Chapter 1

On the night we completed the mate bond before the Moon Goddess statue, Leonard Blackwood, Alpha of the Obsidian Pack, delivered the fatal blow. He proposed an open relationship.

He said, "Seraphine is pregnant. During every dark moon and shadow moon, she will need my primal power. I will stay at her estate during those times. On the full moon, I will return to the main house to fulfill my duties as your mate."

A mournful howl echoed from the depths of my soul. The betrayal of a mate bond triggered the tearing pain of the soul bond. Instinctively, I clutched the imprint. I asked, "So all this time, you've been spending your nights on her territory?"

The Guardian Law states that a pregnant female has the right to the Alpha's pheromone protection. I am merely fulfilling my responsibility.

I stared directly into his eyes. "The sudden postponement of the mate bond rite, the change of venue to that remote castle, even keeping everything minimal, that was her idea, wasn't it?"

"Watching the rite will cause her great emotional distress. It will affect the pup."

Each word felt like a silver-tipped dagger, stabbing precisely into my heart. Those previously inexplicable odd behaviors now had a ridiculous explanation. They were all for Seraphine.

*****

He lit a cigar infused with calming herbs, his expression carrying the cold detachment of a top Alpha. "From the moment she got pregnant, this was the only way things could go," he said.

"And what about me?" I asked resentfully.

"The mate bond rite has already been sworn before the Moon Goddess. If it's broken, the pack will face backlash. That's why the ritual must go on."

Through the haze of smoke, his voice was ice-cold. "As long as you know your place, you'll remain the Luna of the Obsidian Pack.

"If you can't take it and want to break the bond, that's fine, too. The Riverside District, the Alchemist's Estate, or the loyalty of the Southern Clans, tell me what you want as compensation, and it's yours."

My throat was so parched with grief that not a single sound could escape.

I leaned against the icy wall, my tears drenching the front of my shirt.

I remembered the Leonard I used to know. We grew up side by side, always watching each other's backs. On stormy nights, he'd wrap me in his arms and whisper softly, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

He'd bring me to the far northern ice fields to taste snow lotus, and together we'd shift into wolves and run free across half the continent.

Once, when I got poisoned by wolfsbane and was burning up with fever, Leonard, a little boy, carried me to the sacred mountain, begging the Moon Goddess not to take me away.

I was shivering all over. That cold inside twisted into a savage thrill, like a demon had taken over. I wanted nothing more than to destroy everything in sight.

The ember of his cigar finally singed his fingertip. Leonard frowned, clearly annoyed, and urged, "Have you thought it through?

"If you insist on ending our bond, I'll have the pack elders activate the ritual circle to break it and end our blood bond as mates."

The dignity I'd fought so hard to hold onto finally crumbled in that instant.

One was my fated mate, the one I'd sworn loyalty to before the Moon Goddess; the other, a blood hostage from an enemy pack whom I'd once pleaded to spare.

Years ago, when my family won the territory war, the losers had to surrender a blood hostage, according to the old laws of conquest among the supernatural. Seraphine Greymire was a pup then, and the elders wanted to banish her to the silver mines.

I couldn't stand it. I saved her, brought her into my private estate. But I never imagined that the one I showed mercy to ended up in my mate's bed and carrying his pup.

"I'd sooner die than ever sever our bond," I screamed, my eyes blazing with an uncontrollable, wolfish green light. I locked my bloodshot, rage-filled gaze on him, red veins crawling across my eyes.

"You want me to step aside for your dirty little secret? No way."

"Suit yourself," he said coldly. He snatched up his tailored suit jacket and headed for the door.

"Stop. Where are you going?"

"Tonight is the dark moon," Leonard said, peeling my desperate fingers off his sleeve with effortless Alpha strength, one by one.

My eyes went wide with disbelief. "But tonight is the night we seal our mate bond."

Leonard turned back, giving me that look you'd give a pup throwing a tantrum. "The rules are set. During the dark moon and shadow moon, I'm with her. Full moon, I'm at the main house."

He shot a glance at his watch, his frown deepening, and left me with a chilling warning. "Follow my rules, or get the hell out."

"Leonard," I screamed, my eyes burning with tears. In a frenzy, I snatched up those pricey crystal ornaments and antique vases, hurling them at him with all the fury I could muster.

A jagged shard sliced across his brow, and a thin line of bright red blood trickled down instantly.

Leonard's face went dark, and the full force of his Alpha dominance flooded the hallway. Since he took over the Obsidian Pack, nobody's ever dared to hurt him.

He locked those piercing Alpha eyes on me. His stare was so intense that it made it hard to breathe.

I bared my teeth and snarled, like I'd lost my mind. My eyes were wild and bloodshot, ready to go down fighting.

But in the end, he stood there, unfazed. With a werewolf's healing, he didn't care about the cut and didn't bother to say anything.