CHAPTER 1

RUBY

I never imagined my heart could shatter into a million pieces until tonight. Watching my boyfriend cup the face of his fated mate, staring deeply into her eyes, the ache in my chest becomes unbearable, as if every breath pulls me further apart.

“I, Graham Scott, accept you, Lizzy Harris, as my mate.”

Graham's words echoed in my mind, ripping through me like a storm. Everything slowed—the room, the people, the lights—it all faded as the truth settled in. Two years. Two years of love, trust, and promises—gone in an instant. Every smile, every shared moment, now felt like a cruel joke. He had always told me I was enough, that nothing would ever come between us.

A month ago, when I turned eighteen and didn’t feel the pull of a mate, Graham convinced me it didn’t matter. He said the bond didn’t define us, that we were destined to be together regardless. I believed him. I trusted him. I held onto his words like they were my lifeline, like they were the only truth in a world where everything else was uncertain.

But they were nothing. Lies.

He had found his fated mate. And now... I was nothing.

Frozen in place, I watched as Graham pulled Lizzy into his arms, her radiant smile illuminating her perfect face. Lizzy Harris—the daughter of Whispering Crystals Pack and the leader of the girls' dance group at Kingston College—was now mated to my boyfriend, the son of MoonRise Pack's doctor.

The whispers started almost immediately. A chorus of pity and judgment buzzed in my ears like static, but I heard them all the same.

“Poor Ruby.”

“How could she have thought she’d keep him?”

“I knew the goddess would never mate Graham to such a lowly omega.”

I needed to get out. Now.

Pushing through the crowd, I kept my head down, my vision blurring with tears.

The sharp night air hit me as I stumbled outside, but it did nothing to stop the ache in my chest. I moved forward, each step heavier than the last. I wasn’t sure where I was going—just away. Away from Graham. Away from Lizzy. Away from the pity, the stares, and the reminders of how worthless I truly was

I wandered into the dimly lit backyard, far from the party lights. My breath came in ragged gasps, my chest tight and aching as if my heart were being ripped apart. I pressed a hand to my chest, as if that could hold the pieces together, but it was useless. Everything was shattering.

And then I collided with someone.

The force of it knocked me back a step, and I muttered a half-hearted apology, barely glancing up.

“Watch where you’re going, little wolf.”

That voice. Cold, deep, and laced with familiar arrogance.

My eyes snapped up, blinking through the haze of my tears. Of course, it had to be him.

Sebastian Kings.

The future Alpha of the MoonRise Pack. The star hockey player and the notorious playboy who every girl in Kingston College wanted to be with—except me, maybe.

He’d always looked at me with nothing but cold indifference. His dark, piercing eyes never softened, not even on the day a group of students pelted me with eggs in the middle of campus. He stood there, watched, and acted like it wasn’t happening. Like I didn’t exist. Like he also didn't want omega like me to attend their so-called Kingson college.

Sebastian had always acted as if I was beneath his notice. Until I found out his secret.

Ever since then, he’d tried, in his own way, to be nice to me. Not because he cared—no, it was to make sure I kept my mouth shut. To protect himself. And now, here he was, smirking as if my heartbreak were some kind of amusement.

“Not now, Sebastian,” I muttered, wiping angrily at my tears. I could feel my makeup smudging under my fingers, but I didn’t care. “I don’t have the energy for you.”

“You look like a wreck, Ruby.” He said, the smell of alcohol radiating from him.

I let out a bitter laugh. “Thanks for the reminder.”

I walked to lean against the wall, the cold brick biting into my back. There was nothing to sit on around here, and my legs were barely holding me up.

“So… Graham dumped you for Lizzy,” he said, his voice a mix of sarcasm and something else I couldn’t quite place. “Fated mates, huh? Real romantic.”

The words stabbed at my already wounded heart, but I couldn’t bring myself to deny it. The whole school had witnessed it. The humiliation was public, as if my suffering were entertainment.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “He found his mate.”

Sebastian’s gaze darkened, and for a moment, I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes. Pain? Anger? I couldn’t be sure.

“Fated mates,” he muttered, his voice dripping with disdain. “It’s all bullshit.”

I blinked, surprised by the venom in his tone. “Easy for you to say,” I replied, barely keeping my voice steady. “You have plenty of girls at your reach. You’re going to be Alpha. You have everything.”

His jaw tightened, and something about the way he stood there—rigid, with an edge to his voice—made me pause. He took a sip from his drink, then met my gaze with an intensity that made my breath catch.

“Not everything, Ruby,” he said, his voice lower now, rougher. “You, of all people, know that.”

I froze, my heart racing as the meaning behind his words sank in. Of course, I knew. The secret. The one I’d stumbled upon months ago—how his connection to his inner wolf, the part that could sense his fated mate, had been blocked. No one else knew, not even his parents. But I did.

The memory of that day flashed through my mind. I hadn’t meant to overhear him, nor had I sought to uncover the cracks beneath his perfect façade. But once I did, it was impossible to forget. Just as it was impossible to forget my own past—how my mother had sacrificed everything for me. She gave up her dignity, comfort, and happiness to secure my scholarship at Kingston College, all while concealing the deadly mistake my wolf had caused when I first shifted at thirteen. She had been my rock, my only family, and now she was gone. The weight of that loss, compounded by Graham’s betrayal, felt as if it were crushing me from every angle.

“You’re right, Sebastian,” I said, my voice shaking slightly. “We all have our problems. But some of us can’t afford to hide behind a great title, or money, or fancy things. Some of us have to live with the consequences we never asked for.”

His gaze sharpened, and he took a step closer, his drink dangling loosely from his fingers. I noticed for the first time that he wasn’t just angry—he was drunk. The smell of whiskey was strong, and the haze in his eyes told me he’d had more than just one drink.

“I won’t have anything to hide behind if my dad finds out what I’ve been keeping from him,” he muttered, his voice slurred but still holding that familiar edge. “He’s only seeing the surface of me, just like everyone else. And that’s fine by me.”

His eyes, usually so cold, were filled with something I hadn’t seen before. Something raw. And in that moment, I saw just how broken he really was.

“I’m not as lucky as you think,” he said, his voice low and rough. “I’ll never find my fated mate. I’ll never know what it’s like… to be mated.”

Before I could respond, Sebastian leaned in closer, our faces inches apart. My heart raced; here was the star hockey player, the playboy who could have any girl he wanted, standing before me. The same guy who’d always looked at me with cold indifference was about to kiss me.

“Sebastian…” I whispered, but my words fell away as he closed the distance.

His lips brushed against mine—soft at first, then urgent. It ignited a fire inside me, blurring the memory of Graham’s betrayal. The pain of being discarded by the one I thought I could trust faded as Sebastian pulled me in, stealing my breath. I tasted the whiskey on his lips, a mix of confusion and longing flooding my senses.

But just as quickly, he hesitated. I saw uncertainty flicker in his eyes, and my mind screamed to pull away.

“Wait—”

Before I could finish, he pressed in again, the kiss deepening, the heat between us growing. I was drawn to him, lost in the moment, forgetting that just moments ago, Graham had shattered my heart.

Finally, I mustered the courage to push him back, breaking the kiss. “Sebastian, no… we can’t do this.” He stepped away, and his eyes shifted, losing that moment of warmth.

“I was wrong to think you could be the one,” he said, regret heavy in his voice.

Just then, a male voice shouted from a distant.

“Sebastian, where are you?”

He hesitated, looking at me as if searching for something he couldn’t find.

“Forget it,” he muttered, running his fingers through hair.

“Just… forget it.”

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving me standing there in the dark, my heart still racing. The weight of the night pressed down on me, heavier than before. Graham had broken my heart, but Sebastian had just added another layer of confusion to my already shattered world.