me.

The entire council of Elders erupted.

"She's just an Omega!"

"Rowena is the perfect choice!"

"This will ruin our bloodline!"

But Alaric's power silenced the entire hall.

"She is the future Luna the Moon Goddess chose for me. Anyone who questions that, questions me."

I had my doubts.

Even as fated mates, the gap between our statuses was massive.

But Alaric's gentle pursuit made me fall for him completely.

He broke off his engagement to Rowena. He showed me every corner of the pack lands, telling me it would all be mine.

To make the pack accept me, he not only conquered three rival territories with brutal force, he also made a blood oath in front of all the Elders.

From that day forward, Omegas of the Black Moon Pack would receive the highest protection.

He abolished the ancient law forbidding Omegas from becoming Luna.

With his own power, he carved a bloody path for me to the Luna's throne.

I remember our mating night. He was so gentle.

"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered, his lips brushing my eyelids. "I promise to make the marking pure pleasure, not pain."

Everyone envied my journey from a nobody Omega to the future Luna.

Until… I found the hidden manor.

Rowena lived there. With her child.

Alaric's child.

My heart shattered. My wolf nearly broke.

But strangely, I never felt the legendary tearing sensation of a betrayed mate bond.

I went to a witch and learned the truth.

The mark was fake.

Our connection had been a lie from the very beginning.

Even though I was ready to leave, when I got back to the pack house, the anger and despair overwhelmed me. I collapsed in the great hall.

When I woke up, I was in our bedroom.

Alaric was sitting by the bed, his eyes full of worry and love.

"Aurora, you're awake." He took my hand. "The healer said you were just exhausted."

I stared at his face.

The face I had fallen for now looked like a stranger's.

I could feel his love for me, but I couldn't understand his betrayal.

He had rejected Rowena for me. When she bullied and tried to poison me, he stabbed her with a silver dagger and exiled her entire family.

And now he had a child with her.

"Why?" A tear slid down my cheek.

Alaric immediately leaned in, gently kissing the tear away.

"Baby, have you been working too hard with pack business?" His voice was thick with concern. "But I have some good news."

He squeezed my hand, his eyes shining with pure joy.

"Aurora, you're pregnant! And in three days, it's my Alpha coronation ceremony!"

"The Moon Goddess has given us an heir, right before my coronation... It's the perfect gift! The whole pack will be ecstatic for you!"