Chapter 1

Chelsea Moore hurried towards the road leading to the fancy house by the hill, a smile on her face as she clutched the thermos in her hands.

She had finally done it.

After a few months of secretly practicing in the pack’s kitchen, she had managed to make the perfect Whisperleaf Tea for Anthony.

Anthony Brook, her fiancé and the Alpha of Drakewood Pack, had been complaining to her about the stress surrounding the upcoming warrior evaluations and the endless pressure from the elders. In fact, he had been so busy that he was frequently away on missions or negotiations with other packs.

He was almost never home, so Chelsea had been ecstatic when Deborah, one of the cooks, mentioned that she had seen Anthony on her way to the pack hall earlier.

“I saw him going towards his home,” Deborah had secretly told her. “I think this is the perfect opportunity to surprise him with the tea, dearie.”

Chelsea, who had been feeling lonely lately because Anthony was rarely home, perked up at this immediately and quickly set about making her fiancé’s favorite tea blend.

Whisperleaf Tea was best known for its ability to relieve stress and restore one’s strength and vitality. It was also Anthony’s favorite type of tea.

Unfortunately, its ingredients were hard to come by, especially within their pack’s territory. The leaves grew more abundantly in lands just across the border, but traveling there was a considerable distance, so it wasn’t worth the energy and resources that the pack members would have to expend to gather them.

So instead, whenever Anthony wasn’t home, Chelsea would venture outside herself and carefully gather the leaves until she had enough to bring back home each time. Over the past few months, she had managed to accumulate a big supply, which was more than enough for her to practice with freely.

It hadn’t come without its sacrifices, though. The leaves grew on thorny, poisonous vines and were difficult to cut and gather without expensive specialized equipment. Chelsea had ended up with bruises and cuts on her arms that became poisoned, forcing her to have them treated at the healer’s hut and bandaged while they recovered.

But she didn’t mind it, because Anthony was worth all the pain and effort that she went through.

‘I hope he loves it,’ Chelsea thought excitedly as she took a deep breath before quietly opening the front door.

She slipped inside, silently closed the door behind her, and then checked her appearance in the mirror beside the corridor.

Good. She looked decent enough.

She wanted to surprise Anthony, especially since she was sure that he probably had another tiring day.

Smiling brightly, Chelsea entered the living room, where her wolf, Maika, could sense Anthony’s presence.

However, for some reason, Maika seemed restless and annoyed, even growling quietly under her breath.

Before Chelsea could wonder why, she saw the answer with her own eyes.

Anthony was definitely there in the living room.

But he wasn’t alone.

There, on the couch, he was pinning someone beneath him, pressing kisses against the side of the person’s neck.

Shocked, Chelsea dropped the thermos onto the floor. The loud crash instantly shattered the intimate moment, and its contents spilled across the floor and onto the expensive carpet.

Anthony whipped his head up in surprise, and so did the person underneath him.

“Chelsea?”

When the person straightened up and fixed their clothes, Chelsea finally got a good look at who it was.

It was Vivian.

Vivian Howler, Anthony’s female childhood friend whom he had once sworn to Chelsea that he only viewed as a sister.

“What are you doing here?” Anthony’s stern voice snapped Chelsea out of her stupor despite the blood pounding in her ears. “You shouldn’t come to my house without calling me or asking for permission first.”

Chelsea couldn’t believe what she was hearing right now. “But I always come to your home and even surprise you sometimes,” she squeaked out, too stunned by the scene to think properly. “You never complained about that before…”

“And what’s with those hideous bandages?” Anthony added, glancing distastefully at her covered arms. “Were you parading around the packhouse looking like that? Why are you always embarrassing me?” He then pointed at the carpet, which was now stained with the tea that Chelsea had painstakingly prepared. “Clean that up.”

Chelsea remained frozen in shock. She still couldn’t process what was happening. Everything was moving too quickly.

“I—I can’t,” she stammered, shaking her head. “I already overextended myself by making your tea in the pack kitchen earlier. The healer said that I need to rest my arms after giving it to you today.”

“Tea?” Anthony scrunched up his nose at the sight of the spilled liquid. “And you expected me to drink that?”

Beside him, Vivian let out a mocking laugh.

Anthony waved a dismissive hand. “Forget it. Just clean this up already, Chelsea. Don’t make me tell you twice.”

Chelsea felt as if something was stuck in her throat. “Why… Why is Vivian here?” she asked in a trembling voice. “Why were you kissing her, Anthony? I’m your fiancée. I don’t understand. I thought she was like a sister to you?”

At that, Vivian’s laughter grew louder. “‘Sister’? Oh, darling, is that what you told her?” She shook her head with an amused smile. “You have such a savage sense of humor.”

She then looked at Chelsea with clear mockery in her eyes before deliberately resting a hand on her stomach.

“By the way, I’m pregnant with Anthony’s baby, so you don’t have a place in his life anymore. I’m the one he’s going to marry, not you. So you can go now.”

She shooed Chelsea away with a wave of her hand as if she were a dog.

“Oh, but before you go!” Vivian quickly added with a grin. “Like Anthony said, clean this mess up first. We don’t want to spend time in a dirty living room like this.”

A spark of rage finally ignited within Chelsea. “And why would you think I’d obey you? Besides, I already said that my arms hurt—”

“Chelsea,” Anthony said, his tone stern and brooking no argument. He was using his Alpha voice now, the tone that compelled her to obey, and also the tone that she had once thought sounded sexy.

But now, it just sounded like the voice of her executioner.

“Just do it already. Stop making things difficult,” he commanded. “Besides, it’s your fault that you dropped the thermos in the first place. You should learn how to clean up your own messes.”

Chelsea could only stare at him in disbelief.

“Leave right away after cleaning up, but remember this,” Anthony said, his voice as cold as steel. “If you ever come back here again without permission, or if you try to ruin things for me and Vivian in any way… you can be sure that the secret you’ve been trying so hard to hide will be revealed by me to everyone in the pack.”

His eyes hardened.

“So don’t cross me from now on. Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”

Chelsea felt as though her entire world were spinning.

In the end, the shock was too much to bear, and she slumped to the ground, unable to keep herself standing any longer.

No… This couldn’t be happening. There was no way that the man she loved the most in this world was throwing her away like this for another woman.

Also… how?

How did Anthony know about her secret?