Chapter One

Emma's POV

"You have to break her. Get her to sign over her father's estate before she turns twenty-one. A wolf like her cannot be collared with empty promises.’’

On the night before my wedding, I overheard my fiancé talking to his father.

I stood frozen outside the door. It felt as if my chest had been torn open.

My fiancé, Donovan, is the son of the most influential Alpha King, Aldrich, in all the lands.

Tomorrow, Donovan and I are supposed to get married. In the one year Donovan and I dated, I thought we’d fallen in love. Only now, I hear that it had been a plan to trick me and make me trust him.

The birthday cake I'd baked for my fiancé remained stuck in my hands as I stood frozen outside Donovan's office.

My name is Emma Vittori. My father is the most feared and brutal alpha. Our pack does not fall under Alpha King Aldrich’s rule. We run the biggest independent werewolf pack that started off as a mafia empire.

When I turn 21, I will take over as mafia donna, while my older brother Joshua will become alpha of our pack. I’ve trained with blood and sweat to deserve the alpha position, but I’ve been shot down countless times because everyone thinks that girls cannot hold important positions.

"She's dangerous," Alpha Aldrich continued. "Her father's independent pack is already unstoppable. They welcome every rogue, every dangerous mercenary seeking refuge. His pack is three times the size of a normal one. We cannot attack him directly; that’s why we must go through his daughter. Mr. Vittori’s mafia controls everything: money, soldiers, the shadows. At twenty-one, Emma inherits it all. She becomes a threat. No one wants a woman ruling a seat that can break the world."

We are a threat, and they know it. My wolf snarled. Ever since I was young, I’ve been punished for having a fierce wolf instead of a gentle, submissive one.

'Girls should be gentle and submissive, not fierce and with spirit.' My teacher always said.

"Get her pregnant tomorrow night after the wedding," Aldrich ordered. "Force her if necessary. Make her doubt herself until she believes that without you, she's nothing."

I stood frozen behind the door, the birthday cake shaking in my hands.

Donovan laughed. "Women love a hero. I just have to let her believe I'm saving her. That she's broken and I'm the only one who will keep her from falling apart."

"But, son," Aldrich's voice got lower, "you have to do it tomorrow night, after your wedding. You're set to join the Alpha Academy after your wedding, so you only have one chance to get her pregnant. That’s why you need to force her."

Donovan is 24 years old. At 25, he is set to take his father’s crown and become the new Alpha King, to lead the war against humans and protect all werewolves. It is an unbreakable rule that every upcoming alpha spends one year in the brutal and bloody all-male Alpha Academy. The Academy emphasizes the brutal reality that no girl is fit to lead.

My stomach turned.

"And if she tries to fight back?" Donovan asked.

"You put her in her place. Remind her what she is: a vessel, a legacy carrier. Nothing more."

"If you get her pregnant tomorrow night, their traditions dictate that the father of a future heir rules the syndicate, not the mother. You'll get her syndicate either way."

How had he known about that rule?

I'm going to vomit, my wolf said, and for once we were in perfect agreement.

"Remember, son," Aldrich said, his voice moving closer to the door. "Tomorrow night is about more than just a wedding. We need all the resources to crush any human resistance. It's about securing our future."

"Understood, Father," Donovan responded.

I heard movement toward the door, and panic flooded me. I backed away quickly, looking desperately for somewhere to hide. The only other door was to Donovan's bedroom.

In there! my wolf urged. NOW!

I slipped inside just as I heard the office door open. My heart hammered as I pressed my back against Donovan's bedroom door, the cake still somehow in my shaking hands.

"Finally, baby, you're back," a feminine voice called from the bathroom. "Back for round two?"

I froze, the cake nearly slipping from my fingers. My wolf went eerily silent.

The bathroom door opened, steam billowing out, and there stood Sophia—my best friend, my brother's girlfriend—naked.

She saw me and stopped dead. "Emma? What are you—"

The door behind me pushed open, hitting my back. "Babe, did you say something?" Donovan's voice called out, and then he was there, freezing when he saw me standing between him and a naked Sophia.

The cake finally slipped from my hands, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Red velvet splattered like blood across the marble.

"Emma," Donovan started. "This isn't—"

"Don't," I whispered, and it was both me and my wolf speaking now. "Don't you dare."

Sophia grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself. "Emma, I can explain—"

"It's you, isn't it?" I pointed at my best friend. "You're the one who gave Donovan information to use against me. How to steal my birthright, how to turn me into nothing."

Sophia looked terrified.

I looked between them—the man I loved and the woman I thought was my friend.

"The wedding is off," I said, stepping back toward the door. "And if either of you comes near me or my family again, you'll learn why the Vittori syndicate is feared even among wolves."

Donovan's face changed. "You heard everything, didn't you? It doesn't matter. You won't leave. You can't. This alliance is bigger than your hurt feelings."

"Watch me," I whispered.

I turned and walked away.

"Run all you want, Emma," Donovan called after me, laughter in his voice. "There’s nowhere in this world I won’t find you."

As I left, I finally asked my wolf, “Where do we go?”

Her answer was instant. A growl. A promise.

Where they would never expect.

A slow, feral smile curled on my lips.

There was only one place a girl was forbidden to go.

Only one place Donovan would never think to look: The brutal all male alpha academy.