Prologue

POV Savannah Bowen

MONTHS BEFORE

My heart roared in my chest as my feet crushed the dry leaves covering the ground, each step bringing me closer to Hunter, the alpha I was supposed to marry. My father's arm, locked around mine, was like steel, holding me steady and guiding me toward a commitment sealed when I was still a pup.

The full moon reflected through the tree trunks, illuminating the path that would lead me to him. My future husband.

It was a pact. The firstborn of each pack leader was to unite in marriage, sealing the peace agreement between the packs and increasing our power, thus intensifying our strength.

I lifted my face, observing Hunter standing before Bason, the old wolf patriarch of the packs. His age was still a mystery to many, but the wrinkled skin on his face, the few snow-white hairs, and the deep, experienced brown eyes indicated that he was very, very old.

My fiancé had a serious expression, without even a hint of a smile. That was how he was most of the time—he showed no emotion at all.

I pressed my lips together, holding my breath.

Hunter was beautiful.

Short, dark brown hair; eyes a deep brown with honey-colored flecks in their center, complementing his golden skin. His height and broad shoulders made his presence even more imposing, as did his strong, defined arms.

The white shirt he wore had its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Black pants clung to the toned muscles of his legs, the hem showing his bare feet.

My gaze swept once more over his sculpted face. A chiseled jawline, clean-shaven. Thin but well-defined lips. A straight nose.

His smile, which occasionally was directed at me, made my heart collapse in my chest.

I swallowed a sigh, containing the intensity of emotions that overtook me.

I loved him.

Although, in the beginning, it was merely an arrangement between our parents, we learned to live with this fact and developed a bond. He was eight years older than me and had always been present in my life.

It was far too easy to fall in love with him. Handsome, strong, and an alpha desired by every female in the pack.

My first kiss, at sixteen, was with him; just as my first time was a few months ago after a bonfire party. And every time since then.

Outside the mating season, I would never get pregnant. And my parents made sure to control my fertility until the wedding day. They had no idea Hunter and I had already rushed things, or I would be dead.

Knowing he was mine, destined to me, filled me with pride.

Years of dedication and strict upbringing had gone into making me the perfect wife for the alpha. I was barred from attending parties, never allowed to have a friend, and forbidden from speaking to any male who wasn’t family.

My freedom only began when Hunter first showed interest in me, shortly before we kissed. With him, my parents allowed me to go out; after all, he would be my husband.

Marrying him had been a fact ingrained in my life for as long as I could remember, so I never allowed myself to feel interest in any male other than him. And I didn’t regret it.

Hunter had always been perfect.

This was the happiest day of my life. The day I would finally marry him and live in peace, free from my father and all his aggression.

As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, he tightened his grip on my arm. A subtle touch, a small reminder of what was expected of me.

Being free of him was the best part of it all.

He wasn’t a good male, nor a good alpha, husband, or father. He oppressed me, my mom, and Selena, my younger sister.

The pack didn’t respect him; they merely feared him. And I didn’t think that was, by any stretch, something to be proud of, but he did.

Having no male offspring, no alpha to carry on his legacy, he placed all his expectations on me. He hoped I could have a male child with Hunter, thus giving our pack the alpha to succeed him after his death.

Only men were born alphas. Selena and I were omegas like our mother, Diana.

That’s why any trace of freedom I had was taken from me when I was eight years old, as soon as my father, Alpha James, and Hunter’s father, Alpha Caspian, sealed a blood pact.

My eyes darted to where my sister stood, beside our mother, at the front of the gathering.

With her dark brown hair tied in a braid draped over her right shoulder, her blue eyes, so much like mine, radiated concern. Selena wore a simple, long green dress that hugged her slender figure with subtle curves in all the right places.

She wasn’t the biggest fan of my fiancé. Selena despised Hunter with all her might and was entirely against arranged marriages. She said I couldn’t see the truth about him, that I was just a foolish girl in love.

But how could I avoid falling for him when I had spent my entire life preparing for this moment? It was much easier to embrace the destiny that awaited me than to reject and despise it.

I glanced at my mother who, unlike my sister, wore a smile of satisfaction and pride, much like her husband. Her blonde hair was pulled tightly back, pinned high on her head. She wore a dark dress that covered every curve of her body, to please my father, who hated her showing too much.

My dress was simple. White, made of smooth silk, with thin straps and a straight neckline. The skirt wasn’t voluminous but swayed with each barefoot step I took along the leaf-strewn, tulip-petal-covered aisle. A veil draped over my hair cascaded around my face.

It was nothing extravagant, adhering to the traditional union ceremonies that occasionally took place within the packs.

To my right stood Hunter’s pack, my new family. To my left, the pack I was born into.

I cast a fleeting glance at them and felt absolutely nothing about finally leaving the pack behind. I hoped things would be better with my new family. In my old one, the males had no respect for the females, whether they were omegas or betas. They were a reflection of the legacy my father was leaving as a leader, just as his father had done. I, however, hoped my son could break this paradigm.

Hunter wouldn’t oppose it; I knew it by the respectful way he always treated me.

I lifted my face, keeping my steps firm and determined as I walked down the aisle covered in dry leaves and white tulip petals.

Caspian stood behind his son, flashing a broad, satisfied smile.

I blinked slowly, taking a deep breath of the chilly evening air, and looked at Hunter once more.

The flickering light of the lanterns hung around us bathed his face, illuminating it. I pursed my lips into a weak smile, one I knew he could see with his wolf-sharp eyes, even through the veil covering my face. He didn’t reciprocate, remaining firm.

As the future Alpha of the pack, he couldn’t show feelings in public; they were considered a sign of weakness, and he could never appear weak.

The silence that surrounded us was a mark of respect. The packs attending the ceremony approved of the union. Only the faint howl of the wind, the rustling of the tall tree branches, the chirping of an owl, and the crunch of my feet against the leaves could be heard.

I wondered if they could also hear the thunder of my racing heart with their sharp hearing. Although my father hated me for it, this was one symptom of my body I couldn’t and wouldn’t control.

Alpha Bason rested his eyes on me, appearing as bored as always, as if nothing in life surprised him anymore, and he was merely killing time on Earth.

We stopped in front of Hunter, and I slightly inclined my head in a gesture of submission, exactly as they expected of me.

I was supposed to become a submissive, modest wife and a good provider of heirs.

I was already used to being silent in the face of my father’s harsh personality. Staying quiet for Hunter didn’t bother me; he was far better, more pleasant, and loving than the male who had given me life. What truly scared me was failing to fulfill my duty and provide him with the heirs expected of me. That was, in fact, my greatest fear.

Hunter extended his arm and touched my face with the back of his hand through the thin veil. His eyes betrayed nothing but a coldness I wasn’t accustomed to seeing.

I swallowed hard, feeling my hands soaked with sweat.

It’s a mask, I told myself. A mask to keep his leadership unshakable and the mutual respect of the other wolves intact.

“I am handing over my firstborn daughter, as per the pact sealed so many years ago,” my father declared, his voice echoing through the rows of wooden benches so all the wolves could bear witness.

Alpha Caspian stepped forward, analyzing my figure from head to toe with a frown.

“Indeed, a beautiful she-wolf,” he commented, fixing his gaze where my breasts formed a slight curve under the silk fabric of the wedding dress. “I hope she’s a better breeder than her mother and grants an Alpha to my son.”

Thump, thump, thump...

My heart drummed in my ears, leaving me slightly dizzy.

Hunter laughed, tilting his head to the side, his gaze never leaving mine. The rest of the pack joined in his laughter. I kept my head down, not uttering a single sound.

Selena, on the other hand, let out a disapproving growl but fell silent as soon as our father’s gaze met hers.

I wanted to kill my stubborn, headstrong sister for that. There would be consequences for her disobedience. He would hit her and leave her without food. How could she still defy him despite all this, when it was so much easier to just... follow his rules?

“I can assure you my daughter won’t be as... weak as my wife,” my father growled.

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the pain of my mother’s failure pierce my soul. I hated that they were talking about it, that they could humiliate her in front of the packs. It was my wedding day, meant to be a happy occasion.

Caspian gave my father a wolfish grin.

That was my father’s greatest wound. And everyone knew it.

“I hope you’re right, James. And that you’re not deceiving me by handing over a useless she-wolf.”

Alpha Bason cleared his throat.

“Let’s continue the ceremony, please. We’re all eager for the banquet,” he mocked, trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere that had settled.

Our fathers weren’t friendly—never had been. They tolerated each other because they were stronger as allies than as enemies. But they only decided on the unification of the packs when I was eight years old, after Lily, Caspian’s wife and Hunter’s mother, disappeared. After that tragic event, they relented and sealed the union agreement.

Hunter took my wrist and pulled me to him, placing me at his side, facing Alpha Bason.

I controlled my breathing and kept my arms close to my body, avoiding showing how much I was trembling.

The patriarch looked at me with a warm smile, then at Hunter.

“We are here to celebrate the union of this couple and finally unify the two Eastern packs!” he began, raising his voice for all to hear.

After exchanging our vows—cutting our palms and pressing them together in a blood exchange—we would head to a bonfire celebration. Then, to the honeymoon, where Hunter would mark me as his wife, his she-wolf, and his property. It wouldn’t be a mating ritual because I wouldn’t mark him. Mating was something serious and profound, where wolves became one. If one died, the other would die too. Whatever one felt, the other felt as well. It was a bond few Alphas dared to make, usually with predestined mates—rare and uncommon.

The next day, our parents would check Hunter’s bite marks on me, officially concluding the ceremony.

Alpha Bason held a silver knife with a wolf-bone handle and handed it to Hunter.

“Cut your palm and your bride’s palm so we can begin the union vows,” he instructed. My father stepped closer, as did Caspian. “Hunter, Alpha of the Eastern Eclipse Pack, do you accept Savannah, of the Eastern Twilight Pack, as your mate?”

For a second, the world seemed to stop spinning. Everything around us went utterly silent and still.

Hunter looked at me, and a fierce glint flashed in his brown eyes—the eyes I loved so much.

“No,” he whispered, clenching his teeth.

I smiled proudly, not realizing what he had just said. A wave of gasps rippled through the forest. The smile on my face slowly faded.

“What?” Alpha Bason asked, as confused as I was.

In a swift motion, Hunter threw the knife to his father and grabbed my arm so tightly I could feel the marks his fingers would leave on my skin. With his other hand, he pulled the veil, uncovering my face.

“How dare you reject my daughter?” my father growled. “I demand an explanation before I kill you both.”

Hunter ignored him, keeping his attention on me.

I stared into his eyes, trying to find any hint of mockery in his tone. He wouldn’t reject me on our wedding day—not after everything we’d been through.

He loved me, didn’t he?

He leaned in, aligning our faces.

“I reject you, Savannah! And I will turn you into my pack’s whore,” he whispered, brushing the back of his hand against my cheek. “Have you told your father how you spread your legs for me? How you moaned my name while I was inside you?”

My eyes widened, and I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

He wasn’t doing this. He couldn’t be. He was... humiliating me in front of everyone, disgracing me.

“I’ll kill you,” my father growled, advancing.

“Tell your father, darling. Tell him what a slut you are. Tell him how you sucked my cock the last night we spent together, taking me in until you choked,” he hissed through gritted teeth, his fingers tightening around my neck.

I shook my head, my tear-filled eyes blurring my vision.

I was... breaking. Little by little, until there was nothing left of me—nothing for him, nothing for anyone.

Hunter, my fiancé, my betrothed. My first love, my first in everything. He was... rejecting me at the altar, dishonoring me, degrading me.

I gasped.

Then everything happened too fast.

My father lunged at Hunter, but Caspian blocked him, shoving him away from his son, who kept his hands on my neck. It was a silent threat. He held my life in his hands and could end it at any moment.

“We had a deal, you cursed bastard!” my father roared.

Caspian laughed loudly, mockingly.

“We never had a deal.”

“What?”

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything but stare at Hunter, utterly incredulous.

Through his eyes, I saw something I had never seen before. Hatred, disgust, contempt.

My heart broke at that moment, with the obvious realization that I had been deceived my entire life. That I had been nothing more than a puppet, molded by my parents and deluded by the male I swore to love.

My entire life, every limitation I endured to become the perfect wife for him—everything. It was all a lie.

"I never planned to marry off our offspring, you bastard. I would never marry one of my children to a whore from your bloodline!" Caspian confessed, his tone dripping with disdain that made my fur stand on end. "All of this was nothing more than my revenge plan."

"Have you gone mad?" Alpha Bason interjected.

"I know about the affair you had with Lily, how you loved sneaking around with my wife behind my back." He laughed, full of scorn. "I killed her as soon as I discovered the truth. Right in front of Hunter, so he could see the truth about his whore of a mother. I plunged my hand deep into her chest and ripped out her heart."

"Then, I had the idea to bury the body and pretend she disappeared, creating the illusion that we were in danger so you would agree to give one of your daughters in the deal," Hunter added, his firm voice echoing through the forest.

I swallowed a sob and let the first tear slide down the corner of my right eye.

"And now, I will finally have the pleasure of killing you," Caspian continued. "After humiliating you in front of everyone, knowing you had a used-up whore for a daughter, just as you used my wife." He laughed. "But don't worry, James. I'll make your daughters the bitches of my pack. They'll serve all my men, always ready to satisfy them, until they're of no use anymore."

A powerful growl erupted from my father's chest, sending chills through me. He was unleashing his alpha power, exuding raw, blind fury.

Hunter turned me around, pressing my back against his hard, defined chest, keeping his fingers wrapped around my neck, forcing me to look at our fathers. He leaned in, his lips close to my ear.

"Don’t worry, Sava..." he whispered, kissing my ear. "I'll be one of your clients. I like what you have to offer between your legs. A good pussy shouldn't go to waste."

I let out a low hiss, exhaling all the pain I felt through it.

My father broke free from Caspian and lunged at him, ready to kill, blinded by rage and his thirst for vengeance.

But he didn’t get far. The alpha of the Eclipse wolves held a silver knife and didn’t hesitate before plunging the blade into his neck.

The blood from his severed vein sprayed onto my face and the rest of my body, staining my white dress red. It was hot, thick, and emitted a strong smell that churned my stomach.

I gasped, parting my lips in heavy breaths. My mother's scream shattered the silence, piercing the air.

James stumbled back a few steps, his hands clutching his bleeding neck, trying to stop the warm blood gushing from the wound.

The pungent, metallic smell filled the air, hitting my nose.

His blue eyes gradually lost focus as life drained from his body. Caspian's laughter boomed.

"And finally, after so long, I’m having the pleasure of watching you die," he said, pulling the knife from my father's neck. He stared at the red liquid coating the blade and brought it to his lips, running his tongue along it to taste. "Now I know what your blood tastes like, James. Enjoy my wife in hell."

He kicked the wounded alpha with force, sending him flying. He struck one of the trees, falling lifeless onto the bed of dry leaves.

I covered my mouth with my hands.

Dead.

My father was dead.

The alpha of the pack I belonged to. And I was a prisoner of the psychopathic male who killed him and the bastard son who had destroyed me in countless ways I couldn’t even measure.

My mother fell to her knees, emitting a hollow, deep sound of pain. She raised her face and looked at Caspian, her expression contorted with rage. Her eyes glowed emerald green, her wolf surfacing. In one swift motion, she rose and charged at the alpha, her deformed hand with elongated claws slashing at Caspian’s arm, tearing through skin and muscle, wounding him.

Hunter released me, growling loudly, and ran to his father.

Caspian clutched his arm, baring his elongated teeth, his dark brown eyes gleaming.

"I will kill her," he hissed.

"No," Hunter interrupted. "I will have that pleasure."

My mother’s face was contorted. She was mid-transformation—glowing eyes, extended canines, elongated claws, and patches of fur scattered across her body.

Hunter stared her down, growling, exuding his fear pheromone, trying to force her to kneel before him, before an alpha.

A cold hand gripped my arm. I looked to my side and found Selena with wide eyes and lips as white as paper.

Diana gave in, kneeling before Hunter, though every muscle in her body strained to resist submitting to him.

Her eyes were dull, her pupils dilated and lifeless.

"I was going to let you live so you could see your daughters become the pack’s prostitutes. But I will not forgive your offense against my father."

"You betrayed my husband, our pack, my daughter. You’re nothing but treacherous dogs who wouldn’t honor the agreement you sealed."

Hunter laughed.

"And you’re a useless wolf. You couldn’t even give your husband an alpha, nor please him in bed since he had to look elsewhere."

Selena tugged at my arm, urging me to step back. Small, light steps that neither Hunter nor Caspian noticed.

My mother smiled at him, baring her teeth in a biting grin.

"At least my husband died knowing he was never dishonored, as he was my only male, while your father was the biggest fool of them all."

Hunter let out a furious scream, slashing her neck with his claws. Blood sprayed onto me, merging with the mess that was already my dress.

I looked down, observing the fabric stained red. The gown I wore on what should have been the happiest day of my life, utterly ruined, tainted with the blood of my parents, whose lives had been taken by the male I once loved.

Hunter dragged me into his revenge plan, even though I had nothing to do with what had happened. He was crucifying me for the sins committed by my father.

She gurgled, choking on her own blood, before falling backward to the ground. Dead.

I heard the murmurs around us, footsteps echoing from all sides.

"You killed our alpha. Now you deserve to die!" someone shouted.

"I’m waiting," Hunter taunted, inviting the wolves for a challenge.

I took a few more steps back, increasing the distance between us. My gaze met Alpha Bason’s, who seemed devastated by the situation. With a single, almost imperceptible nod, I understood his command.

Run!

Staying was not an option. Hunter had already stated his plans for me and my sister. He had taken so much from me already.

My heart; my freedom; my honor.

I wouldn’t let him take the little or nothing I had left.

I grabbed one of the lanterns, yanking it off a branch, and smashed it to the ground with all my strength. The glass shattered, and the candle’s fire quickly spread through the dry leaves, creating a wall between us.

Hunter’s eyes darted to me, momentarily distracted from the wolves of our former pack advancing on him, challenging him.

"Don’t even think about running, Sava," he growled a threat. "I will hunt you down wherever you are and bring you back home, no matter the circumstances."

"I will never come back!"

"Don’t do this, my love. Things will be much worse for you and your dear sister when I get my hands on you again."

I grabbed the skirt of my dress, tearing it with force to lighten its weight and shorten its length. It would be much easier to run without a long train getting in my way.

"We will be free, Hunter, or we will die trying."

"You son of a bitch!" Selena cursed, pointing a finger at him. "You’ll pay for everything you did to my sister and our pack." She threw another lantern to the ground, spreading the fire even more rapidly.

"If you run through this forest, you’ll be treated as traitors. You know it’s forbidden to leave the pack. Everyone will hunt you down, and death will be the least of your worries." He looked directly at me, filled with rage. "And you, my adorable bride, will suffer all the consequences of this."

"Screw you!" I hissed.

I was nothing anymore. Thanks to him.

The first wolf lunged at Hunter, and I desperately hoped he would strike the pulsing vein in Hunter’s neck. But as a superior alpha, he was much faster and stronger. He quickly dodged the attack and snapped the wolf’s neck.

I didn’t wait to see if the others would succeed. Selena grabbed my arm. I turned on my heels and started running into the forest.

I had no idea where we were going or how long we could keep him away, but... it was our last hope.

Freedom.

Deceived, rejected, despised.

I just wanted to be free and try to live in peace, even if only for a moment.

I ran away from the chaos, away from Hunter, alongside Selena, with tangled hair, a tear-streaked face, a torn wedding dress, and my skin splattered with the blood of my parents.

I wanted to cry until there were no more tears left, but there was no time for that. All I needed to do was... run. Without stopping, without looking back. To put as much distance as possible between Hunter and me.

All I had left was my sister and the hope that we could find some semblance of freedom.