Chapter 1

After Marcus announced that he was ending our chosen-mate bond, he even picked out my new home for me: a small cottage beside the estate.

It was close to the kitchen, so I could keep taking care of our daughters.

It was close to the study, so I could keep handling his business.

Even the servants' quarters were nearby.

The only place it wasn't close to was his bedroom.

That room would soon belong to the new Luna, 22-year-old Serena.

The celebration roared on around me, every burst of laughter pushing me further outside it.

Not far away, Marcus stood beside Serena, waving off every drink offered to her.

My daughters linked arms with her, one on each side, chattering nonstop.

In that moment, they looked like the real family.

I stood in a corner, my fingers slowly tightening around my glass.

The pain had come late, but now it crept through my chest inch by inch.

For generations, the Silver Ridge Pack had clung to the same outdated rule: the Alpha's heir had to be male.

I'd never believed in it. I had always done everything I could to prepare my daughters to lead.

I had personally created their grueling training schedules.

But they always said losing a son had made me obsessed with pushing them too hard.

15 years ago, I had been pregnant with a baby boy.

Then a rebellion broke out in the pack, and I stepped in front of a silver bullet meant for Marcus.

It tore through my stomach.

I lost my baby that day, along with any chance of ever having another child.

Marcus held me as I bled and swore he would spend the rest of his life making it up to me.

Now that old wound had become his reason for throwing me away.

Outside Silver Ridge, plenty of packs had accepted female Alphas years ago.

Moon River, Frostplain, Black Thorn. Even the current head of the Werewolf Council was a woman.

The world had moved on long ago.

Marcus Wilde was the only one who refused to change.

He clung to the old ways because he had no idea how to do business in the modern world. I was the one who handled Silver Ridge's trade with the other packs and kept the pack prosperous.

No one could have done it better than I did.

But no one remembered any of that.

Marcus believed Silver Ridge was stable because he had been born to be an Alpha. As long as he held on to his little corner of the world and no one starved, he saw no reason to change.

A pack like that wasn't worth my loyalty anymore.

And a family like that wasn't worth another piece of me.

Suddenly, a squeal cut through my thoughts.

"Mom, look!"

I looked up to see my daughters running toward me with glasses in their hands.

Their cheeks were flushed, and their eyes were unnaturally bright.

"We just had champagne!" my younger daughter, Calista, exclaimed. "Serena said it's okay to let loose at a celebration."

My older daughter, Ophelia, waved her glass at me.

"You always said drinking before we're old enough would make us lose control of our wolves, but nothing happened to us."

"Serena understands us." Calista pouted. "She's gentle, and she actually listens when we talk."

Ophelia blew Serena a kiss across the room, then turned back to me.

"Mom, you should learn from her. That's how people our age want to be treated. Your way is outdated."

I looked at their flushed faces.

They had no idea that once they truly lost control, it would already be too late.

Every plan I'd made for them had been defeated by one bottle of sweet wine Serena had casually handed them.

I pressed my lips together and said nothing.

Anything you say to someone who refuses to listen only becomes another joke at your expense.

"Don't talk to your mother like that."

Marcus walked over and pinched their cheeks. "She's strict with you because she wants what's best for you."

The girls giggled and ran back to Serena.

Marcus was about to say something to me when the photographer called from behind him.

"Alpha, please stand in front of the Silver Ridge crest for a family photo!"

Marcus turned immediately.

Serena smiled and stepped into place, with my daughters standing on either side of her.

I stayed where I was and watched the four of them line up in front of the pack crest.

The photographer kept adjusting the angle.

"Everyone move in a little closer. Perfect. Now, big smiles."

Their laughter and the flash of the camera hit me at the same time.

I watched in silence until the last trace of warmth in my chest died.

Marcus was the mate I had chosen before fate ever gave me a choice of its own.

By the time I met Dane, Marcus and I were already bound.

For 20 years, I had believed Dane and I had simply met too late.

Then I took out my phone and called the number I hadn't dialed in 20 years.

He picked up on the first ring.

A deep male voice answered. "Evelyn?"

I looked at the four of them posing for the camera and asked softly, "Dane, is there still a place for me in the Redwood Pack?"

He answered without hesitation. "Of course. It's always been there."