Chapter 1

The day I died, my fated mate, Derek Blackwood, was holding his mating ceremony with another woman.

That was the last thing on my mind before my eyes closed.

I once believed that if I loved him fiercely enough, even a wolfless failure like me could win him over.

He would take my hand, swear before the Moon Goddess, and make me his one and only Luna.

But I was wrong.

He rejected me in front of the entire pack. On top of that, he let his new lover, Lilith Foley, rip off my winter coat and throw me into Frostmaw Mountain like a piece of trash on a night when it was twenty-two degrees below zero.

Derek looked down at me as I coughed up blood in the snow, his eyes full of disgust. "Selene, don't blame me. The pack doesn't need a worthless wolf who can't shift."

He thought I would die that night on that frozen mountain, but he couldn't be more wrong.

Three months later, at his succession ceremony, someone kicked the grand hall doors right off their hinges.

That someone was Alexander Blackwood, the legendary former Alpha King, a ruthless tyrant who had been sealed away for ten whole years and also happened to be Derek's adoptive father.

Alexander wrapped one arm around my waist and held me close to his chest.

Then he looked at Derek, who was trembling before the throne, and let out a cold laugh. "Derek, watch your tone when you talk to my Luna. Get on your knees and call her 'Mother.'"

*****

"As Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack, I swear to the Moon Goddess. I, Derek Blackwood, reject you, Selene Chapman, as my fated mate," Derek declared, his voice ringing cold and absolute.

The moment those freezing, final words left his lips, a blinding bolt of lightning ripped across the sky above the Sacred Moon Altar, followed by a deafening crack of thunder.

Then, deep within my soul, a harsh tearing sound echoed.

It was the Mate Bond, a gift from the Moon Goddess, being snapped by his will alone.

With a harsh gasp, I dropped to my knees, spitting out a mouthful of dark red blood.

Agonizing pain radiated from my heart, flooding through my limbs and bones.

For any wolf, the backlash from a rejected bond was torture worse than death.

But for me, an eighteen-year-old, frail, wolf-less failure who couldn't even wake her inner wolf, it wasn't much different from a death sentence.

I was gasping for breath, my thin dress soaked through with cold sweat. Struggling, I forced myself to lift my head and look up at Derek, who was standing on the altar.

He was the current Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack and my fated mate, the one I was destined to spend my life with ever since I went through my awakening at fourteen.

I still remembered last month, on the night of the full moon. He held me gently in his arms, pointed to the moon, and made me a promise.

"Selene, after our mating ceremony, I'm going to make you the happiest Luna in the whole world. It doesn't matter that you don't have an inner wolf. What matters is that I love you," he'd said softly.

But now, he was staring at me like I was some kind of trash.

In his arms was Lilith Foley, a woman with fiery red curls who was seductive to the core.

"Derek..." My face was deathly pale, my lips trembling. "Why? You know if you break the Mate Bond, it'll kill me..."

"Shut up." Derek cut me off coldly, his brows drawn tight, like hearing my voice was an insult to him.

"Selene, stop trying to guilt-trip me with that poor little act. I'm the Alpha. My Luna needs to be the strongest warrior in the pack.

"And what are you? You're eighteen years old and you can't even shift into a wolf. If you became Luna of the Bloodmoon Pack, our entire pack would be the laughingstock of the whole Siastonland."

The wolves in the crowd started laughing and whispering among themselves, not bothering to hide their mockery.

"The Alpha's right. How could a weakling like her be worthy of the Alpha King's bloodline?"

"Lilith has the blood of a rare red wolf. She's a real powerhouse. Only she deserves to stand by the Alpha's side."

"Selene's been throwing herself at the Alpha for years. She's an embarrassment to the whole Bloodmoon Pack."

Those vicious words were like invisible blades, slicing into me again and again.

Right then, Lilith poked her head out from Derek's arms. Her eyes were a little red, and she put on that heartbroken face for everyone to see.

"Selene, I know this must be so hard for you," she said. "Derek and I have been through so much pain because you were always there. We really tried to fight our feelings for each other.

"But you can't control who you fall in love with, can you? Especially after I found out... I'm already having his baby."

As she spoke, a tear slid down her cheek at just the right moment, but there was a little bit of bragging in her trembling voice.

"For this child, for the future of the pack, we have to be brave and honest with ourselves," she went on. "Selene, the Moon Goddess is merciful. She'll understand us, and she'll forgive us. You'll give us your blessing too, right?"

I stared daggers at Lilith, watching that two-faced act of hers.

I never imagined she would be carrying his child.

I suddenly realized they had already been sneaking around behind my back before this sacred mating ceremony. And now she was even pregnant.

The idea of fated mates was a complete joke when power and desire were the only things that truly mattered.