Chapter 1

On our wedding anniversary, my husband spent a fortune to buy my favorite necklace at auction.

I waited for him all night—only to watch him put it on another woman.

That was when I realized the truth.

Our anniversary was just an excuse. What he was really celebrating was his first love’s divorce.

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“...10,000,000 dollars! Going once! Going twice! The queen's necklace, sold, to Alpha King Lucian himself. Congratulations!”

When they announced that, everyone's disbelieving and shocked gazes turned toward me — his neglected Luna.

My heart started to race. In reality, I couldn’t believe it more than anyone else. Could it be that he remembers today is our anniversary...?

Lucian, my husband and the greatest Alpha King of Pack Nightfall, stood up from his chair at the front of the auditorium and walked to the stage.

He has short, curly black hair and a handsome face. Even with his always cold expression, he remains the most popular man in the entire pack.

I softly placed my hand on my chest. I used to think he didn't remember how important that necklace was to me...Because I'm his neglected house-wife Luna.

I'm Lucian's second chance mate, his luna...a Luna with an orphan's past.

“Look at what she’s wearing tonight...She actually doesn't deserve that necklace!”

"I know Lucian's first mate Sheila is here today too, maybe the necklace is for her..."

"But Sheila is just an ex-mate, isn't Lucian's wife! It's named the queen's necklace!"

I heared someone mutter quietly. Everyone looked down on our marriage, and that was obvious. Who would believe that an orphan like me deserved to be with the Alphaking?

Over the years, I’ve heard countless insults like this. But my gaze remain fixed, staring directly at Lucian, the man I loved.

I could endure it.

My relationship with Lucian had been strained for some time. For my love of him, I gave up everything that I had and that I was, to become his stay-at-home spouse, as was tradition for the wife of the Alpha King. Yet it seemed the harder I tried to please him, the more he distanced himself from me.

"First mate" also named "Fated mate". The mate bond of “second chance” is not as profound as that of “fated mate”. I’ve always known this.

But love gave me the courage to endure and overcome it all. And now, it seemed like hope had finally arrived. My heart raced, accelerating with every beat.

On the stage. There, the event master handed over the prize he had won: a darling pearl necklace that I’d had my eye on since the start of this charity auction. It's very similar to the one my mother longed for while she was alive.

The necklace had carried a hefty starting bid that rose to impossible limits during the auction itself. For the Alpha King, no cost was too high, and as it was our wedding anniversary…

Maybe this year, he’d finally want to celebrate it.

Necklace in hand, he turned toward the rest of the room, his cool blue gaze drifting over the audience.

He's walking toward me.

I stood up at once, eager and waiting, my heart leaping into my throat with anticipation.

Lucian began walking up the aisle. For row after row, my heart pounded so fiercely, I could barely hear myself think. When he approached the row where I was standing, I totally froze. I didn’t even breathe.

He moved into the row, coming closer, his eyes slightly beyond me. Then, he was at my side.

“Lucian…” I whispered.

But he walks past me, as if he hasn't seen me at all.

He walked towards another.

NOT ME.

His ex-mate Sheila stood two seats down from me.

“Turn around,” Lucian told her. When she did, he lifted the necklace and carefully placed it around her neck, clasping it in the back.

Lucian kept his hands on her shoulders as he told her, “Congratulations on your new beginning.”

Sheila laughed lightly, spinning toward him, she said, “I didn’t expect you to read through the gossip rags.”

Her smile, as elegant as her black dress. She was born of noble, popular, dignified, she's a perfect noble lady — and the most importantly, she was his ex-fated mate.

Even though they didn’t get married, they had a love affair.

The necklace is not for me — It's for her.

“Were they wrong?” Lucian asked.

“No,” she replied. “I officially announced my divorce this morning.”