Chapter 1 Chapter 1

In the fifth year of my sacred bond with Alpha Theodore Vaughn, I found out I was carrying our pup. The news hit me like a warm ray of sunlight.

I headed to the healer's clinic to set up my file, clutching the documents that marked me as Alpha Theodore's mate.

But when the nurse scanned my bonding certificate, her brow furrowed.

"This is fake," she said, her voice flat but not unkind. She tapped the parchment sharply. "The ink's faded unevenly. And the crest is backwards."

I froze, my heart stumbling. "Fake? That's impossible."

She didn't budge, just slid the paper back to me like it was tainted.

Desperate to prove her wrong, I drove to the pack's family court, my pulse hammering in my ears.

The clerk there delivered the same gut-punch verdict, her words slicing through me like a silver blade.

"Alpha Theodore is already bound," she said, glancing at her screen. "His mate is listed as Isabelle Hart."

Isabelle.

The name struck me like lightning, leaving my mind blank and my chest hollow. Isabelle-my half-sister, Alpha Theodore's first love. The she-wolf who'd abandoned him at their binding ceremony years ago. And now, somehow, she was his mate in the eyes of the pack's law.

I stumbled out of the family court, my legs heavy, my vision blurred, like I was a ghost drifting through a world that no longer made sense.

I barely noticed the taxi pulling up until I was inside, the dam breaking as silent tears streamed down my face.

Five years ago, I'd stepped into Isabelle's place to preserve our families' honor after she fled.

I became Alpha Theodore's mate, a substitute she-wolf bound to a wolf who barely looked at me.

At first, he was cold, distant, like a winter storm I couldn't thaw.

I poured my heart into caring for him-cooking his favorite meals, keeping his den spotless, learning his habits like they were my own.

Slowly, he softened.

He stopped growling when I adjusted his moonrise patrol routes, even when I swapped his favored midnight slot for dawn. He'd huff, but his ears would twitch with amusement as I babbled about silly lunar myths that only made sense to me. He let me handle the pack's moonblossom harvest logs-records so sensitive they'd never left his den before-a trust I held tighter than a sacred vow.

Over time, Alpha Theodore's warmth grew. He handed me a golden card with no spending limit, took me to every Michelin-starred restaurant in the town.

Once, when I craved honey-glazed chestnuts from a shop across town at midnight, he drove through the night to get it, chuckling as he pinched my cheek. "Never met a she-wolf with such a sweet tooth, you little glutton."

I thought I'd finally reached him, melted the ice around his heart. I thought we were building something real.

Then, three months ago, Isabelle came back.

Afflicted with a slow-acting silver poisoning , she returned to our pack, her presence like a storm cloud over my fragile happiness.

That night, my father, Frederick Hart, called a family meeting. His face was stone as he laid out his decree.

"Your sister's got six months at most," he said, his voice unyielding. "Her greatest regret is not binding with Alpha Theodore. So, you'll step aside, Evelyn. Let her have her ceremony. When she's gone, Alpha Theodore will be yours again."

My stepmother, Lorraine, clasped her hands, pleading. "She's your blood, Evelyn. Just this once, make the sacrifice."

Isabelle sobbed, her voice breaking. "It's my final wish before I die. Please, let me have this."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My eyes burned, my voice raw as I snapped back, "You pushed me into this bond like a pawn to save face, and now you want Alpha Theodore to bind with her? What am I to you? I won't do it!"

My father ignored my cries, locking me in my room like a prisoner, vowing to keep me there until I agreed.

On the third day, I heard Alpha Theodore had smashed a vase in front of Frederick, his fury shaking the walls.

By the fifteenth day, news broke that he'd publicly declared, "Evelyn is my only mate."

On the thirties day, he froze all pack business with the Harts, forcing them to release me.

A month later, when the door to my room finally swung open, I ran to him, barefoot and breathless, throwing myself into his arms.

My eyes stung with gratitude for everything he'd done. But then he spoke, his voice rough with guilt.

"Evelyn, I'm sorry," he said, holding me tight.

"Your parents wouldn't budge. They begged on their knees, citing our families' history. I have to play along with Isabelle, just for show. But it's not real. You're my only mate."

My heart plummeted, each word a jagged wound.

But I swallowed my tears, touching his gaunt face. "You've done enough," I whispered, forcing a smile.

I watched as he placed a diamond ring on Isabelle's finger in a lavish binding ceremony, the pack cheering around them.

Afterward, he was still good to me-too good, like he was trying to make up for something. But he spent more and more time with Isabelle.

What started as short visits turned into nights he didn't come home.

When I confronted him, hurt and angry, he'd sigh, his patience thin but steady.

"It's not devotion, Clara. I'm merely standing by her side, easing the weight of her fading days."

I believed him

Until the truth slapped me hard enough to leave a mark.

The taxi stopped in front of pack office, and I forced myself to pull it together, my fake bonding certificate crumpled in my fist.

I marched to the top floor, ignoring the uneasy look on Alpha Theodore's secretary's face.

"Evelyn, you're here?" she stammered.

"Alpha Theodore's overseeing the moonlit patrol"

"I need to see him," I said, brushing past her.

I reached his office door, my hand on the knob, when I heard Isabelle's voice inside.

"Look me in the eyes, Alpha Theodore," she said, her tone sharp and intimate.

"Confess your breath doesn't catch when I'm near."