My lungs seized. Breath escaped me.
Why? Why had everything twisted into this nightmare?
Where was the wolf-boy my father once sheltered from bullies, the boy mocked for being a “fake pack heir” to the Blackspire bloodline?
Where was the young wolf who blushed when my grandmother handed him extra food and whispered, ‘No one’s ever done this for me before.’
Where was the man who once vowed, ‘I’ll love you forever, Lunessa.’
Seven cycles ago, Draven was revealed to be the wrong son—switched at birth. When the truth came out, he was sent back to his biological pack in the countryside.
He stood outside the crumbling den next to ours, clothes torn, eyes empty.
I was the one who reached for him, shared my meals, defended him when the pack member mocked him, telling him he still mattered.
We grew up together. Those lunar academy cycles were the brightest of my life.
But after we passed the academy exams, the Blackspire Pack suddenly demanded he return.
Before leaving, he held my hands and whispered. “Come with me, Lunessa. I’ll protect you. One day, I’ll make you my Luna.”
I believed him.
Then, in the Alpha Kingdom’s academy, Myrielle resurfaced—his elegant, high-born first moon mate fiancée.