The Wolfless Reject Is A Pack Heiress

Hayden POV:

I smiled, pulling the tray of cupcakes from the oven. The sweet scent of vanilla filled my small apartment.

On the wall calendar, today's date was circled in red ink. Our anniversary. One year since the Moon Goddess had marked me and Kole as fated mates.

I carefully arranged the table, setting out the two crystal glasses I'd saved for months to buy.

Despite being a person with weak wolfishness, an invisible person whom the Carlisle Pack calls 'wolf-less', I believed in him. I believed my Alpha, Kole, would love me.

I imagine his surprise when he walks in and sees all this. The wolf within me has never truly awakened, nor ever howled, but my soul can feel the fragile bond that connects me to him. Tonight, I hoped to make it stronger.

My phone screen lit up. A news alert from the Pack's internal feed.

A photo filled the screen, a punch to the gut.

It was Kole. He stood outside a high-end jewelry store, his tall frame protectively shielding a smaller woman—Carina Delgado, his late brother's mate.

The headline read: "Alpha Kole and Carina Delgado Celebrate a Special Anniversary?"

A wave of dizziness hit me. The phone slipped from my trembling hand, landing silently on the cheap rug.

The blood in my veins turned to ice. My ears filled with a low hum.

How could this be? It was our anniversary. He'd said he had a surprise for me tonight when he left this morning.

Was this it?

I told myself it was a mistake. A malicious rumor from the press. Kole was just fulfilling his promise to his brother, taking care of Carina.

Just as I tried to soothe the panic, my phone rang again. An unknown number.

I took a shaky breath and answered.

"Is this a relative of Ms. Annika?" a calm male voice asked. "This is Silver Creek Community Hospital.Ms. Annika has suffered sudden heart failure and is now in critical condition."

My heart stopped.

I bolted from the apartment, not even bothering to change my shoes. My mind was a blank slate of terror as I ran toward the hospital.

I sprinted through the Pack's central square. On the massive electronic screen, the photo of Kole and Carina played on a loop, a silent, public mockery. The whispers of the pack members around me felt like needles against my skin.

Finally, I burst into the hospital, shaking, and found the emergency room. A doctor named Alan Foster intercepted me.

"I'm so sorry," he said, his expression grave. "We did everything we could. Ms. Annika suffered sudden heart failure. She didn't make it."

Grandma Annika... the human woman who had found me in the snow and given me a home... was gone.

I couldn't breathe. My body slid down the wall to the floor, tears streaming down my face.

A young nurse came over and handed me a glass of water. "My condolences," she whispered. "Your grandmother had a visitor this afternoon. A very pretty young woman. It seemed like they weren't getting along."

I snapped my head up, grabbing her arm. "What kind of woman?"

"Light brown hair, big eyes," the nurse recalled. "Looked very fragile. She said she was here to 'thank' your grandmother."

Carina. It was Carina. The face from the photograph flashed in my mind.

I understood.

Carina had gone to provoke my grandmother, and Kole, my mate, was celebrating with her by buying her jewelry.

The immense grief and betrayal twisted together, hardening into a cold, solid knot of hatred in my stomach.

I stood up, wiping the tears from my face. My eyes felt hollow, my vision sharp and cold.

I returned to the empty apartment. The carefully prepared dinner looked like a joke.

I picked up a cupcake.

With a guttural cry, I hurled it against the wall. Cream and cake splattered everywhere.

The mate bond, the tether connecting me to Kole, sent a sharp, stabbing pain through me, as if it were being corroded by my hatred.

I made a vow.

"I, Hayden Beaumont, swear it now."

My voice was a raw whisper in the empty room, cold and unbreakable. "I will make Carina pay. And I will make Kole regret every word he said, every action he took tonight."

I calmly sat down at the table and opened my plain laptop.

I began to gather evidence. I screenshotted the news report, noted the time of my grandmother's death, and wrote down the nurse's description of the visitor.

In an encrypted file, I typed the first step of my plan: "Find the nurse. Make her tell the truth."

I closed the laptop and walked to the window. Outside, the Pack's lights glittered, but my world was nothing but darkness and the burgeoning flame of revenge.