Chapter 1
The ballroom smelled like roses and lies.
Crystal chandeliers threw gold light over everyone. The pack’s elite were here in designer suits and gowns that cost more than my rent. Music played low. Laughter echoed. Servers walked around with trays of champagne.
It was supposed to be a celebration.
Kaden’s engagement party.
My hands shook around the champagne flute. The liquid inside hadn’t moved in an hour. Red dress. Red lips. Red everything. I dressed for him. For the Alpha who was supposed to be mine.
Two nights ago, he had me pressed against his bedroom wall. His forehead to mine, his wolf barely contained. His hands were on my waist, rough and sure.
_"You’re mine, Lina. Always. I felt it the moment we turned 18. You’re my mate."_
His breath was hot against my lips. _"When I’m Alpha, you’ll be Luna. No one else. I swear it."_
I believed him. God, I believed him. I could still feel his promise on my skin.
And tonight, he was on the dance floor with my best friend.
Aria.
5 years. Sleepovers. Secrets. We braided each other’s hair before full moons. She was at my 18th birthday. She cried when my dad died.
And now her arms were around Kaden’s neck, and her mouth was on his.
The room erupted in applause.
"Perfect couple," Mrs. Carter whispered behind me. "Much better than that Beta’s daughter."
"Yeah," her friend giggled. "Lina was delusional. Thinking she’d be Luna just because her dad was Beta."
My wolf snarled inside me. _Liar. Traitor. OURS._
I couldn’t breathe. The glass slipped from my fingers.
It hit the marble floor and shattered.
A thousand pieces. Just like me.
Aria pulled back from the kiss and looked straight at me. Across the entire ballroom.
And she smiled.
Not sorry. Not guilty.
Triumphant.
_Thanks for lending him to me, bestie._
Heat crawled up my neck. My vision blurred. I should run. I should scream. I should shift right here and tear her throat out. That’s what a good she-wolf would do.
But I didn’t.
Because Kaden finally looked at me.
His eyes met mine over Aria’s shoulder. Gold. Alpha gold. The same eyes that promised me forever 48 hours ago. The same eyes that were soft when he kissed my scars.
And he looked... away.
He didn’t come to me. He didn’t explain. He didn’t even flinch.
He just turned back to Aria and pulled her closer, like I was nothing. Like the last two years of secret dates, training sessions, and whispered "I love you"s never happened.
My chest caved in.
I turned and walked.
Past the gasping guests. Past the broken glass. Past the life I thought I’d have.
Whispers followed me. "Poor thing" "She should’ve known" "Alpha’s can’t be tied to one girl"
Outside, the night air hit me like a slap. Cold. Bitter.
I made it to my car before the tears came. Ugly, silent tears that had nothing to do with Kaden and everything to do with Aria.
How do you survive when your mate chooses someone else?
How do you survive when your best friend is the one who takes him?
My phone buzzed. 27 missed calls. All from Aria.
Last text: _“Can we talk? It’s not what it looks like.”_
It’s exactly what it looks like.
I threw the phone on the passenger seat and drove. No destination. Just away.
The radio was playing _our_ song. The one Kaden hummed when he thought I was sleeping.
I punched it off.
My mind went back. To last winter.
Kaden teaching me to fight in the snow. His big hands correcting my stance. "Like this, Lina. You’ll need to be strong. As Luna."
I was 17. Stupid. I believed him.
To 6 months ago. Aria braiding my hair before the Alpha Ball. "You and Kaden look so perfect together. You deserve him."
I believed her too.
The car swerved. I almost hit the guardrail.
_Everyone lied._
An hour later I was at the cliffs. The place Kaden and I used to come to.
We’d lay here and he’d tell me about becoming Alpha one day. About how he’d change the pack. About how I’d be Luna beside him. He’d point at the stars. "See that one? That’s ours. When I’m Alpha, I’m naming it after you."
"Pathetic," I whispered to the wind.
My wolf pushed forward. _Run. Hunt. Forget._
I let her.
Clothes off. Shift.
The pain of bones breaking and reforming was familiar. Welcome. Better than the pain in my chest.
I ran. Through the forest. Through the streams. Chased deer. Tore into a rabbit. Let the blood and the dirt and the cold wash the shame off me. Until my legs burned and my lungs screamed and the name _Kaden_ finally stopped echoing in my head.
When I shifted back at dawn, I was alone. Cold. Naked. And empty.
But something else was there too.
Anger.
They wanted to humiliate me? Fine.
They wanted to act like I didn’t exist? Fine.
But they picked the wrong she-wolf to betray.
I walked back to my car. Put on the torn dress. Drove home.
And started planning.
Because if Kaden wanted Aria, he could have her.
But he was still the future Alpha.
And I was still the daughter of the Beta.
And in this pack, blood matters. Power matters.
And revenge?
Revenge matters most.
My phone buzzed again as I walked into my apartment.
Unknown number.
Message: _"Saw what happened. Meet me at The Den. Midnight. We need to talk. -R"_
R.
Rafe.
Kaden’s older brother. The one Alpha who hated him.
I stared at the text for a long time.
Then I smiled for the first time in 12 hours.
Midnight.
The Den smelled like whiskey, blood, and bad decisions.
It was the only bar in pack territory that didn’t card you. Didn’t ask questions. Didn’t care if you came in broken.
I did.
My red dress was gone. Now: black jeans, black tank, black boots. Armor.
My eyes were dry. My wolf was quiet. Too quiet. The dangerous kind of quiet.
Rafe was already there.
Of course he was. Sitting in the darkest corner booth like he owned the place. Because he almost did.
Kaden’s older brother. The spare. The one they skipped for Alpha because he was "too reckless."
He looked up when I walked in. Dark hair, scars on his knuckles, and eyes the same gold as Kaden’s. But colder.
"Lina," he said. No surprise. "You came."
"What do you want, Rafe?" My voice didn’t shake. I was proud of that.
He gestured to the seat across from him. A glass of whiskey was already there. For me.
"I want the same thing you do."
I didn’t sit. "And what’s that?"
"Revenge."
[End of Chapter 1]
