Chapter 1: "I need you to help me fix this, Sophia.”

Sophia’s pov.

The reporter’s voice seems to ring in my head while I listen to the news and my heart quivers in my chest as the midday report begins. The intro sound dies down and the news caster’s voice projects out,

“Good afternoon Werewolves and Lycans, This is KYC news channel and I'm Elena Konsis, bringing you the midday news, Thank you for tuning in. 

In recent events, famous Alpha werewolf and Billionaire Tycoon Alpha Ulric Highrise of the Spineridge pack was spotted earlier today, physically assaulting a reporter for following him and taking pictures of him and a female friend.

The female reporter informed us that after suffering the hits from Alpha Ulric Highrise, she decided to leak the photos she took.” 

A picture comes up on the side of the screen and the reporter gestures, 

“In this picture, Alpha Ulric is seen leading a woman into a famous five-star hotel. Speculations are that this lady is another one of the Alpha’s lady friends. Mind you, Alpha Ulric is currently married to Luna Sophia Highrise…”

I stare at the picture now pasted at the side of the screen and let my eyes narrow down to the image of my Alpha husband leading a woman into a hotel. 

That’s him alright. 

Tall, handsome, Alpha Ulric. I look at the obscured face of the female closely and my eyes drift to her wrists, catching on the gold bracelet she wears. I feel a frown line my face.

That bracelet looks familiar…. why?

My mind tries to drag me back to the hurt I should be feeling. 

It tries to send sharp prickles of pain to my eyes. It tries to make me feel like something bad’s been rotting in my belly for a while now and it’s finally ready to kill me, but oddly, I feel nothing. 

This isn’t the first time something like this is happening.

I’ve become numb to his cheating now.

Otsana, my wolf, whines pitifully in my head sending feelings of dismay through me at the fact that we have such a mate.

We can barely feel the mate bond with Ulric anymore, so are we even mates? 

I chuckle at the thought of that and tell her to settle down.

It’d be pitiful to cry or feel sad over something I already suspected was happening. Ulric’s been caught with a lot of women over the past eight years, each one making either local gossip or headline news, and each time leaving me with the feeling of a dagger being plunged deeper into my chest. The first one happened a month after our wedding.

I’ve cried. 

I’ve begged. 

I’ve asked him to stop doing this to us, yet after eight years, it’s still happening.

I squint and move closer to the TV, sitting on the couch closest to it and peering at the bracelet on the hand of the lady my husband was caught with. This picture was taken with a subpar camera so I can’t really see it, but the bracelet rings a bell in my mind. The image isn't such a good one.

“Luna Sophia.”

My head snaps to the sound of my name and I watch the housekeeper as she approaches. There’s a sad smile on her face, and she’s holding my phone in her hands. 

I accept it with a look of mild gratitude. I have fifteen missed calls on the screen, and all of them are from one person. The phone rings again and I pick it up immediately, clearing my throat lightly as I state,

“Sophia on the line.”

I hear something tumble and fall from Ulric’s end of the line. There’s silence for a while. I can almost hear the sound of his panicked breathing. His voice is low and breathy as he responds.

‘“I need you to help me fix this, Sophia.”

A dry huff of bitter amusement leaves my chest because of course. Not even an “I’m sorry.”

I frown and clear my throat lightly, asking in a questioning tone “Help you fix the fact that you hit a woman and it’s made headline news?..... or the fact that you were caught cheating again?”

The look on my husband’s face floats crystal clear into my mind. Ulric’s eyes are filled with desperation, now mixed with irritation, and the annoyance he always wears when speaking to me. 

The fact that he thinks he can do this to me again makes me feel a bit insulted honestly, but why wouldn’t he? 

I’ve only been doing it for eight years!

“The news isn’t the only problem we have, Sophia.” There’s genuine panic in Ulric’s voice and as I sit at the edge of my seat as he continues, his voice is now bitter and pissed, “I messed up, okay? 

I need you to help me fix it. Can you come over to the office right now?”

I restrain the violent surge of emotion that courses through my heart and nod, keeping my voice steady as I reply, “I’ll be on my way.”

Ulric cuts the call immediately and I don't know why, but a choked laughter escapes from within me.

I laugh softly because pain isn’t what I’m feeling right now. My pain is an echo in a vast sea of emotions. 

I always ask myself, 

Have I not been faithful enough? 

I was with him when he had nothing. 

I left my pack, my life, just to be his wife. 

His Luna.

I helped him haul through an economic crisis that would have ruined him and his father’s company. I helped him cover his many, many messes. I became his all-purpose wife, the mother of his child, and the secret force behind his success. Yet what do I get each time? 

His calm and unremorseful voice as he indirectly tells me,

“Sophia, I’ve messed up again.”, 

“Sophia, I couldn’t control my cock again.”, 

“Sophia, I couldn't stop being a cheating, lying, manwhore and I've done it again! I’ve cheated again! So come fix it.” Not even a please. 

I scoff and twist the fabric of my skirt in my hands bitterly. Ulric has no manners.

I get up, push strands of hair behind my ear, and clear my throat. I stand still for a moment, concentrating as I reach across the mind-link to my assistant, Violet.

Violet’s one of the people I trust the most in the world. 

She was young and fresh out of college when I met her. She didn’t have any family, friends, or money. She was being bullied because of her omega status, and that’s how I found her shaking and quivering under a snowstorm in the cold blizzard of winter.  

Something about her reminded me of myself… and she has been with me ever since. 

She followed me from my pack, a skeptical young woman, not many years younger than me, yet she has bloomed ever since then. It makes me smile lightly thinking about it now because she’s been faithful to me ever since I met her, nine years ago. 

She hasn’t betrayed my trust once.

That’s more than I can say for some people.

Violet’s a familiar presence in my mind as we link. I ask, “Is it ready?”

She replies immediately, “Yes. The documents are ready.”

I nod and head into my bedroom to change my outfit. I’m back in ten minutes in a new dress and a bag in hand but my steward stops me. 

Sorren’s known me right from my pack, and now as she stretches a lunchbox towards me, a knowing look in her eyes, I feel my lip wobble but I take a long, deep, breath. She smiles at me and hands me the lunch bag.

“You barely had any breakfast this morning, Luna Sophia. You’ve been occupied all day… at least eat something.”

I nod and take the lunch bag from her, hoping my eyes can express all the gratitude my mouth can’t. She sees me off to the car and as I get in, Sorren’s husband flashes me a grin from the driver’s seat that makes me burst into a light chuckle. 

I watch as the old couple share a cheek kiss, love radiating between them openly. I hand Zach the car keys when he’s done making his wife blush and I stare out the window for the duration of the ride. We arrive at the company in no time.

Ulric’s men approach me immediately, making to form a shield around me but I wave them off. I enter the building and the voices of employees furiously gossiping reach my ears. My werewolf hearing makes the sound almost too much to bear and I have to tell Otsana to tune it down a bit. The hall is in a state of controlled chaos, yet as my eyes rise to look at the large glass screen above, I see one of the reasons Ulric is worried.

The company shares are dropping, and they’re dropping fast.

I scoff internally.

The CEO was just on the news for physically assaulting a reporter that caught him with a woman who wasn’t his wife. Of course they’d drop.

I’m almost sour at the thought of that because is this how it ends?

Ulric and I have been the perfect couple to the watching shifter world.

Everyone has seen us as the perfect example of a happy, successful family. We had to.

Old wealthy werewolves aren’t so lenient with their money, and neither are the more reclusive Lycans, but we made it work. We painted the picture of a happy werewolf family running a healthy prospering company, but what Ulric has done, just shattered all of that.

I take the elevator up to the top floor, staring at my reflection all the way. This dress might be the nicest I've worn in months now. 

The sheer forest green gown leaves patches of my skin exposed and adds a contrast to my cyan-blue eyes. My lips are coated in bright red lipstick, and with my best bag in hand, I look ready to do what I’m here for.

I walk into Ulric’s office to find him pacing. The moment he sees me, he comes rushing to me, stopping just short of hugging me and instead giving me a shoulder rub as a greeting instead. His eyes take a full view of me, from my wild strawberry blond curls to the diamond heels on my feet. He ignores them and gets right to business.

“I need you to help me, Sophia. I don’t know what to do right now.”

I nod to him and gesture to his seat, adding suggestively “Maybe sit down so we can talk about it?”

Ulric nods and gives me the rundown once he’s seated. 

He was caught heading to the hotel for a bit of “fun”. 

I do know how we haven’t had sex in a while now, so since he was suddenly overcome with the need to have sex, he decided not to bother me and go with this other person instead. He promises it’ll never happen again. 

Ulric’s eyes are persuading as he stares at me.

“Please Sophia…. you need to help me get this to blow over. You will, right?”

I nod because any other reaction will be something he can use in blaming me for this. I’ve done worse things to help him in the past, this should be a breeze. 

Ulric’s vibrant green eyes relax and he settles into his chair. His deep voice is clearer now as he sighs and continues.

“I have a media conference being set up already. I plan to tell the press that the female I was with is a mutual friend both of us share. I’ll tell them I was only at the hotel for a business meeting and I hit the reporter because she was harassing our friend…. I need you to back me up on this publicly, Sophia.”

I nod again and keep a painful surge of emotion I feel from showing on my face.

He sounds like we’re discussing a business problem, not the eight years of life I have devoted to being by his side.

Ulric gazes at me with passionate green eyes, and he gets up again, taking my hand and pulling me into a standing hug, his voice is a deep rumble as he whispers, “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Soph.”

I curse at my throat for suddenly going bitter and I hug Ulric back, squeezing him lightly, before stating.

“I have a request, Ulric.”

Ulric pauses for a second and chuckles before placing his chin on my head and stroking my back in soft slow motions as he replies indulgently, “If you do this for me, I'll get you anything you want. Is it that two-million-dollar car Vivian drives? Or a new set of jewelry?”

I smile now because he still thinks I'm naive.

He thinks I'll keep putting up with this. 

I shake my head and smirk, my head on his chest, “I want you to sign our divorce papers.” 

I feel the air leave my husband’s body and he goes silent and rigid but I continue, my tone sure and steady, 

“If I do this Ulric, I want you to sign our divorce papers, agree to give me full custody of our child, and half the assets and properties that I rightfully deserve.”

Ulric pushes me away, backing off lightly but I meet his eyes with a cool, calm gaze, a confident look in my eyes as I say convincingly “There’s no need to act surprised. I’ll save the company again, but those are my terms. Do we have a deal, Alpha Ulric?”