Alina

I didn’t cry.

Not when Alpha Soren presented Evelina as though she were something sacred, untouchable, irreplaceable. Not even when the pack’s gaze shifted toward her with open admiration and toward me with quiet pity that stung worse than any insult.

I refused to cry.

Instead, I drifted through the packhouse like something unseen, something already forgotten, even though I had once believed this place would always be mine.

Five years. Five years of loving him without hesitation. Five years of enduring the elders’ cold stares, the warriors’ silent judgment, and the maids’ hushed whispers that followed me wherever I went. I bore every word and every look because I convinced myself love made it worthwhile. I told myself birth meant nothing, that being a maid did not decide what I could become.

He chose me, I used to believe.

But now the truth had taken shape too clearly to deny. He had never chosen me at all. He had mistaken me for someone else.

And even after realizing I wasn’t Evelina, he kept me near—not out of love, but because I resembled a memory he couldn’t release.

So what was I to Alpha Soren? Never his Luna. Never his equal. Only a substitute wearing someone else’s shadow.

Evelina and Gideon, heirs of the Crosswell Pack in the south, had arrived recently, and the pack spoke of them with clear admiration. Crosswell was known for its wealth, its strength, and its influence among allied territories. Their visit was described as a simple “vacation,” but no one truly believed that. Alphas did not cross into another Alpha’s lands without purpose.

There were always intentions beneath such visits. Often, arrangements. Sometimes, unions meant to bind power together.

The morning after they arrived, I went looking for Soren. I needed to hear him, even if the truth would hurt. Even a lie would have been easier than being left alone in silence.

I stopped a maid passing through the kitchen.

“Have you seen the Alpha?” I asked, steadying my voice.

She avoided my eyes. “He’s likely occupied, Miss Alina.”

“Likely,” I repeated softly.

“He usually tells me when he has meetings,” I added.

Her mouth tightened. “He’s with important guests.”

Important guests. I nodded once and stepped aside, though something inside me felt heavier than before. There had been a time when I always knew where he was. When he left, he told me—no matter how trivial it was. A patrol. A meeting. Even a brief errand.

Now I had to ask like a stranger.

Still, I went to his office.

The door was slightly open, and voices drifted out from within.

Hers.

I pushed it gently.

Soren stood by his desk, sleeves rolled up, expression focused. Evelina sat comfortably on the sofa, legs crossed with effortless elegance, reading through documents as if she had always belonged there.

They both looked up when I entered. His expression softened for a fleeting moment, instinctive, before hardening again.

“Alina,” he said flatly. “You shouldn’t be here. I’m busy.”

The words landed heavier than they should have.

I glanced toward Evelina. She met my eyes without hesitation, calm and faintly smiling, as though my presence did not unsettle her at all.

Soren followed my gaze and shifted slightly.

“She needs to be here,” he added quickly. “She’s from Crosswell. We’re discussing interterritorial matters.”

Interterritorial matters. Of course.

Important things.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came. What could I even say? Why didn’t you tell me she had returned two years ago? Why didn’t you tell me you were already close to her again? Why did you let me stay in a future that no longer existed?

None of it came out.

“I understand,” I said instead.

I turned and closed the door quietly behind me.

The hallway felt tighter as I walked away. Voices followed me, growing clearer as I passed.

“She really thought Alpha Soren loved her?”

A soft laugh trailed after.

“He’s been completely taken with Miss Evelina since she came back two years ago.”

Two years.

The words echoed, sharp and relentless.

Evelina had returned two years ago. That was when everything changed—when Soren began delaying our wedding without explanation, when his warmth faded, when his attention stopped lingering on me.

Everyone knew.

The warriors who bowed more deeply to Evelina. The elders who suddenly approved alliances. The maids who watched me with quiet pity.

Everyone knew.

No one told me.

Not one person warned me. Not one voice told me I should leave before it hurt more.

They let me stay, smiling at a future that was already gone.

By the time I reached the corridor bend, my steps had grown unsteady. I nearly collided with someone.

Gideon.

He leaned against the wall as though he owned it, arms crossed, eyes slowly tracing me without restraint. Not polite. Not respectful.

Just… assessing.

From my hair to my waist. Then lingering a moment too long.

He gave a low, amused whistle.

“Now that’s unexpected,” he said lazily. “For a maid, you’re… quite appealing.”

A chill crawled up my spine.

“I don’t understand what you’re implying,” I replied, stepping aside.

His smile deepened. “You look like my sister. I suppose Soren found that useful.”

My stomach tightened at his tone.

His gaze flicked over me again before returning to my face. “If things ever fall apart for you here, Alina, Crosswell might have use for someone like you.”

I didn’t wait to hear more. I walked away, pulse racing. Something about him felt wrong—too sharp, too invasive. My wolf stirred uneasily, though even she felt dulled, as if exhaustion had weakened her instincts.

By afternoon, I tried to bury myself in work.

Old habits returned easily. Before Soren chose me, I had been nothing more than a maid—cleaning, cooking, scrubbing stone floors until winter cracked my skin.

So I cleaned again.

I carried water into the garden and began wiping down the benches. The air was calm, almost too calm, the sky clear and indifferent above me. My head ached, but I pushed through it.

I knelt near the fountain, scrubbing a stain.

Then something struck the back of my head.

Everything went white.

Pain erupted instantly as I collapsed forward onto the stone path. I tasted iron before I understood what had happened. My ears rang so loudly I could barely hear anything else.

I forced my eyes open through the haze.

On the second-floor balcony of the Alpha wing stood Evelina.

She was looking down at me.

Our eyes met.

Her expression gave nothing away.

Then the world slipped away.

When I woke, antiseptic burned faintly in the air.

I was in a guest room, lying in bed with my head tightly bandaged. A dull, constant pain pulsed beneath the wrapping.

Voices reached me.

“She didn’t do it on purpose,” Soren said urgently. “Calm down, Evelina.”

I turned my head slightly.

He stood near the window, holding Evelina as she sobbed into her hands.

When she saw I was awake, she rushed over.

“Alina!” she cried, grabbing my hand. “I’m so sorry! I was holding a pot on the balcony and it slipped—I didn’t know you were down there. I swear I didn’t mean it.”

Her tears fell onto the blanket.

I looked at her in silence.

A pot.

My mind replayed the layout of the wing. No balcony plants. No decorations along the rail. The Alpha wing was kept minimal, precise.

There had been no pots there.

Unless someone brought one.

“You injured me seriously,” I said quietly.

Even my own voice sounded distant.

Soren stepped forward immediately, his expression tightening.

“Can’t you just let it go?” he snapped. “She didn’t mean it. Don’t make this difficult, Alina.”

I stared at him. “But I—”

“No excuses,” he cut in sharply. “I didn’t realize you were this ungrateful.”

Ungrateful.

The word cut deeper than the pain in my head.

It was absurd.

All of this was absurd.

The man who once held me like I mattered now looked at me as though I were nothing but a burden.

Evelina suddenly leaned in and wrapped her arms around me.

“I’m so sorry, Alina!” she sobbed again.

Her body trembled against mine.

Then, her voice shifted—so low only I could hear.

“It could’ve been worse,” she whispered. “But I only saw a pot.”

A pause.

“Lucky you, maid.”

She pulled back instantly, resuming her tears as though nothing had changed.

I froze.

Soren rubbed her back gently. “It’s alright. She understands.”

Alina

The bandages wrapped around my head felt even tighter as night settled in.

Or maybe it wasn’t the bandages at all—maybe it was my thoughts, pressing in on me, refusing to let me rest.

Ever since Evelina and Gideon arrived, Alpha Soren hadn’t once stayed the night in our shared room.

Our room. The phrase almost made me laugh now.

He had come in briefly that afternoon to take a few clothes. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t ask if the pain in my head had eased. He simply opened the wardrobe, gathered what he needed, and left like I was just another object in the corner of the room.

Five years of sleeping beside each other, and suddenly there was only emptiness beside me.

I pushed myself up slowly, wincing as a dull pain pulsed through my skull. Moonlight slipped through the curtains, spilling pale light across the floor. That was when I noticed something near the cabinet.

A phone.

It lay face down on the wooden floor, half hidden beneath the edge of the rug.

My breath caught. He must have dropped it earlier when he changed.

For a long moment, I only stared.

Then I got up and picked it up, my fingers shaking slightly. His scent still clung faintly to the case.

After a pause, I pressed the power button.

Locked, of course.

I exhaled slowly and tried his birthday. Wrong. Then I entered mine, though I wasn’t even sure why I expected anything different. Wrong again.

A humorless smile tugged at my lips.

Of course he wouldn’t use my birthday.

Then a thought slithered in quietly, uncomfortable and persistent.

Evelina.

My fingers turned cold as I grabbed my own phone and searched her. It didn’t take long to find her account—refined photos, soft smiles, comments overflowing with admiration from pack members.

I scrolled until I found an old post marking her birthday.

July 17.

My hand hesitated before I typed the numbers into his phone.

It unlocked immediately.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

Her birthday. He used hers. Not mine. Not anything that belonged to us. Hers.

My chest tightened painfully, but I forced myself to open his messages.

Evelina’s name sat at the top.

Of course it did.

I opened the thread.

The latest message from him read: I’ll end things with her this week. Just give me a little more time.

My vision blurred.

End things with her. With me.

Evelina replied beneath it:

I don’t understand why it’s taking so long. You said you only saw me in her because we look alike. But it’s been two years since we met again, and she’s still by your side. My patience is running out, Alpha.

Two years. They had reconnected two years ago. Two years of him standing beside me while thinking of someone else entirely.

My hands trembled as I continued reading.

Alpha Soren replied:

You know Fallendawn Pack has been harassing me—emails, letters, every day asking for that maid. They’re my rivals. I don’t know why they’re so fixated on Alina, but I can’t let them take her.

Fallendawn.

My stomach dropped.

Evelina answered again:

I understand you hate Fallendawn, but is she really worth keeping? What if she’s involved with them somehow? We don’t know everything, Alpha.

Then his reply came:

I’ll handle it this week. There’s a plan. I can’t let Fallendawn get her. I’d rather keep her out of their reach.

I stopped reading.

My head pounded violently.

Fallendawn Pack—I knew that name. Everyone did. They were Nightfall’s long-time enemies, rival alphas locked in conflict for decades over land and power.

But why would they want me?

I was nobody. Just a maid.

Why would two powerful packs fight over someone like me?

Footsteps outside snapped me back.

Panic surged through me. I quickly locked the phone, placed it back where I found it, and stepped away just as the door opened.

Alpha Soren entered, brow slightly furrowed.

“Did you see my phone?” he asked.

I forced my voice steady. I picked it up from the cabinet and handed it over. “You left it earlier.”

His fingers brushed mine briefly as he took it. For a moment, I thought he might notice how fast my heart was beating.

“Be careful,” I said quietly. “You might lose it.”

He barely looked at me. “I will.”

Then he left without another word.

I sank back onto the edge of the bed.

A plan.

They had a plan.

And I was part of it.

The realization settled heavily inside me. I wasn’t being kept because I was loved.

I was being kept because I was useful.

And whatever they were planning… it wasn’t safe.

The next day, I spent hours digging.

Old records. Archives. Pack gossip threads. Anything about Fallendawn Pack.

There was plenty about their influence, their wealth, their control over western territories—but nothing about their Alpha. No name. No face. No clear record. It was as if he didn’t officially exist.

The more I searched, the more restless I became.

Why me? What was I to them?

A knock sounded at my door.

I froze.

Soren never knocked. He walked in like everything belonged to him.

My pulse tightened.

“Who is it?” I called carefully.

“It’s me.”

Gideon.

My stomach twisted.

I shouldn’t open it—but if I didn’t, he might make a scene.

Slowly, I cracked the door open.

He stood there casually, hands in his pockets, wearing an easy smile.

“You skipped lunch,” he said, eyes dragging over me again.

“I wasn’t hungry.”

He leaned in, pressing his palm against the door and pushing it wider. “I just came to check on you… after what happened.”

The way he said “what happened” made it sound dirty.

“I’m fine,” I said quickly, trying to close the door.

But he forced his way inside.

“Gideon, leave.”

He shut the door behind him.

The room suddenly felt smaller.

“You know,” he murmured, stepping closer, “you look even better up close.”

My back hit the wall. “Stop.”

He reached out, brushing my hair aside. His touch made my skin crawl.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said softly, “if my sister doesn’t want you… maybe I should keep you instead.”

Fear shot through me.

“I’m engaged to Alpha Soren.”

He let out a small laugh. “For now.”

His hand slid down my arm, gripping too tightly.

“Let go of me.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t notice,” he whispered, stepping closer. “You’re wasted here.”

His fingers tugged at my dress.

I shoved him, but he didn’t move.

“Gideon!” I shouted.

He covered my mouth and pushed me toward the bed.

“Relax,” he murmured. “You’ll like it.”

He kissed me roughly, trying to force his touch on me. Terror flooded my body.

I bit down hard on his lip.

He swore loudly.

The door flew open.

Alpha Soren stood there.

For a moment, he just stared.

Gideon stepped back immediately.

I scrambled away, clutching my torn clothes, shaking.

Silence stretched.

“What is this?” Soren demanded.

“It’s nothing,” Gideon said lazily. “She misunderstood.”

Misunderstood.

I looked at Soren desperately, waiting—for anger, for action, for anything like the man who once protected me.

But he only stood there.

Still. Thinking.

Like he was weighing something.

The situation only stopped because he arrived—not because he intervened.

Something inside me broke.

Tears came suddenly, uncontrollable.

Soren finally spoke. “Gideon. Leave.”

Gideon smirked and walked out like nothing had happened.

The door closed.

Soren looked at me.

“Alina…”

I stepped back. “Don’t,” I whispered.

He didn’t move toward me. Didn’t comfort me. Didn’t promise anything.

And in that silence, I understood everything I needed to know.

I was alone in this pack.

Completely alone.

That same day, with what little money I had secretly saved over the years, I went to the regional pack council and filed a formal complaint against Gideon.

It was dangerous. Risky.

But I couldn’t stay silent anymore.

If they were building something behind my back…

then I would start protecting myself first.

Because no one else would.

Alina

I once thought betrayal was the deepest kind of pain a person could endure. I was wrong.

There is something worse than betrayal.

It is standing inside a courtroom, hands shaking, forced to recount how a man violated you—only to watch the man you once loved rise and defend him as though nothing had happened.

That day, Gideon had come dangerously close to taking more from me than just my dignity. His grip had been certain, his movements controlled, deliberate. There had been no smell of alcohol, no slurred excuses, no signs of confusion. He knew exactly what he was doing from the very beginning.

And yet, when I stood before the regional pack tribunal, voice unsteady but still clear, I never imagined the person who would stand to testify would be Alpha Soren.

My Alpha. My fiancé. The man who once told me I saved him.

“I witnessed the incident,” he said with composed certainty, standing tall as if nothing weighed on him. “Gideon did not assault her. This was simply a misunderstanding.”

My ears rang sharply at his words.

A misunderstanding.

“He was only trying to assist her when she panicked,” Soren continued without hesitation. “There was no wrongdoing.”

I stared at him, unable to reconcile the man before me with the one I thought I knew.

The council exchanged subtle glances among themselves. Gideon stood off to the side, head bowed in an act of remorse that felt rehearsed rather than real. Behind him, Evelina sat composed, hands folded neatly, her expression painted with soft concern.

It felt as though I was no longer inside my own body.

A council member finally spoke. “Gideon Crosswell is a respected heir. With Alpha Soren’s testimony, there is insufficient basis for the accusation.”

And just like that, my case collapsed before midday.

Five years of devotion erased in a single statement.

Outside the courthouse steps, I stood alone, fingers shaking uncontrollably.

Footsteps followed soon after.

I didn’t need to turn to know who it was.

“Alina,” Soren’s voice reached me first—controlled, but edged with irritation. “You should have let this go instead of filing charges. He was intoxicated.”

I turned slowly.

“I didn’t smell any alcohol on him,” I said quietly.

Gideon had smelled of expensive cologne, precision, and restraint. Nothing about him suggested drunkenness.

Evelina stepped forward with a gentle sigh. “He’s not a bad person,” she said softly. “It was just an unfortunate mistake.”

My chest tightened painfully.

A mistake was an accident. A spilled drink. A misstep.

What happened to me was not a mistake. It was a decision.

I looked at Soren again, but he still would not meet my gaze.

“You’ve put both packs in an awkward position,” he added. “This could jeopardize our alliance.”

Our alliance.

That mattered more than anything else. More than my fear. More than my humiliation. More than me.

A quiet, broken laugh escaped my lips.

“So that’s what you’re worried about?” I asked. “Politics? Not what he did to me?”

His jaw flexed. “Don’t exaggerate what happened.”

Something inside me finally gave way. I said nothing more and simply turned away.

If I stayed even a moment longer, I might have screamed until there was nothing left of my voice.

That night, sitting alone in the room we once shared, everything became painfully obvious.

Five years had meant nothing. He did not love me. He never truly saw me.

He saw her in me.

Even then, the difference was clear.

With me, I served. I cooked for him, cleaned after him, adjusted my entire life around his. I waited in silence like someone trained to belong beside him but never truly with him.

With Evelina, he changed. He bowed his attention to her, listened to her words, adjusted his time for her presence, gifted her jewelry and gowns that spoke of value I was never granted.

To him, I was always what I had been in the beginning.

A maid.

Even if he called me his fiancée.

The realization should have broken me. Instead, it left only emptiness.

That evening, I began to pack.

I folded my plain clothes into a worn suitcase and quietly sold a few of the dresses he had once given me through a discreet merchant in town. I needed enough to leave without depending on anyone.

If I was going to disappear, I would not do it on my knees.

By nightfall, I hid the suitcase beneath the bed.

As though the world wanted to test my resolve, Alpha Soren entered shortly after.

I straightened immediately, keeping my expression neutral.

“I need you at the Alpha Gathering tomorrow,” he said.

I looked up at him.

“The allied packs already recognize you as my fiancée. Your absence would raise questions.”

I nodded once. “I understand.”

If Fallendawn truly had something to do with me, then that gathering might reveal why.

The following evening, we arrived at the grand hall.

Crystal chandeliers cast a warm glow over polished marble floors. Alphas and heirs from various territories filled the space, dressed in elegance, power carefully contained beneath composed smiles.

I wore a simple gown—plain, familiar, unremarkable.

Evelina, however, stood out immediately in a silver dress that shimmered with every movement. It fit her perfectly, as though it had been made for her alone.

I recognized it instantly. It was one of Soren’s gifts.

Gideon stood beside her, calm and composed, as though he had never cornered me in private or made my skin crawl with fear.

We moved through the crowd, and a painful truth settled in.

I was not the one beside Soren.

Evelina was.

His hand guided her gently at the waist, never mine.

A foreign Alpha soon approached them with an easy smile.

“So this is your fiancée,” he said, gesturing toward Evelina.

Soren did not correct him immediately. For a brief moment, he almost looked pleased.

Evelina only smiled faintly, accepting it without protest.

I waited.

I waited for him to correct the mistake.

He didn’t.

The Alpha’s attention eventually shifted to me. “And her?”

Soren answered without hesitation. “A maid.”

The word cut deeper than anything I had endured.

The Alpha chuckled lightly. “How considerate of you to bring your maid along.”

Heat rushed to my face. I couldn’t breathe properly. I turned away before anyone could see what was breaking in my eyes.

I moved toward the quieter edge of the hall, near the balcony doors. Cold air brushed against my skin as I tried to steady my breathing while staring into the night.

Then a wine glass was offered to me.

“Careful,” a low voice said. “You look like you might collapse.”

I turned.

A man stood before me—tall, composed, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit. His presence was heavy, controlled, and unsettling in its calmness. His dark eyes studied me like he was piecing something together.

“I’m fine,” I answered carefully.

He observed me a moment longer. “You’re Alina of Nightfall.”

Not a question.

I nodded. “And you are?”

A faint curve touched his lips, though it held no warmth.

“I am the Alpha of Fallendawn Pack.”

The name struck like a pause in time.

Fallendawn.

My pulse quickened instantly.

So this was him. The Alpha no records ever properly spoke of. The enemy Soren spoke of in silence and hatred.

His gaze drifted across the hall toward Soren and Evelina, who were laughing together as if nothing else existed.

“Watching your Alpha so comfortably with another woman,” he said evenly, “you should come with me instead of remaining beside that fool.”

My breath caught. There was no teasing in his voice. Only certainty.

I turned back briefly. Soren hadn’t noticed I was gone. He hadn’t looked for me at all.

Slowly, I faced the man again.

I didn’t know him. I didn’t trust him.

But staying there was no longer something I could endure.

“Will you help me get revenge?” I asked quietly.

His gaze darkened slightly.

“More than that,” he replied.