Chapter 1

• When Simone called me that afternoon, I was in the meditation garden in the backyard, reading a rare edition of the aeronautical textbooks I used to devour in college.
• "Evelyn, I need to tell you something." Simone's voice was tight with tension. "I saw Damien last night at The Riverside Hotel with a woman."
• I quickly marked my page, rolling my eyes. My best friend was convinced that Damien, my husband, was hiding something. I always told her she was watching too many conspiracy videos and probably had too much time on her hands.
• "Simone—"
• "They weren't just having a business dinner, Eve. The way he touched her… it wasn't professional."
• I smiled even though she couldn't see me. "Simone, Damien has meetings all the time. Female clients, pack associates. It doesn't mean anything."
• "This was different. I'm telling you, something felt off—"
• "Then you're wrong." My voice came out sharper than I intended. "We've been together for thirteen years. We're married. A mate bond doesn't lie."
• The silence on her end felt heavy. Simone did not have a mate yet, so she would never understand what it meant to be connected to someone at a soul level, to feel them through an invisible thread that couldn't be severed.
• We've been together for thirteen years and most importantly, we are mates. The Moon Goddess herself chose us.
• Simone's sigh carried through the phone, soft and sad. "Okay. Maybe I overreacted. I just worry about you, Eve. You know that, right?"
• "I know." My throat felt tight. "Thank you for caring."
• When I hung up, my hands were shaking.
• I sat there on the stone bench, staring at nothing, trying to convince myself that Simone had misread the situation.
• But my wolf was agitated now, clawing at my insides. That restless feeling had intensified into something uncomfortably close to dread.
• I pulled out the envelope from my bag, the one Dr. Thorne had given me this morning. Inside were test results I'd been waiting six months to receive. Six months of treatments, medications, hoping and praying that my body had finally healed enough from the rogue attack.
• I'd been so excited when Dr. Thorne handed me the envelope with that warm smile. "Good news," she'd said, and I'd nearly cried right there in her office.
• My wolf had finally healed. My body could sustain a pregnancy.
• Tonight was supposed to be special. I was going to tell Damien, and we'd finally start the family we'd been dreaming about. I dropped the journal I was reading and got ready to go to my husband's office to tell him the good news, prompted by the exchange I had with Simone.
• The private elevator to the executive floor required a key card. My hands shook so badly it took two tries to get it to scan. I'd had this card since before we were married, back when I'd worked alongside Damien to build Silvercrest from nothing.
• Back when I'd thought we were partners in everything.
• The elevator ride felt endless, but once it stopped, I was met with two wolves standing in the hallway. Marcus, Damien's Beta, and a young woman I'd never seen before.
• She wore a tight black dress that was completely inappropriate for an office setting, the kind that screamed for attention. Her scent hit me immediately, irritating me for some reason.
• My wolf's hackles rose instantly.
• "I don't care who you think you are," the girl snarled, her hand outstretched to block the hallway. Her voice dripped with arrogance. "The Alpha is in a private meeting. No one gets through without proper clearance—"
• "Riley!" Marcus's voice cracked, and I saw genuine fear flash across his face. His eyes darted to me, then back to her. "This is Mrs. Cross. Alpha Cross's wife."
• Riley looked stunned for a moment. "Oh." She didn't lower her hand or move aside. "You must be Luna Cross. I'm Riley Hartwell. Alpha Damien is sponsoring my education.” Her smile was sugar-sweet and venomous. "I'm interning here, and I take my responsibilities very seriously. I'm sure you understand the need for proper protocol."
• The audacity hit me like a physical blow. This girl, who couldn't be more than twenty, was trying to keep me, the Luna, from seeing my own mate?
• Then I noticed a detail that made everything else fade into background noise. A familiar bracelet on her wrist. A delicate silver one with a crescent moon charm that caught the light as she gestured.
• It was identical to mine. The one Damien had given me for our first anniversary.
• I remembered that night so clearly it hurt. We'd been sitting on our balcony, and he pulled out the small box. "I had it custom made," he had whispered, fastening it around my wrist. "One of a kind. Just like you. You're the only one who will ever wear my symbol."
• I'd cried. God, I'd actually cried over it. And now this girl, a stranger, was wearing an identical one. The world tilted as my breath caught in my throat.
• My eyes traveled up against my will, following the column of her neck. She was tucking her hair behind her ear, a casual gesture, but it revealed something that made my heart stop.
• The mating mark spot. She wasn't fully marked, but the bite was just enough to make a cut. I knew that spot. Damien always teased me there, sinking his fangs in whenever we made out.
• My wolf howled, throwing herself against my control with such violence that I nearly shifted right there. But I kept my face blank. Years of practice in the Morgan household had taught me how to hide every emotion behind a perfect mask.
• "Marcus," I said quietly, amazed that my voice didn't shake. "Is my husband available?"
• "Luna, he's with your brother, but I'm certain—" Marcus was practically tripping over his words, his distress obvious.
• "I'm sure he will make time to see me." I moved past Riley, and her scent clung to me as I passed. Jasmine and something else. Something that had been on Damien's clothes for weeks. I'd thought it was a new air freshener in his office.
• How fucking stupid I'd been. I suddenly felt dizzy. My heels were silent on the plush carpet as I walked toward Damien's office. I was about to open the door, but something stopped me right as I reached for the knob. I leaned in to listen.
• "You're playing with fire keeping her this close." That was Kieran, my brother. "What happens when Evelyn figures it out?"
• My heart dropped. My fingers dug into the wood hard enough that I felt a splinter pierce my skin, but I barely noticed the pain.
• "She won't." Damien's response was so casual it made me nauseous. "Eve sees what she wants to see. She's so focused on getting pregnant that she doesn't notice anything else. It's almost too easy."
• Each word was a knife sliding between my ribs.
• Kieran laughed. Actually laughed. "Still. That rogue attack nearly killed her. Everyone knows her wolf is damaged. She might never carry a pup. Are you sure this is worth the risk?"
• My hand found my stomach, pressing against the scars hidden beneath my clothes. I could still remember the feeling of claws ripping through flesh, of my own blood pooling warm beneath me while I gasped for air.
• "It had to be done." Damien's voice lowered, and I had to strain to hear. "Vanessa couldn't control her jealousy. She was sloppy. If she'd been caught hiring those rogues, she would've been executed." He paused, and I heard him take a drink. "Evelyn was already the family disappointment. The attack gave me the perfect excuse."
• My legs went weak. I grabbed the wall, needing something solid because the floor felt like it was dropping away beneath me. The rogue attack, the one that had nearly killed me. The one that had left me broken and scarred and damaged.
• Vanessa had done that. My adopted sister, the one my entire family loved more than me, had hired rogues to kill me. And Damien had known. Tears burned in my eyes, but I blinked them back furiously. I wouldn't cry. Not here. Not where they might hear me.
• "What excuse?" Kieran asked, sounding curious. Interested, not horrified, not disgusted.
• "To complete the mate bond in front of the entire pack." Papers rustled as Damien shuffled through documents while discussing my destruction like it was a business deal. "Everyone expected me to reject her after the attack. Damaged goods, you know? But I played the devoted mate instead. It bought us time to cover Vanessa's tracks and get her out of the pack before anyone could connect her to it."
• "Clever," Kieran admitted. "Though I'm surprised you actually marked her."
• "A bite mark means nothing without consummation." Damien sounded almost bored now. "And conveniently, Eve's injuries make that impossible. I can play the patient and loving husband while keeping my options open. She actually thanks me for waiting. Cries about how understanding I am."
• They both laughed. The sound broke something fundamental inside me. My vision blurred, and I couldn't tell if it was from tears or rage or the way my wolf was tearing me apart from the inside.
• I'd been so grateful. So thankful that he'd stayed with me despite my broken body. I'd felt guilty every single time he'd pulled away, every time I'd seen the frustration in his eyes because I couldn't have sex with him in fear of getting pregnant.
• But he'd been fucking someone else the whole time.
• "And Riley?" Kieran asked.
• "Vanessa's distant cousin. Close enough to her bloodline that my wolf accepts her. Different enough that Vanessa won't realize when she comes back." Ice clinked against glass as Damien poured another drink. "The girl's eager too. None of this 'I'm too damaged' bullshit. She knows how to please an Alpha."
• My hand pressed against my mouth, trying to hold back the sob that wanted to escape. I tasted blood from biting my lip without realizing it.
• "Just keep it quiet," Kieran warned. "We need Eve compliant until the merger with the Morgan pack shares goes through. After that…"
• "After that, tragic accidents happen during border patrols." Damien's voice held a casual shrug. "Rogues are so unpredictable. Who knows what might happen to a weak, damaged wolf who wandered too far from protection?"
• They were going to kill me. Once I'd served my purpose, once they'd bled my family's fortune dry, they were going to kill me and make it look like an accident.
• My wolf was screaming now, throwing herself against my control with such force that I felt my bones start to shift. I bit down on my tongue hard enough to taste blood, using the pain to anchor myself.
• I couldn't break. Not here. Not now. Not when they'd hear me and know I'd discovered everything. I stepped back as it crashed over me that everything had been a lie from the beginning. The rogue attack that destroyed me was orchestrated by Vanessa, and my husband was an accomplice too.
• "Who's there?" Damien spoke, his voice sharp. I could feel his wolf pushing forward through our bond, alert. I suddenly hated how connected to him I felt, something I used to love with every fiber of my being.
• I walked away from the office, hurrying to the terrace as I tried to calm my heart that was beating wildly in my chest. I felt tears crowd in my eyes, threatening to fall, but I would be a coward to let them fall for a man like that.
• I swallowed it down as I heard the transparent glass doors of the balcony slide open and the familiar scent of my mate filled my nose.
• "Evelyn?"