Chapter 4

Leaving the Fletcher estate, the night air was freezing.

In the past, Dominic and I always arrived and left together. This time, I came alone, and I left alone.

My phone buzzed with a trending notification:

[Shadow Pack's Luna Cast Aside: Older Sister Takes Her Throne]

The photo showed our Mate Ceremony three years ago, highlighting my back as I was seated at the guards' table.

The comments were full of ridicule:

"I heard she spends every night at the Moonlight Tavern hitting on rogues. She deserved to be rejected! Alpha Dominic was merciful not to rip her apart."

"Three years mated and not a single pup. Alpha Dominic probably couldn't even stand touching her."

"Lmao, the cheap stand-in is finally out!"

I calmly locked my phone.

I remembered three years ago when rumors about Selina first circulated in the Pack, Dominic stayed up all night ordering emergency press releases.

Every negative post was scrubbed clean within three hours.

Yet now, when disgusting rumors about me flooded the Pack, he couldn't care less.

As soon as I reached the manor gates, my phone started buzzing violently.

Margaret: [Selina wants a family photo. Get to the photo studio right now.]

Henry: [Stop being difficult! She doesn't have much time left!]

Daniel: [If you dare skip this, don't ever call me your brother again!]

I sighed.

Selina and I were half-sisters, and Margaret had favored her from the day I was born.

Even as her biological daughter, I was never able to replace Selina in Margaret's heart.

Selina was right about one thing: since I was a child, I never liked sharing my things.

Because they never understood that while everything was handed to them on a silver platter, I had to claw through the dirt for every scrap.

Henry and Margaret would hand out allowances and completely forget about me.

The manor's staff never remembered my mango allergy, and several desserts almost sent me to the ER.

Even on the day I mated with Dominic, Margaret cried and said, "If only Selina hadn't been tricked into running away, she would be the bride standing there today."

And now, they expected me—the woman who had her mate stolen—to smile for a family portrait and pretend we were one big, happy family.

The phone buzzed again.

This time it was Dominic, dropping a pin: [Get over here. Now.]

I gave a cold laugh and turned off my phone.

This time, I was done trying to please anyone.

Before I could take a step inside, two strange wolves lunged from the shadows.

They grabbed both of my arms, pinning me tight.

"What are you doing?" I struggled violently. "Let go of me!"

The black sedan raced through the dark. I gripped the door handle, panic setting in.

A kidnapping? Pack retaliation?

Or...

It wasn't until the car screeched to a halt in front of the photography studio that it hit me: Dominic was the one who had me taken.

Shivering from the cold, I was shoved inside.

Selina was draped in a snow-white wedding dress, leaning into Dominic's chest.

"Elena, you're here!" she beamed sweetly. "Come stand next to me, okay?"

Daniel grabbed my arm roughly, terrified I would cause a scene. "She can stand next to me! You're the star of the show today!"

As the photographer adjusted the setup, I was shoved farther and farther to the edge.

The moment the shoot ended, I turned to leave, trembling all over.

Selina suddenly stepped in front of me, leaning close to whisper in my ear, "Elena Vance, I took your mate. Why aren't you hitting me?"

I knew she was baiting me.

Growing up, she pulled this stunt countless times. She would provoke me until I snapped, and then play the fragile victim.

But this time, I didn't move.

She wasn't worth it.

I turned to walk away, but she suddenly threw herself backward. The sound of tearing lace was deafening.

Everyone rushed forward.

"Elena Vance!" Dominic was the first to charge over, slapping me across the face with enough force to send me crashing to the floor. "Apologize!"

My ears rang violently.

The impact was so brutal that a sharp, tearing pain erupted in my lower abdomen.

"Alpha Dominic..." Panic seized me. I doubled over, clutching my stomach. "My stomach hurts... please, get me to the clinic..."

My pup. The pup I had prayed for two years to conceive...

"You get slapped once and start faking an illness?" Dominic scoffed. "Selina's curse flaring up isn't even this dramatic."

He felt nothing. A true mate bond would have caused an Alpha's chest to seize in agony the second his mate was hurt, his instincts driving him to protect her at all costs. But he just stood there, glaring down at me with pure disgust.

Because the mark was fake. There was never a mate bond between us.

"Elena, you're as melodramatic as you were as a kid," Margaret snapped, glaring at me. "Selina's dying! Can't you just let her have this?"

Daniel yanked my hair, forcing my head up. "He slapped your face, and you're clutching your stomach? Who are you performing for?"

They crowded around Selina and walked out. Not a single person looked back.

I curled up on the studio floor, blood staining the screen of my phone.

Trembling, I dialed a number I hadn't touched in years: "Come get me... Everything you offered... I accept."