Chapter 1
~Selena~•
I couldn't stop smiling as I cradled the bouquet of wildflowers in my arms. I'd picked them myself that morning, daisies, lavender, and baby's breath tied with a simple white ribbon. In three weeks, I would stand before the pack and officially mate with Damon, the Alpha's son. Tonight was supposed to be special. He'd invited me to dinner in his private chamber, something he rarely did.
My heart fluttered with nervous excitement as I climbed the stairs to his wing of the packhouse. The flowers felt light in my hands, but my chest felt full— overflowing with hope and love and all the dreams I'd been building for our future together.
But when I reached his door, I froze at the sound that occupied my ears.
Moans, low and breathless, filtering through the door.
Everything went wrong all at once. My head started pounding. Cold sweat broke out across my skin even as heat flushed through my body. My wolf whimpered inside me, sensing something terrible before my mind could catch up.
No. This can't be happening.
A maid wouldn't dare enter the Alpha's son's chamber for something like that. It had to be a mistake. Maybe I'd heard wrong. Maybe….
I should have dropped the flowers and run. Every instinct screamed at me to leave, to protect myself from whatever was on the other side of that door. But somehow my feet kept moving forward. My hand reached for the handle. I pushed it open.
The flowers fell from my hands.
On Damon's bed, tangled in his sheets, was my twin sister.
Serena.
My identical twin. The other half of my soul. The person who was supposed to love me more than anyone in this world.
She was with my mate.
I stood there, frozen in the doorway, not knowing when the tears had started falling. They streamed down my face in hot, silent rivers as I stared at the two people who had just destroyed my entire world.
Serena saw me first. She gasped and scrambled to cover herself, her eyes wide with what looked like guilt. "Selena! I…. this isn't what it looks like. Damon came to me drunk and needy. I tried to stop him, but he…"
"Liar."
The word came out as a whisper, but it cut through her excuses like a knife.
I knew my sister. I'd known her my entire life. Serena was cunning, manipulative, always taking what she wanted without caring who she hurt. And right now, she wasn't even trying hard to hide it. Her eyes held that familiar glint, the one that said she'd won.
Damon didn't even have the decency to look ashamed. He sat up slowly, running a hand through his hair, his expression cold and distant. Like I was nothing. Like what we had meant nothing.
"This was bound to happen eventually," he said, his voice flat. "Our bond was a mistake from the beginning, Selena. You had to know that."
The pain that shot through my chest was physical. Sharp and brutal, stealing my breath.
"What are you saying?" I whispered.
He looked me dead in the eye, no emotion on his face. "I, Damon Torres, reject you, Selena Crowe, as my mate."
The words hit me like a physical blow. My knees buckled. The mate bond, the one thing I'd thought was sacred, unbreakable shattered inside me like glass. Pain exploded through every nerve in my body. I collapsed against the doorframe, gasping for air as my wolf howled in agony inside me.
Through the haze of pain, I heard Serena's fake gasp of surprise. But when I looked up at her through my tears, I saw the truth. She wasn't surprised at all.
She'd planned this.
Rage, hot and fierce, cut through the pain. I forced myself to stand, even though my legs shook beneath me. Even though I felt like I was dying from the inside out.
"I swear," I said, my voice trembling but clear. "I swear on everything sacred that I will make you both pay for this. You'll regret what you've done to me."
Damon actually laughed. The sound was cruel and mocking. "You? What exactly are you going to do, Selena? I'm the Alpha's son. You're nothing. Just an omega who got lucky enough to catch my attention for a while." He leaned back against his headboard, completely unbothered. "Run along now. This is embarrassing for all of us."
The dismissal in his tone broke something inside me, something that couldn't be fixed. But even as I felt myself weakening from the rejection, even as the pain threatened to drag me under, I held his gaze.
"You'll see," I whispered. "Both of you will see."
Then I turned and ran.
I couldn't see through my tears. Couldn't think past the pain radiating through every cell of my body. The rejection was killing me slowly, draining my strength with every step. I just needed to get away. Needed to disappear before anyone else saw me like this, broken and humiliated.
I stumbled down the hallway, barely keeping myself upright, when suddenly I crashed into something solid.
A broad chest. Hard muscle. The impact should have knocked me backward, but strong hands caught my arms, steadying me.
Even through my haze of pain and tears, I felt the power radiating from this person. It rolled off him in waves, making my wolf instantly submissive despite her agony. This wasn't just any pack member.
"Get off the Alpha! Now!"
Someone's sharp voice cut through the air. A male voice, angry and commanding.
My blood turned to ice.
Slowly, I raised my head, wiping frantically at my tears as I tried to focus through my blurred vision.
The man I'd collided with stood foot. Dark hair, sharp features, and eyes that seemed to see straight through me. But it wasn't his appearance that made my breath catch.
It was the aura of absolute authority that surrounded him like a living thing.
I was staring face to face with Alpha Lucien.
Damon's father. The most powerful Alpha in the region.