"Don't just stand there like an idiot. Let's go."

The Beta, Jett, eyed me coldly, his tone as robotic as his expression.

Like a puppet on a string, I bent down to pick up my backpack.

My phone vibrated. It was a message from Titus.

"Go with Jett for now. I'll come and explain later."

I stared at the commanding text, my fingers trembling as I typed back. "Why did you lie to me?"

His reply came with obvious impatience.

"Don't cause a scene. This isn't the time or place for a tantrum."

A tear splattered onto the screen.

I followed Jett and was taken to a luxurious penthouse apartment that overlooked the entire city.

I swiped the key card and opened the door.

A wave of pure luxury washed over me, mixed with the scent of expensive woody cologne.

This was a world away from the "modest scholar's apartment" Titus had described to me.

I thought about how I had scrimped and saved for the past seven years, using all my savings to support his "research." It all felt like a colossal joke.

I collapsed onto the plush carpet, my gaze snagging on a magically sealed scroll in his study—a marriage contract.

I froze.

On the scroll, Titus and a white-gowned Evangeline were exchanging marriage vows in the presence of the pack elders.

In the bottom right corner, the date of the ceremony was engraved.

I remembered that day. It was the day I came of age.

That day, I had asked him, full of hope, "Titus, I'm an adult now. When can we have our bonding ceremony?"

He had replied, "Soon, Rowan. Just wait for me a little longer."

And on that very day, he was pledging his life to another woman.

Like a madwoman, I rushed into the master bedroom. The walk-in closet was filled with Evangeline's haute couture gowns and silk nightgowns.

Trembling, I pulled open his side of the closet and found a discarded shirt.

I fumbled with the cuff.

The last shred of hope in my heart shattered.

The unique fated mate mark—the one that should have been mine—was concealed by a powerful glamour.

In its place was a false rune, the symbol of his political alliance with Evangeline's family.

This was the ultimate desecration of the mate bond.

He had once pointed to the bare mark on his wrist and told me, "Rowan, look. The Moon Goddess has carved our destiny into our very bones and blood. No one can change it."

It turned out he had been lying from the very beginning.

I crumpled to the cold floor and sobbed my heart out.

When Titus returned to the apartment, he found me, my eyes red and swollen from crying.

He pulled me into his arms, pain etched across his features.

"Rowan, I'm sorry."

"The Thorne Group was on the verge of bankruptcy back then. I had to come back and take over. But your pack... it's too weak. The Council would never have allowed me to mate with you."

I couldn't listen anymore. I pushed him away, tears streaming down my face.

"So you married someone else? And used a glamour to fake a mark? Titus, what were these seven years? What about our real mate bond?"

Titus looked down at me, his expression shifting back to the calm authority of an Alpha.

"Rowan, I am the Alpha of the Red Peak Pack. I have my responsibilities. My union with Evangeline is a political marriage, beneficial to both our great packs."

He paused. "Evangeline has agreed to... overlook your existence, as long as you behave. You can stay by my side."

I looked up, a fresh wave of tears spilling down my cheeks.

Titus bent down and wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb.

"Rowan, I'll give you a private genetics lab with top-level clearance to be my secret advisor. You'll be well taken care of."

I slapped him. A hard slap. Under his stunned gaze, I grabbed my luggage and ran out the door.

I tried to buy a plane ticket to leave the city, only to find my ID had been flagged and frozen.

Titus had placed a travel ward on me, trapping me here.

Rumors about me, "a member of a minor pack with defective genes, trying to latch onto the Alpha," spread through the pack's internal network.

I had no choice but to hole up in a cheap motel.

I couldn't let them slander me like this.

I gathered my courage and went to the pack's Council to appeal, requesting a fair hearing.

I couldn't even get past the main gate.

The guards blocked my path, their eyes filled with contempt. "The Council handles pack business, not your personal drama. We have no time for corporate spies trying to sabotage an alliance."

The commotion attracted a passing member of the Council.

He glanced at me, his voice as cold as ice. "Get out of here. Now. Or you'll be sent to the confinement chamber for endangering the pack's security."

His cold words shattered my last shred of hope.

My phone rang. It was Evangeline.

"You poor little geneticist," she said, her voice dripping with the scorn of a victor. "Let's talk about your value."