Chapter 1
The night before my wedding, I overheard my fiancé, the Alpha of our pack, laughing with his friends as they made fun of me.
“I honestly don't know why Rowan wants to marry that wolfless woman.”
Someone laughed. “Iris doesn't even let you sleep with her. What's wrong with her?”
Rowan scoffed. “I don't know. I've been patient with her for long enough.”
My footsteps stopped outside the study.
My fingers tightened around the edge of my dress.
I was born wolfless. In our world, every werewolf was supposed to have a wolf, a second soul. A companion that appeared when we came of age, except mine never came.
From the moment my family discovered that I was wolfless, I stopped being their daughter in everything but name.
My father, Mr. Sterling, rarely looked at me.
My mother treated me like an unfortunate mistake.
To my family, I was nothing more than someone who brought bad luck.
And Rowan was the one person I thought had never cared about any of it.
I was wrong.
“She won't even let me touch her,” Rowan said bitterly. “What kind of fiancée refuses to sleep with her own Alpha?”
The men around him laughed.
“Then why are you still marrying her?”
Rowan was silent for a moment.
Then he laughed. “Because the Sterling family is still useful.”
The laughter grew louder.
My heart clenched.
For years, I had convinced myself that Rowan loved me despite being wolfless.
Now I finally understood.
He didn't love me. He wanted what came with my surname.
And apparently, even after being engaged to me for three years, he had been complaining to his friends because I refused to sleep with him.
I turned around before they could hear me.
I returned to my room and closed the door.
I stared at myself in the mirror.
Tomorrow, I was supposed to become Rowan Whitmore's wife.
Instead, I spent the entire night wondering how stupid I had been.
---
The next afternoon, I stood at the altar in my wedding dress.
The church was filled with guests from both families.
Everyone was smiling except me.
Rowan stood beside me in his perfectly tailored suit. He looked like the perfect Alpha groom.
If only I hadn't heard him the night before, I would have fallen for him again at that moment.
The white wedding gown wrapped around me felt like a cage.
The priest had just begun speaking when the church doors suddenly opened.
Everyone turned around.
A woman walked inside wearing a similar, yet more toned-down, white gown.
“Nora?” I whispered.
Never in my worst nightmare had I imagined seeing my stepsister, Nora Sterling, walking into my wedding like this.
Before I could understand what was happening, my gaze fell to her swollen stomach. She was protecting it with both hands.
She was pregnant.
The whispers started immediately.
“Isn't that Nora Sterling?”
“Why is she here?”
“Wait... Isn't she the one Rowan has been seeing?”
My hand slowly slipped from Rowan's.
He went pale, “Nora, what are you doing here?”
Nora's eyes were already red. “I couldn't hide anymore.”
The guests stared at us.
Then she looked at me, “I'm sorry, Iris.”
Sorry? She didn't look sorry.
There was a faint smile hidden beneath her lowered lashes.
Rowan stepped toward her and held her hands tightly, “Don't cry.”
That single sentence was enough.
I laughed.
A bitter sound escaped my lips, “Don't cry?”
Rowan turned toward me, “Iris, listen to me.”
“No.” My voice was surprisingly calm. “You listen to me.”
The church became completely silent.
Nora moved closer to Rowan.
My heart didn't break. Perhaps it had already broken the night before.
“Iris.” Rowan tried to explain.
“Rowan, I already know everything.”
I looked at my stepsister who was standing beside the man I was supposed to marry, carrying his child.
“So this is the woman you've been seeing behind my back?”
Nora lowered her head, “It's not what you think.”
I almost laughed, “Then what is it?”
Rowan sighed, “Stop making this difficult.”
My eyebrows rose, “I'm making this difficult?”
“You know what I mean.” He lowered his voice. “Nora is pregnant now. We can't just abandon her.”
I stared at him, “And what about me?”
“You're not losing anything.” He sounded impatient now, “Iris, you're wolfless. The pack needs an heir.”
The pack needs an heir.
His last words rang in my ears.
So that was his excuse.
Not losing anything? I sneered.
He had cheated on me. He had betrayed me with my own stepsister, and now he expected me to quietly accept it.
I wanted to laugh.
Then came the words I knew were coming.
“Just make peace and step aside.” Rowan groaned. “Be a good girl and stay beside me.”
I scoffed. So that's what I was.
Someone who could simply step aside.
I reached up and slowly pulled off my veil.
The white fabric fell to the floor.
Everyone stared at me.
I looked at Rowan, “Our engagement is over.”
His expression changed, “Iris.”
“I said it's over.” My voice was cold.
My father suddenly stood, “Have you lost your mind?”
My mother rushed toward me, “Don't embarrass this family!”
I looked at her, “I'm not the one who cheated.”
Her face stiffened.
Neither of my parents answered.
I turned away from the altar. Then my eyes landed on someone sitting quietly among the guests.
A man dressed entirely in black.
Kael Blackthorn, the Alpha of the Blackthorn pack.
I had noticed him earlier, but I hadn't paid much attention.
His expression was unreadable.
His legs were still, his lower body supported by a wheelchair.
I had heard that he had been seriously injured some time ago. No one seemed to know exactly what had happened.
But there was something strange about him.
Even sitting in a wheelchair, he didn't look helpless. He looked calm, confident, and powerful.
There was something about his presence that made the air around him feel heavier.
A strange sensation passed through me.
My instincts told me to be careful.
Yet I couldn't look away.
His dark eyes met mine. For a moment, something in his eyes shifted.
A faint spark flickered in his eyes before disappearing behind his unreadable expression.
Then I remembered something.
People had told me before that Kael liked me.
I had never cared. I had been too engrossed in my love for Rowan to notice anyone else.
But now, standing in the middle of my ruined wedding, I suddenly felt a strange urge in my heart.
I walked toward him.
The guests began whispering.
“Iris, what is she doing?”
I stopped in front of Kael, “They all say you like me.”
One of his eyebrows lifted.
I took a breath, “Well, I'm single now.”
The church went silent.
I held out my hand, “Are you brave enough to marry me?”
For a second, Kael didn't move.
Then the laughter began.
“Hahaha! Iris has lost her mind!”
“She’s choosing a cripple?”
“She really is desperate!”
“What an embarrassment! She's dragging the Sterling family name through the mud!”
My cheeks burned. Every word felt like a needle stabbing my heart.
My father stormed toward me, “Iris, come back here!”
My mother grabbed my arm, “Are you insane?! Ruining your own life just to spite Rowan?”
I pulled my arm away, “This is my life.”
Rowan laughed behind me, “You're being childish.”
I glanced at him, the man I had given my everything to. But now he was standing beside Nora, the woman he had betrayed me with.
“Come back, Iris.” His voice sounded almost as if he was doing me a favor. “Nora's baby needs a father, and you need a whole man.”
The church erupted in whispers.
I stared at him.
A whole man?
What kind of a “whole man” was Rowan?
A man who betrayed his fiancée?
A man who played with her feelings?
A man who couldn't even take responsibility for his own actions?
I turned back to Kael.
His leg might have been injured, but there was something in his eyes that made Rowan look insignificant.
I held out my hand again, “I'm serious.”
Kael looked at my hand, then at me.
Without saying anything, he reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a ring.
It was simple. A thin golden band decorated with tiny diamonds. There wasn't even a carat.
The laughter grew louder.
“That's his ring?”
“It's not even one carat!”
“Look at Rowan's three-carat diamond!”
“She’s really settling for that?”
My eyes stung. I had never felt so humiliated.
Then Kael reached for my hand.
His palm was warm and steady.
Unlike everyone else, he wasn't laughing.
He looked directly into my eyes, “I am.”
Only two words. They were firm and resolute.
My heart trembled, “Are you sure?”
His gaze didn't waver, “I don't say things I don't mean.”
I swallowed, “I might bring you trouble.”
“I'm not afraid.” A gentle smile appeared on his lips.
There wasn't a hint of hesitation in his voice.
The guests started laughing again.
“Two losers together!”
“A cripple and a crazy woman!”
“A perfect match!”
I ignored them.
I looked at Kael, then I held out my hand, “Put it on.”
His fingers closed around mine. Slowly, he slid the ring onto my finger.
The ring was small and plain, nothing compared to the diamond ring Rowan had given me.
But somehow, it fit perfectly, as if it had been made for me.
I stared at it. Then I looked at the man sitting before me.
I didn't know why he had accepted me.
I didn't even know what kind of person Kael Blackthorn truly was.
And I certainly didn't know what this injured Alpha was hiding behind those deep blue eyes.
All I knew was this:
I had lost my fiancé, who had been using me, today.
But I had just gained a husband I knew nothing about.