Chapter 1

The training ground was filled with cheers and boos, and I frowned at the noise.

“That's enough.”

But Grayson didn’t pull away. His lips were still tangled with Isabella’s, their bodies pressed too close for the scene to be mistaken as anything but intimate. The former pack Alpha’s daughter clung to him like she had a right to.

He didn’t even flinch when the pack watched.

I stood at the edge of the sparring ring, spine straight despite the burn climbing up my throat. “Alpha Grayson,” I said, voice sharp and cold. “The training match is over.”

Isabella finally pulled back, eyes wet and lips trembling. “I—I was too caught up in the moment,” she murmured, wrapping vulnerability around her like silk.

The crowd of Silver Crescent wolves shifted uncomfortably, their gazes unfriendly. Not because of Grayson and Isabella, no. It was because of me—because I dared to speak.

To them, I was just the Beta. The green-eyed orphan girl who clawed her way up the ranks with grit instead of pedigree.

And Isabella? She was their golden girl. The one born to the former Alpha. Beautiful. Delicate. A legacy.

Whispers rolled through the pack like a second wind.

“Jealousy doesn’t suit her.”

“She definitely still has.a thing for Grayson.”

“She should know better than to humiliate herself like this.”

Grayson turned to me at last. His silver eyes—once the softest thing I knew—were now sharp with warning. “You’re out of line, Beta Nora.”

Beta. Not mate. Never mate. He'd never let anyone from the pack find out. To them, Grayson was nice and fair enough to make his ex-girlfriend his Beta. But his true match in their eyes was the lovely Isabella.

“I’m doing my job,” I replied, though my voice wasn’t as steady as I wanted. “You’re the Alpha now. Every move you make sets an example—”

“You think I need your guidance? I am your Alpha and you're my Beta. Remember that.” he snapped. “This isn’t about the pack. This is about you.”

The air tightened around us. I was his Beta, yes. But I was also his mate. Did he forget that? I didn’t speak. There was no need at this point.

We had fought battles side by side. Built trust on broken ground. I had been there before the title, before the power, when he was just an outcast Alpha with nothing but pride and hunger in his eyes, seeking for a pack to call home.

As an orphan wolf and an Alpha myself, I understood the desire to want to fit into the pack. So, I supported him, and he loved me for it. Said I understood him like no one else ever could. Said he'd love me forever.

I stared at him wryly, Isabella hanging on his arm. Now as the present pack Alpha, I was watching him become everything he swore he’d never be.

“I’m fine, Grayson,” Isabella whispered, touching his arm as if I wasn’t standing right there. “She just... gets like this.”

He didn’t defend me. Didn’t say a word.

My throat closed. The bond between us pulsed beneath my skin like a bruise I couldn’t touch. It wasn’t just a rejection—it was betrayal wrapped in silence.

I took a step back.

“Next time,” I said tightly, “keep your personal business out of the training grounds.”

His jaw clenched, but he said nothing.

Behind me, the pack was already murmuring again. Isabella’s eyes met mine, smug and full of pity. Like she’d already won.

Maybe she had. Because even if the Moon goddess had made Grayson and I fated mates, she still got his affection.

I looked away to hide the emotion burning in my eyes.