Chapter 1

Kayla

I was about to marry the man of my dreams, Liam, after six months of anticipation. But he wasn’t here. His absence ruined my wedding.

“Luna Kayla has been left at the altar,” I heard people whisper amongst the crowd. “And where is the maid of honor? What a mess…”

I forced my back straight and my chin high, even though I wanted to burst into tears.

I am the only daughter of my Alpha father, and I had no wolf, which meant that I could not inherit the pack. So I had chosen Liam to marry me and become Bluemoon’s Alpha.

I had to find him. I picked up my skirt and turned toward the door leading to the back of the chapel. The murmurs and camera flashes followed me the entire way, but I didn’t look back.

“Liam?” I called out once I was alone in the hallway. “Liam, where are you?”

No answer. If my husband-to-be, the love of my life, was anywhere nearby, then he couldn’t hear me. I even called out to him through our Mindlink, but there was still no response. Maybe something had happened.

Frowning, I hurried down the hallway, trying not to think of all the worst-case scenarios in my head. Maybe he took a nap before the ceremony and didn’t wake up on time, I told myself.

But when I opened the door to the groom’s dressing room, I shrieked: “You… you bastards!”

There, in the dressing room, was my future husband. His tuxedo jacket was laying discarded on the floor, and he was lounging on the sofa, with his hands digging into the hips of another woman who was straddling him.

But not just any woman.

Vanessa. My best friend and maid of honor.

Oh, how foolish I had been.

Liam and Vanessa pulled apart at the sound of my voice, their lips making a wet smack as they separated. Liam bolted upright, practically throwing her off of him. His entire face and neck was covered with bright red lipstick.

“Kayla, I can explain—”

“Explain what, exactly?” I shouted, gripping the soft lace of my wedding gown as I stared in shock at the scene. “You two were having sex when you were supposed to be getting married to me!”

Vanessa’s eyes were wide as saucers as she smoothed down her skirt. “Kayla, I—”

“Don’t you say a word,” I hissed, jabbing a finger at her. “I don’t want to hear your voice again, you two-timing fucking bitch.”

Vanessa fell silent immediately. Liam picked up his jacket and shrugged it on, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. “Kayla, I’m sorry. I just—I got drunk. This was a mistake, that’s all. Come on, let’s go to the altar.”

But as Liam took a step toward me, the lipstick smeared across his skin caught the light, and I took an instinctive step back. “No,” I whispered. “No. I’m calling off the wedding.”

Liam paused, pursing his lips. “You can’t—you won’t—do that. I’m your chosen Alpha. You need me to help you protect your pack. To protect you.”

Maybe once, his honeyed words would have made me swoon. But now, seeing the unapologetic look in his eyes, I realized that everything he had ever said to me had been one big, fat lie.

“I’ll find another way.” I turned toward the door, shaking with rage. I didn’t even want to look at either of them anymore.

Before I could leave, Liam lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. “I’m your best option, Kayla,” he insisted. “And you know it. You’re wolfless, and—”

“Enough!” I whirled to face him and wrenched my wrist away from his grip, my eyes shooting daggers through his skull. I was supposed to love him—we were supposed to love each other. But he had betrayed me, and no amount of bringing up my missing wolf to belittle me would ever convince me to stay.

“Enough,” I repeated, grabbing the lace of my dress again and ripping at it. It shredded like warm butter under my touch—three months of custom designing my dream gown, gone to waste. The top layer of lace fluttered to the floor as I chucked it at Liam, who just stood there like a statue. “I won’t let a cheating bastard like you control my fate. I’m leaving.”

And with that, I was gone.

Liam’s voice followed me down the hallway as I ran, but I didn’t stop or even look back at him. I ran and ran, shoving out through the back door of the chapel and onto the sunny street, and I still didn’t stop.

I couldn’t stop, tears streaming down my face and ruining my makeup.

This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, but instead it was one of the worst.

My mother was dead. My father was in a coma. I had stupidly chosen Liam to lead Bluemoon together, side by side. He told me he didn’t care that I was wolfless, that he loved me anyway.

But he never loved me. To him, I was just a means to become an Alpha and nothing more.

“Kayla, where are you? Many guests have already left.”

The sound of my father’s Beta’s voice slipped into my mind. I gritted my teeth at the sound, just wanting to be alone. But if anyone would help me today, it would be him.

“Henry, I need you to call off the wedding. Do your best to make sure the guests leave peacefully and preserve my family’s reputation.”

Henry paused for a moment before responding. “I see. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I lied, perhaps a bit too quickly. “I’m just… going for a drink.” I severed the Mindlink for now.

After walking for a little while, I spotted a restaurant on the corner: the luxurious, members-only bar that I had last attended with Liam just a few weeks ago. I wondered if he was fucking other women then, too.

I made my way inside and sat at the bar, ignoring the confused looks from the others. I was just about to order a drink when I suddenly felt a presence beside me.

“A glass of your best red wine for the lady.”

Stunned, I looked up. And that was when I saw him.

Nicholas Reynolds, soon to be Alpha of Nightshade pack.

And Liam’s older half-brother.

I’d never seen him in person before, only in pictures and news articles. He was even more devastatingly handsome in person, with a stern jaw, deep set amber eyes, and a shock of deep brown hair that was neatly slicked back.

He was… probably the most handsome man I had ever seen in my entire life. And he was looking right at me.

But Liam had always spoken poorly of him, calling him a narcissistic playboy. Their relationship was extremely strained; they didn’t even live together, and had never gotten along. Apparently, Nicholas hated Liam just because Liam was the product of his father’s second marriage.

So, when he sat directly beside me, his broad shoulders nearly knocking me off my barstool, I was rightfully wary. I gripped my shredded skirt and shot him a cautious glance, caught somewhere between blushing and asking what the hell he wanted from me.

But honestly, I wasn’t even sure if he recognized me. We’d never met before, and I was sure I didn’t exactly look like the pictures of myself right now with my hair hanging around my face and my mascara streaming down my cheeks.

Before either of us could say anything, the bartender handed me my drink. I took it and downed half of it without a word.

When I was finished, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I caught Nicholas’s eye. He was smirking at me.

“Are you a runaway bride?” he asked. His voice was deep and gravelly, and something about it made my brain feel like it was being stroked by gentle claws wrapped in silk. Even the other nearby patrons looked up from their drinks, entranced by the future Alpha’s voice.

I swallowed hard and eyed him cautiously. “Yes,” I replied carefully. “But I’m planning on starting a new life.”

Nicholas chuckled—chuckled—and reached up. I couldn’t find it in me to pull away as he placed his warm hand beneath my chin and lifted my face to meet his gaze.

His breath smelled sweetly of mint and his amber eyes flickered with mischief as he leaned forward.

“How about starting with a kiss?”