Chapter 1

After being stripped of my Beta title, I thought I could finally walk away from Alpha Lucas Stone.

Then my mother fell critically ill. The pack healer demanded fifty million dollars for the rare herbs needed to save her life. All of my savings had already been drained by her previous treatments. I was completely broke.

Lucas showed up at my door and handed me a card.

"There's five million in here. The rest depends on your performance."

Just like that, I became Lucas's on-call mistress.

I gritted my teeth, studying the women in adult films, doing everything I could to please him in bed.

When I finally asked, my voice raw and hoarse, "When do I get the rest of the money?"

Lucas lit a cigarette. "Next month."

A chill washed over me. I turned around, pleading desperately.

"You said you'd give it to me tomorrow! My mom won't survive until next month!"

"Please."

Lucas slowly exhaled a ring of smoke.

"All my liquid funds went into a limited-edition jewelry set for Mia. It's her birthday."

He probably expected me to throw a fit like I used to.

But this time, I was simply too exhausted.

"You're going out like that?"

Lucas glanced at my torn clothes, his eyes flicking toward the crack in the door he had intentionally left open.

I knew what he was implying. Everything that just happened had been in plain view of his guards outside.

They had already seen me in far more humiliating positions. What did this matter anymore?

Numbly, I pushed the door open. He grabbed my wrist.

"Do you have any self-respect left?"

I met his gaze, my expression dead. "Did you ever leave me any?"

He went silent.

We both knew the truth.

Ever since I beat him three rounds in a row during the werewolf academy tournament when we were nineteen, he had fallen hard for me.

He used to say his favorite thing about me was the fierce, unyielding grit I showed in battle.

Yet, after only seven years, he had grown sick of it.

All because the pack's newest recruit, Mia Lane, curled up in his arms and whimpered, "Alpha, the way Sienna looks at me... it terrifies me."

The next day, the entire pack gathered in the main hall.

Lucas stood on the high platform, his gaze sweeping over the crowd before landing on me, cold and devoid of warmth.

"I, Lucas Stone, Alpha of the Moonstone Pack, reject you, Sienna Vance, as my fated mate."

His voice echoed through the assembly hall, every syllable driving into my heart like a silver needle.

A choked whimper slipped from my throat. My knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor. It felt as though something inside my chest had been violently torn in two. Agony radiated from my core into every limb. My vision blurred; a shrill ringing filled my ears.

No one came to help me up.

He simply stood above, watching me curl into a ball on the ground, before turning around and walking away.

When I woke, three days had passed. Aunt Claire was sitting by my bed, her eyes rimmed with red. She told me Lucas had stripped me of my Beta title, confiscated my pack crest, and severed my Mind Link access.

Seven years of bleeding together couldn't outweigh a single tear from a newcomer.

He had brought up severing our Mate Bond seven times, and every single time was because Mia wanted an official title.

Even now, knowing full well my mother was lying in the healer's clinic waiting for the rare herbs to survive, he remained completely indifferent.

My eyes burned. In a hoarse voice, I asked, "How much did that jewelry set cost?"

He answered casually. "Three hundred million."

Three hundred million.

It felt like an invisible hand had gripped my heart, squeezing until I couldn't breathe.

I only needed fifty million. A fraction of that pocket change could have saved my mother.

Seven years by his side, and I was worth less to him than a set of diamonds for Mia.

Lucas was a man of absolute authority. When he said I had to wait a month, he wouldn't change his mind even if I dropped dead right in front of him.

I stopped arguing and pulled the door open.

Several pack warriors were smoking outside. The moment they saw me, they went dead silent.

They shifted their eyes awkwardly. One let out a dry chuckle.

"Sienna, finished with your special training?"

They exchanged crude glances, chuckling under their breath.

Lucas hurled a glass from inside the room. Shards shattered across my calf, cutting into my skin. Blood seeped into my pants, but the wound closed almost instantly, leaving only faint pale marks. I didn't even flinch.

He frowned at the faint marks on my leg, then threw his coat over my shoulders in front of everyone.

"I said you'd get it in a month. I never said I wouldn't pay. Who are you giving attitude to?"

He didn't even bother buttoning it. He just draped it over me carelessly, putting on a show for the others.

I stared deeply at the man I had loved for seven years.

I had thought that if I became a little more submissive, a little more humble, he might remember how I once took a fatal blow for him without hesitation.

They say real love hurts when the other person is in pain, but his eyes held nothing but cold indifference.

The moment I stepped out of the pack territory, every ounce of strength drained from my body. My legs shook so violently I could barely stand.

Tears spilled over.

Behind me, carefree laughter drifted out through the doorway.