Chapter 2

Evelyn POV

Everyone believed I was the center of Damian's universe.

He had protected me for twenty years. From a reckless teenager to the powerful Alpha of the Frostveil Pack, he would have burned down half the city if I so much as frowned.

But that very same Damian had spent the last seven years weaving a web of lies that completely ruined my life.

...

I was born in the Moonclaw Pack. My parents died when I was young, and I was raised by my grandfather, the Alpha. I was supposed to be the next in line, but my inner wolf never showed up.

After my grandfather passed away, I willingly gave up my right to lead. I handed the Moonclaw Pack over to Oliver, our loyal Beta.

Then, I left the pack territory. I went to a university in the city, studied fashion, and eventually followed my dream of becoming a bridal designer.

Using the inheritance my grandfather left me, I opened a boutique bridal shop.

Damian and I grew up together.

When I turned eighteen, he swore to the Heavens that I was his fated mate.

But then he told me that because my inner wolf hadn't awakened, marking me would cause physical damage to my body.

I had never heard of such a rule, but I trusted him blindly.

Until recently, when my werewolf strength finally began to bleed into my veins.

Today, I was planning to buy a cake to celebrate the fact that Damian and I were going to have our first son.

But instead, I ran into Isabella. And I smelled Damian's scent all over her.

It was the unmistakable, deep scent of an Alpha's mark.

My fingertips turned ice-cold instantly, and my head started spinning.

Isabella was the daughter of a maid from my old Moonclaw Pack. She was always the quiet, timid girl who kept her head down and spoke in whispers.

When I was eighteen, she told me she wanted to leave the pack to live in the city, and I even gave her a large sum of money to help her start over.

To think she had been with Damian this entire time.

I couldn't breathe. My chest ached so badly that my vision blurred.

From knowing him at five to becoming his Luna at twenty-five, Damian was my religion.

I loved him to my bones. I trusted him more than I trusted myself.

I never tracked his location or questioned his whereabouts, because the security he gave me once made me feel invincible.

But reality just slapped me right across the face.

I didn't storm over to confront them. Instead, I quietly walked back to my car.

I even forgot the cake I was supposed to buy.

I started the engine and drove aimlessly into the city traffic.

The bright sunlight streamed through the windshield, but it couldn't melt the freezing cold in my heart.

My phone screen lit up. It was a text from Damian, written in his usual demanding tone: [I bought that blue diamond you liked at the auction today. Wash up and wait for me in bed tonight.]

A rare blue diamond had gone up for auction in London recently.

Damian once told me that the blue color looked exactly like my eyes, and that only I deserved to wear it.

I stared at the screen, feeling nothing but disgust.

Before I knew it, I had parked my car near the entrance of a private marina.

Through the iron gates, I spotted a familiar yacht.

It was the yacht Damian had gifted me for my twentieth birthday.

There he was, standing on the deck, holding another woman in his arms.

The woman was wearing a white sundress, her long hair blowing in the wind. It was Isabella.

On the table in front of them sat the small cake Isabella had just bought.

Isabella scooped up a bite of cake and fed it to Damian. He smiled and took it.

In the next second, Damian cupped the back of her neck and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

The cheers of the guests on board were carried away by the ocean breeze, sounding distant and muffled.

Memories of our past flashed through my mind like a cruel movie.

At eighteen, when my grandfather died and my wolf still hadn't emerged, Damian held me at the funeral. He swore he would protect me forever. For him, I turned down an offer from the top design school in Paris and stayed at a local college.

At twenty, when a star player on the college football team sent me roses, Damian beat him so badly the guy ended up in the hospital with multiple fractures. He then filled my entire car with thousands of red roses, declaring possessively in front of the whole campus: "Evelyn is mine. Anyone who touches her dies."

At twenty-two, when the pack elders pressured him to find a capable Luna who actually had a wolf, he proudly announced to the entire pack that I was the only Luna the Frostveil Pack would ever have.

Once, I thought those were proofs of his deep, burning love for me.

Now, those sacred vows felt like nothing but a sick joke.

I laughed until tears streamed down my face, my entire body shaking.

Twenty-five years. I had spent my entire life loving a man, only to realize I was the only one moved by it.

If that was the case, then this man who occupied my entire existence needed to be ripped out of my life.

I wiped my tears, bypassed our house, and went straight to Oliver.

"Oliver," I said, my voice eerily calm. "Do you want to become stronger?"

Oliver blinked, completely caught off guard.

"I want to ruin Damian," I said. "I might not be your fated mate, but I carry the Alpha bloodline. If you mark me, your power will multiply. The Frostveil Pack has been taking over our territory since my grandfather died. I want you to take it all back. Actually, I want the Frostveil Pack to vanish completely."

Oliver stared at me for a very long time.

I thought he was hesitating because of the consequences.

"You don't have to worry. My wolf is finally waking up. And I won't cling to you. If you want to reject me afterward, you can do it whenever—"

Before I could finish, he looked into my eyes and said, "Okay."