Chapter 1

I am Lila, the only daughter of the Silver Pack Alpha.

To secure a century-long alliance between our two packs, I married Ethan, the new Alpha of the Black Pack.

Seven months into my pregnancy, while shopping for baby clothes at a maternity store,

I saw Ethan tenderly stroking his sister-in-law Seraphina's swollen belly.

Hearing their conversation, my heart ached until I could barely breathe.

"Seraphina, thank you for giving me another child. My life as a wolf is complete now."

"It's my honor to carry your bloodline, my beloved Alpha."

After returning home, I hired a private investigator and uncovered the whole truth.

He and Seraphina had been having an affair even before his brother Julian died.

Even before marrying me, he had already designated Seraphina's unborn child as the next Alpha of the Black Pack.

I removed the wedding ring that symbolized our political marriage.

This was the Alpha who had betrayed me from the very beginning. I didn't want him anymore.

I sensed Ethan's presence coming from the entryway and pressed my fingers against the corners of my eyes.

Ethan wrapped his arms around me from behind, resting his chin in the hollow of my shoulder.

He reeked of Seraphina's signature sweet orange perfume, the scent so overpowering it made my nose sting.

"Guess what I brought you."

I turned around and saw him holding a bouquet of lilies.

I reached out to take them and looked up at him.

"I thought you'd bring me the Starlight Brooch."

His expression froze for a moment.

The Starlight Brooch, a Luna heirloom passed down through three hundred years of Black Pack history.

It should have been pinned to my collar on my very first day as part of the Black Pack.

"About that..." Ethan looked down, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of his sleeve.

"I wanted to give it to you at the baby's birthday celebration. That would better show everyone how important you are."

The birthday celebration.

I almost laughed out loud.

Last week, someone in the Pack had leaked news about the Starlight Brooch.

Ethan knew perfectly well that I loved wearing brooches, and as his Luna, I should have received that brooch long ago.

Yet just hours earlier, I had seen him with my own eyes pin that very brooch to Seraphina's collar.

The image the investigator had captured of them kissing in the Alpha's study flooded my mind.

My stomach churned violently. The wolf pup inside me kicked restlessly. I stumbled to the sink and dry-heaved.

Ethan immediately called for the doctor in a panic, but the next second, his phone began vibrating frantically.

Through the speakerphone came Seraphina's delicate, tearful voice.

"Ethan, I slipped on the stairs. My belly hurts so much."

After hearing this, Ethan's face filled with anxiety. He grabbed the doctor and rushed out without a backward glance.

I watched his panicked retreating figure, and tears finally poured from my eyes.

Before Julian died, he had clasped Ethan's hand and entrusted him with caring for his wife and child.

But Ethan had already been involved with Seraphina even then.

When Seraphina was attacked by rogues, he abandoned me on our wedding anniversary to stay by her side all night.

When Seraphina went on a hunger strike, he left me, just after I'd miscarried and lost our first pup, to coax her into eating.

Before, I had thought he was simply protecting his former Alpha's widow out of family loyalty.

I had even convinced my father to deploy Silver Pack's elite forces for his sake,

helping him suppress the elder rebellion within his Pack and secure his position as Alpha.

I never imagined he had calculated everything from the very beginning:

Killing his brother to seize power, using our political marriage to stabilize his position, then carrying on his illicit affair with Seraphina behind my back.

He used me as a tool to consolidate his power, while becoming another woman's support and another pup's father.

With all my strength, I wrenched off my wedding ring and hurled it into the fireplace.

The floor-to-ceiling window reflected my pale, haggard face.

My pregnancy-swollen ring finger, rubbed raw and bloody by the ring, throbbed painfully, and my heart sent sharp stabs of pain through my chest from the emotional turmoil.

After my emotions settled, I dialed the number at the top of my contacts, my voice hoarse. "Mom, I want to come home."

Ethan didn't return all night.

I threw the bouquet of wilted lilies from the entryway vase into the trash without a second thought.

My phone notification reminded me that today was my newborn care class at the nursing center.

I placed my hand over my swollen belly. The pup kicked me gently.

Even though Ethan had been using me all along, the child was innocent.

It was my flesh and blood, my one and only treasure.

I had the butler prepare the car to take me to Silver Pack's exclusive nursing center.

The nursing center's reception hall was filled with soft morning light.

Every waiting couple sat close together, the husband's hand resting on his wife's rounded belly.

They leaned their heads together, speaking softly, occasionally exchanging smiling glances.

I chose the most isolated corner seat and sat down. A familiar scent caught me off guard.

The moment I looked up, my heart froze.