Chapter 1My Alpha mate gave me two choices:
One: Stay and endure his torment.
Two: Fucked by four rogues and then sever our bond.
I chose the third choice--death.
And what I didn't expect? He completely shattered.
He killed those rogues. Then he came to my grave, kneeling, crying, apologizing—even carving my name into his body with silver.
But none of that matters now.
And for the rest of his life, he'd kneel at my grave, begging to see me in his dream.
......
I ruined everything the day we were supposed to bond.
My mother needed urgent care—immediately—and I had nothing.
So I found Nicholas moments before the ceremony and begged him to help.
Two hundred eighty thousand dollars.
He'd already agreed to cover eighty-eight thousand. This was... more.
But he didn't hesitate. Just gave a sharp nod.
"Done."
That night, when he carried me across the threshold, he leaned close. His breath was warm against my ear, but his voice? Pure ice.
"Gold digger."
That was three years ago.
Since then, he's made absolutely certain everyone knows what I am—the girl who bound herself to him for money. He's bedded half the territory and never once tried to stop the whispers.
Tonight—our anniversary—I'm doubled over in the medical wing with stomach pain, staring at a bill I can't cover.
One hundred fifty-two dollars.
Meanwhile, Nicholas is in the border territory setting off fireworks for his latest lover.
I call him.
"Nicholas."I tried to keep my voice steady — even though my wolf was already howling in pain inside me.
"I want to dissolve our bond."
He laughs—a cold, cutting sound.
I could smell the mockery in his scent even through the phone.
"What now? How much do you need this time?"
"Fifty thousand?"
"A hundred?"
"One-fifty?"
Before I can respond, I hear a female's voice in the background—light, teasing.
"Love, you literally gave fifty thousand to some vagrant yesterday. Your LUNA only gets scraps?"
There's a pause.
Then Nicholas's voice returns, slow and vicious.
"Some people are only worth what you pay for them."
The words steal the air from my lungs.
Ever since that day, he's treated me like filth. Like I'm something he stepped in and can't scrape off his boots.
I tried to fix it. I really did.
Once, I spent hours preparing his favorite meal—everything from scratch. He walked in, glanced at the table, and smirked.
"How much is this costing me? Should I transfer funds now, or...?"
Even in our bed, he'd ask.
"What's tonight's price?"
I've explained it a thousand times.
My mother collapsed that morning. Brain hemorrhage. They wouldn't touch her without payment.
So yes, I changed the amount. What else could I have done?
But he's never believed me.
"You'd throw your own mother to the wolves for coin," he said once, looking at me like I disgusted him. "Didn't think you had it in you."
Now, with fireworks crackling through the phone, I force the words out.
"I don't want your money. I want to break our bond."
"When you return, we're going to the Council Hall."
He scoffs.
"Walk away from all this? Sure. Pay me back first. Every. Last. Coin. Then maybe I'll believe you."
Click.
He ends the call.
I stand there, staring at the paper in my hand. I felt nothing but endless sorrow.
Everyone thinks I struck fortune. That being Nicholas Sterling's Luna means fine clothes, respect, everything.
Nobody knows the truth.
He hasn't given me a coin since we bonded.
Three weeks after the ceremony, I lost my position at the healer's hall—apparently being "Luna Queen" made me a liability. Every other place I sought work turned me away for the same reason.
I've been surviving on savings from before the bonding. Savings that ran out months ago, spent on my mother's care and just trying to stay alive.
Right now, I don't even have a hundred dollars.
Where in the goddess's name am I supposed to get two hundred eighty thousand?
I'm still frozen when I hear them—two she-wolves nearby, glued to their phones, watching the fireworks livestream.
"Oh my goddess," one squeals. "He's looking at her like she's his fated mate. This is like something from the old stories."
"Right? It's her birthday and she mentioned wanting fireworks, so he spent a fortune to make it happen."
"Wait—doesn't he have a bonded Luna?"
The other she-wolf shrugs. "Powerful werewolves always have others. Besides, his mate's a gold digger. She doesn't care who he beds as long as the money keeps coming."
I close my eyes.
My wolf whimpers deep inside, curling into herself.
"He doesn't want us, she whispers. He never did." She said.
Chapter 2
Everyone thought I wasn't good enough for Nicholas.
Nicholas Sterling. Old bloodline. The kind where your family's held power so long, nobody questions it anymore.
And me? I was nobody. Just a girl from a small pack barely keeping her head above water, caring for a mother who'd been sick as long as I could remember.
When we first got together, I told him everything. I figured he deserved to know what he was getting into.
Most males ran the second they heard about the medical bills. But Nicholas didn't.
He looked at me like I'd just shared the most ordinary thing in the world, then took my hand.
"You've been carrying this alone?" His voice cracked, his scent full of tenderness. "You don't have to anymore."
On the night we got together, lying tangled together, he pulled me close and whispered, "You're mine now. I'm not going anywhere."
At that moment, his scent wrapped around me softly, as if I were the only treasure in the world.
Everyone told me I was the luckiest female alive.
I believed them.
I believed HIM.
I never thought our bonding ceremony would be the day everything shattered.
Back then, I rushed to the medical wing with the money, my hands shaking.
But when I arrived, something felt wrong.
The healer wasn't rushing anymore. He was calm.
"Miss Bennett," he said slowly, "your mother is stable."
I stared at him. "What?"
"This was a test." His eyes wouldn't quite meet mine. "Mrs. Sterling wanted to see if you were... suitable for the family."
"She wanted me to tell you... She's not pleased with how today went. If you want to remain in this pack, you'll need to prove yourself."
"She's arranged for your mother to have the finest care available. But you cannot tell anyone about this. Especially not Nicholas."
I understood. Perfectly clear.
Speak, and my mother suffers.
So I didn't.
No matter how much Nicholas despised me. No matter how many times he threw that day in my face, I kept silent.
But when I discovered he was taking lovers—when I caught his scent mingled with another female's, I couldn't take it anymore.
I grabbed his shirt, tears streaming. I could barely breathe.
"Nicholas, please—please don't do this."
He looked at me like I revolted him.
Pulled my hands away, one finger at a time.
"The second you did that"—his voice was dead, emotionless—"you embarrassed me. You embarrassed my family."
"That's when you stopped being the female I cared for."
He stepped back.
"Now you're just someone I'm paying to stay. So don't act like you have any right to ask me for anything."
After that, he stopped hiding it.
Female after female.
And my wolf grew quieter and quieter, retreating so deep I could barely feel her anymore.
The bottles of sleeping herbs in my drawer kept running empty.
Tonight, I can't afford to buy herbs.
So I go home.
But when I reach the gates, every light is dark.
I press the call button, clutching my stomach as another cramp hits.
"Mrs. Clark?" My voice shakes. "Can you let me in?"
Nothing.
Then her voice crackles through the speaker.
"Mr. Sterling's implemented a curfew. No one enters or leaves after ten."
I check my phone.
10:01.
"I apologize, ma'am,"I could hear the guilt in her voice, but she couldn't defy the order. "You'll need to return tomorrow."
Chapter 3
I dig through my pockets. Seven dollars. That's it.
I sit down on the front steps, arms wrapped around myself, trying to stay warm.
Trying to hold it together.
My wolf is silent, but I could feel her sorrow.
I'm suddenly thinking about years ago, when I was still in training.
I'd worked a late shift and returned to the dormitory after lockout. I was stuck outside in the cold, no idea what to do.
Then Nicholas showed up.
He brought me here. Made me tea. Told me, "This place is yours now. You'll never be locked out again."
Now I'm staring at the same entrance.
Locked out of my own home.
I sit there all night.
When Mrs. Clark opens the door the next morning, I try to stand but my legs won't cooperate. Everything's numb.
"Mrs. Sterling—oh goddess—" She grabs my arm, steadying me. Her hand jerks back when she feels how cold I am. "How long have you been out here?"
I don't answer.
Her face went pale, her scent full of tenderness. "Come. Inside. Now."
She guides me through the entrance, one hand on my elbow like I might collapse. Once we're in the front hall, she looks at me and something shifts in her expression.
She doesn't ask any more questions.
She just disappears into the kitchen and returns minutes later with hot broth and warm bread.
"Drink this," she says quietly, pressing the cup into my hands.
Over the past three years, Mrs. Clark has been the only person in this house who hasn't treated me like trash.
"You're not what they say you are," she told me once, early on. "I don't know what happened, but I know you're better than that."
She'd barely known me a month back then.
But she believed me.
Nicholas—who swore he'd protect me no matter what—never did.
After I eat, I drag myself upstairs.
I'm about to collapse into bed when I hear voices.
A female laughing. Light. Flirtatious.
"You're terrible. I can barely walk after last night."
And his voice. Low. Amused.
"Yeah? Want me to make it better?"
He's laughing.
I freeze.
I can't remember the last time I heard that sound from him.
"He just wouldn't smile at us anymore," my wolf said to me sadly.
I grab the dissolution papers off my nightstand and step into the hall.
Nicholas has Blair Winslow pressed against the wall, his hand sliding up her thigh.
I deliberately released my scent and then cleared my throat."Hey. Can I speak with you?"
He turns. The smile drops.
Blair adjusts her top, making sure I see the marks on her throat.
"Oh, Mrs. Sterling." Her voice drips false concern, and her scent full of smugness. "Didn't know you were home. Thought you got locked out and had to find somewhere else to stay."
I ignore her.
Walk up to Nicholas and hold out the papers.
"I want to dissolve our bond. I'll pay you back. It'll take time, but you'll get every coin."
He glances at them. Then at me.
"Pay me back?" He almost laughs. "You don't even have a position. What are you going to do—sell herbs at the market?"
So he knows. He's known the whole time that I haven't been able to work—that losing my position was because of him, because of his name.
I force my voice to stay steady. "How I do it isn't your concern."
Before he can respond, Blair grabs the papers.
She flips through, then laughs.
"By the moon. Did you write this yourself? Look at these errors. Did you copy this from some free website?"
