Chapter 1

We’ve been married for almost a month, yet my Alpha keeps hiding in the study to avoid me.

He would rather give me a cheap vial of synthetic bonding pheromones than bare his fangs at me.

I thought I was just the unwanted substitute for my runaway sister, that he felt absolutely nothing for me.

I slammed the door and left, heading to the Moon Well to confide. But the moment my blood dripped in, the Alpha's voice echoed:

"I finally married her... but I was born with a curse. How do I mark her without hurting her the moment I bite down..."

——

The study door was ajar. I stood outside for two seconds before pushing it open.

Lucian's back was to me, fresh from training, wiping himself down with a towel.

His bronze skin still glistened with sweat, mixed with the scent of pine and blood—his signature. Every wolf in the pack knew that scent. None had ever been immune to it.

I stood frozen, throat tightening.

We'd been married almost a month. I should've been used to this body by now.

But every time I saw it, my heart betrayed me before my mind caught up.

"What are you doing here?"

He turned, saw me, and froze mid-motion.

I slipped off my outer robe, letting the silk nightgown show. I let his gaze land on me.

His eyes paused at my waist for half a second, then darted away.

I could tell he was holding something back—and that only made the ache in my chest worse.

Nearly a month together, and I'd barely felt his fingertips.

I clenched my fists and threw the words at him.

"I can't take this anymore. We've been together almost a month. How long are you planning to drag this out?"

The Blood Moon Presentation was next week. The elders would inspect the mark in front of everyone.

Without a real bonding mark, this marriage would be a joke. I refused to be the joke—refused to be known as the second daughter whose own husband wouldn't touch her.

Something darkened in Lucian's eyes. He dropped the towel and crossed the room.

"You need my help?"

He was finally willing. My heart flared without permission.

He eased me down onto the couch, his fingers brushing my arm, warm against my skin.

I closed my eyes, waiting for what came next.

Instead, right as we were about to touch, he jerked back. The warmth vanished with him.

I opened my eyes and watched him yank open a drawer, pulling out a small transparent vial.

Synthetic bonding pheromone. The kind only cowards used—wolves too afraid to actually mark their mates.

Then he pulled out a pair of finger gloves.

Something roared in my skull.

So this was what he thought I'd come here for. This was all he thought I wanted.

I snatched the vial and gloves and shoved them into his chest.

"You're so damn rigid! I want YOU—not your hands!"

The study went silent except for his ragged breathing.

He stared at me, eyes burning like they could scorch straight through skin. I'd seen that look a hundred times before. Every time, I thought he'd finally cross the distance. Every time, he stopped short.

His hands stayed at his sides, knuckles white from the force of restraint. He didn't move an inch closer.

I stared at those hands until my anger boiled over.

"Lucian, if you can't do it, just say so. I'm not the only Alpha's mate in this territory—I could find someone else to mark me."

His throat worked.

"That's not what I meant."

But he still didn't move.

No kiss. No real closeness. His eyes even started to slide away from mine.

Third time he'd backed away.

I grabbed the collar of my nightgown and snatched my robe off the chair back.

I slammed the door so hard the torches down the hallway flickered.

My eyes stung, but I told myself—not one tear. Not in front of him.

I headed straight for Zoe's tavern.

My phone buzzed nonstop in my pocket. I glanced at the caller ID and powered it off.

"Not answering?" Zoe asked, cigar between her teeth, eyeing me sideways.

I threw back a shot of hard liquor, coughing at the burn.

"That smoke of yours smells awful."

"Let me enjoy my vices." She waved the cigar pack in front of my face, smirking like she knew something.

A few words in, and everything spilled out of me.

"He'd rather use his hand to get me off, rather fake the bonding scent with some cheap potion, than actually mark me. Doesn't that mean he never saw me as his mate at all?"

The moment I said it, I realized the thought had been festering in me for far too long.

"Maybe he's just not into female wolves?" Zoe raised an eyebrow.

I shook my head.

Back at the academy, Lucian's pheromones alone could send the entire campus of she-wolves into heat. Countless girls had thrown themselves at him, and he'd turned every one away, cold-faced.

It wasn't that he didn't like women.

It was that he didn't like ME.

Zoe narrowed her eyes, took a slow drag.

"Could it be he's still hung up on your sister?"

My chest lurched.

"Your sister was supposed to marry him first, remember? Then she packed her bags and ran off with some rogue wolf. Word is, the whole pack knew he was seething when you got shoved into her place."

Half a month of him bending to my every whim, giving me anything I asked for—except this one thing. Except the bond.

He'd rather concoct a fake pheromone to fool himself than actually bite down, break skin, leave a mark that was truly his.

So he had someone else in his heart. And I was just the replacement. Not even worth touching.

Touch me, and he'd probably be seeing someone else's shadow layered over mine.

Blood rushed straight to my skull. I grabbed my glass and slammed it down on the table.

"That's it. I've decided."

Zoe jumped. "Decided what?"

"I'm doing the Rejection tomorrow!"