Chapter One – The Day He Chose Her

Ifunanya07

The scent of roses and champagne clung to the air like a cruel reminder of what I’d just lost. My fingers tightened around the velvet box in my palm, the engagement ring Lucas had given me two weeks ago now digging into my skin like a mockery.

It was supposed to be our wedding day.

Instead, I was standing at the edge of the ballroom, watching him kiss another woman in front of the entire pack.

Clara Whitmore.

Daughter of the Alpha King. The perfect, polished prize every man dreamed of having on his arm.

She wasn’t just wearing the gown I had dreamed of—she was wearing my future.

Lucas didn’t even look guilty as he announced to the guests, “I’ve chosen Clara as my mate. The union between us will unite our packs and strengthen the kingdom.”

My throat burned. “And what about the mate bond?” I shouted, my voice echoing over the gasps in the crowd. “The bond you swore to honor, Lucas?”

He glanced at me, expression cold. “You were never enough for me, Emma. This is bigger than love. It’s about power.”

The crowd murmured, some looking away in shame, others grinning at the drama. But Lucas wasn’t finished humiliating me.

He walked toward me, lowering his voice just enough for only I could hear.

“You could still be mine… just not as my wife. I’d make you my mistress, Emma. Keep you hidden, spoiled, but mine. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

My blood boiled. “I’d rather—” I stopped, my pulse hammering as the words formed on my tongue. “I’d rather sleep with your father than ever let you touch me again.”

His smirk faltered.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. I didn’t care. My heart was pounding too hard, my rage too hot to notice anything but the shadow moving at the edge of the ballroom.

Adrian Blackthorn.

The Alpha King’s father. Lucas’s father.

And the most dangerous man in the kingdom.

He was taller than I remembered, his silver-streaked hair giving him a distinguished edge that only made his lethal beauty more intimidating. Those piercing grey eyes swept over me once, lingering just a moment too long before flicking to Lucas.

There was something in Adrian’s expression—interest, calculation, amusement.

And I realized, with a chill, that he had heard every single word I’d just said.

The music stopped. Clara was smiling like she’d won a war, but Lucas’s jaw was tight now, his eyes darting between me and the man whose approval he could never quite earn.

Adrian took a slow step forward, his gaze fixed on me. “Is that so?” His voice was deep, velvet over steel.

Every head in the room turned toward us.

“Yes,” I said, my chin lifting in defiance. “That’s exactly so.”

A slow smile curved his lips—dangerous, knowing, and far too seductive.

“Then perhaps,” he murmured, “we should talk.”

The ballroom went silent, the weight of his words pressing down like a storm about to break.

And in that moment, I knew two things:

Lucas had just made the biggest mistake of his life…

And Adrian Blackthorn was going to make sure I never forgot it.