Chapter 1

Ashley's POV

"Do you want me, Ashley?" My hands gripped the edge of the bed as my husband took hold of my waist. He drove deeper into me, a jolt of electric pleasure surging through my entire body.

I arched my back, a moan of pure satisfaction escaping my lips. "Yes... it feels so good."

"My turn, baby," Brian chuckled low. He picked up the pace, his thrusts becoming more rhythmic and urgent. I lost all strength, leaving myself completely at the mercy of his powerful movements.

After what felt like forever, Brian finally let out a primal growl of release. His heavy, muscular frame collapsed onto me, our bodies still intimately entwined.

I reached out, aching to hold him against me, but he was up in an instant. He sat on the edge of the bed, running his hand through his disheveled hair. I watched his profile-he was breathtaking, chiseled by the gods themselves. Every angle was flawless, especially that strong, square jawline; he looked like a living, breathing statue of David. I could hardly believe this perfect Alpha was mine.

He was handsome, powerful, righteous, and the Alpha of one of the most formidable wolf packs on the East Coast-the Blackwood Pack. Meanwhile, I was just an Omega without a pack to call my own.

He was good to me-gentle, respectful, and never once did he let me lose face before the pack. But I could feel it. Behind the heat of our intense lovemaking and his polite concern, there was always an invisible wall. Our marriage had begun as a political alliance, and though our bodies had been perfectly in sync for three years, his deepest heart remained out of my reach.

That one lingering issue only made the distance between us more palpable: I hadn't conceived. The whispers within the pack were growing louder, questioning my ability to produce an Alpha heir. I'd been to the clinic countless times, and my best friend, who is the Pack Doctor, assured me that I was perfectly healthy-just under too much stress. But I couldn't explain that to the pack. And even though Brian never breathed a word of blame, his silence only deepened my crippling guilt.

But after tonight, everything will change. Because just two weeks ago, I found out I'm finally pregnant.

I gently caressed my still-flat stomach. Today was our third wedding anniversary, and I had deliberately chosen tonight to reveal my secret to him.

I was betting everything on this-that Brian would finally, truly accept me and, at long last, fall in love with me.

"Brian," I called softly, my voice still rough from pleasure.

"Ashley, we need to talk." He cut me off, pulling away as a sudden emptiness washed over me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, forcing a smile and trying to ignore the chilling tension that seemed to freeze the air around us.

Brian sat up, grabbing the robe from the floor and tossing it over his shoulders. "We should get a divorce," he said, his tone devoid of emotion.

It felt like the air had been stolen from the room, a sharp ringing filling my ears. My voice trembled as I choked out, "What... what are you saying?"

"Silvia's back." His deep voice struck like a hammer.

The name hit me with brutal precision, shattering any faint hope I had. Silvia-his fated mate, the daughter of his former Beta. They were meant to have a mating ceremony, destined to be together.

But tragedy had struck instead. Silvia, trying to shield Brian from a rogue wolf's deadly attack, had taken a grave wound to her heart. Even after that, Brian hadn't abandoned the idea of mating with her. And yet, she had disappeared without a trace.

With Silvia gone for three years with no news, I'd practically forgotten she even existed.

I bit my lip hard, trying to hide the trembling.

Brian glanced at me briefly before continuing, "Her wolf spirit was severely damaged in that attack, so she went into hiding to heal. But the healer told her..." His eyes filled with guilt. "She only has six months left to live."

I froze. A damaged wolf spirit wasn't just about losing strength-it was like a slow death sentence for a werewolf.

"I'm so sorry," I said sincerely, "We can take care of her together, find the best healers, herbalists-"

"No need!" Brian cut me off harshly, his tone sharp and impatient. "She only has one last wish." He paused, his hesitance showing in that small moment. Then, with a determined look, he continued, "She wants to spend her last six months as my wife."

"What?" My tears spilled over as I looked at Brian's cold, unyielding expression. "This is insane... Brian, I'm your mate. And besides, I-"

"Ashley, the title of Luna always belonged to Silvia to begin with." Brian didn't let me finish. His gaze was stripped of all patience. "I expected your support in this."

"Are you really going through with this?" I asked, my hand gently resting on my stomach, trying one last time to change his mind. I couldn't bear the thought of my child being born without a father. "Are you sure you won't regret this?"

In the pack, children born out of wedlock were always looked down on. But Brian completely misread me.

Brian's gaze grew colder. "You're such a disappointment, Ashley! I know exactly what you're worried about-you're scared of losing the pack's protection, worried you'll lose your cushy lifestyle? Here, I'll solve that problem for you: I'll give you a limitless credit card right now. If you can't even show a shred of compassion, then you're beyond saving. You're cold, selfish, unreasonable. You don't deserve love."

As if the wounds in my heart weren't deep enough, Brian delivered the final blow: "And this is exactly why your father died-because he had a weak, useless, and self-centered daughter like you. You couldn't protect him, so he had to face those rogue wolves alone."

My mind went blank. How could he say that? My father was killed by rogue wolves. He knew that after my father's death, I was on the verge of breaking down. He was the one who found me and brought me into the Blackwood Pack.

Back then, he picked me up in his arms and said, "You'll be my Luna, the Luna of Blackwood Pack, one of the strongest packs on the East Coast. No one will ever hurt you again."

I stared at his sharp profile, his chiseled jawline. For a moment, back then, I had thought I'd found a reason to keep going.

But now, even the ghost of that tenderness had vanished. The love I'd imagined was a lie that never existed. In an instant, the air was ripped from my lungs.

"I agree to the divorce." My voice sounded, eerily calm. "No, I'll refuse your mark." Only by doing that, rejecting the mark, could we truly separate as wolves.

Brian's eyes flared with sudden anger. "You think rejecting the mark will guilt-trip me? Not a chance-it's final."

Right then, a phone left on the bedside table buzzed-it was Brian's, with that particular ringtone. Silvia's.

He grabbed it immediately. The harsh expression on his face softened in an instant, his features glowing with a tenderness I'd never once seen from him.

When the call ended, his face turned stone cold again. "Silvia said she would just be staying in the guest wing. She wasn't going to kick you out, Ashley. And I won't be bringing her into the master bedroom."

"See? You'll never come close to being someone like her." Brian spat the words with disgust, then strode out of the room without looking back.

I could no longer support myself. My knees buckled, and I slid down the cold wardrobe door, collapsing onto the floor in a broken heap. It was so ironic-I had actually convinced myself that tonight would be the turning point, the night Brian finally loved me back. Instead, it had become the most humiliating moment of my life.

Tears blurred my vision once more, my heart feeling as though it had shattered into ten million jagged pieces. Shaking uncontrollably, I pressed my palm against my lower abdomen. There was a tiny life in here. My friend's warning at the hospital echoed in my mind: "Ashley, you don't have a wolf. Your emotional instability will put the baby at risk."

I couldn't break down. And I sure as hell wouldn't accept Brian's absurd demands. He thought he was being "merciful"-that I should be grateful I wouldn't be cast out to become a rogue. He knew as well as I did that for a wolf-less Omega, being packless was a death sentence. He was banking on my fear, betting that I wouldn't dare refuse him.

As despair threatened to drown me, a familiar, low growl vibrated in my memory. "Ashley, remember... no matter how wayward you are, you'll always have me."

No! I couldn't strike a bargain with the devil.

It took thirty days to finalize a divorce. One month-it had to be enough time to find a way to survive.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. A message from Brian.

"Be at the Pack Council Hall tomorrow at nine sharp to finalize the divorce papers."