Chapter 1

Aurora's POV

A bottle of champagne exploded overhead after someone shook it hard, and the private lounge erupted into cheers. Everyone was celebrating the youngest and most unruly Alpha heir of Moonridge Pack as another year of Unclaimed Moon officially began.

Just moments ago, I had still been the respected future Luna of the pack. Now I sat alone in the corner, forgotten while the celebration carried on without me.

Damian had never cared for noisy parties like this, and his pack members usually had to persuade him before he would even show up. That was exactly why Unclaimed Moon had become the biggest event of the year, because everyone wanted to watch the Alpha heir reclaim his freedom.

Damian and I met at a border summit between the northern packs. He was the Alpha heir of Moonridge Pack, gifted, fearless, and impossible to ignore.

My quiet nature somehow balanced his untamed spirit, and before long, the entire pack was talking about us. But even the strongest attraction could fade with time.

On the fourth anniversary of our relationship, I had just blown out the candles when Damian paused with a cigar between his fingers and looked at me through the smoke.

"Aurora," he asked, his voice calm, "don't you ever get tired of seeing the same face every day?"

I looked up at him in surprise. His eyes were dark and unreadable, and before I could answer, he stepped closer and gently pinned me against the wall.

His lips brushed across my collarbone as he spoke in a low voice. "Give me one month of complete freedom every year. We'll suppress our mate bond and stay out of each other's lives."

"Relax. You'll always be my Luna. This won't change us. It'll only give us both room to breathe."

I instinctively stepped back and knocked the celebration cake onto the floor. Frosting splashed across the rug while Damian watched me, waiting.

"Promise me."

I instinctively stepped back and knocked the celebration cake onto the floor. Frosting splashed across the rug while Damian stood there with his arms still half-raised, rubbing his thumb across his knuckles as if waiting for my answer.

"Promise me."

My whole body felt numb, but my pride refused to let me retreat. After a long silence, I finally forced out a single word.

"…Alright."

The moment I agreed, the tension left his shoulders. A satisfied smile slowly appeared in his eyes, as though he had known from the beginning that I would never refuse him.

The first year of Unclaimed Moon nearly destroyed me. I secretly used my family's connections to follow everything Damian did, comparing every she-wolf around him to myself.

I compared every she-wolf around him to myself, wondering whether those she-wolves had held his hand, kissed him, or shared his bed.

Night after night, I woke from nightmares in an empty bed until one evening I finally broke down and called him. He answered almost immediately, never blaming me for breaking our agreement.

Instead, he spoke gently and even told me a childish bedtime story until I finally calmed down.

"Aurora," he asked softly, "is this month really that hard for you?"

Three days before Unclaimed Moon ended, we lifted the suppression on our mate bond ahead of schedule. By our fifth anniversary, I truly believed he would never bring up that ridiculous tradition again.

I was wrong.

Now it was our sixth Unclaimed Moon. Damian insisted on keeping every single day of those thirty days for himself.

To him, losing even one day meant Unclaimed Moon was incomplete, and so was his freedom.

Eventually, the tradition became the biggest betting event in the entire pack. Every year, wolves crowded around the betting table, laughing as they placed their chips.

The odds of Damian reclaiming me were even. The odds of us ending for good were one hundred to one.

Victoria sat beside me with a sly smile, her sweet perfume mixing with the lingering smoke. "So, Aurora, which side are you betting on this year?"

I smiled faintly and looked toward the crowded betting table. "I'm just watching."

I lied.

This year, I placed my bet on the end.