Chapter 1

Aliana braved a heavy storm, carrying a warm stew for her fiancé, Ivan, just as she always put his needs before her own. This ingrained habit, a survival mechanism from a cold childhood, was about to shatter into a million pieces. Tonight, everything she believed was a lie.

The iron gates of Ivan's private villa flashed red, denying her entry, and a guard mumbled lies. Ignoring him, she pushed past, a strange orchid perfume leading her to Ivan's car, where a tube of crimson lipstick lay on the passenger seat. Through a window, she saw him with another woman and a small child, an image that felt like jagged glass twisting in her heart.

Then his words cut through the storm, cold and cruel:

"Aliana is just a placeholder."

He was marrying her for her multi-billion-dollar patent, a secret deal made with her own parents, who had sold her for a kickback to buy this very house. Her family, her love, her future-all were a calculated lie.

Her inner wolf, usually fierce, fell terrifyingly silent, replaced by a chilling resolve. The burning acid in her throat wasn't just bile; it was the taste of her shattered devotion.

She didn't want his apologies or his guilt. She wanted his ruin, and as Ivan walked in with a fake smile the next morning, Aliana was ready to deliver it.

Chapter 1

Aliana POV:

I held the black umbrella with one hand, the cold metal handle digging into my palm. My other arm was wrapped tightly around the insulated thermos pressed against my chest. The heavy rain lashed against the pavement, the icy droplets soaking the hem of my trench coat. I didn't care about the cold. I only cared about getting this hot deer meat stew to Ivan.

I always put his needs before mine. It was a pathetic, ingrained habit. A survival mechanism forged in the freezing, echoing halls of my childhood home, where my vampire parents looked right through me unless I made myself useful. If I provided, if I healed, I existed.

I walked up to the heavy iron gates of Ivan's private villa. The biometric scanner usually flashed green the second I stepped into its radius. Tonight, a solid red light glared back at me through the downpour.

The heavy door of the guardhouse creaked open. The security guard stepped out into the rain, his shoulders hunched. He didn't meet my eyes. He stood squarely in the center of the path, blocking the gate.

"I'm sorry, Miss Aliana," he mumbled, staring at my wet boots. "No entry without an appointment."

I frowned, the rain dripping from the edge of my umbrella. "An appointment? It's me. I am Ivan's fiancée. I am the future Luna of this pack."

The guard shifted his weight. His eyes darted toward the dark driveway, then back to the ground. "System malfunction, ma'am. The gate won't open. Alpha's orders are strict during a lockdown."

He was lying. My heart gave a slow, heavy thud. I didn't argue. I just let out a breath and pushed a fraction of my Alpha mate aura outward. It wasn't a violent wave, just a cold, suffocating pressure that rolled over the wet asphalt.

The guard gasped, stumbling half a step backward. His knees buckled slightly. He was a low-ranking wolf, and the sheer weight of a Luna's command terrified him. He didn't say another word. He just swallowed hard and stepped aside.

I pushed the heavy iron gate. It swung open with a screech. The red light on the scanner mocked his lie. I stepped onto the stone path, the deep puddles splashing freezing water over my leather boots.

I walked toward the main house. The wind whipped through the trees, carrying the scent of wet earth, pine, and something else. Something sharp and entirely out of place.

I stopped. As a top-tier healer, my olfactory senses were razor-sharp. It was how I diagnosed blood infections and poison. I inhaled slowly.

Orchid. A heavy, synthetic, cloying orchid perfume.

I turned my head toward the scent. The detached garage door was cracked open about two feet. Ivan's black sports car sat inside the dark space. I walked over, my boots silent on the wet concrete. I reached down and pulled the car door handle. It wasn't locked.

The door swung open, and the smell of orchid punched me in the face. It was so strong it coated the back of my throat.

I looked down at the passenger seat. Lying on the pristine black leather was a tube of lipstick. Bright, aggressive crimson.

I picked it up. The slick metal casing was warm. My fingers gripped it so hard my knuckles turned a stark, bone-white. Deep inside my chest, my inner wolf began to pace. She let out a low, vibrating whine that rattled against my ribs.

I carefully placed the lipstick exactly where I found it. I closed the car door with a soft click. I turned and continued my walk toward the main house, my posture perfectly straight.

The first floor of the villa was glowing. Warm, yellow light spilled out from the massive floor-to-ceiling windows onto the wet grass. The rain was coming down harder now, a deafening roar that masked the sound of my approach.

I stepped off the stone path and onto the muddy lawn, walking right up to the glass. The heavy velvet curtains were drawn, but they didn't meet in the middle. A two-inch gap remained.

Condensation coated the outside of the glass, blurring the interior into vague shapes of light and shadow. I shifted my umbrella, freeing my right hand. My fingertips touched the freezing glass. I took a slow, shallow breath. I wiped a small circle of moisture away.

The room came into sharp focus.

An expensive Persian rug covered the hardwood floor. Several brightly colored plastic toys were scattered across the intricate woven patterns.

A woman sat on the plush leather sofa, her back to the window. She wore a silk nightgown that clung to her curves. The shape of her shoulders, the cascade of her hair, and that suffocating smell of orchid perfume violently merged in my brain.

My eyes darted downward, searching for Ivan.

When my gaze hit the center of the rug, my pupils dilated. My lungs stopped working. The breath died in my throat.

"No, this is impossible."