Chapter One

Prologue

(Riley's POV)

I woke up to a sharp pain in my abdomen.

I knew what was happening; Ryker was doing it again. He was cheating on me with another woman.

I rolled off the bed, my hands circling around my stomach. The wave of pain passed through me again, and I screamed out, my hands remaining on my stomach as if to shield my unborn child.

I groaned, crawling for the door.

"Help!" I screamed, but my voice came out hoarse. The pain came again, worse than ever before, and I cried out. "Please... please stop Ryker; you are hurting me," I begged, even if I knew he wasn't here or listening.

A strange kind of fear filled me, one I always felt before things went completely wrong, and I was afraid it would now. My child was only one month old, and he 'knew' I was pregnant for him.

I crawled for the door, my breaths coming out in pants, my whole body drenched in sweat. The pain wouldn't stop; it only got worse, and I couldn't go any further. In here, no one heard my cries and pleas; even if they did, no one came for my aid.

The tears streamed down my eyes, and then I felt the wetness between my legs.

No, no, no... please, no...

My shaky hands found their way to my middle, and I felt the wetness against my finger. Lifting it to my eyes, it was...

Blood.

I panicked.

My silent sobs turned into loud cries.

"Somebody help me; I am losing my baby!" I screamed out, but again, no one came for my aid; my vision blurred, and then the darkness took over. There was only one thought on my mind as I fell deeper into the darkness.

I hate you, Ryker.

____

CHAPTER ONE

(Riley's POV)

I had always thought I was smart. But Alpha Ryker made me look every bit of a fool, over and over again.

I was a low-ranked female in the pack; It was due to the fact that my mother was the pack's slave, even lower than an omega.

Alpha Ryker had been my biggest crush for years, and of course I never thought I would have him as a mate. Imagine my joy when I turned eighteen, and just like every girl, I attended the mating ball, but unlike every girl of my class, I was mated to the Alpha. The same man I had been crushing on ever since I was a little girl. I had dreams, and I started to believe dreams did come true. How wrong I was to think that!

Alpha Ryker had told me to keep it a secret, and it was understandable. He shouldn't be mated to a girl like me, it only spoke of weakness; I was just your average girl, with blonde hair and blue eyes. My mother had been sold to this pack as a slave, but she worked alongside the omegas.

It made sense for Ryker to keep this as a secret for the time being; as long as he loved me, I was just ready to do anything.

The things we do for love.

He never loved me, and I discovered that too late.

I let him take my virginity; after all, I had kept it just for him, and too soon I was pregnant. I had thought of the perfect family we would both have, but all that ended when he introduced the new girl Zara to the pack as his mate.

I remembered the smile on my face, standing before all the pack members, only to see the girl by his side, claiming my position.

He gave an explanation, he gave excuses, and foolish me. I let him play me yet again for the second time; he told me he needed time, and soon I would be announced his mate to the whole pack, but everything ended when he cheated on me with her for the first time. It should have ended a long time ago, but I had been desperate for love and desperate for Ryker. As werewolves, when one partner cheats, the other is left in pain during the whole process.

Ryker knew the pain it caused me when he cheated, and still he did it. He had done it again and again, and this last time, he claimed my child. The one good thing I had was the only thing I held onto.

.

I woke up disoriented, and then the memories flooded in—the pain I had felt—so intense, unlike anything I had ever felt before, and then the blood. I felt the wetness against my cheeks; I hadn't realized I was crying yet again.

There was blood on my clothes—a lot of blood. I didn't know how long I stayed here on the floor—maybe a little over a day, but he never came back, and I wasn't sure I wanted him too.

I walked into the bathroom to wash up; the pain hadn't faded, and there was a slight throb between my legs, but that was nothing compared to the loss I was feeling deep within. I had already grown a bond with my child, even if it was only a month old.

.

Alpha Ryker walked into the room three hours later. He had spent the whole day with the new girl, whom he had introduced to the whole pack as his mate.

He walked right past me, almost like I was invisible.

"Ryker," I called out, feeling all my pain quickly turning into anger. "Ryker, where were you a night ago?"

"That is none of your business, pup."

My breath came out faster.

"You went to her, didn't you? You had sex with her, knowing what it does to me."

"The whole pack sees her as my mate; it is necessary."

"I was in so much pain, and you were the cause. I lost my child because of you. Ryker, how could you do this to me? I am your true mate. How could you betray me?"

"Oh, please shut up," he says, and there was something about his voice that caused me to flinch- it was this coldness in his tone; he had never spoken to me in this manner, not when he was wooing me into believing all his lies. "We both know that your child would have grown up a bastard; I would never claim him as mine; he would be a weakling, just like you and your poor old mother."

"Ryker!," I called out, the surprise clear in my eyes as I stared at him. He continued on like I had said nothing.

"It is not my fault your weak system couldn't hold him in, so don't you dare blame me for the loss of your child."

My child. Not 'our' child.

And that's all I could take. I had moved fast-- faster than I ever thought possible, and I slapped him as hard as I could, satisfied at the redness of his skin where I had hit him.

He let out a silent sneer, inhaling audibly, and when he looked up and at me, I didn't see Ryker; I saw a beast, the true man behind the fake mask.

"You seem to have forgotten who you are and where you belong. I would give you a little reminder.".

Ryker had never hit me before, so this had been another shock. He hadn't slapped me; no, he had punched me, right to the face, and I lost my balance, falling to the floor.

He walked towards me. "You bitch!"

I felt his legs to my side and then my stomach. I curled my hands around my stomach, forgetting the fact that my baby was gone for just a second. The hits didn't stop, and I let out muffled screams.

"Stop!" I had begged, but he didn't. I curled into myself, whimpering like the wounded pup I was. Ryker had yet again shown me how foolish I was for ever believing in his words. I had made so many mistakes in life but Ryker made them all seem like nothing, he ruined me right before my very eyes and all the while he did it with a smile on his face and I had been wooed by that beautiful smile.

"Stand. I order you," he commanded, and I tried, but the pain in my abdomen wouldn't let me.

"Don't tell me you are that weak, Riley," he called out. Once I had loved the sound of my name against his lips, I thought it was beautiful—the way he pronouced my name—but for the first time, I hated it, I hated his voice, I hated the wicked look in his eyes, and I hated him.

I rose, despite the pain in my feet, spitting out blood on the tiled floor.

"So what did you think would happen?" he asked, and I didn't answer him. His hands closed around my jaw, applying force. "When I speak to you, you respond," he says before letting me go, and I stagger backwards.

"I didn't know what would happen," I answered his question, and that was the truth. I didn't know what would happen, but I trusted him, and I believed all those sweet words. I let him take my virginity, and I remembered the words he whispered to me: 'You are mine to love' he had said, 'it would always be you' he had said, 'no one can ever replace you', 'I love everything about you' he had said again, and now... I discovered they were all lies, all the words he had whispered to me beneath the moonlight when he had sex with me, they were all straight out lies. Those explanations and excuses, they were all lies too, and desperate little me was way too quick to believe them.

"Did you ever think I would make you my mate?, Did you ever think I would make you the Luna?" he asked a small smile playing on his lips. To that, I couldn't give a response, but he let that go because the big revelation was coming, when he would tell me more about how much of a fool I had been and how he had enjoyed using me. "I could never make you my Luna, you weakling, but I had always wanted a taste of you, and I knew you wanted me more than anything—for years, I was your childhood fantasies. It wouldn't hurt to have you, and I wouldn't deny I enjoyed it all, but then reality kicked in, and this had pended for way longer than necessary. Zara is my mate and would always be; she would be my Luna.

So I, Alpha Ryker Zeke of the Windborne Pack, reject you, Riley Kaidon, as my fated mate and Luna. "

The truth was that I had believed in him; I had believed that one day he would make me his Luna.