Chapter 1

They said finding your mate would feel like the world finally made sense. For me, it shattered.

The moment I locked eyes with Alpha Kade Rowen, the mate bond surged through me like fire and then froze. He didn’t smile. He didn’t even flinch. He just stared like I was something unfortunate stuck to his boot.

The whispers had started before I could even say the word mate.

“She must’ve forced the bond.”

“There’s no way the Moon Goddess would pair him with her.”

The daughter of the omega cook. The girl who cleaned out bloody training mats and carried woods to the kitchen for daily meals to be prepared.

I wasn’t meant to be seen, let alone mated to him. But the bond didn’t care and neither did he.

For six months, he made sure I understood just how unwanted I was. Silent dinners, glares across pack meetings and when duty called, he came to my bed like a stranger fulfilling a task. No warmth. No words. Like it was just an obligation. He saw me as someone worthless and he made it his life mission to remind me of that, everyday.

Every night, he would leave, every single time, to return to Leona. The pack’s favored she-wolf with fire-red hair and the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen with a perfect smile and he would return with her scent all over him like she owned him.

Still, I stayed. Because the bond was supposed to mean something. But all it ever brought me was silence and shame. Everyone in the pack knew what was going on and would talk about it in my presence, not even behind me. It was that bad.

The only time I shifted was when I needed to clear my head, to run and forget everything. In my wolf form, the wind helped numb the ache in my chest and the pain deep in my bones. Out in the woods, I could pretend I wasn’t bonded to someone who acted like I didn’t exist.

But then one day, I caught Kade’s scent and everything inside me twisted because he wasn’t alone. Another scent clung to him and I knew who it was right away.

Leona. His favorite.

I should have walked away. The Moon knows I should have but I didn’t. I followed the scent, moving quietly through the trees until I reached a clearing.

There they were, tangled together under a tree.

His hands were all over her, her head was thrown back and their bodies moved together as he thrust into her, fast and deep.

It wasn’t like the cold, silent nights he spent in my bed.

It was raw and full of passion and this was what I had begged the Goddess for in my dreams.

Then he looked up, straight right at me, without guilt or a single drop of shame and instead of pushing her away, he gripped her tighter and kissed her deeply and slowly.

My wolf whimpered at this sight and I bolted. I didn’t stop and I didn’t look back. I ran until my legs gave out and I collapsed in the damp grass far outside our pack lands.

I ran for three days and my feet became sore with injuries but I didn’t care. I had to get away. I just had to. The images of Kade and Leona kept playing in my mind. His hands on her. His lips on hers and it just hurt too much to stay in the pack. This was the final straw.

By the fourth day, I was too tired to go any further and I ended up in a small town. It was quiet, nothing special and I rented a room at a cheap motel. The place was old, but it was enough for me. I didn’t need anything fancy, just a place to hide and cry.

For the next two weeks, I stayed in that room. I couldn’t leave. I was sick and throwing up every time without even eating. My body felt weak, and all I wanted to do was sleep. I wondered how I even survived.

After a few days, something clicked in my mind. I hadn’t realized at first, but the sickness didn’t stop. The nausea, the dizziness, and then it hit me. I was pregnant. I had mixed feelings about it but I decided to accept my fate. There was nothing I could do about it.

After days of throwing up and barely moving, I finally dragged myself to the mirror and looked at my pale reflection.

“You’re not alone anymore,” I whispered, placing a hand on my flat stomach. “You have a reason to keep going.”

I forced myself to shower and ran my hands through my hair, trying to look a little more human again and left the motel for the first time in weeks.

The sun was soft on my skin and the streets were quiet. Just humans here, normal people living normal lives. No wolves. No pack rules. No mate bonds and I could breathe properly.

My first stop was the pharmacy. I asked for vitamins and prenatal supplements, trying not to sound clueless. Then I crossed the street to a small grocery store and picked out fresh fruit, crackers, peanut butter, and every food I thought the baby might need.

For the first time in a long while, I smiled as I rubbed my stomach.

I was about to check out when something happened. A scent hit me and it was strong.

My body tensed before my mind could process it.

Wolves. Two of them.

They weren’t from my old pack and their scent was unfamiliar but powerful.

I kept my head down and handed the cashier money with shaking fingers. My heart pounded so loud I thought it might give me away.

Then I heard a low growl, somewhere behind me but I didn’t turn around because I knew that sound and I knew what came next.

Someone had found me.