The Gold Digger Mate

The Gold-Digger Groom

Author's Note: Hi loves! Welcome to Fated To The Gold-Digger Alpha ❤️ This is Nova and Luca's story. Vote + Comment who you think is more at fault here! New chapters every 2 days!

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The church bells were ringing.

They were ringing for me.

For my wedding.

Except my groom wasn’t here.

I stood at the altar in a gown that cost more than most houses in Port City. White silk, pearls stitched into the hem, a veil that fell past my knees. The Ocean King’s daughter deserved nothing less.

That was what my father kept saying.

That was what everyone kept whispering.

But the man I was supposed to marry? Gone.

A maid in a pale blue dress rushed down the aisle, her face red and her hands shaking. She didn’t even bow. She just grabbed the priest’s assistant and hissed loud enough for half the church to hear.

“The groom took the dowry and ran!”

Silence.

Then the whispers started.

Like waves crashing against a ship.

“Did you hear that?”

“The Ocean King’s daughter.”

“No wolf.”

“Five fiancés already broke it off.”

“He only married her for the money.”

“Even a gold-digger has standards.”

My fingers tightened around the bouquet until thorns dug into my palm.

Nova.

That is my name. Nova.

Daughter of the Ocean King. Niece of the Luna of Whitehaven Pack.

I had the blood of kings in my veins, the most powerful name in all the maritime territories, and a face that painters begged to capture.

And none of it mattered.

Because I was born without a wolf.

At 18, every she-wolf shifts for the first time. It’s like breathing. It’s like knowing who you are.

I got nothing. Just silence. Just the empty space in my chest where a wolf should be.

So the engagements broke. One after another.

The Duke’s son. The General’s heir. The Alpha’s nephew.

“Sorry, my family can’t accept a Luna who can’t shift.”

“Sorry, no offense, but what’s the point?”

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

In the end, my father had no choice. If no Alpha wanted me for my name, then they would want me for my dowry.

The Ocean King offered mountains of gold, ships, trade routes, entire islands.

And that’s how I ended up with Luca.

Alpha Luca of Red Moon Pack.

Handsome. Intelligent. Brave. Desperate.

We’d never met before the engagement contract was signed. I didn’t care. I didn’t believe in mates anyway. Fated bonds were for fairy tales. The real world ran on money and power.

But apparently, even money wasn’t enough to keep him.

“He took the ships,” the maid whispered again, this time to me. “All three. And the gold chests. He left the moment the priest turned his back.”

Laughter bubbled up in my throat. It sounded hysterical.

Of course he did.

I was a joke. A wolf-less princess with a price tag.

I caught him by the riverside.

He had three ships docked, the gold already being loaded. The Whitehaven crest was still stamped on the chests. Thieves.

Luca stood at the edge of the dock, his back to me. Black coat, dark hair, shoulders tense like he’d been running for hours. He looked every bit the Alpha he was supposed to be. Tall. Dangerous. Beautiful.

And a liar.

“You!” I shouted.

He turned.

The moment our eyes met, the world stopped.

His eyes were storm-gray. Sharp. Tired. But when they landed on me, something in them cracked.

Mine must have looked just as furious, because his jaw ticked.

For three seconds, neither of us moved.

The river flowed behind him. The gulls cried overhead. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would break my ribs.

Then it happened.

A pull. Deep in my chest. Like a string tied around my heart and yanked.

Heat spread through my veins. My bones ached. My vision blurred for half a second.

And a voice. Female. Ancient. Mine, but not mine.

Mate.

My wolf.

I stumbled back a step. “What—”

Luca’s eyes widened. He took a sharp breath, like he’d been punched. His hands clenched at his sides.

“You,” he breathed.

For eight years I’d been told I was broken. Empty. A girl with no wolf, no future, no mate.

And now, standing in front of the man who’d just robbed me, my wolf woke up for the first time and called him mine.

This had to be a cruel joke.

“Don’t you ‘you’ me,” I spat, finding my voice. The anger was easier than the shock. “You ran out on our wedding. You stole my father’s dowry. You made me a laughingstock in front of every pack in Whitehaven!”

Luca didn’t deny it. He just looked at me. Really looked. Like he was memorizing me.

“I had no choice,” he said finally. His voice was low, rough. “Red Moon Pack is falling apart. My people are dying. I needed the money and the soldiers. Immediately.”

“So you used me.” The word tasted bitter. “You married me for my father’s fortune.”

“Yes.”

At least he wasn’t lying about that.

“Congratulations,” I laughed. It came out broken. “Now get off my father’s ships before I have you arrested.”

“I can’t stay,” he said. “The moment I leave with this dowry, my brother can secure the eastern territory. We can push back Malcolm. We can survive. If I stay, even one more day, people die.”

“So your pack is more important than me.”

“Yes,” he said honestly.

I wanted to hate him for that honesty.

“I don’t care,” I said. “You signed a contract. You’re my husband now. By Ocean law, by Whitehaven law. You don’t get to just leave.”

Luca’s eyes flashed. For a second I saw the Alpha in him. The man who commanded armies.

“Then come with me.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Come to Red Moon Pack. Take your dowry. Rule as my Luna.”

I stared at him. This man. My mate. He’d sold his true love to put his brother on the throne. I’d heard the rumors. That he’d sent his childhood sweetheart, Elara, to his brother Caleb’s bed just to make the warriors loyal to King Caleb.

And now he wanted me to be his Luna?

“You must think I’m stupid,” I said quietly.

“I think you’re angry,” Luca replied. “And you have every right to be. But I have to unify Red Moon, or Malcolm will kill everyone. Including you, eventually.”

My wolf stirred again. Mate. Protect. Stay.

I wanted to scream.

“I’m not going with you,” I said. “Not like this.”

Luca’s face went blank. Disappointment flickered there, but he covered it fast.

“Then I’m leaving without you.”

We stared at each other. Mate. Enemy. Husband. Stranger.

Finally, Luca sighed. “I’ll leave one ship. And half the gold.”

“All of it,” I countered.

“Half.”

We glared.

“Deal,” I said through gritted teeth.

He turned to go, then paused. Looked over his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. About the wedding.”

“Sorry doesn’t give me back my dignity,” I said.

“No,” he agreed. “But I’ll earn it back. If you let me.”

And then he was gone, jumping onto the last ship. The sails lifted. The dock hands untied the ropes.

I stood there in my torn wedding dress, watching my husband sail away with half my dowry.

My wolf howled inside me. _Mate. Gone._

I pressed a hand to my chest. It hurt.

Behind me, I heard footsteps. My father.

“Novi,” he said softly.

“Don’t,” I said, not turning around. “Don’t say the moon goddess has a plan.”

He was quiet for a long time.

Then: “Do you want me to declare the marriage void?”

I closed my eyes. Thought of gray storm eyes. Thought of the way my wolf had finally sung after 8 years of silence.

“No,” I whispered. “He’s my mate.”

My father swore under his breath.

“I’m going after him,” I said. “Not for love. Not yet. For what I’m owed.”

Because if Luca thought he could marry me, take my money, and disappear, he was wrong.

I turned and ran.

The silk of my dress was too long, too heavy — it would slow me down. So I grabbed it with both hands and RIPPED it again, higher this time.

The sound echoed across the dock. White silk tore to my knees.

My handmaid gasped. “My Lady!”

I didn’t stop.

I ran past the shouting sailors and the staring crowds. My veil fell off. The pearls scattered. My bare feet hit the wet wood of the dock.

Ahead, the last ship was pulling away. Ropes untying. Sails rising.

Luca was on it. His back to me. Leaving.

“LUCA!” I screamed.

He didn’t hear me. Or he pretended not to.

The gap between the dock and the ship was growing. Black water churning between them.

If I missed this, he was gone. With my dowry. With my name. With my mate bond.

So I jumped.

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END OF CHAPTER 1

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