Evelyn's POV:

I stood before the wardrobe, carefully choosing the black lace lingerie I would wear tonight. Tonight was the night my husband could finally mark me.

It would also be the first night we made love.

It was a pack tradition: when an alpha died, his heir had to wait three years after the funeral before marking his luna. Just thinking about the way my husband, Theodore, would look at me made my heartbeat quicken.

I had finally survived those hard days, the days when an exiled omega was treated as a luna who, aside from cooking delicious meals for the alpha, contributed nothing to the strength of the pack. In truth, I was a powerful healer.

But Theodore was too busy. He had never had time to understand my work. The pack members' prejudice against my omega status had also erased everything I had done.

"I doubt Alpha Theodore will really give her a mark in the end."

"Exactly. She's just the mate Alpha Theodore chose when he was falling apart. He needed a partner to fill the place beside him in the pack, and she just happened to appear with no burden attached."

The pack members' words lashed across me like whips. Theodore had never publicly defended me, but he had never publicly belittled me either. I bet he chose not to stand up for me only because he didn't want the pack members to hate me even more.

He chose me because he loved me, not because I was some convenient substitute.

I shook off the thoughts that were dragging me down. Besides, I was lucky. Tonight was also my ovulation day. If I could get pregnant right away, then no one would ever question my right to be Theodore's luna again.

I put on the sexy black lace lingerie Martha had secretly given me, then gave myself one last look in the mirror, at my full breasts and long legs. Martha, the only maid who respected me, stood behind me, winked, and said, "Luna, I promise you, if Alpha is a normal man, he'll lock you up and never let you leave all night."

I quickly threw on my coat, slipped into the car, and drove to the club where Theodore was. Tonight, he was there to discuss business with several alphas.

I was going to surprise him.

The hallway was thick with the smell of whiskey and cigars. I had just raised my hand to knock when the laughter coming from inside froze me in place.

"Theodore, it's been three years. Are you really going home tonight to mark that useless omega?" It was his best friend Declan, his voice full of mockery.

"There will never be a mark." Theodore's voice was as cold as an icy lake in December, edged with a sneer. "If it weren't for covering up what happened between Leah and me, I wouldn't even look at her."

Leah was his brother's mate and had already borne his brother a child.

My blood froze instantly.

"Poor omega. She actually thinks you've fallen in love with her," Declan said sarcastically.

"That's why I chose an omega. They're easy to manage. Give them a little clean bread as alms, and they mistake it for love," Theodore said coldly. "But the truth is, I will never fall in love with an omega."

"God, Theodore, that's cruel." Another voice cut in, laced with a vulgar laugh. "Aren't you afraid Evelyn might take revenge on you? You know how much Adrian, the alpha of the Shadow Pack, spoiled Evelyn, even if she was only his adopted sister."

"She won't." Theodore gave a dismissive snort. "The Shadow Pack is the strongest in our alliance, yes. But Evelyn told me she broke with Adrian long ago."

"True, I heard Evelyn fell in love with Alpha Adrian even though she was just an omega. That's disgusting. Alpha Adrian must have been revolted, which is why he drove her out," one of the werewolves said with certainty.

"Wow, let's guess. Is your omega already dressed in matching sexy lingerie right now, waiting for you to thrust into her wet pussy?" Declan said again, his voice dripping with humiliation.

The moment he finished speaking, even louder laughter erupted inside the private room.

A chill swept through me at once, and my teeth began to chatter. When I collapsed at the border of the Silver Moon Pack, Theodore had been out on patrol. He was the one who saved me.

My wounded heart had opened itself completely before him. I told him what had happened between me and Alpha Adrian. He was my fated mate, but the moment he discovered I was an omega, he publicly rejected me in front of the pack.

Then the werewolves who had always treated me like a thorn came surging toward me, and I had no choice but to flee the Shadow Pack.

Theodore had been like sunlight, driving away the cold inside me, keeping me from remembering those freezing days in the basement. He made me his luna, even though no one in the pack acknowledged it. Still, I had a home, and I had the chance to study and become a healer.

I had been completely immersed in Theodore's gentleness, believing that the Moon Goddess had finally smiled on me.

I thought I was lucky, but all I had really done was walk out of one basement and into another gilded cage.

It felt as if my heart had been stabbed through by a blunt knife, the agony spreading through my whole body in an instant.

I opened my mouth wide, fighting for breath.

Just as I was about to collapse to the floor, there was a click, and the door was suddenly pulled open from the inside.

Theodore's tall figure appeared in the doorway, his eyes red, his phone clenched tightly in his hand. It looked as though something bad had happened.

The moment he saw me standing outside, his dark pupils contracted sharply.

But he didn't ask why I was here, nor whether I had heard those filthy secrets.

He only seized my wrist roughly, gripping so hard it felt like my bones might shatter.

"Come with me."

"Let go of me! Theodore, I heard everything..."

"Shut up! I don't have time for your nonsense right now!" he snapped, dragging me toward the elevator.

"Grayson is dead," he explained abruptly.

What? Grayson, Theodore's brother, Leah's mate. That meant there was nothing standing between them anymore.

I wanted to shake him off, but as the pack's luna, I had to be present for this. By the time we reached the hospital, everything was already in chaos.

Theodore's mother, Diana, pointed at Leah, who had collapsed to the floor crying, and screamed at her.

"Kneel! You bitch! You killed my eldest son! If he hadn't rushed back to bring you cake, why would he have been speeding on a rainy night like this?"

Diana's voice was sharp and piercing, painful to hear. She raised her right hand high and swung it viciously toward Leah's face.

Smack!

A dull sound split the rainy night.

But the slap never landed on Leah's face.

Theodore lunged over like a beast, wrapped Leah tightly in his arms, and took the blow for her.

The entire hospital corridor fell deathly silent, save for the hum of the machines.

A vivid red handprint bloomed on Theodore's face, yet he didn't even frown. He lowered his head and looked at Leah with a tenderness and pain I had never seen in the past three years, gently wiping the rain from her face before turning around and sweeping his gaze over everyone with an alpha's authority.

"From today on, no one is to touch Leah. My brother is gone. Leah and his son will move into my alpha estate."

A collective gasp rose from the crowd.

As his lawful mate, I stood less than three steps away from him. Rain ran from my hair into my eyes, stinging unbearably. Everyone stared at Theodore and Leah in shock, and in the end their eyes landed on me, full of pity, mockery, and sympathy.

I had become a complete joke.

Diana turned to glare at me, then poured all her fury onto me.

"You lowly omega! You can't even keep your own mate. What right do you have to stand here? Why haven't you killed yourself out of shame?"

A few low laughs rose from the people around us.

My hands were clenched into fists at my sides. I had endured the humiliation from Theodore's family because I loved Theodore.

Now Theodore had cut that rope himself. I had no reason to keep enduring them. I would reconsider accepting the offer from the most powerful medical institution, which had invited me to join as a core member of its drug research team, and leave the Silver Moon Pack.

They thought I had no choice? I was no longer the weak omega I had been three years ago!

When Theodore tried to leave with Leah, I stepped in front of him.

"That's impossible. You can't stand in front of your wife and announce that you're with another woman, Theodore."

He whipped his head around, and the fury in his eyes looked ready to devour me.

"I can. I am the leader of this pack. And now I'm giving you two choices. Either accept reality and go on being a useless moon-blessed ornament, or keep getting in my way and wait for a rogue wolf to tear your throat out."

The crushing force of his alpha dominance bore down on me like a mountain collapsing.

Before, I might have lowered my head and stepped back in silence.

But today, I didn't hesitate for even a second. I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face. The sharp crack of it made Theodore freeze.

I looked at Theodore's twisted face and forced down my nausea before speaking.

"I reject you, Alpha Theodore."