chapter 1

Simona's POV:

Dorian Arnold, the Alpha of the Ironclaw Pack, took his childhood sweetheart, Rowena Silva, to the annual pack celebration. He introduced her as the "future Luna."

The others mocked me. "You've chased after our Alpha for years, and now he's about to bond with Rowena. Are you jealous?"

But no one knew that Dorian and I had been in love for 10 years. We were more than that—we were fated mates.

Just last night, after we tangled in each other's arms, he held me close and promised I was his only love in this life.

I swallowed the bitterness in my throat and forced a smile, downing my glass of wine. "I was the foolish one before. Soon I'll be forming a bond too."

When Dorian heard my words, his scent faltered for an instant, his pheromones scattering around us.

After the celebration, he lashed out at me in frustration. "Rowena's been poisoned by Aconite. She's dying. Couldn't you just let her have this moment? Did you have to provoke her?"

I didn't argue anymore. I reread his mate journal, filled with words of affection for Rowena, counting each line that revealed his favoritism.

He believed I was only bluffing about my own bonding, trying to provoke him.

But what he didn't know was that I meant it—I truly would bond with another.

In 15 days, while he bonded with Rowena, I would return to Frostmoon Pack and bond with someone else.

…

Third view:

Simona Pierce said, "Noah, I've agreed to your proposal to bond."

She stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the werewolves patrolling the compound outside. Her voice was as calm as her expression.

On the other end of the communicator, Noah Turner silenced the noisy council chamber with a single gesture at Simona's words. "Simona, you know this. In the Shadow Pack, once a bonding ceremony is set, there is no turning back."

Simona's reply was quiet. "I do. Fifteen days from now. Does that work?"

"Anything you say."

When the call ended, her communicator buzzed again. It was her brother, Robert Pierce, the Alpha of the Frostmoon Pack.

"Mona, Noah just told me you agreed to bond with him?"

"Yes, Noah."

Robert was quiet for a moment, his voice heavy with weary affection. "Mona, Frostmoon Pack has me to hold it up. You don't need to worry.

"You and Dorian love each other—don't throw that away just because the pack is struggling. Don't sacrifice your happiness for its burden.

"For the pack, I've already lost too much. I don't want the same for you. All I want is for you to be safe and happy."

Simona said nothing, but tears slipped down her face one after another. She couldn't tell Robert that her love had long since fallen apart.

She had thought it through. Rather than waste more years on Dorian's half-hearted loyalty, she would use what little value she had left to help Robert.

If that meant bonding with Noah, the Alpha of the Shadow Pack—the most powerful pack in the north—then so be it. With his strength backing them, the Frostmoon Pack could survive.

Dorian wanted to give Rowena a grand bonding ceremony?

Fine. I would let him.

The day Dorian bonded with Rowena would be the very day she stood beside Noah in her own bonding ceremony.

"Robert, I'm not sacrificing anything. Dorian and I broke up a long time ago."

After a pause, Simona bit her lip and lied. "I was wrong about my fated mate. It should have been Noah all along. We've been together for some time. You remember when I first awakened my wolf spirit as a child—I had that accident. It's not so strange that I mistook my fated mate."

Robert believed her without suspicion. "Really? That's wonderful. Noah will be far better for you than Dorian ever could be."

"Yes." Simona forced her voice into a lighter tone. "The bonding ceremony is in 15 days. I'll be back at Frostmoon Pack soon."

Just as she ended the call, a familiar voice echoed behind her.

He stepped into the living room and poured himself a cup of chamomile tea, the kind that eased an Alpha's restless energy. His sharp features looked worn, the exhaustion clear after using so much of his strength to suppress Aconite coursing through Rowena.

Simona quickly shut off the communicator.

"Back? Where are you going?" he asked.

She answered him silently in her mind. Back to bond with another.

But what she said aloud was calm and distant. "Robert's birthday is coming up. He wants me to be there."

Dorian's expression faltered, a flicker of guilt shadowing his eyes. "Simona, I'm sorry. Rowena needs me to help her withstand Aconite. I can't leave her, not even for a day. So, I can't go with you."

Simona smiled faintly. "It doesn't matter. None of those matters."

Dorian looked even more guilty. "Simona, if you're angry, just say it. Don't bottle it up. Seeing you like this hurts me."

"Hurts?" Simona echoed the word softly, testing it. "Then what if I told you not to bond with Rowena."

"Simona!" His brows pulled together as his Alpha dominance rolled off him. "Can't you give her this one last kindness? She's dying from Aconite. This is her only wish before the end.

"Rowena has never even been in love—she only wants to hold one bonding ceremony before she dies. That's all."

Simona's gaze traced every line of the face she had loved for ten years.

So, this was how it was. For Rowena, even Dorian—who always claimed to value fated bonds above everything—could lie.

How she longed to cry out.

You're lying, Dorian. Rowena was your first love, the one you once loved so deeply. How can you say she's never been in love?

But she said nothing. Ever since Rowena entered their lives, Simona had lost count of her own outbursts and breakdowns. She was simply too tired.

"Fine. I understand."

Her calm smoothed the cold edge from Dorian's face. He reached for her, meaning to hold her, but she stepped aside.

All he could do was give a helpless smile, ruffle her hair with his hand, and retreat into his study to continue working on ways to suppress Rowena's Aconite poisoning.

Simona stared at his back. What came to mind was the "Mate Journal" that had fallen from the depths of their closet earlier that day—the one she had once believed would be filled with their story.

Yet inside, her name had never appeared at all.