Next week is the marking ceremony for my mate and me.

I’m twenty years old now. I quit my job early and returned to the pack, planning to surprise my mate.

But when I pushed open the half-closed bedroom door, what I saw made my blood run cold.

My mate, Luke, was naked, pinning a woman beneath him.

“Luke... why don’t you just reject Lena?” a woman moaned from inside. “Don’t you want me?”

I froze. My stepsister? The one who hated me most?

“You’re the one I’ve always wanted,” Luke said between breaths. “But if I want to become Beta, I have to have a child with my mate. It’s our pack’s tradition.”

“That idiot insisted on waiting until the bonding ceremony at twenty before letting me touch her.” He let out a low chuckle. “She thinks keeping her body untouched will keep my heart? How stupid.”

That “idiot” was me. I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug deep into my palms. The pain reminded me this wasn’t a nightmare.

“You bastard. Now let me satisfy you properly,” Lily said softly, and then those sickening sounds started again.

I still couldn’t believe it. Luke had betrayed me.

When I was fourteen, Luke came to the Blue Ridge Pack for warrior training. I showed him the way to the training grounds, and he said that to thank me, he would bring me food every time.

And that was the only thing I needed. My father had always treated me like a mistake, a mistake born from a one-night stand with his omega mate. Especially after my stepmother arrived, all I knew was beatings and hunger.

But Luke always applied medicine to my wounds and prepared warm meals for me.

He told me that once he became Beta, he would never allow anyone to treat me that way again.

At last, the Goddess remembered me. When I was eighteen, at the pack’s mating banquet, we recognized each other as mates. I can’t describe how overjoyed I was then. I thought my suffering had finally come to an end. There was finally light in my life again.

But pack rules stated that all werewolves had to wait until they were twenty to complete the bond. I didn’t want to stay in the pack any longer and continue suffering abuse from my father and stepmother, so I applied for a job in a small town near the pack.

Luke and I had an agreement: I would come back once he officially became Beta. His trial date was next week.

I came back early to surprise him, and instead, he had taken the side of my stepsister, the one who hated me most! How... how could he do this?!

I couldn’t take it anymore and shoved the door open.

Luke was sitting on the couch, his pants pooled around his ankles, with Lily straddling him. “Lena?!” He shot upright.

Lily looked at me without a trace of guilt. “Lena. Welcome home.” She climbed off him and calmly got dressed.

“Looks like you two have a lot to talk about, so I won’t interrupt. Oh, and Lena, just so you know, your room at the Alpha manor has already been turned into my walk-in closet.”

“You need to understand that you’re not welcome, no matter where you are.” She gave me a sweet smile and turned to leave.

I looked at Luke’s face, the face I had once loved so deeply, and felt nothing but disgust.

There was nothing left to say. I had to go home and ask my father to sever my bond to the pack. I had never intended to stay in the Blue Ridge Pack anyway, but only the pack’s Alpha could authorize the breaking of that bond.

I came back here first to accept Luke’s mark, and now all of it had shattered.

But Luke grabbed me and slammed me against the wall.

“Damn it, listen to me!” he barked.

“What is there left to hear?” I was trembling all over, my voice so hoarse it was barely audible. “I heard everything. I’m just a tool for you to claim the title of Beta.”

“What’s wrong with that?” He tightened his grip on my wrist, and the arrogance on his face made my skin crawl. “Lena, you’re just an Omega. Now you have the chance to become the mother of a Beta pup. I’ll take care of you. I’ll give you food and a clean place to live.”

The shameless expression on his face made me want to vomit.

I tore myself free and slapped him hard across the face. “You bastard. I reject you. I reject you right now.”

The bond between us broke through my chest like an explosion, as if invisible hands were tearing my soul apart. My vision blurred, but I bit my lip and forced myself to stay on my feet before running out.

I would not break down in front of him. I would not let him see me completely shattered.

By the time I left the building, I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore, and I quickly wiped them away.

I quickened my pace toward the Alpha manor. Tonight, I would leave the Blue Ridge Pack and return to the town where I worked. My boss had always treated me well. Maybe he would accept me into his pack.

The moment I stepped inside, I saw my stepmother, Celia, sitting on the sofa in the living room, as if she had been waiting for the show.

She knew. Of course she knew. This had all been carefully arranged.

“Wow. I didn’t think today could get any worse, and yet this little parasite actually dared to come back.” She didn’t even lift her head.

Little parasite. Even though she had never given me a single cent. For twenty years, she had never once called me by my name. But it didn’t matter anymore. Soon, I would never have to hear her voice again.

“Celia, I need to see my father,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “It’s important.”

“Oh, you’re not about to tell your father about the little drama between you and Lily, are you?” Her voice was thick with mockery.

I looked at the smug expression on her face and suddenly felt exhausted. Why was I wasting my time entangling myself with these people?

“Lily likes eating shit. I’m done defending trash,” I said coldly. Rage immediately flashed across Celia’s face, and she moved as if to hit me. But then my father’s voice rang out.

“Lena, you came back at just the right time.”

I froze. He hated me. He should have wanted me gone forever. I had no desire to waste time guessing what he was thinking, so I spoke at once.

“Dad,” I said, my voice steady, “I need your approval to sever my bond with the Blue Ridge Pack.”

My father stopped on the stairs and looked at me coldly. “Leave the pack? Where do you think you can go?”

“That’s none of your concern,” I replied, my voice firmer than I expected. “I only need your Alpha authority to break the bond. It’s my right.”

“My God, this house can finally be rid of an omega’s stench,” Celia snapped. “Alpha, you should agree to it.”

I turned to my father. “So, will you approve it?”

“No,” my father said, his tone final. “I won’t let this cowardly omega be abandoned and then bring shame to the pack. Do you think you could survive if you left this place? You are nothing.”

My heart sank to the bottom of my chest. I should have expected this. He had always belittled me, even after I had managed to live on my own for two years.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

He glanced at me, his eyes as cold as if he were looking at an object. “The Blood Moon Pack. Alpha Dominic needs a breeder.”

My blood turned to ice. I couldn’t believe my father was going to sell me to a devil?!

“Someone will come for you tomorrow morning. If you dare to run, I can promise you this: your throat will be slit immediately,” he said at last.