Chapter 1

My best friend had a gift — though I didn't know what it really was back then.

Every time I started seeing someone, she'd get close to him. Turn on some kind of pull I couldn't explain. No man ever resisted. She'd sleep with him, then send me the proof — photos, marks, screenshots — with the same sweet message every time:

"Jos, babe, you should be thanking me! I just saved you from another cheater. Don't I always look out for you?"

Five boyfriends. Five "loyalty tests." Five relationships she tore apart and called it a favor.

I broke. Cut her off. Fled to Silver Ridge, as far away as I could get.

That's where I found my fated mate — Callum Drake, the pack's young Alpha. The bond hit us both the moment we locked eyes. For the first time in years, I thought I could be happy.

On the day of our mating ceremony, she showed up in my dressing room wearing an attendant's uniform.

"Jos! Surprise! Just let me run one teensy little test before you commit —"

She drugged my wine. Put on my ceremonial robes. Climbed into Callum's bed.

I woke up in time. Brought the elders. Had her thrown out of the territory.

Months later, I went into labor. Something tore. I was bleeding out.

Callum stood over me and watched.

"Tessa just wanted to give herself to me before the ceremony. One last wish. And you threw her out like trash."

"Rogues tore her apart outside the border. She was carrying my pup when she died."

"You and that thing inside you can rot."

He wouldn't let the healer near me. I died on that table. He threw my ashes in a ditch.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in the dressing room. Ceremony morning. Tessa was standing right in front of me.

She was pointing at my face, laughing. Everyone around us had their phones out, giggling. I looked in the mirror — she'd tampered with my scent. Made me smell like I'd been marked by another male. Subtle, but every wolf in the room could feel something was off.

Last time, I'd screamed. Called her a siren in front of the whole pack. Tessa shrank into the corner, sobbing: "I didn't do anything… I'm just a weak-blooded wolf… why is she making up these horrible things about me?"

The whispers started before I could even explain. "Siren? She reads too many old legends." "Imagine being this paranoid on your own ceremony day." My words turned to nothing against her tears and Callum's tired eyes.

This time, I found the siren trace threaded through my scent, and pushed my wolf forward until it burned away. I looked at Tessa and smiled.

The door opened. Callum walked in. Tessa grabbed his wrist — "Alpha, I set up a little surprise for you guys!" — tripped, and fell right against his chest. Face flushed, lips parted. "Oops. Sorry."

I caught the flash of heat in his eyes before he glanced at me and shut it down. He pushed her off. "Not funny. Apologize to my mate."

"Don't bother." I wiped my scent markers clean. "Callum, cancel the ceremony."

He stared. Half a laugh. "That's not funny either."

"I'm not laughing." I pulled off the ceremonial sash and dropped it on the floor. "We're done."

He grabbed my wrist, vein throbbing at his temple. "Over a prank? The whole pack is out there —"

I pulled free. "You know exactly why. I'm giving you a chance to be with whoever you really want."

Not a crack in the mask. Just hurt, just confusion. "You're the only one I want. Is this about her? I'll throw her out of the territory right now."

Tessa ran out crying. Callum didn't look at her. "See? She's gone. Can we do this now?"

Luna walked in with a pack elder. Her face was tight. "He's already apologized. Stop being difficult."

The elder leaned in. "Josie. When no pack in the region would take you and your mother in, it was Callum who opened the gates. Some gratitude wouldn't hurt."

My chest went tight. My mother's wolf-shock was Tessa's doing. At my previous ceremony, Tessa had charmed my intended mate off the altar and run. My mother watched her daughter be destroyed in front of everyone — the shock ripped her wolf from her human side. Permanent. No pack would take a broken omega after that. I'd dragged her here. To Silver Ridge. To Callum.

I knew what the elder meant. Make trouble today, and my mother's out.

Callum stepped in. "Josie is my mate. Her mother is family." Then softer: "Please. For your mother's sake. Not today."

I dug my nails into my palms. Then I let my face go hurt instead of hard.

"Callum… she whispered something to me. She said you told her to mess with my scent. That you did it for her. That's why I got upset."

The room shifted. Every face went from annoyed to uncomfortable.

Callum's jaw twitched. "She's lying. Jealous, that's all." When I said nothing, he sighed. "I'll have her removed. Permanently."

"Then swear it. If you ever betray this bond — I walk free."

He raised his hand. I fed him the words — an oath from the pack's oldest records, the kind most wolves had never heard.

"Should I break this bond, let the price fall on my blood and my birthright."

He repeated it under the Moon Goddess's witness. The oath sealed. He had no idea what he'd just promised — under ancient law, those words mean an Alpha who breaks the bond loses his bloodline power. Permanently.

The crowd clapped. Through the doorway, I caught one glimpse of Tessa's face — mask off, something ugly underneath — before she pulled it back on.

The ceremony went ahead.

Afterward, Tessa caught me in the corridor. Pressed a cup of wine into my hands. "You must be so tired, Jos. Drink. You deserve it."

I knew what was in that cup. I tilted it to my lips, let the liquid run down my chin instead of my throat, and closed my eyes.

Her footsteps faded. Then her laugh, Callum's voice, a door slamming past the tree line.

I opened my eyes. Followed the scent trail to a hunting cabin at the edge of the territory.

I didn't kick the door down. I went back. Found Luna chatting with guests.

"Luna — I think Callum wandered toward the woods. Something doesn't feel right."

She gathered the elders. They followed me through the trees. At the cabin door, the sounds from inside were unmistakable. Every face went white.

I pushed the door open. "Callum? Are you okay?"

Two bodies scrambling apart. Grabbing at furs. Tessa's eyes found mine through the crowd. She smiled.

The hallway erupted.

Luna shoved past everyone and grabbed Tessa by the arm. "You drugged my son! You made him think you were Josie! I'll have you dragged before the council!"

Tessa's smile vanished. Tears on command. She curled into Callum's chest, shaking.

"Callum… save me… she's hurting me…"