Chapter 1

When I broke up with Pathseekers Pack Alpha Soren, he clutched the test report and asked me why I faked a pregnancy, then pressed a lit cigarette against my heart.

"How dare you lie to me?"

Soren severed our mate bond. My stepfather's family disowned me. I lost my job and my face was scarred.

The day I left Pathseekers Pack, Soren got engaged to my stepsister, Fiona.

I clutched my stomach and slunk away from their world like a rat in a gutter, disappearing completely.

When I saw Soren again four years later, he pointed at the child in my arms, his eyes certain:

"This is my child, isn't it?"

I saw Soren again late at night in a hospital.

I held my daughter Jenny in my arms. She'd long grown accustomed to IVs and injections, staying quiet the entire time.

When she saw Soren, she remained quiet too, only tugging at my dozing self in confusion.

I opened my eyes and suddenly locked gazes with the man's cold blue-gray eyes.

Memories from the past came flooding back. My heart stopped.

I stiffly got up, preparing to run, then belatedly remembered Jenny was still on an IV.

Just as my hand touched the IV bottle, Soren pressed down hard to stop me.

"Long time no see, Ella."

"Is this your daughter?"

A few light words, yet my legs began trembling uncontrollably.

Jenny tilted her head and asked who he was.

He smiled coldly, enunciating each word.

"An old acquaintance of your mother's."

More than just an old acquaintance.

Five years together. One hundred and eighty days and nights of desperate passion. And that once-tightly-connected mate bond.

Unfortunately, these numbers that weighed so heavily on me were nothing but garbage carelessly tossed aside by this high-and-mighty Alpha.

I kept my head down, my face pale.

During the silence, Soren's friend walked over. At first he didn't see clearly, and joked while pointing at Jenny.

"Soren, just a minor injury and your wife and daughter both came to see you!"

Not long after I left Soren years ago, I saw news online that Fiona was pregnant.

I hadn't expected she'd also given birth to a daughter.

Fiona was the daughter of Ashclaw Pack Alpha Jack. After her mother died, Jack met my mother, Omega Sylvie.

Sylvie was Jack's second chance mate. Before long, they got married, and I went from being an Omega's daughter to an Alpha's stepdaughter overnight.

After Soren severed our mate bond, both Jack and Sylvie announced they were cutting ties with me. I was knocked back to my original form in an instant.

Taking two steps closer, the man saw my face clearly and called out in surprise.

"You're Ella, right? You're still alive?"

His surprised, sarcastic words stabbed like a knife into my barely-healed heart.

I instinctively covered Jenny's ears to prevent her from hearing anything worse.

"Back then you forged a pregnancy report and made Soren's father so angry he died. How dare you show your face in front of Soren now?"

"You must be out of money, right? That figures. A woman like you can only rely on men for cash, can't you?"

"This scrawny little girl is your daughter? Don't tell me you're trying to claim she's Soren's daughter!"

I'd long been numb, but hearing that last sentence, I looked up in shock.

"No, she has nothing to do with Alpha Soren!"

Both men paused.

A moment later, Soren pushed his friend aside and approached me, his Alpha aura as oppressive as ever.

"How old is the child?"

"She's three!"

I blurted out almost reflexively.

He stepped closer.

"Show me her ID card."

I stepped back, forcing a slight smile.

"The ID card is at home. I forgot it."

Just as he was about to speak, I interrupted.

"It's so late. You should head home so Fiona doesn't worry."

At the mention of Fiona, he fell uncharacteristically silent.

A bitter smile crossed my heart.

Four years ago, humble as dirt, I'd questioned Soren about why he didn't believe me, why he was getting engaged to Fiona.

He'd gripped my throat, his eyes filled with disgust, ice cold.

"She's different from you. She's pure. She doesn't lie."

"And I love her."

I was his destined mate. We'd been together for five years. When he confirmed our relationship, he said he'd love me forever.

But after my mother remarried and he met Fiona, he became madly infatuated with her.

The vows he'd made to me vanished in an instant. He said he'd fallen in love with Fiona and wanted to give her a home.

I'd always thought this love wouldn't last long. Looking at it now, I'd been too naive.

Taking advantage of his distraction, I decisively removed the IV bottle, scooped up Jenny, and ran without looking back.

The man behind me said something faintly.

I didn't hear it clearly. I didn't care.