Three Months Ago

“This is Rowan, my son. You know him, right? Your father said he’s your… your m-mate?”

The older man’s voice wavered, uncertain.

“That’s right, uh… Sir,” I said, smiling.

I turned to Rowan, extending my hand in greeting. “My name is Laura Wilson. It’s nice meeting you, Rowan.”

He hesitated, dark eyes sharp with disdain. If not for his father’s nudge, he wouldn’t have shaken my hand at all.

The corner of my lips twitched in amusement. It fascinated me—how a man could resist a woman he’d just met. He wasn’t like those who smiled too easily, who knew how to charm and flatter.

Rowan wasn’t like that.

And that told me something important: he wasn’t a flirt.

Men of my kind—the wealthy and powerful Lycans—often exploited their status, using strength and influence to claim any woman they desired. But Rowan? He was different.

As a member of the Moonpack, the wealthiest Lycan family, I held power, supporting the Alpha and the Council. Yet my fated mate wasn’t one of us.

He was human. My pack would never approve.

They saw humans as weak, insignificant. Relationships with them were forbidden.

But I didn’t care.

I had spent ten months hiding my identity, living quietly, searching for him. Now that I had found him, I wasn’t going to let him go.

His family was in trouble. His mother was sick. His company was failing.

And I could save them. All I asked in return… was him.

"Our kind values mates," I said gently. "When I learned we were bound, I didn't hesitate."

Rowan's jaw tightened. "You want me to marry you to save my mother and my company?"

I nodded. “Will you? I promise to help you with everything. And I promise to make you love me. Just let me try.”

His father nudged him again. “Rowan, be respectful.”

Rowan let out a sharp breath, arching a brow. “You want us to marry? Just like that?”

I laughed softly. “Not right away. Let’s get to know each other first.”

That was a lie.

I already knew everything about him. I knew about Tanya.

His first love.

A woman he met in a lowly club—a prostitute. He'd been obsessed with her, but his family never approved. Compared to me? She was nothing.

I was his mate.

Fate had chosen me for him. He just needed time to realize it. Mates were bound to fall in love.

I believed that. I truly did. So why?

Why did he find it so impossible to love me?

Present Day

“Let me go…” I pleaded, my voice weak, my throat raw.

Rowan crouched before me, his expression cold as he held a cup of water.

I parted my lips, desperate for relief—only for him to yank it away just as I began to drink.

I choked on the little I managed to swallow, my throat burning.

For five days, they gave me only small sips—just enough to keep me alive.

But the worst part wasn’t the thirst. It was what they made me witness.

Rowan and Tanya, tangled in pleasure, moaning before me—again and again.

And the wolfsbane. They had done their research, knowing exactly how to weaken me, how to kill me slowly without leaving a trace.

They knew my father thought I’d been kidnapped, that he was searching for me while Rowan played the grieving husband, desperate to find his missing wife.

But I was here, hidden away, dying.

Rowan smirked, lifting my chin with two fingers.

“What’s wrong, monster?” he taunted. “Can’t handle a little pain?”

I choked back tears, my body trembling. “W-why…? I saved your mother. I—I was the reason she’s alive.”

His grip tightened.

"You think that makes you innocent?"

He let out a bitter laugh and shoved me back, towering over me.

"You manipulated me," he spat. "Used my company, my mother—my life—just to force me into this marriage."

His voice turned sharp, almost shaking with anger.

"Do you know what I lost the moment you did that?"

I swallowed hard. My vision blurred. My body ached. My head throbbed. But nothing could have prepared me for what he said next.

“Tanya lost our child when my father forced her away,” he growled. “She was pregnant. With my child. And because of you, we lost him.”

The world tilted.

I felt sick.

Rowan seized the cup and forced water down my throat, too fast, too much.

I gasped, choked, sputtered. My lungs burned as water filled my airway. My body jerked, desperate for air, but he didn’t stop.

Not until my body went limp.

I collapsed onto the floor, coughing violently, chest heaving as I gasped for breath.

Above me, Rowan’s voice was cold.

"You deserve this, Laura. Every second of it."

A door creaked open.

"Hon!" Tanya’s voice rang through the room. "You won’t believe what I just found out!"

She skipped toward Rowan, a wicked smile on her lips.

"We can finally get rid of this bitch without getting caught."

Rowan turned to her, intrigued. She grinned down at me, eyes gleaming with triumph.

"We sent a letter to her pack. Told them she married a human."

My blood ran cold.

No.

My pack wouldn’t forgive me for this.

This was betrayal.

They would execute my parents.

I pressed my hands together, my body trembling. “P-please… don’t…”

But Tanya only smirked. She crouched, whispering in my ear, “Too late, bitch. Your parents are dead.”

"Dad!"

My anguished scream tore through the cold night as I ran to the towering post where my father’s lifeless body hung. The rope bit deep into his flesh, his once-proud face bloodied and swollen, his eyes hollow and unseeing.

Beside him, my mother lay crumpled on the ground, her chest torn open a gaping cavity where her heart should have been. Blood soaked her once-elegant garments, pooling beneath her like a crimson offering to the merciless earth.

I wasn’t even given the chance to beg for their forgiveness.

I had chosen the wrong man.

And because of that, my parents were dead.

My knees threatened to buckle, but I forced myself to stand. I had no right to crumble—not when their suffering was because of me. Trembling, I reached for my mother, cradling her lifeless form.

I couldn’t breathe. Grief crushed my chest, drowning me in unbearable guilt.

"I cannot smell her presence," someone in the crowd murmured.

My head snapped toward them, the same people who once sought my parents' guidance. Now, they looked at me with disgust.

They were the first to judge me.

The first to turn their backs.

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms as I glared at them. Cowards—feasting on our wealth, accepting our protection, yet now mocking and condemning.

Even the Council, even the Alpha we had supported, discarded us without hesitation.

"They deserved it."

"She lost her wolf—the Moon must have cursed her for betraying our kind."

I swallowed back my sobs, holding my mother closer.

I had no one left. No one to defend me.

I wanted to scream, to tell them how cruel and blind they were—but what was the point? No one would listen.

Instead, I looked up at my father’s body and whispered an apology.

If only I had chosen differently. If only I had obeyed the rules of our kind.

I should have married a Lycan—any other Lycan. If I had, my parents would still be alive, my wolf intact, and I wouldn’t be standing here, abandoned and humiliated.

But I had lost everything.

And now, they were taking my life too.

"This is Laura Wilson," the Alpha’s voice rang out, cold with disdain. "The richest she-wolf in our pack—who threw it all away for a cowardly human. A traitor to her parents and our kind."

I turned to him, meeting his gaze, seeing the anger in his eyes and the sharp curl of his lip as he spat each word.

But I knew the truth.

The only reason why he won’t let this go was because he once asked for my hand—and I refused.

Now, I understand. I understood what I had done.

Slowly, I pushed myself up, forcing my trembling legs to carry me forward.

The moment I knelt before him, the crowd fell into hushed silence.

I clasped my hands together, lowering my head.

"P-please," I sobbed. "Give me another chance. I-I’ll marry you now, give you everything—my wealth, my lands. It’s enough to fund your reign."

Silence.

Then—

Laughter.

Loud, mocking laughter erupted around me.

The Alpha's deep, amused chuckle came first—then the Council, then the entire crowd.

They mocked me, whispering, pointing, smirking as if I were mere entertainment.

"She… she…" the Alpha struggled to speak between fits of laughter. "The woman who once rejected me is now begging. How amusing."

My chest ached from the humiliation.

Tears blurred my vision, but I did not wipe them away.

There was no saving myself now.

"No amount of money will spare your life for this treachery!" one of the Council members spat.

The metallic clank of a weapon hitting the ground echoed in my ears.

The scent of wolfsbane filled my nose—but it no longer affected me.

I had already lost my wolf.

The metal, however, would kill me.

Would they hang me like my father? Would they rip my heart out, as they did to my mother?

Or would they torture me first?

Pain tore through my body as the first lash of the whip struck my back.

A sharp, biting crack. Then another. And another.

I collapsed, gasping as my vision swam. Blood soaked the dirt beneath me, its scent heavy in the air.

"Tell us your husband's name," the Alpha commanded.

Rowan.

His name echoed in my mind.

If I gave them his name, they would hunt him down. They would kill him. But I would not give them the satisfaction. I would take my revenge.

Even if I had to come back as a ghost. As a demon. As a monster of their nightmares.

"Where is he?" the Alpha pressed. "Didn’t he betray you? Did he not sell you out?"

I clenched my jaw, refusing to answer.

Rough hands grabbed me, lifting me from the ground. I was thrown onto a soft mattress.

And then—

My clothes were torn from my body. Bare hands roamed over my skin. Panic surged through me. Terror clawed at my chest.

I whimpered. Cried.

No.

No, no, no.

I thrashed, but I was weak. I fought, but I was powerless.

And when the pain came—when my soul shattered beneath the cruelty of their actions—

Something inside me snapped.

Darkness consumed me. Grief turned to fury. Agony became hunger. A hunger for vengeance. For blood.

A scream tore from my throat, raw and unholy.

"I will come back for revenge." My voice trembled with wrath. "And I will show no mercy."

"Open your eyes, whore."

A deep, dangerous voice rumbled through the darkness, as if it could part the sea itself.

Slowly, I forced my eyes open. At first, everything blurred—shifting shadows in the dim light. My head throbbed, my limbs heavy and sluggish.

My wolf was truly gone.

She wasn’t there to heal me. She wasn’t there to guide me. She was dead. I was alone. And I didn’t even know where I was.

The scent of rusted iron, stale beer, and something rancid filled my nose, twisting my stomach into a tight knot.

"Dress her properly. I have another plan for her," the voice commanded.

Footsteps approached, multiple pairs moving closer.

This wasn’t the voice of the Alpha who had violated me. And this… this didn’t feel like my pack’s territory.

I tried to recall what happened after I passed out—after I cursed the Alpha—but everything was fragmented. Darkness had swallowed me whole.

I shouldn’t have woken up. But that voice—so strong, so absolute—pulled me back.

"Come now, Miss. We know you’re awake," an older woman murmured.

Hands lifted me, but my body was limp, slipping from their grasp. My skin was slick, coated in something thick and strange—something that smelled like oil.

They steadied me, but my vision swam, the room splitting into double images. Candlelight flickered against the walls.

I felt… paralyzed.

Panic clawed at my throat.

"W-where…" I tried to speak, but the words stole the air from my lungs.

Pain lanced through me—sharp, merciless. Even opening my eyes burned, as if I had cried too much, as if the agony of my past life had left scars.

"She wasn’t conscious when it happened," an older woman whispered. "She doesn’t know."

"Poor girl," another muttered. "She’s the latest victim. They’ll send her to the hostel soon enough."

My breathing grew shallow.

Their silhouettes blurred, shifting like ghosts with the flickering candlelight.

Where am I?

The walls were crumbling, rotting—this place felt abandoned by time itself.

"Where… am… I…" I rasped, barely managing the words.

Their hands moved over me, dressing me with careful, gentle touches. Yet, each brush against an injury made me whimper.

"You’re in the Moonless Pack," one woman finally said. "Sold to Alpha Cameron—his newest prey."

I gasped softly.

No.

I reached out blindly, my trembling fingers catching a wrist. As my vision cleared, their faces took shape—lined with age, sorrow, and silent suffering.

"Please," I whispered. "Help me escape. I… I need to leave."

They exchanged a look.

Then, they shook their heads.

"You can’t escape," the first woman murmured. "None of us can."

"If we try, we die," the other agreed.

I shook my head weakly. "But—"

"The Alpha is merciless," one interrupted. "We were taken from different packs, forced to serve him. He keeps us here with dark magic."

A shiver ran down my spine.

"Magic?" I whispered in disbelief.

We had become civilized—adapted to human technology and blended into their world.

Magic? Witches?

That was a relic of the past.

"Maybe he’s just deceiving you," I rasped. "Keeping you afraid, so you won’t leave him."

They exchanged a look—then laughed bitterly.

"No, child," one said. "The Moon Goddess herself cursed him."

The other nodded. "His hatred for our kind led him to abduct the strongest Lycans—to build an army. Soon… he’ll start a war."

My breath caught. "But I’m human now," I whispered. "I lost my wolf. What use am I to him?"

They sighed.

"He takes humans too," one admitted. "Uses them. Drain them."

"He’s powerful," the other added. "He has dark magic. Obey him. Never resist. If he likes you…" She hesitated. "Y-you might live longer."

Long enough for what? To suffer? To watch the others die first?

They finished dressing me just as two guards entered. Grabbing my arms, they dragged me through the dimly lit halls. I didn’t fight. I couldn’t.

They threw me into a small, empty chamber. The only thing inside was a single yellow flower, glowing faintly. Its petals curled around a soft, silver light—like a tiny moon at its center.

I barely had time to process it before—

"Here comes my newest prey."

A cold voice rumbled behind me. I whirled, my body weak, but instinct demanded I fight.

And then—I saw him.

He stood tall, bare-chested, his skin etched with strange tattoos like ancient markings. Scars covered him, but the most striking was the one around his neck. Dark and burned, as if chains had once seared into his flesh.

A Lycan Alpha.

My knees trembled. I had been helpless against the Alpha who defiled me. What hope did I have against this one?

The women had called him merciless. A monster.

"W-who are you?" I whispered, unable to hide the tremor in my voice.

He chuckled, the sound deep and mocking.

"I can smell your fear," he mused. "For someone who defied her own Alpha, I expected more from you."

I swallowed hard. "B-because I am no longer a wolf," I said.

"B-B-B-Because…" he mocked, laughter rumbling from his chest.

Then, before I could react—

I was against the wall.

His hands slammed on either side of me, his presence swallowing me whole. Predatory. Overwhelming.

He studied me, dark eyes gleaming.

"You belong to me now," he murmured. "I bought you. You exist for one purpose."

His gaze swept over me, slow, deliberate.

"To please me with your body…" His lips curled. "Or to entertain me with your death."