Chapter 1

The Pacific Ocean stretched endlessly beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows of our Malibu beach house.

Tomorrow, I was supposed to become Mrs. Derek Sinclair, the man I had loved for seven years and the Alpha I was supposed to follow as his Luna.

I should have been happy. After everything I had endured to reach this moment, I should have been standing here with a heart full of excitement, imagining the life we were finally about to begin.

Instead, I stood in the hallway outside Derek's study, my silk robe pulled tightly around me against the evening chill as I listened to a voice I thought I knew better than anyone.

"Close your eyes now, little one. Let the stars watch over you."

Derek.

His deep voice, the same voice that had once made my heart race with a single word, drifted through the crack beneath the door.

My wolf stirred uneasily beneath my skin.

She had always hated the way Derek's attention seemed to shift whenever Lily was around, even when I forced myself to believe there was nothing between them. I had noticed it countless times, yet I had always forced myself to look away.

"Sweet dreams, my little one."

The recording ended, leaving a silence so complete that I could hear my own breathing.

For several seconds, I remained frozen in the hallway, staring at the closed door while my mind desperately searched for an explanation that could make what I had just heard harmless.

Why did I even link his WhatsApp to mine?

The question flashed through my mind as I looked down at my phone again. I had never expected to find anything that would make me regret doing it, but now I couldn't tear my eyes away from her name.

Derek had saved her contact with a love emoji.

His assistant, my ass.

My wolf snarled inside me, and I fought to keep the anger and humiliation from consuming me. Unable to stand there any longer, I turned and made my way back to the bedroom, my bare feet moving silently across the marble floor.

His bedroom, I corrected myself bitterly.

Nothing in this house had ever truly been mine, no matter how many years I had spent living beneath its roof.

The walk-in closet contained seven years of my life, seven years of standing beside Derek at charity galas and family gatherings, smiling for cameras while pretending not to notice how rarely his hand touched mine; seven years of laughing at his jokes even when he barely looked at me afterward; seven years of warming his bed while he took calls from Lily, his assistant, at two in the morning.

Even thinking her name made something twist painfully inside my chest, and my wolf whined softly.

For years, I had convinced myself that there was nothing to worry about. Derek was busy. He was under pressure. His distance was caused by work, his silence by exhaustion, and those late-night calls were nothing more than business.

I had built excuses around him so carefully that, eventually, I had started believing them myself.

Because admitting what it meant would have meant admitting that I had wasted seven years loving a man who might never have loved me back.

Tonight, I could no longer lie to myself.

I reached for the suitcase on the top shelf and dragged it down. It struck the floor with a heavy thud, and the sound seemed strangely final in the quiet room.

My hands trembled as I pulled the zipper open, and I began packing without thinking too carefully about what I was taking.

Outside, the ocean waves crashed against the shore, indifferent to the hurricane tearing through my chest.

Then my eyes landed on the wedding dress.

It hung untouched inside its garment bag, just as I had left it.

I had spent three months choosing every detail, from the delicate hand-beaded lace to the shape of the train. I had imagined walking down the aisle toward Derek, imagined the look on his face when he saw me, and imagined believing for one perfect moment that I had finally become the woman he wanted.

Instead, I was leaving before I ever became his Luna.

Derek and I were never fated mates. I had never found my mate, and foolishly, I had considered it a blessing. I thought it meant I could marry the love of my life without having to worry about a mate coming between us. Derek was mate-less too, so I had convinced myself that we were meant to choose each other.

I zipped the suitcase shut and dragged it behind me as I walked into the kitchen.

Derek stood beside the kitchen island with his back to me, his phone pressed against his ear.

"No, no, the fireworks were incredible," he said, a smile evident in his voice. "You should have seen the look on your face."

A soft laugh came through the phone.

I didn't need to hear her name to recognize her voice.

My fingers tightened around the suitcase handle until my knuckles ached.

"Derek," I called, the name scraping out of my throat, raw and broken.

He didn't turn around.

"We're done," I said, forcing the words out despite the tremor in my voice. "I'm calling the wedding planner. I'll cancel everything."

His shoulders stiffened, just slightly, barely noticeable, but I noticed. I had spent seven years noticing every tiny shift in his mood and every subtle change in his posture, hoping each one meant he might finally open up to me.

"You're free now," I continued, the words spilling out like blood from a wound. "Be with whoever you want. I…"

"Venessa." Derek's voice cut through mine.

He finally turned, and his eyes, those eyes I had loved for so long, held nothing but annoyance. His brows furrowed, and his lips pressed into a thin, irritated line.

"Keep it down," Derek said coldly. "You're way too loud."

My wolf recoiled at the sharpness in his voice, and those words felt like a poisoned knife cutting straight into the core of my soul.