Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
I had been in love with Lucas, the Alpha's son, for five years, and he had always been devoted.
Yet, right before our scheduled mate ceremony, he broke every promise he had ever made.
He slept with a young she-wolf sent from the Silver Creek Pack for joint combat training.
Afterward, his friend asked him how it was.
Lucas smacked his lips and drawled:
"Way fresher and tighter than Elena."
He even sighed with regret, "If I'd known she-wolves from other packs were that wild and easy, I wouldn't have stayed loyal so long. What a waste of five years."
I accepted everything in dead silence.
Behind his back, I reached out to that girl, Chloe.
On the day of our mate ceremony, Chloe put on my wedding dress and walked down the aisle in my place.
The moment Lucas turned around, he completely lost his mind.
Once the date for our mate ceremony was set, Lucas and I both got swamped.
I was busy planning the ceremony, while he worked around the clock on pack affairs to clear his schedule for our honeymoon.
That afternoon, I picked out two venue decoration proposals and brought them to the executive wing of the Alpha manor to show him.
Before knocking on the door, I caught the sneer in his voice.
"Older women just lose their flavor."
"Someone like Chloe, though... she’s perfection."
It sounded absurd at first, but deep down, I knew the "older woman" he was talking about was me.
I pressed my ear against the crack of the door. The pieces began to fall into place.
"I kept my hands off anyone else for five whole years for Elena. Now the ceremony date is locked in, and she still won't let me touch her. I’m honestly starting to regret marrying her."
His friend scoffed, his voice dripping with sleaze.
"Well, if you're so sick of the old flame, how does the little side chick taste?"
Lucas narrowed his eyes, rubbing his thumb over the tip of his pen, savoring the memory.
"Fresh. Way younger and tighter than Elena."
He chuckled with a sigh. "If I'd known pack exchange girls were so wild, I wouldn't have bothered staying loyal. What a waste of five years."
Through the crack, I saw raw, unfulfilled hunger twisting in his eyes.
It was completely unlike the restrained, honorable man he usually pretended to be.
Right now, he was like a still pond—one tiny drop, and wild ripples wrecked the surface.
I clenched my fists, feeling like my heart was being dragged under dark water.
Just as I gathered the guts to barge in and confront him,
Chloe appeared.
She stepped out from Lucas’s private lounge.
Dressed in a white shirt and a pleated skirt, she carried the drowsy flush of someone who had just woken up from a nap.
Looking closely, she bore an uncanny resemblance to me.
"Lucas, are you guys still talking about training drills?" Her voice was sweet as honey.
Lucas didn't answer, but his gaze clung to her body like oil.
"I need to head back to the pack trials," she pouted. "If I fail the assessment, I'll be in trouble."
"Yeah. I'll have someone drive you."
Lucas wrapped an arm around her waist, dropping an effortless kiss onto her cheek.
"Stop it, your friend is watching."
Though she acted shy, her hips and thighs pressed firmly against his.
Online relationship forums always said body language like that only stems from raw, primal attraction.
On top of that, there were their lingering glances, hands reluctant to part, and the way she kept looking back over her shoulder as she walked away.
How sweet.
If only I weren't Lucas’s bride-to-be.
When Chloe stepped into the hallway, I was sitting behind the Beta's desk.
Seeing me, her guard went up, confusion flashing across her face.
"Didn't Lucas say no one is allowed up here without his permission?"
I offered a faint smile. "The Beta is out on pack errands. Lucas asked me to drive you to the training grounds."
Her tension vanished. She followed me out and slipped into the passenger seat of my car.
"Whoa, a combat trainer drives a car this nice?"
She clearly hadn't seen much of the world.
Even though it bore a Mercedes emblem, it was barely worth thirty grand.
Still, I didn't burst her bubble.
"Lucas is generous," I said smoothly. "If you work around him long enough, the perks are great."
"You've been by Lucas's side for long?"
"Five or six years. My mother is the pack Gamma, so our families have been close since we were kids. Later on, I became a combat trainer, so Lucas and I got even closer."
Through the rearview mirror, I watched her eyes sparkle with curiosity.
A second later, she leaned forward, digging for more personal dirt.
"Then you must have seen his future mate, right? I heard she's a trainer. Are you two close?"
"Lucas hasn't completed his mate ceremony yet," I answered evenly. "Technically, she's just a betrothed partner. As for whether we're close... our circle hangs out all the time. I see her plenty."A smug little smirk curled the corners of her lips. "What kind of person is she anyway?"
"In what sense?"
"Her age, combat rank, family background, job."
"She's twenty-eight. A warrior instructor. Raised by a single mother."
"Sounds pretty average," Chloe sniffed, rolling her eyes. "And she's almost thirty. Way past her prime breeding years. How is she even supposed to bear strong pups for Lucas?"
My hands tightened on the steering wheel until my knuckles went white.
I never expected words like that from a young she-wolf.
I had always assumed every female in our pack aimed to be a formidable warrior, not just a breeding vessel.
After a brief silence, I kept my voice calm.
"She probably won't be having his pups anyway."
Chloe parted her plump lips in genuine shock. "Why?"
"Because of you. Knowing Lucas, he’s so hooked on you that he might not even go through with marrying his betrothed."
"Really?!" Her face lit up. "Could you keep an ear to the ground for me?"
"Of course," I said.
When Chloe got out of the car, she casually took off her jacket.
Her pale skin was littered with dense hickeys and fresh, barely healed mating nips.
Perhaps my stare was too piercing; she suddenly felt self-conscious and pulled the jacket back on.
"Elena, stop staring... it's embarrassing."
I looked away and asked softly, "Did it hurt?"
Her mouth twitched into a pout, playing the victim.
"A lot, actually. He's always so rough, and I'm too scared to say no."
"Next time he gets like that, bite down on his shoulder," I advised gently. "Tell him it hurts. That way, he won't push you."
She blinked. "How do you know that?"
I leaned closer to her ear and smiled. "His fiancé mentioned it when we were gossiping over drinks."
Chloe broke into a giggling grin, covering her mouth.
"You're the best, Elena! I'll definitely try that at home."
After dropping Chloe off, I texted Lucas, telling him to grab dinner on his own tonight.
Then I switched back to my personal car and drove straight to our future home.
I wanted to see if the "home" Chloe spoke of was the very sanctuary meant for us.
Lucas had finished renovating the estate a year ago.
He kept refusing to give me the passcode, swearing he wanted to give me a grand surprise on the night of our mate ceremony.
970613—my birthday. *Beep. Incorrect passcode.*
950831—Lucas's birthday. *Beep. Incorrect passcode.*
200225—the anniversary of when we started dating. *Beep. Incorrect passcode.*
...
Finally, I punched in the birthday I had casually pried out of Chloe during our ride.
051113.
*Beep. Door unlocked.*
Even though I had already known the truth, having it confirmed crushed the air right out of my lungs.
My knees gave out as I stepped inside, and I collapsed against the entryway shoe cabinet.
Sitting there were two matching pairs of house slippers, neatly paired up. Clearly, they came here all the time.
I wandered through the house like a ghost.
Matching toothbrushes, matching silk robes, matching couple's trinkets—everything was cozy, domestic, and utterly sickening.
I entered the master bedroom and looked up. The ceiling was fitted with a massive mirror.
A memory flashed in my mind. Years ago, Lucas and I watched an indie romance film together. The male lead had a bedroom designed just like this.
Back then, Lucas had buried his face against my neck, breath hot against my ear, begging me to try something like that with him someday.
I had always been guarded about intimacy, but knowing we were destined to mate, I had finally yielded and agreed back then.
I just never imagined he had remembered it so vividly—only to turn it into his dirty playground with someone else.
The mirror above reflected my hollow, shattered eyes.
The weather outside was crisp and cool, yet the bedroom felt stifling, sticky, and heavy. I could even catch the faint, lingering scent of sweat, musk, and arousal hanging in the air.
Nausea hit me like a physical blow. My instincts screamed at me to run.
Just then, the front door clicked open.Panicking, I slipped into the home office adjacent to the master suite.
The office held only a single desk; Lucas wouldn't waste time in here.
"Lucas, isn't this a little too much for one day~?"
"Shut up."
Chloe went silent instantly.
Within seconds, her whimpers turned into sharp cries of pain.
"I'm sorry, Lucas... it hurts too much!"
Lucas didn't stop. He pushed harder.
One minute. Two minutes.
My stomach violently churned; my head spun with pure disgust.
I bit down on my own forearm hard enough to draw blood, using the sharp sting to keep myself lucid—and to punish myself for being such a coward.
What on earth was keeping me frozen here?
The moment they walked through that door, I should have ripped it open.
I should have torn their throats out with my claws and fangs to quench this burning rage.
But that would have been too easy on them.
Or maybe, the remnants of my five years of love made me terrified to look his betrayal straight in the eye.
After all, because of my boundaries, he had waited for me for five whole years without complaining.
Amidst the frantic, wet slapping of skin, Lucas suddenly hissed in pain.
"Who told you to bite me?!"
"Lucas, it hurts... please be gentle with me~"
Chloe’s voice was breathy and fragile, the kind that would soften any man's heart.
Lucas was no exception.
He paused, his voice turning tender. "Whatever you want."
That familiar tone. That familiar tenderness.
Lucas hadn't spoken to me like that in ages.
The last time he uttered those words was six months ago.
Lucas had been drugged with wolfsbane aphrodisiac during a pack negotiation.
Terrified of losing control and ruining things between us, he called me to his side to guard him.
He submerged himself in a tub of ice water, trembling violently, his skin flushed an unnatural crimson.
I turned to fetch him a glass of water from the bar, only to be ambushed. Lucas lunged at me like a feral beast.
I knew he wasn't in his right mind, but I refused to give in.
In the struggle, I bit him hard on his collarbone.
Blood mingled with ice water, dripping onto the pristine white rug below.
Lucas's bloodshot eyes shrank in horror as sanity snapped back.
"I'm sorry, Elena... I lost my head."
I straightened my clothes and shoved him back into the tub.
Seeing my cold silence, he apologized over and over.
"I'm sorry, Elena, I didn't mean to."
"Elena, please don't shut me out, I couldn't control my wolf."
Like a stern parent, I reinforced my boundaries, reminding him how much I hated being forced.
Looking like a kicked puppy, he lightly hooked his finger around mine and whispered:
"Whatever you want."
"I'll do whatever you want."
...
At some point, the sounds in the bedroom ceased.
I heard the front door open and click shut twice.
A moment later, my phone vibrated with a text from Lucas:
"Elena, where are you? I miss you."
Then Chloe texted me her update:
"Elena, what you said actually worked! The way Lucas looked at me totally changed!"
I texted her back: "Is that so? Looks like the rumors are true."
"What rumors?"
"Lucas wants to dump his betrothed and choose you."
I told Lucas I was over at my mother Sarah's place.
When I arrived at her cottage, Lucas was already in the kitchen, helping prepare dinner.
Sarah shot me a discreet glance.
I followed her obediently into the bedroom.
"Why did you lie to Lucas and tell him you were here?"
"Do you have any idea how terrified I was when he showed up at my door asking for you?"
"I thought something terrible happened to you!"
"If I hadn't covered for you on the fly, you'd have been busted! Tell me, where were you really?"
"Catching a cheater," I said flatly.
"Catching whose cheater?"
Sarah leaned in, ready for gossip.
She had no idea the cheater was the prize son-in-law she bragged about to the entire pack.
Instead of answering directly, I asked, "Did you inform Robert about my mate ceremony?"
She waved dismissively. "I'll let him know in a couple of days."
"Don't bother."
"Why? Didn't you want Robert at your ceremony?"
My fingers twisted in the hem of my shirt. I didn't know how to break the news of Lucas's infidelity.
Finally, I pulled out my phone and showed her the photo of Lucas and Chloe with their faces pressed together in bed.
"Sarah, Lucas cheated on me. I just found out today."
...
It took everything in me to physically pin Sarah to the bed.
Her eyes blazed with feral fury.
"None of these bastards are any good! Daring to break a mate vow right before the ceremony—I'm going to rip him limb from limb!"
I held her down, begging her to stay calm.
Eventually, she sank onto the edge of the mattress and began to weep.
I knew what she was crying about. It brought back all the ghosts of her past.
When Sarah was young, she was duped by an Alpha. He promised to make her his Luna, but once she got pregnant with me, she discovered he already had a bonded mate in his home pack.
He walked away without looking back. Sarah brought me to the Ridge Pack all on her own.
With no family, no backers, and no status, she fought tooth and claw to earn the rank of Gamma—heading pack security and intelligence.
From childhood, I was taught never to trust an Alpha's vows.
Yet, I had fallen into the exact same trap.When we returned home, Lucas pushed me against the wall, kissing me with hungry desperation.
He hadn't kissed me like this in a very long time—passionate, breathless, all-consuming.
Was he reminiscing? Or was it guilty compensation?
All I felt was revulsion.
When Lucas finally pulled back, breathing heavily with poured-out affection, my heart was as flat as stone.
So this was what falling out of love felt like.
In that single instant, the cheating, the five years wasted, the heartache—none of it mattered anymore.
My chest felt miraculously light. Leaving Lucas suddenly didn't feel like the end of the world.
"What's wrong?"
Sensing my complete lack of response, Lucas pulled away slightly.
He buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent, his arms tightening around me as if trying to fuse me into his skin.
I reached up, caught him by his tie, and led him toward the bedroom.
"You want me?"
Lucas froze for a split second, raw lust blazing in his gaze.
"Agree to three conditions, and you get your reward early."
"What conditions? Name them. Maybe I can devour you right now!"
"First, I want over half of all assets under your name."
"Done. I already had the lawyers draft a post-nuptial gift deed. It’s an unconditional transfer."
He reached his hand under my shirt, gently caressing my stomach.
"Second, I want the mate ceremony to be massive. Every pack allied with us must be invited."
"Easy. I'll send invitations to every pack in the Alliance. A grand ceremony for my Luna. Deal?"
He groaned, his body straining with impatience. "What's the third one? Tell me."
"Third... if we ever break up, we must never contact or bother each other again."
Lucas froze instantly.
His hands went limp. We stared at each other in suffocating silence.
After a long moment, he rolled off the bed, letting out a heavy, disappointed sigh.
"Elena, don't ever say something like that again. We will never break up."
With that, he buttoned his shirt and walked out into the guest room.
I had anticipated this reaction.
Lucas fancied himself a deeply devoted lover, the kind who swore he'd never marry anyone else.
A man who wrapped himself in a martyr complex would never let go easily after a breakup; he’d cling like a shadow.
No matter. Once the asset transfer was signed, I'd have plenty of leverage to keep him in line.
Two days later, Lucas's Beta brought over the legal documents.
It was a thick stack of papers. Lucas had transferred almost all his private wealth and properties into my name.
After signing, I asked the Beta how Lucas had been doing.
Since that night, Lucas hadn't come home.
The Beta sighed, saying Lucas had been holed up in the Alpha manor's executive offices, snapping at everyone during pack council meetings and putting the entire pack on edge.
I reminded the Beta to make sure Lucas got some sleep.
The Beta nodded eagerly. "Knowing you care will definitely put him in a better mood."
My fingers tapped rhythmically on my phone as I sent Chloe a message:
"Chloe, Lucas had a huge fight with his betrothed. He probably needs you right now."
Chloe didn't hesitate.
Over the next few days, she flaunted their time together across her private social media stories.
She kept him company while he reviewed pack files; he waited for her by the combat training ring; at night, they shared a bed.
Meanwhile, I went about my days alone, feeling like I had already returned to my carefree single days.
Then, while I was supervising at the training grounds, an uninvited guest strolled up to me.
"Surprised to see me, Elena?"
Chloe shed her sweet, submissive facade. Sitting across the bleachers from me, she wore a haughty, victorious sneer.
"At first, I thought you were just an ordinary instructor. But the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded—what normal trainer knows the Alpha heir's private schedule inside out?"
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
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