โจวเหวินซานแห่งหมู่บ้านต้าลี่

Reno clearly hadn't braced himself for a "yes."

The fearsome Alpha stood there, jaw dropped, for a full minute. This mountain of a man actually stuttered.

"You—you said it," he stammered, recovering. "No take-backs. I’m coming for you in three days. Don’t you dare change your mind."

He vaulted off my balcony before I could get another word in. He hit the grass at a clumsy angle, nearly wiping out before scrambling away. Watching him from above, a spark of genuine amusement flickered in my chest. He was nothing like the bloodthirsty rumors. There was nothing cold-blooded about a man tripping over his own feet on a lawn.

Reno had barely cleared the fence when Luke showed up. The second I saw his face, my expression turned to stone.

"You just finished Marking another woman," I said, my voice like ice. "Why aren't you with her?"

Luke’s jaw tightened, his face twisting into a forced, patronizing smile. "Chloe, look... I never wanted it to go this far. But Sophie? She’s fragile. I couldn't stand by and let that savage Alpha destroy her. It would have ruined her life."

So, he was perfectly fine with destroying mine instead?

The moment he stormed out of our ceremony to claim her, whatever we had didn't just break—it rotted.

"Get out," I said. "The wedding is off. The bond is dead."

Luke’s brow furrowed. He reached for my arm like I was a child throwing a tantrum. "Chloe, stop being dramatic. Marking her doesn't change us. Sophie is gentle; she won’t give you any trouble when you move in."

I stared at him, stunned.

"You'll just have to be my 'unmarked partner' for a while," he continued, as if he were doing me a favor. "Once you give me strong pups, I’ll give you a proper title. You and Sophie are both my women now. I promise I won't play favorites."

He had the sheer nerve to say it out loud. He wanted me—the daughter of a Lead Warrior—to be his side-piece. His live-in mistress.

I stepped back, revulsion curling in my gut. "I will never be someone’s unmarked secret."

Luke’s eyes darkened. "It’s just a title, Chloe! I’d never let the Pack disrespect you. Why do you always have to make a scene and embarrass me?"

I embarrassed him?

The man who crashed a high-stakes ceremony to steal another Alpha’s mate? The man who knotted with her while the whole territory watched, turning me into a punchline?

And now, he was gaslighting me.

I looked him dead in the eye. "I said what I said, Luke. I don't do 'mistress.'"