1. From Mate to Nothing

Cressida’s POV

I stood frozen outside the door, the thin crack revealing a scene that shattered my world.

Alpha Kael’s deep, guttural moans filled the room as he thrust into her with raw, punishing force. My best friend Zara clawed at his back, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

“Yes! Harder, Daddy… just like that!” she cried out, her voice dripping with ecstasy.

A choked sob escaped me before I could stop it. I pressed both hands over my mouth, hot tears spilling down my cheeks as I stumbled backward. Two years of marriage to my fated mate, and this was what it had come to.

Kael had never touched me. Never marked me. He only agreed to the union because his mother demanded a Luna for the pack. The mate bond burned in my chest like liquid fire, forcing me to love him even when he looked at me with nothing but indifference or worse, disgust.

He openly chased every she-wolf who caught his eye, parading them through our home without shame. And I… I endured it all in silence.

I told myself it was temporary. That one day he would tire of his conquests and finally see me as his true mate. So I smiled through the pain, welcomed his lovers into our pack house, and let the servants’ pitying glances wash over me like cold rain.

Zara had been my only real comfort after my parents died. My rock. My sister in everything but blood.

And now she was the one in the arms of my mate holding him like she belonged there.

I fled down the hallway, tears blurring my vision, and burst into the kitchen. Jace, Kael’s younger brother, leaned against the counter, casually biting into a bright red apple. His sharp eyes flicked up, taking in my tear-streaked face, and a slow, knowing smirk curved his lips.

“Oh, Cressida,” he drawled, feigning ignorance. “Kael gave strict orders that no one was to go near his room today. I wonder why.”

He chuckled darkly, tossing the apple core into the bin before strolling out, leaving me alone with my breaking heart.

I sank to the cold stone floor, sobs wracking my body. How could Zara do this? How could she betray me so cruelly after all the nights I’d cried on her shoulder?

My wolf whimpered inside me, her pain a thousand times sharper than mine. The mate bond had left us both starved and untouched, weakening with every passing day.

At twenty-three, I had never known the warmth of my mate’s hands, never felt the pleasure of being wanted.

The cook, dear old Mira, walked in and gasped at the sight of me crumpled on the ground. She rushed over, pulling me into her soft embrace as I buried my face in her neck, weeping like a child.

“Hush now, my sweet girl,” she murmured, stroking my hair. “Come on. Let’s get you to your room.”

She helped me up and guided me through the halls. But the moment we stepped inside my chambers, the door swung open again with a heavy bang.

Kael stood there, shirtless and still flushed from exertion, his hand possessively gripping Zara’s waist. Her eyes sparkled with satisfaction, her lips swollen from his kisses. The scent of sex and sweat clung to both of them like a taunt.

Mira immediately bowed and scurried out, leaving me alone with the two people who had just destroyed me.

“Why?” I whispered, my voice raw and broken. “Zara… how could you?”

She scoffed, tossing her long dark hair over one shoulder. There wasn’t a trace of guilt in her eyes only cold indifference.

“Don’t be dramatic, Cressida. You knew exactly what you were getting into when you married Alpha Kael. Stop acting surprised.”

Kael stepped closer, his powerful frame towering over me. His gaze was flat, almost bored.

“Give it to me,” he ordered.

I blinked through fresh tears. “What?”

He pointed at my throat. “The necklace.”

My hand flew up instinctively to clutch the emerald jade pendant that rested against my chest—the last gift from my mother before she died. It was the only piece of her I had left. Priceless. Irreplaceable.

“You… you can’t be serious,” I breathed, disbelief turning to rage. “This was my mother’s! You have no right—”

Zara rolled her eyes. “Just give him the damn necklace. Are you deaf?”

The slap came so fast I didn’t see it coming.

Pain exploded across my cheek as I crashed onto the bed. Before I could recover, Kael’s rough hand wrapped around the chain and yanked hard. The delicate links snapped, and he ripped the pendant away from me.

Zara giggled behind him, delighted.

“Thank you, my love,” she purred, taking the necklace from his hand and admiring it in the light. “I’ve wanted this since the first time I saw it.”

Kael said nothing. He simply turned, letting Zara loop her arm through his as they walked out of my room like I was nothing. Like I had never mattered.

I stared at the empty doorway, every breath feeling like broken glass in my lungs. The pain of all his betrayals had never cut this deep. He had taken the one thing that still connected me to my mother and given it to the woman who had pretended to love me.

I couldn’t stay here anymore.

If I did, I would die.

I waited until the sun began to sink below the horizon, painting the sky in bloody reds and oranges. Then I changed into simple traveling clothes, pulled a dark cloak over my shoulders, and slipped out through the servants’ back entrance. No one noticed. No one cared.

Once beyond the pack gates, I broke into a run, plunging deep into the darkening woods. My wolf whined and begged me not to leave our mate, but I silenced her with brutal determination. Tonight, I would run until my legs gave out.

I pushed myself for miles, chest burning, until exhaustion finally forced me to stop. I leaned against a thick tree trunk, gasping for air, when I heard it. Dozens of heavy footsteps marching towards the pack. It was an army.

My heart slammed against my ribs as I spun to flee, but my foot caught on an exposed root sending me tumbling hard to the forest floor.

Before I could scramble up, rough hands seized my arms and hauled me to my feet. Soldiers surrounded me, their faces grim and battle-hardened.

A tall, menacing man stepped forward, his sword already drawn. The blade glinted coldly as he raised it, ready to drive it right through my chest.

“Wait.”

The single word sliced through the air like a whip and the soldier froze.

I lifted my gaze, and my breath caught.

A man emerged from the shadows, his presence commanding the entire clearing. He was tall, taller even than Kael with broad shoulders and an aura of pure, dangerous power.

He studied me slowly, a predatory smile curving his lips.

“Well… well… well,” he murmured, his voice lethal. “What do we have here?”

In that moment, staring into those cold, endless eyes, I knew with chilling certainty that I had just run from one nightmare… straight into another.