Chapter 1
On the day of my marking ceremony, my mate, Ryan Mercer, is caught kissing my sister, Paige Frost, in the dressing room. The whole pack gets to laugh at my humiliation.
Then Alpha Ethan Vale steps forward. With everyone watching, he gives me his mark.
Once we're married, Ethan couldn't be kinder to me. But we can't conceive a pup. At last, I try IVF, and I finally get pregnant.
He becomes even more devoted. He calls me “darling” in his sleep, and I tell myself the Moon Goddess has blessed us.
Then one day, I overhear him talking to his Beta.
“How could you do that, Ethan? Luna Claire loves you. She does everything for you. And because Paige is afraid of the pain of pregnancy, you had her eggs substituted for Claire's? You made your own Luna carry Paige's pup without telling her? She's due in two months. What's your plan?”
For a moment, Ethan says nothing. Then he gives a quiet sigh. “When he's born, I'll give him to Paige. She'll have the pup she's always wanted, and I'll tell Claire he was stillborn. She's an Omega whose mate threw her away. I'll stay with her for the rest of her life. That should more than make up for it.”
Every bit of tenderness, every loving word—it was an act.
I book an abortion. I don't want this filthy pup, and I won't stay in this lie of a marriage.
Being an Omega doesn't make me theirs to use.
“How could you? Aren't you worried Luna Claire will realize what you've done?”
The silence stretched before Ethan Vale answered, perfectly calm. “She won't.”
“How can you be certain?” his Beta asked.
“She relies on me for everything.” There wasn't a trace of doubt in his voice. “Whatever I say, she'll believe it.”
His Beta didn't answer right away. When he spoke again, he kept his voice down. “I hope you don't end up regretting this.”
Ethan chuckled, as relaxed as if they were discussing nothing important. “I won't.”
I hadn't known the truth could be this cruel.
Outside the meeting room, I pressed my nails into my palm until I broke the skin.
I couldn't even feel it.
I'd brought Ethan his winter coat. A cold wind had been blowing down from the north for days, and I'd worried about him getting sick on patrol.
Now my chest hurt so badly I could hardly breathe. The draft in the hallway went straight through me.
Inside my head, my wolf howled with me.
I somehow made it back to our house. I sank onto the rug in front of the fireplace, wrapped my arms around myself, and shook. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop crying.
Then the front door opened.
Ethan had come home.
I heard his heavy boots cross the floor. A moment later, he crouched beside me.
When he spoke, he sounded as warm and concerned as he always had.
“Why didn't you have the staff start a fire? The house manager says you haven't eaten, and you weren't looking well.”
He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, his brow creasing. “What's wrong, Claire? Tell me.”
He wrapped his hand around mine. The familiar warmth was still there.
“You have to eat. Our pup needs you to take care of yourself.”
I looked into his face. Nothing in that tender expression gave him away.
An Alpha could apparently look at you as if he loved you and not mean a second of it.
Four years earlier, my fated mate, Ryan Mercer, had been caught kissing my younger sister, Paige Frost, at my own marking ceremony. My parents had ordered me to give him up. Paige was my own flesh and blood, they'd said. Why let one male wolf come between sisters?
In front of our guests, they blamed a mistake on the invitations. The ceremony, they announced, had been meant for Paige all along.
While I stood there with everyone watching, Ethan came forward and took my hand. He didn't hesitate before bending to my neck and marking me in full view of the pack.
For years, I'd thought of him as the man who saved me from their contempt.
I'd always had a head for business. What few people knew was that I had run the largest trade consortium among the southern packs.
I walked away from it when I married Ethan. I left the consortium to devote myself to my duties as his Luna and to helping our pack thrive.
I knew the southern packs, their resources, and their needs. With that knowledge, I helped him work out his plans. Within a few years, the failing little pack he led had become one of the South's rising powers.
Then, this year, IVF finally gave us the heir we'd waited for. It seemed we had everything.
Ethan had held me and called our pup a gift from the Moon Goddess. Looking at the love in his eyes, I'd been ready to give everything I had to him and our child.
Now I knew how carefully he'd lied.
If he could act as though he loved me, I could act, too.
I shut my eyes. By the time I opened them, I was ready to give him the same gentle look he gave me.
“Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired.”
I kept my voice sweet, with a little teasing lilt. He heard none of what I was really feeling.
His shoulders eased, and he patted my hand. “Good. I'll ask the house manager to arrange a massage for you.”
All right, I thought bitterly. My wolf and I could play along for three more days.
Three days. Then I was done.
