Chapter 1

Night had already fallen by the time we finally made it back to the territory.

Theodore Grayson hadn't said a single word to me the whole way back from the wilderness. Instead, he'd settled Marlene Smith and the pup, Edward Grayson, into a different car, like he was terrified I might get too close to them.

He helped Marlene out of the car with careful, gentle hands. When he noticed me watching, he shot me a look I couldn't quite read.

It was deep into the night, but a wolf's eyes didn't miss much in the dark. I caught every instinctive move he made to shield Marlene and that pup from me.

This was the same Alpha who'd once held me and promised, "It doesn't matter if we never have a pup, you'll always be my Luna."

Now, he looked at me like I was some kind of monster.

He asked his assistant, Leonard Hale, to take Edward into the house. Then he came to me, dropped his voice and warned, "Eleanor, because of you, Marlene has suffered enough out there these past few years. I need you to leave her alone.

"She's pregnant right now. She can't handle any more shocks. Don't make this hard on her. Be good to them. The Luna title is yours alone. No one's taking it from you."

I lowered my eyes and choked back the tears threatening to spill over. I'd been about to tell him I didn't want the Luna title anymore. That I didn't want any of it—not the title, not him, not the eight years we'd built together.

But then Marlene let out a soft, pained little whimper. He turned and walked straight to her without a second glance back at me.

She leaned into him weakly, her whole body pressed against his arm. She glanced back at me over her shoulder and smiled mockingly.

I'd never seen Theodore this frantic over anything. Not even the time I'd nearly died saving him from a pack of Rogues had rattled him like this.

I watched his back as he walked away and laughed until my eyes stung.

Before I even realized it, the tears had broken loose.

Eight years of love had shattered into dust in that one moment.

The gashes the Rogues had torn into my leg were still burning. He'd bandaged them himself, but all he'd said was, "You were too reckless." Nothing else. Not one word of concern.

I clenched my fists and limped toward the house. No one helped me, so I was the last one to enter the house.

I was almost at the stairs when Marlene's voice rang out behind me, timid and small.

"Ms. Sinclair, if you're angry, take it out on me. But could you please stop fighting with Theodore about this?

"He says you're perfect in every way, it's just a shame you can't carry a pup. He couldn't bear to let you go. But he's an Alpha, and he has to leave an heir for the pack somehow. It's not his fault that I'm the one carrying his pup."

Her words were light as air, but they cut straight into my chest like a blade.

I stopped and turned to look at her.

"It looks like someone's forgotten who knelt in front of me three years ago, begging for money and swearing she'd disappear forever.

"But not only did you break that promise, you kept crawling back to Theodore's side, over and over. Now that you've gotten exactly what you wanted, why bother putting on this innocent act in front of me?"

I didn't want to look at her a second longer. I turned to leave.

Marlene grabbed the pup beside her and dropped to her knees right in front of me. I stepped aside to avoid them, but she clamped down on Edward's wrist and forced the poor thing down onto its knees too. She sobbed and slammed her forehead against the ground over and over.

I froze. Something in me softened despite myself, and I bent down to pick up the hiccuping, crying pup.

That was when Marlene grabbed my sleeve and yanked hard.

My weakened body lost its balance under the pull, and I fell backward, my lower back slamming into the armrest.

A sharp, twisting pain shot through my stomach.

This was the pup I'd used up every last bit of luck just to conceive.

Deep inside me, that fragile thread of connection was slowly breaking.

The pain turned my face white. Even my fingertips were shaking.

Theodore came down from upstairs at some point, right in time to gather a sobbing, tear-stained Marlene into his arms.

She buried her face against his chest, her shoulders heaving.

"Theodore, don't blame Ms. Sinclair. It was my own fault. I wasn't careful..."

Theodore's expression turned to stone as he looked at me. Whatever warmth used to live in his eyes was long gone.

"Eleanor, is this really what it takes to satisfy you?"

I bit down on my lip, the pain too much to let me speak, and reached my trembling hand toward him.

"Theodore, please... don't walk away. I'm carrying your pup."

Theodore froze mid-step.