Chapter 1

Everyone knew the story. Every year, he pushed deep into the brutal wilderness, charting untamed lands and crawling back covered in bloody claw marks, always swearing it was all to build enough power to claim me as his Luna.

Even when he coughed up blood deep in the mountains without stopping to heal, he just licked his wounds and kept moving forward.

On the night of the Ascension Ceremony—after our new territory was established and the pack had safely migrated—he was officially crowned Alpha. He declared he was finally strong enough to give me a life of peace and security.

Draped in the ceremonial mate cloak, tears burning in my eyes under the flickering bonfire, I reached out my hand toward him.

He hesitated.

Then, he turned away and slid the silver mating ring onto the finger of his first love from five years ago.

The very first love he had sworn on his blood never to contact again.

"I'm sorry, Zara. None of what I did all these years was actually for you. I apologize if I led you on."

He shielded her and guided her away from the sacred ceremonial grounds.

His Beta snarled a quiet whisper my way:

"Sorry, Zara. The truth is, they never really broke things off over the last five years. Seeing how much you loved Ethan, none of us had the heart to tell you."

I froze in place, utterly paralyzed.

Through our mind-link, my best friend Catherine roared furiously:

"What are you standing there for?! Go after him! Tear him apart!"

I didn't dare chase after them.

His first love...

She died five years ago.

Ethan claiming me as his chosen mate was supposed to be common knowledge.

Even a blind wolf could see it coming.

That was why I had put on the Luna cloak ahead of time.

Yet now, standing in that cloak made me look like the biggest joke in the entire pack, exposed under the mocking glares of every wolf in attendance.

I couldn't move.

I could only stare in shock as Ethan pulled Sylvia into his arms, shielding her face so the harsh firelight wouldn't sting her eyes.

My lips parted, but not a single sound came out.

Even though the she-wolf was wearing a veil, that slender build, that posture, the exact cadence of her walk...

It was an exact match for Sylvia, who had died years ago!

Ethan didn't know Sylvia was dead.

Back then, he had just made a blood oath swearing he would never see her again.

He even burned every last keepsake and letter she gave him right in front of my eyes.

I had kept my guard up at first.

But soon, I let it down entirely.

Sylvia's frozen body had been discovered in an abandoned hunting den.

She had long since severed ties with her pack.

No one cared enough to claim her or bury her.

In the end, I paid with my own rations and coin to give the young she-wolf a proper resting place beneath the permafrost.

I never told Ethan.

She was his first love, after all, and he was at a critical, life-or-death juncture scouting territory for our pack.

I was terrified the grief would shatter his focus and get him killed.

I watched with my own eyes as her body was buried under the frozen dirt.

So who the hell was this she-wolf standing in front of him?!

"Oh, look at her! Why hasn't she reacted yet? Did the heartbreak turn her brain to mush?"

"Serves her right! Arrogant stray! Thinking she could sink her claws into our Alpha and never let go! Bet you never saw this coming, huh? Ethan never loved you!"

"God, this is so satisfying to watch!"

Catherine, my sworn guardian, rushed out from the crowd and yanked me straight into the shadows.

"Are you out of your mind?! Just standing there letting the whole pack laugh in your face?!"

"Catherine, that's not it..."

"Save it! Listen to the pack-wide alert! We just got stabbed in the back!"

I quickly tuned my senses into the pack-wide frequency.

The very first broadcast pinging through the network read:

[Ethan Hart: I never had anything with her. She was the one obsessively clinging to me.]

'She' was me.

Right after walking away from the altar, Ethan had issued an official Alpha decree.

Even though we were essentially mates in private, pack politics had prevented us from going public until now.

Over the years, plenty of females accused me of having no shame, claiming I was just a desperate female refusing to leave their Alpha alone.

Back then, Ethan would hold me tight against his chest, murmuring:

"Once I secure the new lands and settle the pack, I'll claim you in front of everyone. Let's see who dares speak against us then."

Yet right now, his public decree stated in cold, stark terms:

[I have never made any mate vows with Zara Sterling. All these years leading the pack were solely to bring home my one true love, Sylvia.]

Attached was a photo of him kneeling on one knee, gently slipping the silver mating ring onto Sylvia's hand.