Chapter 1

Just because I accidentally spilled hot water on Bailee Rose, my mate’s Beta, he locked me in the pack’s sauna for eight hours. Right before I lost consciousness, Rhys Kennedy, the Alpha of the Crimson Fang Pack, finally sent someone to get me out.

He stood over me, his towering frame casting a shadow, his voice low and commanding, “This is just a small lesson. If I ever see you hurt Bailee again, next time, it won’t be this easy for you.”

I lay on the stretcher, my body weak but my voice steady. “Alright,” I said, knowing better than to argue with an Alpha.

==============================

On the day I was discharged, I stood outside the packhouse and overheard lively chatter inside. The voices carried through the open windows, sharp and mocking.

“Alpha Rhys, if you dislike Adelaide so much, why not just reject her?” Colin Harris, a Gamma in the pack, asked smugly.

Rhys made a noise of irritation, his deep voice rumbling. “My mother, the Luna, insists that only Adelaide can initiate the rejection. If I do it, she’ll strip me of my title and hand the pack over to someone else. I don’t know what kind of spell Adelaide cast on her.”

His tone was full of impatience, the kind that made my stomach twist.

Bailee chimed in, her voice sweet but laced with venom. “Alpha Rhys, maybe she’s just after your pack’s wealth and status.”

Her words were met with murmurs of agreement from the others in the room.

Unlike before, I didn’t stand quietly at the door feeling sad. Instead, I pushed it open and walked in directly, my head held high despite the weight of their stares.

My entrance turned the buzzing living room silent.

Rhys looked at me, his dark eyes narrowing. “What rotten luck,” he muttered, his voice dripping with disdain.

“It’s Bailee’s birthday today. Don’t ruin the party,” he added, his tone sharp, as if I were nothing more than an inconvenience.

Everyone stared at me, waiting to see my reaction. Every time Rhys taunted me, my emotional outburst was their entertainment.

But this time, they’d be disappointed.

After hearing his words, I simply said, “Alright,” and went straight to our shared room, closing the door behind me.

As I lay on the bed, I received a mind-link from Emory Kennedy, the Luna of the Crimson Fang Pack.

“Adelaide, are you really going to separate from Rhys?”

I turned my head to look at the framed photo on Rhys’s side of the bed. In the picture, he was beaming while holding another woman by the shoulder—Leia Mendez, his first mate, the daughter of the Alpha of the Shadow Claw Pack. Since I moved in, that photo had always been there.

The first time I accidentally knocked it over while cleaning, Rhys had lashed out at me, his voice booming with anger.

“Luna Emory,” I replied through the mind-link, “you know I stayed with Rhys to repay your kindness. Now that he’s moved past that incident, there’s no reason to continue this.”

Emory sighed, her voice tinged with regret. “It’s a pity. I’ll transfer the money we agreed on to your account shortly.”

I stared blankly at the photo, and after a moment, finally spoke, “Thank you.”

After six years spent for Rhys, it was time I lived a life of my own.

Once the mind-link ended, it took me a while to snap back to reality.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and Rhys walked in, arm-in-arm with Bailee. His presence filled the room, his muscular frame imposing, his aura commanding.

“Change the sheets. Bailee’s staying over tonight,” he ordered, his voice cold.

Bailee glanced at me and then, in a pitiful tone, said, “Alpha Rhys, it’s alright. I’ll just go home. I don’t want to trouble Adelaide.”

Upon hearing this, Rhys shot me a glare, his Alpha tone sharp. “Hurry up and change them. Stop wasting time.”

Looking at the face in front of me, so similar to the woman in the picture, I let out a small, amused laugh.

Since he had someone who made him happy, my purpose here was fulfilled.

We should both move on.

Bailee leaned in and whispered something to Rhys, her voice too low for me to hear. After she finished, a glint flashed in his eyes.

“Adelaide, you don’t need to leave the pack. After serving me all these years, I’m not used to change. You can stay,” he said, his tone patronizing.

Hearing the same degrading words I was used to, I didn’t react much.

Under their stares, I walked over to a cabinet, opened it, and took out a box of chocolates, handing it to them.

“We’re still technically mated,” I said calmly. “If you get carried away, it might hurt the pack’s reputation.”

Rhys stared at the chocolates in my hand, momentarily at a loss for words.

I shoved the box into his hand and turned to leave, my heart heavy but my resolve unshaken.