Chapter 1

"Riley, I formally reject you."

He held another woman in his arms and threw the diamond ring I'd given him onto the coffee table.

After being publicly rejected and slapped by my Alpha Mate, I turned around and sold myself to the rumored impotent tyrant Alpha as a breeder.

But when he publicly declared, "She is my Fated Mate, my future Luna", my ex-Mate went crazy and crashed into my Luna inauguration ceremony, screaming with bloodshot eyes.

"Riley! Have you lost your mind? You married him just to get revenge on me?!"

And that tyrant everyone mocked whispered in my ear with a low laugh:

"Rumors say I'm impotent?... I thought you would have known better by now."

Riley POV

Three hours ago, I received a mind-link from Ryker.

Tomorrow was the Black Shadow Pack's Luna inauguration ceremony, and this was the first time he'd actively contacted me after three months of cold war between us.

His voice was as cold and noble as always, carrying the undeniable authority of an Alpha: "Riley, come to the Pack house. I have something to tell you."

Then he cut off the connection.

He didn't give me any room to question, taking everything for granted as always, like he was ordering some lowly subordinate in his pack.

I'll admit, in that instant, my heart—that pool of stagnant water that had long since fallen silent—stirred with ripples I couldn't control.

After all, I'd been chasing him for seven whole years.

I even stood in front of the mirror, carefully covering the faint dark circles under my eyes with the most expensive concealer, sprayed on the woody perfume he liked best, and changed into that white dress he'd once complimented.

Even though I was the most unwelcome illegitimate daughter in the pack, even though my mother was just a lowly Omega, ever since the Mating Ball on my eighteenth birthday when the Moon Goddess designated us as Mates, I'd been full of hope about becoming his Luna.

Even though I knew what lay ahead might be another carefully planned humiliation.

The car smoothly stopped at the Pack house entrance. The guard saw me and a flash of complexity crossed his eyes. He seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.

My heart sank, but I still smiled and nodded at him before walking straight in.

In the entrance hall, the air was thick with the sweet scent of an unfamiliar she-wolf. A pair of strange pink high heels lay askew on the floor, with Ryker's jacket scattered nearby.

I stood still. I didn't cry or make a scene. I didn't even change my expression. I just walked up to the second floor, step by step.

I was intimately familiar with every corner of this main residence. I could find my way to his study with my eyes closed.

The study door was ajar. Suggestive sounds came from inside, along with a girl's cloying complaints.

"Ryker, you're so bad... you wrinkled all my clothes..."

I pushed the door open expressionlessly.

In the study, Ryker was holding a young girl in his arms. The girl's face was buried in his broad chest, revealing only a fair, slender neck.

Three buttons of his shirt were undone. His usually meticulous hair was somewhat disheveled. A smile I'd never seen before played at the corners of his mouth—one tinged with desire and indulgence.

Hearing the noise, he looked up. When he saw me, that smile instantly cooled, turning into impatience and disgust.

"Riley, who told you not to knock?"

The girl in his arms looked up like a startled deer, timidly raising her head.

It was a pure, innocent face with big, round eyes that now held pools of moisture as she looked at me pitifully.

I recognized her. Cassandra, the casual fling Omega Ryker had recently brought back to the territory from outside.

"Ryker, she is..." Cassandra's voice was as soft as cotton candy, with just the right touch of fear.

Ryker ignored her. He just methodically straightened his clothes, then cast his gaze toward me. His eyes held their usual contempt for my illegitimate status.

"Since you've already seen it, I won't hide it from you." He took a velvet box from the drawer and tossed it onto the coffee table in front of me.

"This—I'm returning it to you."

I looked down. Inside the box lay a diamond ring, quietly resting. It was the one I'd prepared with such joy for tomorrow's Luna inauguration ceremony.

Ryker's indifferent voice sounded above my head: "I want Cassandra to be my Luna. Riley, I, Ryker, Alpha of Black Shadow Pack, formally reject you."

No guilt. No hesitation whatsoever.

A piercing pain surged through my chest.

I didn't look at the diamond ring. My gaze fell on my left wrist instead.

There was a silver bracelet—the token he'd given me at my eighteenth birthday Mating Ball when he learned I was his Mate.

He'd said this bracelet was to be worn for life, just as he would stay with me for life.

For seven years, I'd never taken it off. It had long since become one with my flesh and blood, even more familiar than my own skin.

I raised my eyes and looked at him calmly.

My composure seemed to surprise him. He frowned slightly, then as if remembering something, his tone took on its habitual arrogance and mockery: "What, not going to make a scene? I thought you'd cling desperately like before. Riley, these tricks get boring when you play them too often."

I didn't speak. I just extended my left hand and began struggling to remove the bracelet.

The bracelet had been worn too long. The clasp was difficult to work with, stuck at the bone joint. My skin quickly turned red from the friction, burning painfully.

The more anxious I got, the harder it was to remove.

Cassandra covered her mouth on the side, pretending to be shocked: "Riley, don't do this. That's not what Ryker meant. You're hurting yourself—he'll feel bad."

The words sounded like acting, but also like provocation.

Ryker's eyes indeed turned cold. He walked over and grabbed my wrist. His Alpha strength made it impossible for me to move.

"Riley, what game are you playing now? Playing hard to get?"

I gasped from the pain but laughed.

"Ryker," I called his name clearly, "you're the one who said you were rejecting me. This bracelet is yours. Isn't it only right that I return it to you now?"

He stared at me intently, as if trying to find even the slightest trace of pretense on my face.

But he was wrong.

On my face, besides the tears from the pain, there was nothing else.

So this is what it feels like when your heart dies—you can't hear any sound.

He finally let go of my hand, his eyes dark and unreadable.

I used every ounce of strength I had, enduring the excruciating pain, and finally tore that thin silver bracelet from my wrist. An angry red mark branded itself on my skin, shocking to behold.

I gently placed the bracelet on the coffee table, side by side with the diamond ring.

"I, Riley of Black Wood Pack, accept your rejection." I took a deep breath and looked at them. "I wish you and Cassandra a happy marriage and eternal happiness."

With that, I turned and walked out of the study without a trace of reluctance.

Driving away from the Pack, I finally couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears broke through like a dam. Wave after wave of pain made me clutch at my chest uncontrollably.