Chapter 1

LEAH

Five years of devotion, five years of pain, five years of endless surgeries and this is how he repays me?

My husband was coming into the house with his hand around another woman’s waist as he kissed her. She is young and beautiful, and I could swear I have seen her in some magazines. She was everything I was not. Slim, with gorgeous blonde hair and pale white skin.

While I had sacrificed all of my inheritance to my husband so he could build his pack. I had undergone so many surgeries so that I could give him an heir, and now I was overweight due to all of the stress. I had sacrificed everything for Darren Strong and this is how he repays me?

My mother in law was walking beside him with a smirk as they came in through the front door. Darren had been gone for a while to a conference with the lycan king. The last thing I expected was for him to come back with another woman. I overheard them speaking.

“I signed the contract,” he told his mother excitedly. “We are going to get the recognition we deserve from the lycan king, finally.”

“Yes, we won’t need her money anymore. If there is anything left, that is,” my mother— monster in law rather, cackled. “I am glad that you will finally be happy, my son. You deserve this, not that ugly whore you had married.”

I had enough. I could not hear more of it. I came out of the kitchen to confront them and Darren’s eyes widened in shock for a moment when he realized that I had been hearing them.

“What the hell is the meaning of this?” I yelled. I was so angry that my body was shaking.

My mother in law took a step back and put her hand over her nose, like I was smelling. She made me bathe multiple times a day and gave me the heaviest of scents to wear to hide my scent because I did not have a wolf. Multiple people had told me that I did not smell bad but my mother in law always had to be a mean bitch about it.

She took whatever chance she could get to taunt me.

“Dear, did you wear the deodorant that I got for you?”

“If you ask me one more time about a deodorant then I am going to shove it up your fucking ass you wench,” I yelled again. My mother in law was taken aback by shock. “I asked what is the meaning of this. Who is she?”

I was always the submissive wife that Darren had always wanted. He thought he was doing me a favor. I was banished from my pack with nothing but my inheritance after my parents died, which was why Darren had married me.

He was a struggling alpha and he used the money to build himself up to finally get recognition from the lycan king. Now that he had gotten one, he had come back with another woman. After using me for five years and making me destroy my body just so I could give him an heir.

“Mind your tone,” Darren hissed. “Do not forget who you are talking to. It is not her fault that you failed to give me an heir. I am tired of having you around when all you do is mope around and be fucking useless.”

My heart felt so heavy that I could not even breathe well. Useless? How dare he call me useless?

“I gave my youth to you, Darren. I gave you everything. How could you do this to me?” I cried. “The doctor had said that there was still hope. He said I was not barren, and we just needed more time.”

Darren rolled his eyes as he pulled her closer, “I do not give a damn about what the doctor said. Quite frankly, I am not attracted to you anymore Leah. You have gained so much weight that it disgusts me to even look at you.”

That statement felt like an arrow to my chest.

“How wouldn’t she gain weight when all she does is stuff her mouth with food in the kitchen?” My mother in law spat. “I have always told you that she was ugly. She just looks uglier now because she cannot even control her damn mouth.”

“I am always in the kitchen because you force me to cook, not because I want to!” I felt the tears sting my eyes, but I was not going to allow it to fall. I was not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he hurt me.

“As I said earlier, I do not care. You are not my problem anymore. I finally have my beautiful mate with me here and I am not going to allow you to come between us.” Darren smiled at her, and my heart boiled over.

“Mate?” I laughed bitterly.

“Yes. Sierra is my mate. I knew it immediately when I saw her. I cannot deny my wolf what he wants. Which you wouldn’t be able to understand because you do not even have one.” He mocked.

Darren had always consoled me about being 25 years old and not having a wolf. He never made me feel bad about it. Even when his mother was trying to make me feel bad about it, he would always stay silent or whisk me away.

But today he was standing in front of me and mocking me because of it. I was done. There was nothing else that was going to make me come back from this. He had used me all of these years, and I had fallen for it. I had always had hope that he was going to be my mate, but it was obvious now that he was just using me for my money.

He never loved me.

“Why don’t you go in and get the food you cooked for us so we can eat? Sierra is starving.” Darren kissed her again as they came further into the house. He dumped their bags next to me before he left into the house, leaving me behind with his mother.

“I have always told you this. You are not up to my son’s standards and do not deserve to be his mate,” she said with a condescending tone. “So now you are going to sit back and watch him become who he deserves to be. He is going to become the lycan king’s ally, and hopefully start working for him. He needs an heir that will continue his bloodline and you’re not going to be able to give him that.”

She shamelessly twirled her hair between her fingers with the extensions that I paid for. She was also wearing clothes that I paid for. If only I had the power to strip them off her and make her pay back everything I had sacrificed for them.

“You are so quick to speak when you do not even know if it is your son who cannot bear an heir.” I spat bitterly.

She blamed everything on me but she never considered the fact that maybe Darren was the barren one and not me.

“That is not possible,” she shook her head. “My son is fertile. You are the one that cannot bear an heir.”

“And how sure can you be when the doctors have never even tested us?”

She always made sure that the doctors did not check us for fertility, claiming that it was against the holy books to check. I always thought there was something she was not telling us but her son as the fool he was always chose to agree with her. Whatever mummy dearest told him was what stuck.

“Because I know it.” Her face turned sideways, like she was hiding something. I instantly got suspicious.

“How do you know that Darren is fertile and I am not?” She could not even look me in the eye which just intensified my suspicions.

“Because it was necessary,” she lowered her voice. “I did not want you to spoil our bloodline. I told him times without number that he was going to regret marrying someone who does not have a wolf even though you come with a massive inheritance.”

My breath was coming out shallowly. She did not… did she? I was dreading to hear what was going to come out of her mouth.

“So I had to take matters into my own hands. I slipped some pills into your food every day. It stopped you from conceiving, and it may or may not have destroyed your womb. The weight gain could be a side effect too, but I do not know.” She shrugged.

I could not believe my ears. All of these years of pain that I had gone through trying to get an heir for him and it was his mother that was stopping me? She had destroyed me. Destroyed my body, and destroyed my womb.

“You fucking devil.” I yelled as I walked towards and I slapped her right across the face. I wanted to hit her until she was dead for what she had done to me, but I could not. Darren would make sure to torture me before he killed me off too.

“You stupid fucker!” She hissed. I thought she was going to hit me back but she did not. “You think hitting me is going to make your life suck less? You have to live with a destroyed womb while watching your husband love his mate and give her what you have always wanted. That is enough punishment for you. Sit back and watch.”

“Sit back and watch?” I scoffed.

“Yes.” She crossed her arms over smugly.

“You must be delusional to think I am going to stay back after all of this. I am going to get a divorce.”