Chapter 2

Warm breath spilled over my face, and the atmosphere grew strangely tense and amorous. "My birthday present to you. It's a tonic to cure the effects of the contraceptive potion in your system. You can now breed my pup, Evangeline."

A shiver ran down my spine. I'd had a pup once upon a time. I'd been so thrilled about it that I couldn't wait to tell Michael. I thought he'd be just as excited.

But he'd surprised me when he handed me a potion. "Evangeline, Nora is the Luna for me. No one else is worthy of being bred by me. This potion will render you barren. You'll only have to focus on raising Soren for me."

Every year after that, Michael would make me drink the potion to keep me infertile. I never missed a dose.

A decade passed, and Michael still saw me as an outlet for his pent-up desires as well as his son's caregiver. But now, he'd given me permission to carry his pup.

From his perspective, I ought to weep with joy and strive even harder to please him. But for the first time, I shoved him away. "You promised me, Alpha, that you'd let me go after ten years."

The air went deathly still, and a trace of anger colored Michael's face as he bit out, "Must you behave this way? I know Soren might have taken his prank a little too far, but he's still young.

"Strictly speaking, it was your job to educate him. This is as much your fault as it is his. You should be grateful I'm not holding you accountable, yet you decide to throw a fit?"

He'd said it was my job to educate Soren. Even Blair snorted at that.

When Michael fell in love with my younger half-sister, Nora Clayton, he'd gone against the pack elders' wishes and marked her, making her the pack's Luna. My father went from working as one of the elders' grunt soldiers to captain of the guards.

Michael and Nora were madly in love, but their happily ever after hadn't lasted long; Nora fell seriously ill and passed shortly after giving birth to Soren.

Worried he would lose Michael's support, my father summoned me back from afar to take Nora's place.

Alas, Michael was loyal to Nora, his great love and dedication prompting him to swear before the Moon Goddess that he'd never have another mate. However, he also fretted over Soren's loss of maternal care at such a tender age.

In the end, Michael and my father agreed that I would be declared as the new Luna of the pack, but I would not be marked. It was also agreed that I'd be free to leave after ten years.

I was the pack's Luna in name only, but in truth, Michael and I had never marked each other. Every wolf knew that my Luna status was symbolic, at best.

Blair scoffed. "How funny. You've been Michael's mate for ten years, and Soren's mother for just as long. And yet, according to pack law, you're still a mateless she-wolf."

I fell silent for a moment, then said curtly, "I'm not throwing a fit, nor do I blame Soren. Our deal has simply ended.

"I'm an unmarked Luna, and if I continue to stay here, you and Soren will become the pack's laughingstock. It's in everyone's best interests that I leave."

Michael leashed the domineering, intimidating power that rolled off him.

He eyed me with critical appraisal, his tone softening considerably as he pointed out, "If… you carry my pup, I will make you a proper Luna, but only if your pup doesn't try to upstage Soren as heir—"

I cut him off before he could finish speaking, "No, thank you."

I wasn't trying to bargain for more, and I certainly didn't need Michael's permission. I refused to degrade and debase myself.

My father had no affection for me after my mother died from labor complications. To my father, I was worthless.

If I stayed with Michael, my pup would go through the same suffering I had.

I walked out of the bathroom, then returned with the things I'd prepared and showed them to Michael. "These are the things you wanted me to manage. It's all there.

"Soren's already ten, and the teachers at school are doing a fine job educating him. You don't need me to keep an eye on him anymore."

Blair hurriedly nodded. "That's right! It's not like he listens to you, anyway. Why bother educating him?"

Michael impatiently swiped the things out of my hands, scattering them across the floor before stepping on them with his bare foot. His face was dark and impassive as he leveled his knife-like stare on her.

"Know your place, Evangeline! I hate it when you play hard to get. I'll let your insolence slide just this once, seeing as it's your birthday today.

"You'll stay in your room for the next few days and think about what you've done wrong. You'll come out when you're ready to apologize."

He pulled on his clothes expressionlessly, then left my bedroom without so much as a backward glance.

I stared at his back as he left and let out a self-effacing snort.

The scent of food and wine from the banquet lingered like bad perfume. Was it truly my birthday today? Even Michael had forgotten.

In truth, today was the day he and Nora marked each other.