2. The Uncontrollable Desire

The moment Aria's phone buzzed, she snatched it up without hesitation. Her heart skipped a beat, and her breath caught in her throat.

A faint, almost invisible smile flickered on her lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

[Aria! This is Mom. It’s my friend’s number... mine’s in the car. I was out and heard from someone that you got into an accident. Are you okay? I’m so worried!]

Aria’s fingers trembled slightly as she typed her reply, forcing calm into each word.

“I’m alright, Mom. I just got home. Just some bruises, nothing serious. The car Dad gave me… it protected me. It saved me.”

[Oh, thank goodness! Forget the car, we’ll send you another one, a bigger one! We love you, sweetheart!]

Her mother’s words warmed her chest for a moment—a spark of love in a cold, quiet night.

Aria belonged to the Ironhide Pack, second in power only to the Sovereign Pack–The Lycan Alpha King’s Pack.

Her adoptive parents, the philanthropists adored across the territory, had raised her like royalty. From the day they took her in at age seven, they'd filled her world with happiness, showered her with love, pride, and joy.

But now… all that light seemed so far away.

Aria’s lips twitched, a half-smile escaping as she read the message again. The joy vanished just as quickly when her eyes drifted back to the silent dining table.

The untouched dishes.

The empty chair across from hers.

Reality hit her like a slap.

She blinked hard and whispered to the stillness, “Right… what was I expecting him to say?”

Dragging her feet across the cold floor, she sank into her chair. She didn’t bother calling for an omega to reheat her food. Why would she? Even the omegas didn’t look her in the eyes anymore.

Four years.

Four long years of marriage to Elliot, the Alpha of Crimson Claw Pack. Four years of slow erosion... of love, of respect, of herself. He had once pursued her like she was the air he breathed. Now, he treated her like an unwanted ghost in his home.

She could still remember his eyes back in college... Warm, determined, filled with fire.

He had been her sun, her protector, her miracle. He’d strummed love songs beneath her dorm room, held her hand through pain, and stepped in front of danger just to shield her from harm.

He miraculously arrived on time to block a high-speed ball that was about to hit Aria, protecting her.

It was that moment, she felt it…

The spark…

The pull…

The uncontrollable desire…

The undeniable connection of fated mates...

They had felt it both, they were mates!

Aria, who had always believed in love, had fallen hard.

When Aria married Elliot, the Crimson Claw Pack was scraping the bottom, dead last in the Federation's rankings. Elliot's father, the former Alpha, was all but invisible in the alliance’s meetings, and the pack’s name was a joke whispered behind hands and laughed at openly.

They were ridiculed, disregarded, and seen as nothing more than a crumbling house barely standing against the wind.

But then Aria arrived, bringing with her a dowry so vast it could have rebuilt the pack ten times over. There was no wedding. No ceremony beneath the Moon Goddess. No sacred vows or joyful celebrations. It was a silent, cold transaction wrapped in the guise of love.

Aria accepted it anyway, trading the fairytale she’d always dreamed of for practicality and purpose.

“I don’t care for grand things, love. All I need is you,” Elliot had whispered to her, cupping her face with soft lies. “Let’s not waste what little we have on noise and spectacle.”

And so, Aria became his unofficial Luna; recognized in duty, but not in name.

Still, she gave. Her dowry shored up the sinking finances. She rolled up her sleeves, took control of the pack’s businesses, managed alliances, and slowly stitched Crimson Claw’s torn reputation back together. With tireless devotion and unmatched acumen, she lifted the pack from ruin.

In just four short years, they had risen, climbing fifteen places in the Federation's ranks. From being the laughingstock of the alliance, Crimson Claw Pack now stood proud in third place.

And yet… even after all she sacrificed, she was still never truly theirs. Not as a wife. Not as a Luna. Just a woman who gave everything and was left with nothing.

But with every rise in their power, their marriage withered. Love turned to cold civility.

Civility to silence. And silence… into contempt.

Elliot now acted like she was an employee. A burden. An obligation.

The worst part? His silence gave everyone else permission to treat her the same.

She turned her head toward the window, the moonlight casting shadows across her features.

“What happened to us, Elliot?” she murmured to the night.

At times like this, she couldn’t help but wonder—was it her? Was she not enough? Or had he been pretending all along?

She didn’t cry. She had no tears left for this man. Just a dull ache where love used to be.

Finishing her cold dinner, she rose and walked the familiar path to her room. Not their room. Not the master bedroom.

That chapter ended a year after their union.

“Let’s have separate rooms. We see each other too much. Men need their space. I’ll miss you more that way,” he’d said.

And she believed him. She always tried to believe him. Because love meant trust. Love meant respect. Right?

But that respect cost her everything.

Now, the women of the elder's families whispered behind her back—mocked her, judged her.

A Luna without charm, without grace, without an heir.

“Take a concubine, Elliot! One who can give you a child—not that barren wife of yours!”

Her mother-in-law’s venomous voice still echoed in her mind, still clawed at her soul. It was a wound that never healed.

Dragging herself into the quiet room, Aria collapsed onto the bed. She opened her laptop, letting out a heavy sigh.

“I need to finish my work. My team counts on me.”

Her screen blinked to life, then was immediately overwhelmed by a flood of emails and messages. So many, it froze completely.

“Please let the accident today not ruin everything,” she whispered, massaging her temples.

While she waited for the device to restart, she sank back against the pillows, exhaustion pulling at her limbs. Her body ached, her soul ached even more.

The laptop finally rebooted, and an alert popped up in the corner of the screen.

A new email.

Urgent.

Marked High Priority.

But Aria’s eyes were already closed. She had gone to dreamland.

She dozed off. She didn’t see it.

She didn’t know that the message waiting in her inbox, quiet and unassuming, would soon tear her entire world apart.