Chapter 1

I thought nothing could hurt more than watching the man I trusted for seven years wrap his arms around another she-wolf. But I was wrong.

I left Russell behind, bleeding silently, hoping the mountains would quiet the storm inside me. Instead, I met Alpha Jaxton—my best friend's brother, a man whose power shook the ground when he walked and whose scent made my wolf stir in ways I didn't understand.

He was supposed to be protection. Temporary.

But one night, his touch silenced the ache. His kiss awoke something ancient. And when our wolves howled as one beneath the moon, I knew—I had found my true mate.

Then I heard him say it.

"She's not my mate. I feel nothing for her."

His words broke something deeper than betrayal. They shattered a bond not yet born.

So I ran. Into the darkness. Into the forest.

And I fell.

Now, I'm lying somewhere between life and death, haunted by the scent of a bond that should never have been.

Was I just a mistake to him?

Or is something far more dangerous unfolding beneath the surface of our pack's fragile peace?

I don't know who to trust anymore.

But I do know this—when an Alpha lies, the consequences are written in blood.

...

The scent hit me like a slap—Russell's musk, now tainted with something sweet and brazen that didn't belong to me. My feet froze just outside the café's back hallway, heart pounding, instincts screaming. I turned the corner.

There he was.

My mate of seven years. His arms around another she-wolf. Her lips inches from his. Her scent—ripe with want and territory—clung to his shirt like a claim.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

Seven years of loyalty, of shared hunts and promises beneath the full moon, unraveled in a single heartbeat. My wolf snarled inside me, rage and disbelief colliding like a storm. But I didn't shift. Not here. Not in front of the pack. That would be weakness. That would be surrender.

His gaze caught mine. Widened. Guilt flickered—but not enough. Not enough to erase what I saw. What I smelled. What I felt fracture deep within me.

I turned away, spine straight, face frozen in a Beta's controlled mask. We don't fall apart in public. We endure. We lead, even through heartbreak.

Back at the table, the laughter quieted into tense silence. My packmates sensed it—my pain, my fury—though none dared ask. Cameron, ever my anchor, reached under the table to grip my hand.

"You're shaking," she whispered.

"I'm fine," I lied, and my voice didn't tremble. That was something.

Cameron didn't push. Instead, she leaned in, her eyes serious. "Gianna. Let's get out of here. You don't need to stay and bleed in front of him. The Alps. Just us for the weekend."

The idea tugged at me—cold air, distance, silence. Time to rebuild what Russell had shattered.

"There's a pack training camp up there," she added. "My brother's leading."

Jaxton.

The name alone stirred something wary in me. Alpha Jaxton was infamous in our region: powerful, dominant, dangerously charismatic. His wolf had taken down a rogue line by himself. Some said he could bend betas to their knees with a single growl.

And yet… Alphas protect their own.

I nodded. "Let's go."

That night, I walked home alone. The moon hung low, casting silver shadows across the trees. My wolf paced beneath my skin, unsteady. Hurt. Betrayed.

The bond was fading. I could feel the threads snapping, one by one. Betrayal severs faster than time.

I closed my eyes, inhaling the night air, trying to cleanse myself.

Then I smelled it.

New. Unfamiliar. Pine needles soaked in rain. Smoke and storm. It wasn't Russell. It wasn't anyone I'd ever known. But it called to something inside me—low and ancient. My wolf fell silent, ears perked.

Curious. Alert.

I spun, eyes scanning the forest.

Nothing.

But the scent lingered.

The bond with Russell was failing, but something else had awakened.

Something stronger.

Something waiting.