Jing Yue

I was a wolfless Omega, despised by my family, but I thought my engagement to the respected Alpha Julian would finally bring me peace. But my half-sister Karmen drugged my tea and threw me into a derelict shed with three ruthless men. She wanted them to assault me, completely ruining my reputation. I fought them off and escaped into a hidden cave, only to be cornered by Karmen and my fiancé. They didn't come to save me. They came to catch me in the act. Seeing me with a strange, half-naked man I had accidentally fallen upon in the dark, Julian's eyes filled with absolute disgust. "You're pathetic. Hopeless," he snarled, ordering his guards to seize us both. He didn't care that I was the victim. He just wanted a public excuse to discard me. When we returned to the estate, I found my only friend in the house beaten half to death by Karmen, her body covered in grotesque bruises and left to rot with cheap mud poultices. I couldn't understand why my own flesh and blood wanted me destroyed. I had endured their cruelty for years, hoping for a sliver of peace. But seeing my friend's broken body, the last shred of my hope vanished, replaced by a cold, pure fury. What Karmen and Julian didn't know was that the "rogue" they caught me with wasn't a rogue at all. He was Cedric Bullock, the ruthless and legendary Alpha of the Northridge Pack, whom I had just saved from a deadly curse. When Julian proudly demanded a public rejection to humiliate me, I calmly accepted it. Then, I turned to the most dangerous man in the territory and made a deal. This time, I was going to burn my abusive family to the ground.

The eviction notice, a cruel red rectangle, mocked me from my door. Just months ago, I was Chloe, the artist poised to revolutionize the world with Aura, my groundbreaking AI. Now, the world was closing in, air squeezed from my lungs. Then, at the sprawling Innovatech conference, the stage set for our triumph, my fiancé Mark unveiled Aura, which I poured my soul into, as his own. "I call her... Genesis," he boomed, "created solely by me." My best friend, Sarah, whose hand I held moments before, gazed at him with adoration, not outrage. The fallout was swift and brutal. Mark, the instant tech celebrity, branded me a disgruntled ex. Sarah, leveraging her gallery connections, systematically blacklisted me, painting me as unstable, a fraud. Calls unanswered, doors slammed shut-my life, my legacy, evaporated. I was a ghost in a rundown apartment, bearing an eviction notice, with nothing left. How could they? How could the two people I trusted most, the two people who were my family, betray me so completely, so publicly? The world had become a twisted, unrecognizable place where truth was irrelevant, and loyalty meant nothing. But in the ashes of utter despair, sifting through the remains of my life, my fingers brushed against my estranged father' s dusty hard drive-a digital arsenal of hacking tools and encrypted journals. The artist in me was dead, but something else, a chilling new resolve, began to stir. I would change my destiny, not by going back, but by going forward with skills they never saw coming.

As I lay in the cold underground clinic, terminating the unborn heir of the city's most feared mafia underboss, my phone lit up. My fiancé of seven years had just publicly pledged his protection and a home-cooked meal to his ex-lover, moments after telling me to risk a deadly ambush by ordering takeout. When I returned to our penthouse, bleeding and broken, he didn't even notice. He gave my specialized prenatal milk to his ex because she had a "delicate stomach," leaving me only a hollowed-out egg white and dry crusts. When I begged him to stay, he violently kicked my packed suitcase across the marble floor. "Elena's medical needs take priority right now," he snapped, rushing out because his ex felt cold. He even blocked my secure number when I frantically tried to reach him one last time. For seven years, we had built an empire together. I couldn't understand how a past flame playing the fragile doe could make him discard my life and our child's existence so callously, treating me like worthless scraps. Sitting in the empty penthouse, I wiped my tears and opened the global Syndicate network. "My betrothal to Vincent is officially dissolved. Act accordingly." I powered down my phone, grabbed my tactical gear, and boarded a private jet to leave his territory forever.

I spent three days perfecting a custom cake for my Alpha husband's thirtieth birthday. Instead of thanking me, he looked at me with disgust and ordered a servant to throw my hard work into the trash. His mother publicly mocked me as a dirty, wolfless Omega, and the entire ballroom laughed. Then, his supposed savior, Sloane, appeared, flaunting a diamond bracelet he had just gifted her. When I pleaded for him to defend me as his Luna, he growled at me to stop embarrassing myself. Sloane then faked a stumble, pushing me backward until my head smashed violently against a marble fountain. As I lay bleeding on the floor, the last thing I saw before blacking out was my husband scooping her into his arms, not even glancing back at me. For three years, I had endured his contempt, believing I was just a useless, subservient wife acquired through a contract. I didn't understand why he hated me so much, or why I let him break my heart over and over again. But that heavy blow to my head shattered a three-year-old dam in my mind. Waking up in the hospital, the fog of amnesia was gone. I wasn't a weak, nameless Omega. I was Aurora Montgomery, a genius hacker and the sole heir to a billionaire Pack empire. When Cade walked into my room demanding I apologize to Sloane, I stood up and looked him dead in the eye. "I, Aurora Montgomery, reject you."

For ten years, I secretly loved my guardian, Ethan Hayes. After my family fell apart, he took me in and raised me. He was my entire world. On my eighteenth birthday, I gathered all my courage to confess my love to him. But his reaction was a fury I had never seen before. He swept my birthday cake to the floor and roared, "Are you insane? I am your GUARDIAN!" He then mercilessly tore the painting I had spent a year on-my confession-to shreds. Just days later, he brought home his fiancée, Chloe. The man who had promised to wait for me to grow up, who called me his brightest star, had vanished. My decade of desperate, burning love had only managed to burn myself. The person who was supposed to protect me had become the one who hurt me the most. I looked down at the NYU acceptance letter in my hand. I had to leave. I had to pull him out of my heart, no matter how much it hurt. I picked up the phone and dialed my father's number. Dad, I said, my voice hoarse, "I've decided. I want to come be with you in New York."

spent three years saving every single credit to buy the Moonlight Grass. It was the only herb capable of healing my damaged wolf spirit. But the moment I walked through the door, my eldest brother, the Pack Alpha, snatched it from my trembling hands. "Willow has a migraine," Ryker stated, his voice devoid of warmth. "She needs this." I begged him. I told him it cost a fortune. I told him it was my only chance to finally shift. But Axel, my second brother and the Pack Doctor, just adjusted his glasses with clinical coldness. "Don't be selfish, Ember. Willow is fragile. Your jealousy is ugly." They boiled my entire future into a tea for an adopted sister who was faking it. Desperate to prove I wasn't the villain, I spent my last emergency cash on gifts for them. But when I handed Willow a silk dress, she smirked at me, stepped on the hem, and threw herself backward onto the carpet. "My ankle!" she screamed. "Ryker, she pushed me!" I rushed forward to help, but my bad leg gave out. I smashed my knee against the metal bed frame, blood instantly soaking through my jeans. Axel didn't check my shattered knee. He roared at me, "You vicious snake! You wanted her to trip!" Ryker loomed over me, his Alpha Command crushing my lungs like a physical weight. "Get out of my sight." Bleeding, broke, and heartbroken, I dragged myself out into the storm. They thought I would crawl to a friend's house. They thought I would always be their punching bag. Instead, I accepted an offer from the rival Shadow Alpha to join a top-secret research facility. A fifteen-year lockdown. No contact. A complete erasure of my existence. As I stepped onto the private jet, I looked down at the house one last time. "Happy Birthday, brothers," I whispered into the wind. I hope you enjoy the silence when you realize the sister you tortured is gone forever.

For five years, I was the shadow behind billionaire Julian Sterling—his top executive assistant by day and his secret wife by night. I lived by a strict contract, staying invisible to protect his public image while raising his son, Leo, as my own. On New Year’s Eve, the silence of our penthouse was shattered. I watched on live television as Julian dropped to one knee at a high-society gala, proposing to Hollywood star Victoria Chase with a pink diamond that cost more than my life. When he came home, he didn't offer an apology; he offered an insult. He revealed that Victoria was actually Leo’s biological mother and I was merely a "temporary caretaker" whose time was up. My world spiraled as Victoria staged a fall to frame me for assault, and Julian’s family treated me like a common criminal. "You are a biological necessity, Serena. Do not make this emotional," he told me, his voice devoid of any warmth we had shared in private. The betrayal cut deeper than I thought possible. Every sacrifice I made for our family was a lie, a five-year waiting period for his "real" life to begin. He handed me divorce papers with a staggering settlement, but it came with a chilling condition: I had to waive all rights for any future children. He wanted to ensure I couldn't claim a "golden ticket" if I turned up pregnant. He didn't know I was already clutching a positive pregnancy test in my pocket. As I reached for the pen to sign the papers and disappear with Leo, a violent pain exploded in my stomach. I felt the warmth of blood soaking through my clothes, and the room began to spin. I looked at Julian’s cold, expectant face and realized I was no longer just a wife or an assistant. I was a liability he intended to erase. But as I collapsed into the darkness, I made one final vow: he would never lay a finger on my unborn child.

My husband, Alexander, gave me "fertility supplements" every morning for six years. I drank every drop, desperate for the child he promised we'd have. But my body remained stubbornly empty. Then, on my 40th birthday, I discovered the truth. The supplements were contraceptives. And his mistress was pregnant with the son he'd always wanted. She sent me a video of Alexander kissing her pregnant belly. "He's always loved me," the text read. "You were just the placeholder. Enjoy your barren life." The man I trusted had systematically poisoned me, stealing my dream of motherhood while building his real family with another woman. He had gaslighted me for years, making me believe I was the one who was broken, all while living a double life that began on our wedding day. That night, at the lavish birthday party he threw for me, he planned a "romantic surprise" on a giant screen for all our friends and family. He had no idea I had a surprise of my own.

Hazel Ware. That was my name. Not Hazel Harrell. It was the only thing I hadn't changed for Emmett, and now, watching him on stage, his hand brushing Keeley Osborn's as the applause thundered, I felt like a stranger to my own life. For five years, I was the perfect wife to my successful architect husband, Emmett. I happily put my own ambitions aside for his, believing our life was a shared dream. Then, one night, I discovered the truth. He was living a secret life, caught in a five-year emotional affair with his old flame, the filmmaker Keeley Osborn, a woman he depended on more than me. He abandoned me on our anniversary to celebrate her success and left my bed at 3 AM to soothe her 'creative block.' When I found out I was pregnant, I was utterly alone. During a desperate confrontation, I told him about the baby. His first instinct was to defend her. The shock sent me to the hospital, where I miscarried our child. The ultimate betrayal was learning he was in the same hospital that day, comforting Keeley while I was losing our baby down the hall. Lying in that cold hospital bed, I looked at the man I no longer recognized. "It's over, Emmett," I said. "I want a divorce."

My husband, Alexander, systematically destroyed my career as a prima ballerina. For years, I was the star of the New York City Ballet, but he ensured every major award went to his mistresses. The final insult was watching him hand my Starlight Award to his latest plaything, Cassie. Then I discovered a truth far more monstrous. He had helped Cassie' s brother escape justice after brutally assaulting my fragile sister, Grace. For two years, he used Grace' s expensive medical care as leverage, holding her hostage to ensure my obedience while he paraded his affairs in my face. At a public gala, Cassie tormented my sister with the truth of her assault until Grace, broken and terrified, jumped from the rooftop to her death. In a desperate attempt to save her, I leaped after her into the abyss. I had endured everything for Grace. His cruelty, the public humiliation, the death of my career. Now she was gone, murdered by his twisted games. But I survived the fall. And as I lay in that hospital bed, I made a new vow. I wouldn't just get a divorce. I would gather the evidence, expose his crimes, and burn his entire empire to the ground.

The sharp, twisting pain woke me from a dead sleep. Ethan wasn't home, and his phone was answered by Chloe, my husband' s childhood friend. She dismissed my agony, urging me not to be "so dramatic" before hanging up, leaving me alone to dial 911 through blinding pain. At the hospital, the doctor's words blurred: "Ectopic pregnancy. Ruptured. Internal bleeding. Immediate operation." The nurse couldn't reach Ethan, so I signed the consent form myself, a single tear tracing a path down my cheek. I was truly alone. I woke in a sterile room; the baby was gone. Ethan's voicemail mocked me, calling me "dramatic" and "jealous," accusing me of making "everything about myself." My despair was a vast, silent ocean, and I was drowning. Yet, a cold realization clicked: I was merely a bystander in my own marriage, overshadowed by Chloe and Mrs. Davis. The cold clinical words of my medical report, "Ruptured Ectopic Pregnancy. Emergency Salpingectomy," became my shield. I sent the picture to Ethan. His text, "Is this some kind of joke?" followed by "I'll compensate you for whatever you feel you' ve lost," twisted the knife. Compensate me? As if our baby was a business deal gone wrong. How could he be so blind, so cruel? I typed a single word: "Okay." Then, I turned off my phone, packing up eight years of my life, leaving only a ghost of what we once were.

I spent four years sacrificing everything for my fiancé, Mark, supporting him through college, only for him to return with Sarah, his childhood sweetheart, and announce their wedding. The day he came back, this new woman pushed her way into our home and into my bedroom, forcing me to give up my space. I asked Mark about our engagement, but he just ignored me. Then, he accused me of stealing from the factory I' d poured my life into, the one my parents built, and had me thrown in jail. My uncle, a frail old man, sold everything he owned, even his only two cows, to bail me out. I couldn' t understand why he would betray me so completely and utterly. Why would he humiliate me and destroy my future for a woman who was a near-stranger? What was I missing? With nothing left to lose, I left town, vowing never to look back. I had my bus ticket to New York, and a burning desire to start over.

The sterile hospital room smelled of disinfectant and my mother' s fading life, her hand a fragile anchor in mine. Then, a bombshell dropped: Mr. Sterling, the tech mogul plastered on magazine covers, was my biological father. My mother's dying breaths were a desperate plea to him: "Promise me you'll take care of her." He promised, just as the machine flatlined, leaving me an orphan. Thrown into his opulent world, I faced his glacial children, Olivia and Liam, who saw me as an unwelcome stain on their perfect lives, a "charity case," a "problem." Their disdain was a constant torment, especially when Tiffany and her clique at the elite boarding school used my illegitimate status to bully me relentlessly. No one helped. I was utterly alone, humiliated, my mother's death still raw, the world an unbearable weight. But when a fight in the hallway escalated, and I was blamed and abandoned, something inside me snapped. I was a castaway, drowning in their world, until Olivia and Liam returned, their cold indifference replaced by a terrifying, protective rage. They shattered Tiffany's bullying reign with brutal efficiency, and for the first time, I felt a strange, fierce belonging. In the aftermath, they revealed their own gilded cages, their dreams crushed by the same man who was now my father. Their pain became my purpose, their silent suffering a call to arms. They offered me a weapon, a chance to fight back for all of us: "Be our weapon, Chloe. Let us teach you." And in that moment, I knew I would learn their world, master their rules, and turn their father's own game against him.

My name is Ethan Lester. I' m a humble community college music teacher, engaged to Nicole Anderson, a brilliant Silicon Valley CEO. She worships an anonymous DJ, "Aethel," whose music, she says, saved her from deep depression. She doesn't know "Aethel" is me. After our engagement party, I saw a text on her phone, not meant for my eyes. It was from her assistant, Brian: "He' s boring. He' ll never understand you like I do. Like Aethel does." Her reply shattered my world: "I know, my Aethel. I' ll handle him. The festival is all that matters." I followed her to a penthouse where she funded Brian' s music studio and promised him a headline festival spot – my comeback. I registered for the Electric Odyssey festival under my real name, determined to expose the fraud. But backstage, just before my performance, two men grabbed me. Then, they broke my hands. Pain erupted as my bones snapped. My career, my identity, gone in an instant. As my vision blurred, Nicole emerged from the shadows. "Electric Odyssey is for ' Aethel' !" she snarled, her voice cruel. "I' ll destroy anyone who threatens his comeback, including you." She watched me bleed, letting me lie broken on the cold concrete. I woke up in my own bed, gasping, my hands miraculously whole. I grabbed my phone: The date was ten days before the festival. I was back, with the terrifying memory of my murder fresh in my mind, courtesy of my fiancée. This time, I wouldn' t be the one getting destroyed.

My family and I sacrificed everything, our entire lives and savings, for my fiancée Isabelle, who lay in a coma for a year after a seemingly minor car accident. We moved mountains, sold our home, and poured every penny into her recovery, believing in a love that demanded ultimate devotion. But the day she "woke up"-healthy, laughing, and throwing cash at my feet after her luxury SUV clipped my leg-she revealed it was all a cruel "loyalty test." Her "test" had already cost me everything: my mother, who skipped vital heart medication to save for Isabelle and died; my father, overworked to death at an unsafe Vance Corporation construction site; and my little sister, trafficked and murdered for trying to earn money for Isabelle' s fictional medical bills. While I stood numb, having just identified my sister's body hours before, she, surrounded by her aristocratic circle, merely laughed, celebrating her "recovery" and my "loyalty" as her casual cruelty sliced through what little I had left. The half-million dollars she and her manipulative ex-husband then offered me as "compensation" felt like blood money for my lost family. I took my mother, father, and sister with me-their ashes in a small suitcase-left everything else behind, and walked away from her gilded cage forever, seeking a quiet peace far from the monsters who devoured my world.

At the age of seven, Brad told her that they were meant for each other. Elsa blushed but didn't say anything. At the age of fourteen, he promised to marry her after he graduated from college. At the age of twenty-one, he fulfilled his promise. He married her. But she didn't expect that she would be welcomed by his furious roar instead of his warm embrace after their wedding. "Elsa, I've really underestimated you. I didn't know how many tricks you have played just for me to marry you." At the age of twenty-eight, she left him with her head held up high. This time, his arrogance immediately vanished, and he could finally lower his head in front of her. He was willing to do everything just to win her back.

I was waiting at the Registry Hall to formalize my mate bond with Gabe, my childhood sweetheart and the Alpha of our pack. He was thirty-two minutes late. When I finally found him in a private VIP lounge, his hands were buried in my cousin's hair, their lips locked together. Hailee was supposed to be my maid of honor. Instead of apologizing, Gabe looked me dead in the eye and used his Alpha authority to publicly reject me. The severing of our ten-year bond tore my soul apart, but the nightmare didn't stop there. My grandfather immediately called, demanding I clean up a mess Hailee had made. When I refused, he disowned me on the spot, froze every single one of my bank accounts, and stripped me of my family name. Within hours, my entire pack erased my existence, gleefully announcing Hailee as their new Luna. I had given my entire life to a family and a man who discarded me like worthless trash the second I became inconvenient. I was left broken, humiliated, and utterly penniless in the blink of an eye. But as I stumbled out of that sterile hall, a terrifyingly beautiful stranger stepped out of the shadows, radiating a primal power that made my knees weak. He was Caden Sinclair, the ruthless Lycan King, and he was dodging a forced political union of his own. "You need a shield. I need a wife. Marry me." Without hesitation, I signed the Eternal Vow.

Fear follows Alpha Samson wherever he goes. As the ruthless leader of the Blackthorn pack, he and his beast, Savage, bow to no one. But when a haunting scent leads him to a neighboring pack's dungeon, he finds his fated mate-bloody, broken, and chained to the wall. Alora is a half-wolf, half-witch hybrid falsely accused and left to die. But her abusers made one fatal mistake: they touched the mate of a monster. Rescued by the fierce Alpha, Alora begins a journey of healing that uncovers a lifetime of lies. She isn't just a survivor; she's a weapon. Together, Samson and Alora will unleash hell on those who wronged her, unearthing dark family secrets and claiming the crown that was stolen from her birth.

For three years, I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into building Blackwood Group for Alec, my Alpha and the man I thought was my mate. But on the day of our work anniversary, I stood outside his office door and heard him talking with his Beta, shattering my entire world. "Kay is just a wolfless Omega, useful for paperwork," Alec sneered coldly. "The bonding ceremony is just a show for the elders. The real Luna, the one who carries the bloodline that matters, is Breanne. I'm transferring all of Kay's core project files to Breanne tomorrow. Let her take the credit." He even texted me later, telling me to wear a blue dress to the upcoming gala because it made me look "obedient." I had turned down a Wharton scholarship for this man. I had spent countless nights fixing his mistakes, building his empire, and giving him my youth. Yet to him, I was nothing but a disposable placeholder, expected to smile and bow while another woman stole my life's work and my place by his side. The agonizing pain in my chest didn't break me; it forged me into ice. I didn't cry, and I certainly didn't beg. Instead, I wiped his servers clean of every strategy I had ever created, left a wax-sealed resignation on his desk, and accepted a job offer from his most ruthless rival.

I was three months pregnant when the car hit me. Lying there, barely hanging on, I called my husband-Alpha Ethan-over and over. No answer. When I finally woke up from the pain, I saw a post from his first love, Ivy. "Thank you, Alpha, for knowing how scared I am of the dark and staying with me all night. He even cleared his whole schedule today to take me to the auction, just to give me the best gift in the world. I'm so happy!" Right then, it hit me. While I was fighting to protect our child, he was with another she-wolf. I calmly liked her post and put my phone away. Since he chose his first love, I chose to let go. Seven days from now, I'd leave his world for good-with our child.

For years, Elara Park endured being called "half-breed" and "weak blood" at pack meetings. Because she was a hybrid wolf, she trusted Zack Blackwood's sweet promises. Then he rejected their fated mate bond moments after claiming her body. Before she could even breathe through the soul-crushing agony, the news was already celebrating his engagement to her vindictive stepsister, Selina. The headlines gushed about their "perfect pureblooded union." Her mother's call came like a final blow: "Elara, you're twenty-three now. It's time you contributed to the family." Marry the worthless second son of a prominent Alpha family or lose her father's empire forever. They had her trapped, ready to steal her birthright and leave her powerless. But as the heartbreak bled out, ice-cold determination took its place. Elara went to the arranged meeting at the city's most exclusive club, determined to turn her mother's matchmaking scheme to her advantage. She would agree to marriage-but on her own terms. When she found who she believed was Damian Sterling in the private suite, she cut straight to business: a contract marriage with clear boundaries, separate lives, and a guaranteed escape route. What she didn't know? The devastatingly dangerous man who'd just signed her contract with a predator's smile wasn't the pathetic playboy she expected. He was Dominic Wolfe-the Alpha King who'd been relentlessly hunting her for years. And now, she'd just signed herself over to him completely.

I died once before, framed for a murder that never happened. I am Princess Fiona Avery of the Blackwood Pack, forced by my father into a political union with Bowen Mayer, heir to a powerful house. In my first life, my husband's mistress faked a pregnancy, accused me of pushing her into a lake, and watched as I was condemned as a murderer. I spent my final days in a mental ward, broken and drugged, until a lethal injection silenced me forever. But the dead don't always stay dead. I opened my eyes on the very day it all went wrong. My tea was still laced with sedative. My husband's footsteps were already pounding down the hall. His weeping mistress was ready to play her part. This time, I don't beg. I don't cry. I don't kneel. I summon the ruthless Gamma of the royal Shadow Guard. I demand the pack doctor examine his precious lover-right here, in front of everyone. I stake my life on a wager I know I cannot lose. They think I'm still the weak, wolfless princess they once destroyed. They have no idea what I've become.

Today was my thirtieth birthday. I left work early, secretly hoping my husband, Braxton, would finally remember and celebrate with me. But when I unlocked the door, the house was dark and silent. Through the terrace window, I saw him and our five-year-old daughter, Bonnie, sitting happily on a picnic blanket. Sitting across from them was Danika, holding the exact chocolate lavender cake I had wanted. "Make a wish, Auntie Danika! Daddy said all your wishes will come true!" Bonnie cheered. Braxton looked at Danika with a profound tenderness he had never, not once, shown me. My hands went numb, and my water glass slipped, shattering loudly on the marble floor. The laughter outside stopped. Braxton stepped inside, frowned at the broken glass, and pulled out his phone. "Mrs. Sullivan, there's a mess in the living room. Have it cleaned up tomorrow." He didn't call my name. He didn't even consider that his wife might be home. He just walked back out to his perfect family. Standing in the shadows, I realized I was just a ghost in my own house. My husband didn't love me, and my daughter wished another woman was her mother. The last flicker of hope in my heart completely died. I didn't scream or cry. I packed a single suitcase, signed a divorce agreement waiving all assets and custody, and walked out to build my own tech empire. They wanted a life without me. I was going to give it to them.

For eight years, Cecilia Moore was the perfect Luna, loyal, and unmarked. Until the day she found her Alpha mate with a younger, purebred she-wolf in his bed. In a world ruled by bloodlines and mating bonds, Cecilia was always the outsider. But now, she's done playing by wolf rules. She smiles as she hands Xavier the quarterly financials-divorce papers clipped neatly beneath the final page. "You're angry?" he growls. "Angry enough to commit murder," she replies, voice cold as frost. A silent war brews under the roof they once called home. Xavier thinks he still holds the power-but Cecilia has already begun her quiet rebellion. With every cold glance and calculated step, she's preparing to disappear from his world-as the mate he never deserved. And when he finally understands the strength of the heart he broke... It may be far too late to win it back.

For years, I belonged to him. Not his mate. Not his love. But his bedmate. His Gamma. His shadow in the night. Alpha Calhoun made sure no man dared touch me, no wolf dared look at me. I was his possession, his secret, his sin wrapped in skin. And I endured it all-his rough hands, his dark devotion, his kisses that tasted like fire and chains because at least, for a while, he was mine. Until she returned. His destined mate. His so-called true love. And suddenly, I was nothing. Cast aside, silenced, left to wither in the shadows of a love that had never been mine to claim. But the thing about being claimed by a man like Calhoun. is that he never truly lets you go. "Try to leave me, Elodie," his voice had been a snarl against my throat, his grip bruising my waist. "I'll burn down every border, tear apart every wolf that stands in my way, until you crawl back to me. You're mine, even if the Moon Goddess herself wants to rip you away." He didn't know then that I already had one foot out the door. And when I finally left his pack. I took more than just my broken heart with me.

I was born to be Alpha Damien Carlisle's fated Luna. Instead, I lived like a stray dog in his pack. For one year, I watched everyone worship Lilith Vance, his fragile first love, while they mocked me as the barren mate he was too ashamed to mark. Then I learned the truth. His mother had been forcing brutal fertility herbs into my body. His sister threw an illegal sterility poison at me. And Damien, my own mate, had been secretly lacing my food with wolfsbane contraceptives for months. When I confronted him, he did not deny it. "I couldn't let you get pregnant," he said coldly. "If Lilith found out you were carrying my heir, the shock might kill her." I finally understood. I was never his Luna. I was his bloodline. His legal womb. His family's insurance policy. The moment Lilith coughed up blood, Damien abandoned me without looking back. So I ran to the capital and begged the Alpha King to grant me a formal Rejection. He threw my petition away unread. My mate had poisoned me. My pack had betrayed me. And the King himself refused to free me. Fine. If the law would not save me, I would save myself. In my past life, I had been a healer no one believed until it was too late. This time, I remembered everything. In seven days, at the Royal Hunt, the Alpha King would drink a silver poison designed to kill even a Lycan. No royal healer would be able to save him. But I would. I packed my surgical kit, disappeared into the city slums, and prepared the only cure in the kingdom. When the King lay dying, he would finally listen. And the price of his life would be simple. My freedom.