Chapter 1

Eleanor Winslow's POV

I was the only daughter of the Alpha of the Moonveil Pack, and its future Luna.

My mother died when I was young, leaving my father to shoulder the responsibility of leading the entire pack alone. His greatest fear had always been that everything he built would crumble after he was gone.

So when I was five, he personally selected two young werewolves and brought them to our estate.

To everyone else, they were his adopted sons. Only the three of us knew the truth.

They were candidates to become my future mates—Elliot Hawthorne and Leon Blackwood.

Elliot was all warmth and fire. He would stand in line for two hours just to buy my favorite orange souffle, then tuck the box inside his coat to keep it warm on the way home. By the time he placed it in my hands, the top would still be soft and airy, as though it had just come out of the oven.

Leon was the complete opposite. He was cold, distant, and impossible to approach.

We lived under the same roof for ten years, yet whenever he saw me, he could barely be bothered to look my way. If I tried to start a conversation, he would simply turn around and leave.

There was only one exception.

I happened to be blocking the hallway, and for once, he actually spoke to me.

"Move. You're in my way."

So when Father called me into his study and asked if I had made my choice, I barely had to think about it.

"I choose Elliot."

I had never once doubted how Elliot felt about me.

How could I?

He remembered every little habit of mine, even things I barely noticed myself.

"I remember everything Eleanor likes," he would say with a smile.

Every smile, every thoughtful gesture, every time he sought me out seemed to carry the same unmistakable devotion.

Elliot's affection had always felt as certain as the sun rising each morning.

I never imagined there could come a day when I would have reason to question it.

As for Leon, I didn't give him a second thought.

The engagement banquet was set for two days from now. By pack tradition, I would choose my mate in front of everyone and place my family's crest ring on his finger. Once I made my choice, our futures would be bound together. There would be no taking it back.

Before the banquet, I wanted Elliot to hear my answer from me.

So that evening, I slipped the ring into my palm and went looking for him.

But just as I reached his room, I heard Vivian Bellamy's voice from inside.

Vivian was the daughter of one of our maids, Martha Ashlock. She was my age and had grown up on the estate alongside us.

She had an innocent face and a sweet smile for everyone she met.

I used to think of her as the little sister I'd never had.

It wasn't until much later that I realized every one of Vivian's smiles came at a cost to me.

When we were children, she once stood behind me and pushed me on the swing.

"Ms. Eleanor likes going higher," she'd said cheerfully.

I kept begging her to stop, but she only pushed harder.

Eventually, I flew off the swing and split my forehead open. Blood was running down my face, but Vivian burst into tears so loudly that everyone rushed over to comfort her.

She was frightened, they said.

Meanwhile, I was left sitting alone on the grass with blood dripping down my face.

Years later, Vivian brought me a cup of hot tea when I was on my period. Not long after I drank it, my throat began to swell, and I could barely breathe.

When Father demanded an explanation, Vivian stood before him with tears in her eyes. "I only wanted to help Ms. Eleanor feel better. I just added a little ginger."

She made it sound like an innocent mistake—except Vivian had known since we were children that I was allergic to ginger.

Now, Vivian's tearful voice drifted through Elliot's half-open door, soft and wounded.

"Just hold on a little longer. Once I become Alpha, you'll be the only mistress of this estate."

His deep voice was warm and tender, the way a man might soothe the most precious person in his world.

I stopped dead.

Cold crept through me, starting at my fingertips.

"Everything Eleanor has put you through, I'll make her pay back tenfold."

I instinctively took a step back, my shoe making the faintest sound against the floor.

No one noticed.

Because another voice came from inside the room.

It was Leon; the tenderness in his voice sent a chill down my spine.

"That useless little princess? Even looking at her disgusts me. You're the only she-wolf I'll ever accept as my mate, Vivian."

My mind went blank.

My fingers curled around the crest ring without me even realizing it. Its metal edge dug painfully into my palm, but I barely felt it.

All this time, I had believed Elliot's love was as certain as the sunrise.

I was wrong.

Even the sun could fall from the sky.