Chapter 1

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."