Chapter 1
I turned my head.
Alpha Samuel walked in. A female wolf followed beside him.
Greetings echoed from all directions:
“Good day, Alpha Samuel.”
“Hello, Rebecca.”
It was Pack Council day.
Rebecca stood next to him. I knew who she was.
Red dress. Wavy hair. An elegant smile. She stood close to Alpha Samuel, speaking softly.
It looked more like a bonding ceremony than a political meeting.
My chest tightened.
Samuel suddenly stopped. “Are you cold?”
He took off his coat and gently placed it over her shoulders, adjusting the collar with care.
“I told you to wear something warmer, but no—you had to be vain.”
Rebecca tilted her head back and laughed. Her finger hooked playfully around his tie.
“I dressed up for you. How could I feel cold with you around?”
Samuel shook his head, brushing a loose strand of her hair aside.
“Next time you pull this, I won’t help.”
His voice was soft. The kind of affection only a Luna should receive.
I looked up—and met Rebecca’s eyes.
She paused, then smiled faintly and pulled the coat tighter around her.
I recognized it.
It was his.
Samuel followed her gaze and looked straight at me.
I turned my face away.
In his eyes, a flicker of gold shimmered.
Rebecca clung to his arm, swaying playfully.
“Let’s go. I’m starving. You promised me dessert, remember?”
“You little glutton,” he laughed, ruffling her hair. “Always thinking about food.”
Then he pulled her closer, shielding her as they moved through the crowd.
My fists clenched on their own.
The wolf inside me stirred.
She breathed. She twisted beneath my skin.
But she didn’t speak.
Mlila… I called out silently.
What more do you want me to say?
Her voice finally came—tinged with anger, and exhaustion.
I’m his Luna. I whispered the words, like a prayer.
That’s what you say. He never has.
Her words stabbed like silver needles straight into my nerves.
I watched them walk away. My body felt hollowed out.
Pain surged in my head.
I forced a smile. Murmured an apology to the Council staff. Then left the building.
Behind me, voices drifted from the elders and younger wolves alike:
“Rebecca’s the Luna, right? Alpha’s so gentle with her.”
“Yeah. Even the coat looks like his.”
“Wait, isn’t she not his fated mate?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“Rumor says his real Luna’s someone else.”
“Seriously?”
“News from Silver Grove says he’s been hiding her identity all this time.”
My heart clenched hard.
They don’t know who you are. They don’t care who you are.
Why are you still standing here, waiting for a gaze that will never turn back?
Mlila’s voice tore through my ribs.
Her pain mirrored mine.
I kept walking.
It was May. The weather was warm.
But my blood felt cold.
The chill wasn’t in the air.
It rose from somewhere deeper—like silver poisoning spreading through bone.
My temples throbbed. Mlila fell silent again.
Do you hate him? I asked quietly.
She didn’t reply at once.
Then—I don’t hate him. I hate that we kept waiting.
The words caught in my throat. I couldn’t breathe.
And then—
Bang.
A crash up ahead.
A rear-end collision.
I froze.
There was panic. Worry.
But also… relief.
As if fate’s chaos had finally come crashing down in real time.
A hand emerged from a car window, waving me over.
I pulled over, stepped out, and walked toward the car.
“I’m sorry. It was completely my fault.” I handed over my card, voice calm.
The driver smiled and nodded.
Then knocked on the back window.
It rolled down.
The man in the back seat looked up.
Our eyes met.
Time stopped.
He stood around six foot three. Broad shoulders. Slim waist.
A white shirt buttoned all the way up. Tailored black pants that fit like sculpted shadow.
His features were sharply cut, his brow carved with lineage.
He looked like he stepped out of a stone carving of an ancient wolf king.
The blood of an Alpha pulsed beneath his skin. You could feel it.
He stepped out slowly.
As I held my breath, his eyes locked onto mine.
In the depth of his pupils—a flicker of gold.
