Semua Bab Fake Mates Till Forever: Bab 1 - Bab 5

LENA The digital clock on my nightstand glowed a steady, mocking 11:30 PM. I was just pulling the duvet over my shoulders, drifting into that hazy space between reality and dreams where I finally allowed myself to imagine a world where Austin belonged to me. Then, my phone buzzed. My heart did a clumsy somersault when I saw his name on the caller ID: Austin. My best friend. The future Beta of the Silver Moon Pack. And the man I had secretly loved since the first time we shifted together under the summer stars. To the rest of the pack, he was the golden boy—strong, charming, and destined for greatness. To me, he was my entire world. I scrambled for the device, my thumb sliding across the screen with embarrassing haste. "Austin?" I breathed, my voice thick with a hope I couldn't quite suppress. "Leah? It’s Mark." The hope died instantly, replaced by a cold, leaden weight in my stomach. Mark was Austin’s assistant, a low-ranking sentinel who usually handled the messy det

LEAH The walk of shame didn't happen in the dark; it happened in the brutal, unforgiving glare of the morning sun. By the time I reached my family’s estate, my eyes were raw from crying and my soul felt like it had been scraped hollow. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear, but as soon as I pushed through the heavy mahogany doors, I knew there would be no hiding. My parents were standing in the living room, their faces etched with a pity that felt like a secondary assault. "Oh, my poor Leah," my mother whispered, rushing toward me with open arms. The scent of her lavender perfume, usually so comforting, now felt suffocating. "We heard... the news traveled through the pack links faster than a wildfire. Austin and that girl... how could he be so reckless?" "It’s a disgrace," my father added, his voice gruff but shaking with suppressed anger. "To take a low-ranked Omega’s virtue in a club lounge? He’s humiliated himself, but he’s humiliated you more, Leah. Everyone kn

LEAHThe air inside the car was stale, a sharp contrast to the suffocating aura of power that saturated Santos De Luca’s office. My neck still felt hot, the skin prickling as if his "brand" was already etched into my flesh. I had signed it. I had sold my freedom to a man who looked at me like I was a cake he intended to take apart, piece by piece.My phone vibrated violently in my hand, the screen a relentless strobe light of notifications. I ignored the texts, but when Sarah’s face—my only true friend in the Silver Moon Pack—flashed on the screen, I finally swiped to answer."Lee?! Oh my Goddess, Leah, tell me the internet is lying!" Sarah’s voice was high-pitched, bordering on a sonic boom. "The forums are exploding! Are you really... is it actually Santos De Luca?"I leaned my forehead against the cool glass of the taxi window, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit me. "Sarah, please... my head is spinning.""Is it true? Did you really land the Midnight King? People are saying you’ve be