Chapter 1

My mate, the Alpha heir Nolan, chose a rogue over me, days before our mating ceremony. But he still wants my power. He still expects me to sacrifice myself for the pack.

Nolan brought that rogue, Skylar, home with him. But the Moon Goddess Festival still needed me, the future Luna, to lead it.

“Pack members, tonight we—”

“Enough.”

Nolan’s voice slashed through my blessing.

The great hall fell dead silent. Hundreds of pairs of wolf eyes darted between me and him.

I stood on the high platform, the parchment in my hand trembling.

But I forced my spine straight.

“ I weren’t finished, Nolan,” I said. I fought to keep my voice steady, betraying nothing.

He rose to his feet. Every step he took toward me was a crushing wave of Alpha power. A predator stalking his prey.

“I’m sick of these empty, hollow words.” His eyes blazed with a manic fire. “The ancestors’ glory? Traditional virtues? That’s all talk for the weak!”

Behind him, Skylar let out a low, mocking purr. It was the sound of a predator toying with its food, dripping with contempt.

“Look at you, all you so-called nobles.” Nolan’s gaze swept over the crowd before landing on me, sharp and piercing as a shard of ice. Contempt dripped from his every glance. “Always talking about bloodlines. But what do you have besides your titles? Who here has actually torn out an enemy’s throat with their own claws?”

A few young she-wolves lowered their heads in shame.

“Nolan, watch your words,” Alpha King Magnus, his father, spoke slowly from the head table.

His voice held an authority that could not be questioned.

But Nolan completely ignored him.

“Father, let me introduce you to a real warrior.” He yanked Skylar forward. “She’s killed thirty-seven enemies with her bare hands. Fifteen of them? She tore their throats out with her teeth.”

Skylar ran her tongue over her crimson lips.

The move was wild, a raw, primal temptation.

“Want to see what real strength looks like?” Her voice was husky and sexy.

It was a raw, carnal invitation that hooked its claws into the heart of every male wolf in the room.

The crowd began to stir, a low hum of whispers rising.

"Show us," Magnus’s voice was deep and final. "A demonstration. Now."

Two powerfully built guards were shoved forward. They tried to hide the fear on their faces, but their trembling limbs betrayed them.

Skylar slowly peeled off her cheap jacket, revealing a body coiled with lean, deadly muscle.

Her muscles gleamed under the moonlight, every curve a promise of deadly beauty.

“Begin,” Magnus ordered.

The first guard didn’t even have time to raise a defense. Skylar’s figure became a blur, lunging at him.

Her claws shot out, swiping across his chest.

Hot blood sprayed, staining the cold stone platform.

The second guard tried a sneak attack from behind, but Skylar didn’t even turn. A backward elbow strike caught him square in the face.

The sickening crack of breaking bone echoed through the hall.

In less than thirty seconds, both guards were on the ground, groaning in pain, their will to fight broken.

Skylar stood in a small pool of blood, her chest heaving. She looked at Nolan, her eyes filled with a raw mix of desire and submission.

Nolan’s pupils dilated, his breathing grew heavy.

The sight of blood and violence sent a wave of raw lust through him. His scent soured with raw, undisguised lust.

“This,” he said, his voice hoarse with lust, “is what a real Luna should be. This is the kind of power that can stand with me.”

Magnus slowly rose. The hall was utterly silent.

“Nolan. You are the sole Alpha heir of the Silver Moon Pack. Remember who you are.”

Nolan looked at me.

I thought he would remember our upcoming ceremony. His promises to me under the moon.

But he walked straight to Magnus and dropped to one knee.

“Father, I ask for your permission.” His voice trembled with excitement. “Let me mate with Skylar. Make her my Luna. My only Luna.”

The hall fell silent again.

Every eye was on me—pity, scorn, and glee.

“I would give up my right as Alpha heir for her. I don’t care.”

Magnus’s face turned dark as a storm.

Just then, Skylar let out a heart-wrenching scream.

She pulled a silver dagger from her waist and pressed it to her own throat.

“No!” Large tears welled in her eyes, beautiful and heartbreaking. “I can’t be the reason you and your father fight! I can’t ruin your future!”

“Skylar, don’t!” Nolan lunged for her in a panic.

“I’d rather die than see you lose everything for me!”

Her performance was flawless.

Every trembling word struck a chord with the wolves in the crowd.

They were completely captivated by this drama of “sacrificial love.”

Nolan held her tight, then turned to Magnus, his eyes pleading.

“Father, there’s a way to have it all.” His gaze shifted to me, cold and calculating. “Skylar can be… my senior advisor. The Luna title… I can still leave that for Della.”

Gasps filled the room.

This was the ultimate humiliation.

The bond between an Alpha and his Luna is sacred.

The Mating Bond links our very souls, our power.

A Luna isn’t just the Alpha’s mate. She’s the soul of the pack.

And this “Senior Advisor” position?

It was unheard of. Just a fancy name for a publicly sanctioned mistress.

He was basically announcing to the entire pack that I, Della, his future Luna, was nothing more than a tool.

A broodmare to give him a bloodline and power.

And that his true soulmate, the one who would fight by his side, was this rogue.

He took my pride, my honor, and ground it to dust in that single moment.

The fury in Magnus’s eyes was so hot it could have burned me alive.

“How dare you—”

But Nolan cut him off.

Father and son locked eyes. For just a second.

But I saw the unspoken agreement between them.

Magnus wasn’t angry for me. H

e was furious that Nolan had been so crude, airing their filthy plan out in the open like that.

“Father!” he shouted, pointing at me, his voice twisted with a barely contained fury. “How much longer will we be held back by this so-called ‘pure bloodline’? The future of this pack belongs to the strong! Not to some woman’s blood! She needs to hand over the Heart of the Pack, now! And give control of the Dire Wolves back to the true Alpha!”