Page 1

Chapter One

LILA WINTER

I can’t breathe.

My hand clutches my chest, trying to calm the wild thrashing of my heart, but it does nothing to calm me down.

My lungs feel tight, my vision blurring with tears.

The sounds of skin slapping against skin echo into the room.

Grunts. Moans. Reckless gasps of pleasure.

They all hang in the air like a guillotine blade, slicing through my heart and tearing me apart over and over.

The scent of their sweat, his betrayal, and my bitter tears strangle my throat. And yet, I don’t move.

Because if I move, if I take a single step forward, I will collapse.

Julian, my Julian, the man I have loved for years, is in our bed with another woman.

No. Not my Julian.

The man I thought I knew and loved is nothing but a stranger right now.

And yet, I stay. I stay because some part of me, some pathetic, desperate part, still wants to believe this isn’t real.

Julian grips her hair, pulls her head back, and presses a lingering kiss to her shoulder. The same way he did to me.

The woman moans, basking in his attention. The same way I did.

"Oh, Julian…w-what about your girlfriend?"

I freeze. My wolf stirs inside me, ears pricked. A part of me clings to foolish hope that he will say my name with regret.

That he will push her away, realize this is all a mistake, run to me and beg for forgiveness.

But instead…

"Lila was just a way to pass time. She was available, so I made her mine. I’ll be damned if I let my uncle win the Alpha position. If I’m going to be the next Alpha of the Blackwood pack, I need a queen who can actually ensure that."

Something inside me shatters.

The pain sears through my chest, climbs up my spine, and spreads through every inch of my body. My wolf howls, broken inside me like I am, but it does nothing to stop the devastation ripping me apart.

Julian doesn’t stop.

“Julian, are you saying…”

“I’m going to marry you,” he murmurs, his lips pressed against her neck.

He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t regret fucking me over. He’s already moved on.

I summon the last shred of strength in my body and with my dignity already in the mud, I run.

I don’t know if Julian sees me leave.

I don’t know if he knows I heard everything.