chapter 1

POV: Ivy Sterling

Today, I would finally reach two years of being the girlfriend of Mark, the Beta’s son, and the man the Moon Goddess chose as my mate.

“Today is the day!” I said

In fact, I planned to finally give my virginity to Mark and complete the mating. After all, he had promised me that exactly for our 2-year anniversary.

With a huge smile on my lips, I walked down the hallway of Mark’s apartment, clutching the engraved watch to my chest, a gift that had cost me three months of savings and sacrifices.

However, as I got closer to the apartment, soft jazz music floated from his room while my heart thrummed with an erratic strengt.

For a moment I smiled, imagining Mark waiting for me with that warm look he always reserved for his Omega.

But as I approached the door, the air changed.

A sweet, cloying scent, like rotten gardenias, hit my nose. I recognized that scent all too well, but... what was another woman’s essence doing in my boyfriend’s sanctuary?

With a somber expression, I walked toward the door and peeked in. At that moment, I felt like my heart almost flew out of my chest, leaving a bloody hole in its place.

“Oh, Mark... don’t stop,” a high-pitched moan, loaded with obscene pleasure, tore through the silence.

That voice. I knew it. It was Sienna, my best friend. The person I trusted most after him.

“You’re so fucking tight, Sienna,” Mark’s voice, husky and animalistic, pierced through me like an ice knife. “So much better than saintly Ivy.”

I froze. The mate bond in my chest, 그 bond that was supposed to be a blessing from the Moon Goddess, began to twist like a burning ember. I felt as if an invisible hand were ripping my lungs out from the inside.

For a moment, tears welled in my eyes, threatening to overflow my dignity, but I swallowed them with fire. I kicked the door with a loud bang. My eyes widened at the gruesome spectacle in front of me.

Mark was over Sienna, his large hands squeezing my best friend’s hips against the mattress I had helped choose myself. Both were completely naked, while the dirtiest lust and excitement corroded every inch of the room. The smell of sex and betrayal was nauseating.

It didn't take long before they both turned toward me.

“Ivy?” Mark froze, his eyes dilated from lust and the shock of being caught.

Sienna said nothing. She just quickly covered herself with the sheet, looking at me with a mix of pity and triumph that made me want to vomit bile.

“Ivy! It’s not what it looks like,” Mark stammered, trying to get up clumsily, showing a weakness that disgusted me.

“It’s not what it looks like?” My voice came out as a broken whisper, but loaded with venon. “You were inside her, Mark. You were calling me saintly while you fucked her!” I roared with all my might, feeling my wolf howl in pure agony.

Mark combed his hair back, taking a step toward me with that stupid audacity of Alphas who think they are untouchable.

“It was an accident! She got into my bed, Ivy. I couldn't restrain myself... the instinct... the attraction was too much. I’m not made of stone!”

I couldn't help but let out a loud, bitter, joyless laugh upon hearing him. It was the most pathetic excuse in history. I turned quickly toward Sienna. She remained silent, her mascara running and her hair messy, looking like the cheap mistress she always was behind my back.

“You’re trash, Sienna,” I snapped at her, hatred burning my throat. “I hope you enjoy my leftovers. Because that’s the only thing you’ll have of me from now on.”

“Ivy, wait…” Mark tried to reach me, his hand extended toward my arm.

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, and the rejection vibrated in the air like a slap.

I threw the gift against the floor with all my might. The glass of the watch shattered into a thousand pieces, scattering across the carpet like the ashes of our relatunship.

I pushed Mark with a strength I didn't know I had when he tried to block my path. I ran out of that apartment, ignoring his shouts, ignoring the agonizing pain in my chest telling me I was moving away from my mate.

Why had the Moon Goddess done this to me? I had followed all the rules. I was always good, I fulfilled all of Mark’s whims! I gave myself soul and body to a man who only wanted fresh meat.

With tears sliding down my cheeks, I ran until my feet took me to Vantablack, the most exclusive and darkest bar in the city. A place where sins were bought with hundred-dollar bills and no one asked for names. The perfect place for a wounded Omega to disappear.

“The strongest drink you have. Double,” I told the bartender, leaving a crumpled bill on the marble bar.

I downed the first one in one gulp. The fire of the bourbon burned my throat, but it wasn’t enough to put out the fire in my chest. The second went down easier. By the fourth, the world didn’t hurt so much anymore.

Everything around me was spinning, even the music thundered in my ears like a thousand bell towers. However, right at that moment, a deep voice, like the rumble of distant thunder, vibrated behind my back.

“Well now... what is a good girl doing lost in this bar?”

I turned, swaying a little. My clouded eyes scanned the place until they stopped on an imposing man sitting in the shadows of the corner.

He was an older man, in his thirties, with a presence that made the air around him seem denser, almost electric. He wore a three-piece suit that screamed "millionaire," but his eyes... his eyes were two pools of dark ice analyzing me as if I were an interesting prey. An Alpha predator lurking in the darkness.

He had ridiculously broad shoulders and large hands playing with a crystal glass. He was dangerous. I felt it in every fiber of my being, and my instinct screamed at me to flee.

In any other scenario, I would have turned to ignore him, but in me, there was only a pain I wished to erase. With that, a slight smile formed on my lips. I couldn’t deny it, the man was incredibly attractive. He exhaled a scent of sandalwood and power that eclipsed any trace of Mark.

“Do you like what you see?” he asked, his voice loaded with elegant cynicism.

I nodded softly before getting up from the stool. I approached him, slurring my words from the alcohol. I sat on the adjacent stool, invading his personal space. He smelled of sandalwood, expensive tobacco, and a power that made me shiver. It was a dominant fragrance, one that didn't ask for permission.

“You’re handsome,” I murmured, my eyes tracing the tattoo peeking out from under his shirt cuff. “And you look like someone who knows how to break the rules.”

He arched an eyebrow, amused by my audacityy.

“Rules are for people without imagination,” he said, and his voice vibrated in my chest like a low, dangerous note.

I froze for a second. Even his voice sounded so husky and manly.

“Just for today…” I leaned toward him, brushing my chest against his firm, muscular arm. “Just for tonight, I want to forget who I am. I want to forget the pain, the bond... everything.”

The man remained in complete silence while I placed my hand over his. His skin was burning, contrasting with the coldness of his gaze. I felt an electric spark run down my spine, something I had never felt with Mark.

“Help me forget,” I pleaded in a whisper.

The man set down his drink and looked at me with a predatory intensity that made me purr inside. His hand moved to the nape of my neck, squeezing with a possessiveness that left me breathless. His fingers were strong, marking his territory on my cold skin.

“Are you sure about that?” the man asked, with a smile that promised absolute perdition.

***

POV: Killian Blackwood

Ivy Sterling looked like a fallen angel in a nest of vipers. The pain emanating from her was almost tangible; her Omega scent, normally sweet, was now impregnated with a metallic acidity that triggered my most primitive instincts, making my wolf claw at the walls of my consciousness, demanding to claim what was wounded.

I knew exactly who she was. I knew her father, that coward who called himself a businessman, had dug his own financial grave by betting what he didn't have. But she wasn't just collateral damage in my account books; she was the centerpiece of my borad.

My phone vibrated in the pocket of my tailored trousers. I took it out calmly, hiding the screen from her eyes clouded by alcohol and spite.

“The merchandise is ready, Mr. Blackwood. The shipment at the docks awaits your signature to be released. The Beta reports the perimeter is secure.”

A shipment of weapons worth more than the entire law school where she studied. Business that required blood, steel, and a total lack of remorse.

I put the phone away without responding. The docks wouldn't move without my order, but the opportunity to break the will of the Sterling heiress was a pleasure I didn't plan to deleggate. There was something in her lost gaze that made me want to be the monster that devoured her so no one else could touch her.