Chapter 3

LEAH

The walk of shame didn't happen in the dark; it happened in the brutal, unforgiving glare of the morning sun. By the time I reached my family’s estate, my eyes were raw from crying and my soul felt like it had been scraped hollow. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear, but as soon as I pushed through the heavy mahogany doors, I knew there would be no hiding.

My parents were standing in the living room, their faces etched with a pity that felt like a secondary assault.

"Oh, my poor Leah," my mother whispered, rushing toward me with open arms. The scent of her lavender perfume, usually so comforting, now felt suffocating. "We heard... the news traveled through the pack links faster than a wildfire. Austin and that girl... how could he be so reckless?"

"It’s a disgrace," my father added, his voice gruff but shaking with suppressed anger. "To take a low-ranked Omega’s virtue in a club lounge? He’s humiliated himself, but he’s humiliated you more, Leah. Everyone knew you were... close."

"Close?”

A sharp, melodic laugh rang out from the top of the grand staircase. My adopted younger sister, Bianca, leaned over the railing, her eyes glinting with a cruel, feline delight. She hadn't shifted yet—she was still months away from her first full moon—but she already had the predatory instincts of a high-ranked wolf.

"Let’s call it what it was, Mother," Bianca said, sauntering down the steps. "She was his shadow. His lapdog. And now the dog has been kicked to the curb for a stray.”

"Bianca, that is enough!" my father barked, but she ignored him.

"What’s the matter, Leah? Lost your voice?" Bianca stood in front of me, her height nearly matching mine. She smelled of expensive vanilla and malice. "Did you really think a future Beta would choose a boring, 'well-off' girl like you when he could have a tragic little damsel to rescue? You’re so pathetic, it’s actually hard to watch."

"Shut up, Bianca," I snapped, my voice trembling with a cocktail of rage and exhaustion. "You don't know anything about what happened last night."

"I know enough," she smirked, pulling her phone from the pocket of her silk robe. "And now the whole world knows too. Look."

She thrust the screen in front of my face. It was an official post on the Silver Moon Pack’s social portal. A photo of Austin and Valeria—his arm around her, her head on his shoulder, looking like the picture of fated love.

‘Fate works in mysterious ways,’ the caption read. ‘Proud to announce my engagement to my true mate and future Luna, Valeria. Sometimes, purity is the ultimate bond.’

The comments were already flooding in.

“A modern fairy tale!”

“So romantic!”

“Poor Leah, though... guess she wasn't enough.”

"Look at them," Bianca taunted, her voice a low hiss in my ear. "He’s claiming her virginity as the 'ultimate bond' while you’re standing here in last night’s clothes looking like a rejected rogue. You’re pathetic. Everyone knows you were obsessed with him. Now he’s marrying a nobody just to get away from you. You’re mentally unstable if you think you’ll ever find someone half as powerful as Austin. You’ve become the laughingstock of the elite, sister. No high-ranking wolf will touch you now. You’re tainted by his rejection."

"I wasn't rejected," I hissed, the heat in my chest rising until it felt like a physical flame. My wolf was snarling, pacing, demanding blood.

"Oh? Then what do you call it? You were with him last night, weren't you? And yet, here he is, marrying her. Face it, Leah. You’re a placeholder. A nobody. You’ll be lucky if you can marry a third-string sentinel by the time you're twenty-five."

"I am not a nobody!" I screamed. The walls of the foyer seemed to shake with the force of my voice. "You think I’m crying over Austin? You think he’s the best I can do?”

My mother stepped forward, looking worried. "Leah, honey, you're upset. You're not thinking straight—"

"I'm thinking perfectly straight!" I turned on Bianca, my eyes flashing with a sudden, desperate brilliance. The lie formed in my mind before I could stop it—The humiliation, the betrayal, the raw, bleeding wound in my chest... it snapped. "I don't need Austin. I’ve been over him for months. I'm already engaged.”

The room went silent.

Bianca froze for a second before letting out a loud, mocking guffaw. "Please! If you’re over him, then who are you engaged to? The mailman?”

I took a breath, clutching my purse so hard my knuckles turned white. I needed a name. The biggest, scariest name in the world. A name that would strike fear into the hearts of my family and make Austin’s title look like a child’s toy.

"I’m engaged to Alpha Santos De Luca," I declared.

The silence that followed was so heavy it was deafening. My mother gasped, clutching her throat. My father’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

Santos De Luca.

Devil of the north. He wasn't just a wolf. He was the Alpha of the Midnight Eclipse—the most powerful, wealthy, and terrifying pack in the entire country. They were rumored to have Lycan blood, making them larger, faster, and infinitely more dangerous.

Santos was a ghost in the social world, a man who ruled with an iron fist and had never been seen with a woman on his arm. A man so powerful he made Austin’s family look like street vendors. He was the "Fearful King," a man who had asked me out a year ago at a summit, and whom I had turned down because I was "loyal" to Austin.

Bianca was the first to break the silence. She started to giggle, then it turned into a full-blown, hysterical laugh. "Santos De Luca?" she shrieked, clutching her stomach. "Leah, you really have lost your mind! That man hasn't been seen in public for six months. He doesn't even talk to our Alpha! You’re dreaming so high you’ve got altitude sickness!"

"I'm not dreaming," I said, my voice gaining a terrifying coldness. "We’ve been seeing each other in secret. Why do you think I was so 'unaffected' by Austin’s little drama? I have a King. Why would I want a Beta?"

"Leah..." my father started, his voice hushed. "If this is true... it would change everything. But Santos? He’s... he’s dangerous."

"He’s my fiancé," I repeated, looking Bianca dead in the eye.

"Liars eventually trip over their own tongues, sister," Bianca sneered, stepping closer. "If this is true—if you are actually engaged to the King of Midnight Eclipse—I will drop to my knees and kiss your feet in front of the entire pack at the next gala."

I felt a shiver of pure terror, but I didn't let my mask slip. I let out a sharp, mocking laugh of my own.

"Get your lips ready, Bianca," I said, my voice dripping with fake confidence. "Because the floor is going to be very cold."

Without another word, I turned and marched up the stairs, my heart drumming a frantic rhythm against my ribs. I didn't stop until I reached my room and slammed the door, locking it with a trembling hand.

I collapsed against the wood, my breath coming in jagged gasps.

What have I done?

I had just declared war. I had just claimed the most dangerous wolf in the world as my protector. If Santos found out, he wouldn't just be angry; he would probably kill me for using his name.

But as I looked at my reflection in the mirror—at the bruised, broken girl Austin had left on the floor—I saw a spark of something else. For the first time in years, I wasn't just "Austin's friend." I was a threat.

I grabbed my car keys. I had to get to De Luca Tower before the rumors did.