Chapter 1 Chapter 1

Alpha Adrian Blackwood had torn asunder the primal link that bound our fates.

I, Vivian Hart, stood at the threshold of his study.

My black stilettos clicked softly against the polished mahogany floor.

After a wnineed pause, I lifted my hand and tapped the brass doorknob.

"Enter," a deep voice rumbled from within.

My fingers tightened around the folders in my grasp, my other hand turning the knob.

As I stepped inside, I offered a fleeting smile and made my way to his side.

"Swamped? Got some contracts that need your signature, ASAP."

My words feigned concern, yet I was already sliding the documents across the oak desk, flipping to the pages requiring his mark.

Alpha Adrian had returned that morning from northern clans, his presence still carrying the faint tang of mountain air.

He'd gone straight to the study, immersing himself in a backlog of pack business.

His sharp features, aristocratic as ever, were shadowed with the weariness of a long journey-yet he didn't even glance at the papers before scrawling his signature in bold strokes.

"Appreciate the promptness," he muttered, flipping through a ledger.

I gathered the signed documents and tossed out casually,

"Dinner tonight? I picked up that venison bourguignon you like."

"Plans tonight. Don't bother."

"Sure thing. I'll head out then."

I hugged the folders to my chest and turned, my heels clicking a staccato rhythm.

The moment my back was to him, my smile curdled into a sneer.

As I passed the reading nook adjoining the study, a soft sound pricked my ears-like a startled breath, quick and shallow, from behind the velvet curtains.

My gaze flicked to the side table: a half-empty glass of pomegranate juice sat beside a crumpled chocolate wrapper, and a single gold hoop earring glinted on the arm of the armchair.

In an instant, the pieces aligned.

The faint scent of jasmine perfume clinging to the air, the way his pulse had quickened when I mentioned dinner-all of it sharp as a winter wind.

My blood turned to ice.

Back in my own room, I collapsed into my sofa.

I flipped to the last page.

Memories flooded my mind: his fierce devotion when he swore to form a sacred bond with me beneath the full moon, the way his presence had once made the very walls of the pack estate hum with shared power.

His mother Evelyn Blackwood's icy smirk as she warned me not to get too comfortable, claiming no wolf stays loyal to one mate forever.

And my own naive insistence that we were different, that our bond was forged in something deeper than primal urge.

What a load of crap.

He'd strayed with some young she-wolf. That trip? He'd taken her along, letting her breathe the same thin air that should have been reserved for his mate. And now, he'd even brought her to the pack.

I snapped a photo of the signed agreement and sent it to Evelyn: He signed.

A week ago, she and I had struck a deal.

Evelyn, ever the calculating matriarch, demanded I initiate the bond-breaking and keep our sacred union a secret from the pack.

In return, I demanded a billion in compensation-enough to carve out a new life, far from the stench of their lies.

Three weeks from now, Alpha Adrian would be gone from my world for good.

Knock knock.

I tucked the agreement away, my fingers brushing the edge of a locket-once a gift from Adrian, holding a fragment of our shared scent. "Come in."

The door opened, and Ryan Hale, Alpha Adrian's assistant, stepped inside. His posture was rigid. "Vivian, this is from Alpha Adrian." He set a box on my desk.

I opened it carelessly.

Inside lay a stunning set of pearl jewelry, said to be harvested from a hidden cove only accessible to those with pure wolf blood.

But my mind flashed to a different scene: a short-haired she-wolf, eyes hazy with afterglow, lounging in a silk bathrobe, dangling a pearl bracelet with a careless grin, the room's dim lights casting an intimate glow over a messy bed, the faint marks of teeth glaring on her chest-marks that matched Adrian's bite pattern.

Nausea churned in my gut, my throat tightening as if I'd swallowed wolfsbane.

"Thanks, Ryan," I said.

I lifted my gaze, my eyes cutting into him. Ryan squirmed, his pulse spiking.

He blurted, "Alpha Adrian picked it out himself. One-of-a-kind, you know, sourced from that private island the clan owns. Only a handful exist."

Too bad his loyalty wasn't one-of-a-kind.

I didn't want it anymore.

"Oh, really? That's sweet. Making time to shop for me in his crazy schedule? So touching."

Sweating bullets, he bolted from the office.

I glared at the jewelry like it was filth.

I snapped a photo and texted it to a luxury reseller: Sell this set.