Chapter 1

"Sign it."

My face was a mask. I pushed the bond severance papers across the desk to my Alpha, Corbin. I'd already signed my part.

He looked up, confusion flickering in his golden eyes.

"Liana got back to the North last night," I said, my voice flat. "It's time. We need to break the bond."

Corbin froze for a second, then his usual arrogance clicked back into place. He signed his name on the Alpha line.

Just like every other time, the moment he signed, he put on that deceptively tender voice.

His promises always came with an expiration date. Good for exactly one month.

"One month. As soon as she's done with her pack business and leaves, we'll have the ceremony again."

I nodded.

No tears. No questions. None of the hysterics he was expecting.

The smile on his lips tightened. "You're... quiet today."

Corbin's brow furrowed. My silence annoyed him, and his Alpha power began to press down.

I just nodded again. "Hm."

But my hands didn't stop. With a heart-breaking efficiency, I folded my clothes, one by one, into my suitcase.

I brought less with me each time. What started as two large trunks was now a single carry-on.

Corbin always kept his word about the bonding ceremony. He was famous for it.

But we weren't mates.

We were business partners. Our contract was terminated and renewed on a strict schedule, signing papers labeled "Acceptance" and "Rejection." Two a year. I'd signed twelve so far.

I remembered his promise the first time we bonded. He swore he'd never betray me while we were mated.

And he didn't. Technically.

After all, once the bond was broken, he was free to be with whoever he wanted.

The price was my reputation. I became the disposable Luna. A running joke in all the Northern packs.

But my strange calm today seemed to throw him off. He was used to my hysterics, the memory of me screaming, nearly losing my mind from the pain of the bond breaking, burned into his mind.

He watched me pack, faster and more practiced than the last time. His voice was laced with annoyance.

"I could just sleep in the guest room this time…"

Click.

I snapped the lock on my suitcase shut, cutting him off.

"It doesn't matter," I interrupted. "The result is always the same. Besides, I've already told my friend I'm staying with her.”

His face darkened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I stopped and looked at him. "It means I won't be embarrassing myself at your company headquarters again."

Corbin's expression turned ugly. "That was because you—"

"Because I what?" I sneered. "Because I had the nerve to walk in on you and Liana?"

The memory was sharp as a blade.

It was after the second rejection. The pain of the broken bond drove me half-mad.

I’d swallowed my pride as an Alpha’s daughter and gotten a job as a low-level assistant in his company.

Just to catch his scent.

And then I saw them.

In the conference room. He had Liana pushed up against the desk, her legs wrapped around his waist.

His hand was up her skirt. She was moaning, satisfied.

Their scents were tangled together. They were seconds away from stripping each other naked.

"Corbin!" I threw the door open, my wolf snarling with rage.

They pulled apart.

Liana shyly fixed her dress. But my Alpha, my fated mate, looked at me like I had just desecrated a holy ritual.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice ice.

"I work here," I choked out.

"Corbin, who is she?" Liana asked, her voice trembling. As if she didn't know.

I lunged for her.

My wolf screamed, wanting to tear the woman to pieces.

Then his Alpha command crashed down on me like a mountain.

I hit the floor, hard. I heard my bones crack.

"My bond with Astrid is broken," he announced to the pack members who had rushed in. "No one will disrespect Liana."

The entire North laughed at the pathetic creature who clung to an Alpha who'd cast her aside.

"That was a misunderstanding," Corbin said now, his voice thin with guilt. "I was just comforting her—"

"Comforting her?" I zipped up my bag. "You were about to screw on a desk. You call that comforting?"

His face flushed red. "We weren't—"

"Weren't what? Fucking naked yet?" I dragged my suitcase to the door. "Too bad."

Corbin followed me, playing the part of the dutiful Alpha. "Where are you staying? Do you need me to arrange—"

"No need," I said without looking back. "I promise I won't interrupt your fun again."

He stopped at the door. "Next full moon," he reminded me. "Don't forget. The ceremony."

My hand was on the doorknob. A small, bitter laugh escaped me.

The next full moon.

"What a coincidence," I whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing." I pulled the door open. "Goodbye, my Alpha. Have fun."

The door slammed shut.

Ironic. The next full moon was the day I planned to leave him for good.