Chapter 2

They said that the Alpha of the Dream Pack never lies.

They said when Alpha Victor said, “I love you,” he meant it.

But now, all of it makes me sick.

I stared at him blankly, still reaching out by habit to steady him, half-dragging, half-carrying him into the explosion-proof SUV, outfitted with silver-threaded mesh. Alpha Victor collapsed onto my lap, and at last, the furrow between his brows relaxed. He drifted into sleep like a wolf pup newly shifted into human form—quiet, fragile, utterly defenseless.

And now, I could only feel revulsion.

“Bianca… why… why couldn’t it have been you…”

Finally, I heard the name he had whispered countless times in his drunken dreams.

Bianca.

The she-wolf who had ruined my entire life.

His first love—the Omega carved into his soul.

I had been foolish, so foolish, to underestimate the hold a true mate had on an Alpha. No matter how many years had passed, he still couldn’t let her go. To him, I was merely a replacement, a stand-in he could never fully acknowledge.

From the inside of his custom-tailored tactical coat, a satellite communicator adorned with the golden lion crest slipped out. I picked it up, and a message flashed across the screen in encrypted red font:

“Thank you for assisting in the border negotiations with the Three Highland Tribes tonight, Alpha. But the gift of the Western Wolf Domain is too generous—I cannot accept it!”

Then came Bianca’s latest post, visible only to close friends:

“Only a true queen is worthy of a crown.”

The attached image was an ancient ring encrusted with blood-red rubies—the heirloom of the Dream Pack's oldest bloodline, symbolizing the purest lineage and the right to rule.

I recognized it instantly.

It was the ring Alpha Victor had nearly died to reclaim just last month, swearing a blood oath under the eclipse. The aftermath of his lunar frenzy had nearly cost him his human form forever.

But it hadn’t been for me.

It had been for her.

For the Omega—Bianca.

I remembered that night well.

Alpha Victor had been shot during a dangerous border summit. The silver bullet tore through his chest, leaving a scar that would never fade. He could barely stand, and yet he ignored my desperate pleas and boarded a private jet bound for the Old Continent.

I had believed he was going to secure our territory.

I had believed he was fighting for the honor of the Pack.

I was wrong.

He was going to attend Bianca’s coronation.

Even with silver searing through his body, he had wrapped himself in blood and pain to present her with that ring—as if he were her loyal knight beneath the moon.

My hands trembled as I typed in the password to his private communicator.

I’d known it for years, but I had never dared to press that final digit.

The screen unlocked.

And I forgot how to breathe.

The wallpaper was a photo of Bianca.

She was smiling at a birthday party in one of Dream Pack’s vineyards, lavender blooming in the background.

He had used her photo as his wallpaper.

All this time, I thought he was guarding a secret identity.

But really—he was guarding a truth too ugly to face.

I opened his photo album. Several folders, clearly marked and private, stared back at me:

“Bianca in Moonfall Valley”

“Bianca’s Coronation Banquet”

“Bianca Signing the Royal Pact”

Thousands of photos—of her.

Victor smiling, radiant, holding another Omega in his arms.

There wasn’t a single photo of me.

Not even one.

Not even of himself.

Because from the very beginning, his heart was never mine.

The vehicle turned onto the forest path leading to Blackstone Castle. Through the glass pane filtered with silver dust, I gazed toward the cold, quiet cellar.

That place had once been my father’s intelligence chamber—filled with two decades' worth of underground secrets, records of bloodborne operations, and covert missions. Every time I stepped inside, I could almost feel him there. As if he had merely gone on a mission and would soon return, cloaked in moonlight.

But one morning, everything was gone.

The files, the records—all erased.

The Enforcement Division claimed someone had anonymously submitted a destruction request.

I had nearly lost my mind.

And during those three devastating days, it was Alpha Victor who held me, kissed away my tears, and comforted me with his gravel-toned wolf voice:

"Sharon, don’t cry. You still have me."

Now I knew the truth.

It was him.

He was the one who destroyed my father’s final legacy.

A new message popped up on the communicator screen:

“Alpha, the will is finalized. All land titles in Dream Pack, legion command rights, and your three seats in the Underground Council will be transferred to Miss Bianca upon your confirmation.”

“Everything now awaits your signature.”

And what had he said to me?

"Sharon, I swear by the Moon Goddess, I will protect you. Everything I have, everything I am—it’s yours."

Now I see it for what it was—a cruel joke.

I was never his Luna.

I was his guilt made flesh.

A sacrificial lamb to appease his own conscience.

My throat tightened, my chest burned.

I looked down at the man sleeping so peacefully in my lap—the Alpha I had once believed was my destined mate.

But he was the one who destroyed my family.

Even in sleep, he mumbled her name.

"Bianca..."

My claws itched, bones vibrating with the faint hum of transformation.

My wolf stirred—the part of me that once lay dormant in the name of love.

Now, she was fully awake.