Chapter 1Six years later, I ran into my ex-mate Caleb at the Pack Council Hall.
He was there as a decorated Alpha, guest speaker for some big territory defense training.
I was there to pick up a death certificate.
While he made the rounds handing out little silk pouches of honey drops—mating ceremony favors—our eyes met across the lobby.
Neither of us spoke.
I turned to leave.
That's when I heard it—quiet, but with that Alpha command that still made my wolf want to obey: "Aria... do you still hate me?"
I shook my head.
When he went from being my bodyguard to some celebrated hero Alpha—undercover op, commendations, the whole promotion—
and I went from Alpha's daughter to nobody, living under a fake name like I was a rogue on the run—
yeah. I hated him then.
But hate only exists where love did first.
Six years later, I don't love him anymore.
So no. I don't hate him either.
The rookie enforcer kept circling the room, oblivious:
"Come on, everybody—grab some! Let's all share in Alpha Caleb's good fortune!"
Caleb's Alpha presence flared—just enough to make the enforcer step back. He caught up to me in a few quick strides, his dominance filling the space between us.
His voice came out rushed, losing that commanding edge:
"Wait—what are you even here for? I can help—"
I held up the paperwork. Cut him off:
"Already done."
And kept walking.
Funny thing is, we'd crossed paths here twice before.
This was the second time.
The first? When my father got convicted by the Pack Council.
Caleb grabbed my sleeve. Forced me to stop. His Alpha strength made it impossible to pull away without making a scene.
"Are you... doing okay?"
Such a nothing question.
I glanced down at the shiny mate-mark ring on his finger—the kind only Alphas could forge with their own essence. Gave him an equally empty answer:
"I'm fine."
He flinched like I'd burned him. Let go.
Zane's car was idling out front.
I glanced back one last time:
"My mate's here."
His voice cracked, all that Alpha authority crumbling:
"...Okay. See you."
I hope I never do.
The car pulled away. He stayed where he was.
Until his tall frame finally disappeared from the rearview.
"So... are we gonna talk about how you just used me as a fake mate back there?"
Zane shot me a look, grinning wide.
"That Alpha was this close to following you home. The aura coming off him were insane. But wait—why does he look so familiar?"
I smoothed the wrinkled paper in my lap. Kept my voice even:
"Caleb Blackwood."
Zane's head whipped toward me.
"Caleb Blackwood? The Caleb Blackwood? Special Crimes Alpha, the guy on all those pack security panels, the legend they literally teach at the academy? That one?"
His reaction was a bit much. I reminded him:
"Yes. Him. Watch the road."
But Zane kept going:
"No wonder he's already an Alpha at his age. I remember now—he went deep cover for like a decade, took down this massive criminal pack network. That's what made him famous. The Alpha kingpin's last name was... Caldwell? No, wait—"
"Nightshade."
"Right! Nightshade. That's not a super common name..."
He trailed off. Then it clicked.
I answered the question he didn't ask. Voice flat:
"Yeah. That was my father."
The man Caleb Blackwood personally brought down.
Alpha of the Nightshade pack.
Zane rubbed the back of his neck, looking like he wanted to disappear into the seat.
"Shit. Sorry, Aria. I wasn't thinking—"
"It's okay."
And I meant it. Talking about it now didn't sting the way it used to.
It felt more like recounting someone else's life.
The car went quiet. Just the hum of the engine and the city sliding past.
Zane's eyes dropped to the folder in my lap. He cleared his throat.
"So... what were you doing there anyway?"
I traced my thumb over the word stamped across the top: DECEASED.
"Closing out my father's records."
He died two weeks ago.
Collapsed in his cell one night, coughing up blood. They found stage four stomach cancer. Got him out on compassionate release. He didn't even last three months.
On his deathbed, the last thing he said was:
"I'm guilty. Blackwood didn't do anything wrong. But he lied to you. And for that, I wanted him dead."
Dad never blamed me.
Not even when he turned down every single visitation request I made over six years.
I knew why. It wasn't because he thought I'd betrayed the pack.
He just didn't want me spending the rest of my life as a criminal Alpha's daughter.
Thinking about him now—I couldn't help it.
The grief came back sharp and heavy, like something lodged in my chest.
I needed to redirect. So I asked Zane the question he'd clearly been holding back:
"You want to hear the whole story?"
I was the daughter of the most powerful Alpha in the territory.
He was the Pack Council's golden Alpha.
Our worlds should never have collided.
But they did.
And this is how it all fell apart.
Chapter 2
I was sixteen when a rival pack tried to take me.
Escaped that night and ended up in the worst part of the territory—abandoned dens everywhere, feral rogues in the shadows, boundary markers long faded.
A rogue stumbled into my path. Grabbed my arm.
That's when someone stepped between us. Pulled me back.
Caleb Blackwood. Eighteen years old.
Wearing a black shirt so faded it was nearly gray. Arms lean and strong, already showing the build of an Alpha.
When the rogue slashed claws across his back, Caleb didn't make a sound.
I didn't know it was all planned.
I thought I was living some kind of fated mate story. Omega in distress, Alpha savior.
So when Dad showed up, I said:
"You wanted to assign me a guard? I want him."
Guard was just the cover story.
Caleb had nothing back then. No money, no future. Just desperation and a strong back.
I needed an excuse to keep him around.
Dad saw something in him too. Said the kid had fire. That he'd make something of himself.
He wasn't wrong.
Caleb trained like his life depended on it. Two years later, he got into the same academy as me.
The day his acceptance letter came, his eyes went red:
"Aria, I owe you everything. You and your father. My whole life."
"If I could... I'd never leave your side."
Every morning, Caleb woke up at dawn.
Ran an hour through the forest just to stop at this little human bakery—
so I could have a warm croissant waiting on my desk before my eight a.m. class.
He'd blow his entire paycheck on a golden bracelet I'd mentioned liking once.
Meanwhile, he wore the same threadbare jacket for three years.
His bag was a survival kit: Advil, band-aids, an umbrella, heat suppressants—everything I'd forget.
He was so good to me that even Dad couldn't find anything to criticize.
...
The year we graduated, Caleb asked to join the pack business.
Dad hesitated. Told him he didn't owe us anything.
Caleb got down on his knees—full Alpha submission, the kind you only give to another Alpha you truly respect:
"I know I'm not worthy of her. But I love Aria.
"I just want to be good enough to stay."
What I didn't know then was that Dad was already drowning—caught up in something he couldn't escape.
All I remember is them talking in the den for hours.
When they came out, Dad took my hand and placed it in Caleb's palm.
"Blackwood. You keep my daughter safe. Keep her happy. Keep her clean."
...
At twenty-five, I walked across the stage with my degree.
By then, Caleb had already risen through the ranks in my father's pack.
The higher he climbed, the stranger he got.
One night I was sketching at my desk. He just stood there, watching me with those amber eyes.
Then, barely audible:
"Sometimes I think about leaving all this behind. Just taking you and running."
When I asked what he meant, he went quiet. Wouldn't say another word.
...
Zane cut in:
"Wait—so you think he actually fell for you? Like for real? Maybe he wanted to bail on the whole undercover thing?"
I shook my head.
"Maybe. Doesn't matter now."
Whatever guilt kept him up at night, whatever hesitation made him pause—it didn't stop him from finishing the job.
...
When I was twenty-six, Caleb proposed.
We had the mating ceremony first. Private, just the two of us, his Alpha canines leaving permanent marks on my neck.
Then we planned the real celebration. The big pack gathering.
It was huge. White dress, two hundred pack members, traditional ceremony, the works.
And I stood there in front of everyone and watched him pull out his Pack Council badge.
Watched him order the enforcers to take my father right there at the altar.
Zane looked sick:
"At your mating ceremony? Are you serious? You must've—I mean, did you go after him?"
I shook my head again.
"Never got the chance.
"He left with my maid of honor."
Zane blinked.
"Your—wait, who was she?"
"The woman wearing his mate-mark ring now."
Chapter 3
His mating ceremony photos hit our academy group chat a few days ago.
The bride was exactly who I thought it'd be: Keira Dawson.
My roommate all through academy training. My best friend.
She came from nothing—some nowhere pack, barely scraping by. Plain features, thick-framed glasses, always studying pack law.
Worked her ass off. Proud. Defensive about where she came from.
When our History professor mocked her origins—said she "had no Alpha bloodline worth mentioning"—her face burned red, but she never backed down.
I was the one who approached her first.
Asked her to join the combat training group Caleb and I were running.
Maybe it was the shared outsider status. The same kind of drive.
They hit it off.
Or maybe they just fit.
The cheap academy food I couldn't stomach? They both loved it.
I wore bright colors. They both stuck to black—practical, low-maintenance.
When we split up for patrol assignments, they'd somehow always pick the same route without coordinating.
But everything between them went through me. They kept their distance. Never stepped over the line.
So I never suspected anything.
...
After I graduated, Keira struggled to find a place in any pack.
She reached out for help. So I got her into my father's. Asked Caleb to keep an eye on her.
No more three-person training sessions. This time I wasn't there as a buffer.
That's when they started.
Why Keira?
Probably because with her, he didn't have to pretend anymore. Could finally drop the act.
I was completely in the dark.
Until my mating ceremony—when Keira threw herself into Caleb's arms, crying:
"You did it. Ten years undercover. You can finally stop hiding."
Ten years.
That's how long it took me to meet the real Caleb Blackwood.
He just stood there. Expressionless. Watching me from across the ceremonial grounds like I was a suspect being processed.
I had a thousand questions.
What happens to Dad now? When did you two start?
And... when exactly did the lying begin?
He didn't let me ask.
Walked over with Keira trailing behind. Voice flat:
"He won't be detained during the investigation. Pack him some clothes. Bring them to the Council holding facility."
His eyes caught on my smeared makeup for half a second.
I threw my ceremonial flowers at his face.
Then grabbed a crystal goblet and launched it at him.
It splashed all over Keira's pink dress.
She looked up at him, trembling:
"Don't soften up now, Zach. You loving her was just the cover. You didn't actually buy into your own story... right?"
That snapped him back.
He grabbed another glass. Poured it over my head.
"There. We're even. That's for Keira.
"When you pull yourself together, we'll talk."
Then he walked out. Keira's hand in his.
...
I didn't sleep for days.
The pack territories were raided. Everything frozen. Bank accounts, properties, all of it.
I dodged camera crews, hired attorneys, tried to piece together what was real.
Bottom line? There was no fixing this.
That's when it finally hit me.
My father was a criminal. An actual one.
Twenty-six years of everything I thought I knew—gone.
People are complicated. Nobody's purely evil.
He did awful things. But he also loved me fiercely. Donated to orphaned wolves. Tried to do some good.
And nobody's purely good either.
Like Caleb.
The press called him a hero. "Shadow of Justice." "The Alpha Who Brought Down Nightshade."
But I walked into our honeymoon suite and found him with his tongue down Keira's throat.
I didn't have any fight left.
I just collapsed.
...
"Then what?!" Zane practically yelled. "What the hell happened next?"
"After that?" I stared out the window. "I don't remember. Almost died, I think."
