The Substitute Who Became Queen

"Kieran... ah... go deeper." Serena Hale moaned breathlessly, wrapping her legs tighter around him, her body gripping him in rhythmic pulses.

"Lena... I'm going to wreck you." Kieran Sawyer's voice was rough, his thrusts quickening, driving in and out until slick fluid ran down both their thighs.

Serena arched her back, her breasts bouncing, marked with red bite prints he'd left behind.

"Ah... Kieran... I'm close." Her voice trembled as she clenched around him.

Kieran's hot, ragged breath fell against her neck.

The headboard knocked against the wall in time with each fierce drive.

Serena gripped the sheets, drenched in sweat, lost in the overwhelming pressure that came naturally to an alpha werewolf.

"Kieran..." She tilted her head back, baring her neck to his mouth.

The skin there pulsed faintly—her mating gland.

"Mark me. Please." Her voice was raw. "Brand me. Make me truly yours."

Kieran stopped cold.

He'd already parted his lips, his fangs grazing her carotid.

But he pulled back.

Serena opened her hazy eyes.

"Lena." He pressed his thumb gently against her neck, stroking. "You know I can't. Things are too unstable right now, and too many in the Sawyer Pack are watching me. Not marking you is how I protect you. The moment my scent is on you, you become a target."

That excuse again.

Serena swallowed her grievances without a word. She just wrapped her arms around his back and matched his final thrusts until they came together.

A few minutes later, Kieran got up, dressed, and walked out without a glance.

"Something urgent came up. Trouble in the pack."

"Kieran, wait—I need to tell you—" Before she could finish, he cut her off.

"Tell me tomorrow, baby."

He grabbed his keys, and the door slammed.

Serena slumped back against the headboard, too exhausted to move, and pulled the blanket over her bare body.

She touched her own neck. No mark. No bond that would announce any claim.

Five years. A full five years.

Five years ago, she'd been attacked by a rogue at the border and nearly died.

Kieran saved her and brought her back to the Sawyer Pack in Mistfir Vale.

To hide her real identity—the Beta's daughter of the Hale Pack—she took the name "Lena" and stayed by his side as his behind-the-scenes helper, managing the pack's supply distribution.

Then, a few days ago, her uncle Gareth Hale tracked her down.

Gareth told her the Hale Pack needed her back to fulfill an arranged marriage with the Grim Pack.

She'd been torn ever since.

She wanted to stay—for Kieran.

She'd been ready to tell him the truth.

If Kieran were willing to mark her, she would give up everything in the Hale Pack.

But he hadn't even given her a chance to speak.

"Maybe he really is trying to protect me," she told herself.

If she just waited a little longer, he would mark her eventually. He had to.

About twenty minutes later, her phone buzzed on the nightstand.

A text from Kieran: [Twilight Bar. VIP room 204, second floor. Something very important. Get here fast.]

Something very important?

Had he changed his mind?

Was that why he'd rushed out—to set something up for her?

She didn't waste a second. She threw on a coat, grabbed her keys, and headed out.

Fifteen minutes later, Serena parked in the back alley behind Twilight Bar.

She slipped past the crowd and went straight up to the second floor.

Room 204 at the end of the hall—that was Kieran's room.

She walked up and was about to push the door open when she caught a glimpse through the gap.

She recognized Kieran instantly. And sitting across his lap was a curvy blonde woman.

She couldn't make herself believe what she was seeing.

Maybe there was some kind of misunderstanding.

Then she heard Kieran's voice.

"That Lena? Don't even bring her up. You think I'd have taken her in if she didn't look a little like you? For five years, she's been nothing but a free housekeeper and a toy to take the edge off. That's all."

The woman in his lap laughed, soft and sultry.

"Is that so. But... aren't you worried she'll make a scene if she finds out the truth? She's been waiting for you to mark her."

"Relax." Kieran nuzzled the tip of her nose. "What right does she have? Now that you're back, my Leanna—once I get tired of that fool, I'll drive her out. The only Luna of the Sawyer Pack will ever be you."

At that, Leanna laughed even more freely.

She suddenly turned her head—and her eyes met Serena's through the gap.

Everything clicked.

That text... Kieran never sent it.

It was Leanna Voss.

This woman had used Kieran's phone to lure her here, just so she could watch with her own eyes how pathetic she really was.

No wonder he'd refused to mark her no matter how much she begged.

No wonder he always hid behind "protecting" her.

He hadn't marked her because he simply didn't love her.

She was just a stand-in.

Serena stumbled away from the door and out of the bar, made it to her car, and fell apart completely—crying until her voice gave out.

"Kieran, you liar..."

She'd been ready to throw away her chance to go back to the Hale Pack for this man. Ready to shrink herself down to a nobody in Mistfir Vale just to stay by his side.

And this was what she got.

Lies. And being used.

After a long while, Serena slowly lifted her head and looked into the rearview mirror.

Her eyes were swollen, her hair a mess. She looked wrecked.

She wiped her face roughly, pulled out her phone, and dialed the number she'd blocked.

It rang twice before someone picked up.

"Serena? You finally came around?"

She did her best to keep her voice steady.

"Yeah... I'll agree to the marriage."

"Wonderful!" Gareth pressed on. "The Grim Pack has been waiting on our answer! When are you planning to come back?"

"In a few days."

Serena hung up and leaned back in her seat. Even now, she still couldn't fully believe what she'd just heard.

So she really had been a stand-in all along.

Less than a few minutes after she hung up, her phone rang again.

An unknown number.

Who would be calling her at this hour?