Chapter 1

The day Vincent Baker snapped my right hand beneath his boot, his first love, Selena Hart, was trying on the Luna gown that had been meant for me.

"You're nothing but a worthless Omega with no wolf spirit," he snapped. "The only thing you're good for is being Selena's personal blood supply."

Cold sweat poured down my skin from the agony, yet I couldn't make a single sound begging for mercy.

For three years, I'd endured endless blood extractions on his estate, all to settle my family's debt to him.

He hated my inferior scent. Every single time he finished taking my blood, he'd have me doused head to toe in disinfectant, no exceptions.

I bore every humiliation in total silence.

It all came to an end at the full moon ritual. Before the entire pack, he placed the Luna bone ring, the mark of the Luna's status, on Selena's finger and cast me out for good.

He'd expected me to grovel on my knees and beg for his mercy.

But instead, I severed the long-dormant mate bond I'd held suppressed for a full decade, right in front of the entire pack.

"Before the Moon Goddess, I, Chloe Rivers, formally reject Vincent Baker as my fated mate," I declared.

*****

A cold needle jammed roughly into my vein. My whole body shook with sharp, terrible pain.

Vincent stood by my bed, looking down at me with pure disgust in his green eyes.

"Go faster. Selena is waiting," he said to the healer in a cold voice.

The healer flinched at his words. The needle dragged inside my vein, leaving a hot, stinging pain.

My vision went blurry and dark, and my stomach twisted with sickness.

This was the fourth time he'd made them take my blood this month.

Selena had been poisoned by a wolf toxin, which would cause her to mutate.

I was the only Omega in the pack who never awakened my wolf spirit, and my blood was the only thing that could calm her pain.

Vincent kept me locked away in his basement like a captive.

Anytime Selena complained of feeling unwell, he'd send someone to draw my blood without hesitation.

"Vincent," I whispered hoarsely, my lips dry and cracked.

He turned around, walked quickly to the bed, and grabbed my jaw tightly.

He pressed so hard that I thought my jaw might break.

"Shut up. You have no right to say my name," he snapped.

He leaned in, and his heavy Alpha aura crashed over me, cold and suffocating.

I could barely draw breath.

"You wouldn't still be breathing if I didn't need your blood," he sneered.

I stared at him quietly.

The boy who'd wrapped me up and protected me through that blizzard ten years ago, the boy who'd told me I had nothing to fear with him staying by my side, was long gone.

The man before me was the most powerful Alpha in Sliverpine and the boss of a massive corporation. And he was wrapped around Selena's finger.

"Let her go!" A loud roar boomed from outside the door.

Lucas Rivers kicked the door open and burst into the room.

He was my only older brother and the only one in the whole pack who still cared about me.

He rushed forward, pushed the healer aside, and pulled the IV needle out of my arm. Fresh blood poured out and splattered all over the white bed sheets.

Vincent's face turned dark, and his eyes filled with heavy, cold fury. "Lucas, do you have a death wish?" he snarled.

His dominant Alpha aura flooded the room, leaving everyone gasping for air.

As a Beta, Lucas couldn't resist the intense force. His knees buckled under the weight, and he dropped sharply to the floor.

He gritted his teeth tightly and held his place, standing firmly in front of my bed to shield me.

"Vincent, she is your Luna. How can you drain all her blood for someone who means nothing to you?" Lucas shouted.

"My Luna?" Vincent scoffed with clear contempt.

He kicked Lucas hard in the chest.

The impact sent Lucas flying back into the wall, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Lucas!" I screamed and tried to climb out of bed to reach him.

Vincent grabbed my hair harshly and dragged me back onto the bed. Sharp, tearing pain shot through my scalp.

He pressed one knee down on the mattress and pinned me firmly in place so I couldn't move or fight back at all.

"You're nothing but a cheap gold digger who climbed into my bed for money. You don't deserve to be my Luna," he snarled.

His warm breath brushed over my face, but every word he spoke cut deeper than a sharp blade.

"Selena's recovery party is tonight. Clean up that disgusting poor stench on your body and get there to serve the guests," he sneered.

He shoved me off him, pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and tossed the cloth straight onto my face with obvious disgust. "I never want to see that lifeless look on your face again."

I was locked back inside the basement shortly after. The room had no windows, and only a single dim yellow bulb hung from the ceiling. The air smelled of old blood and rotting bread.

I leaned against the cold concrete wall as painful cramps twisted through my stomach.

I didn't take a shower or change my clothes.

I sat quietly in my blood-stained hospital gown and stared rigidly at the heavy iron door.

The door lock clicked open. Instead of Vincent, Selena walked inside.

She wore a bright red custom gown with my mother's old sapphire necklace shining around her neck.

She walked over in high heels and came to a stop right in front of me.

She towered over me and looked down with a smug air of superiority.

"Oh, my. Look at how miserable you are," Selena said with a sneer.

She covered her nose and waved her hand dramatically in the air. "Chloe, the stench of a low-ranking Omega like you is absolutely unbearable."

I paid her no mind and shut my eyes.

My indifference filled Selena with rage. She raised her foot and drove her sharp heel hard against the back of my hand.

A sharp cry escaped my lips as intense pain spread through every part of my body.

She twisted her heel against my skin, and I could feel my bones shifting under the pressure.

"Keep screaming all you like. Vincent will never come to your aid," she jeered.

She laughed loudly before she went on, "Do you know why he holds such hatred for you?"

She crouched down and leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I told him you were the one who poisoned him back then."

I opened my eyes and fixed her with a fierce glare. "Nonsense. I was the one who..."

"You were the one who saved him, right?" Selena cut me off, her grin growing bolder with triumph. "What difference does it make?

"He only trusts me now. He thinks I kept him warm and alive out in the snow. He believes I am his fated mate."

She seized my chin and pressed her nails deep into my flesh. "You are truly pathetic, Chloe.

"Your parents handed you over to Vincent and took 30 million dollars from him in exchange for you. Did you think you were paying off your parents' debts?

"No. You were nothing more than a tool they traded for wealth and status."

Selena stood upright and clapped her hands.

At her signal, two bodyguards stepped into the room from the hallway outside.

"Drag her outside and hose her down thoroughly. We can't let her ruin tonight's party with her presence," Selena snapped.

Guards forced me out of the basement.

Frigid water pelted my body and tore open my existing wounds.

I didn't shed a single tear, for I had long run out of tears to cry.

I looked up at the sky and saw a full moon hanging above.

My blood burned hot inside me, and a powerful force struggled to break free from within.

Vincent owed me everything, and I would make him pay back every last debt along with what he had taken.