Chapter 1

After I slapped my Alpha's mistress, he had me committed to the Pack infirmary, where they pumped me full of drugs to suppress the agony of a shattered mate bond.

My father—the Alpha of the Moore Pack—and my brother Johnathan were being held captive by the Quinn Pack.

Every time Sebastian betrayed me, I lay in that infirmary bed, enduring pain that tore through me like my chest was being ripped apart from the inside.

It wasn't until Hedy's pup was born that I finally worked up the courage to beg him—carefully, meekly—to release my family.

Sebastian smiled mockingly and spoke as if his words were of no consequence.

"Sera, do you have any idea how I first met Hedy?"

My breath caught. My nails dug hard into my palms.

"Your father and your brother delivered her to my bed."

"Hedy is your half-sister."

He watched the color drain from my face, his expression dripping with contempt, then unlocked his phone and slid it across to me.

"Your father and brother were never imprisoned. They've been with Hedy this entire time—all three years."

On the screen, Dad and Johnathan hovered around Hedy and her pup, their faces lit with a contentment and joy I had never once seen directed at me.

My vision blurred as my eyes filled with tears. Pain tore through my chest, sharp and slow, like a blade working its way deeper.

Sebastian went on, talking as though I weren't falling apart right in front of him.

"Sera, you've been very well-behaved these past three years. Keep it up. Whatever you want as compensation—name it."

"Although…" A sly smile tugged at his lips. "Even if I offered, you wouldn't actually want anything, would you?"

I wiped my tears away, lifted my face, and smiled.

"Sebastian, then compensate me with a hundred million dollars."

A mate like this. A family like this. I wanted none of it.

Sebastian's expression froze.

"What did you just say?"

I raised my head and looked him straight in the eye, my voice trembling despite myself.

"You said you wanted to compensate me. Then give me money."

"A hundred million. Not a cent less."

The warmth bled out of Sebastian's gaze.

He let out a derisive scoff, then spoke toward the phone on the desk.

"Hedy, looks like neither of us guessed right."

At some point, the screen had switched to a live video call.

Hedy stared back at me, amusement and mockery written all over her face.

"Sera, we placed bets—on what you'd demand from Sebastian once you learned the truth."

"I bet you'd refuse any compensation and trash the office in a meltdown. Sebastian bet you'd use it as leverage to make sure he never dissolved the mate bond."

"As for Dad and Johnathan—one guessed you'd demand Sebastian send me away, and the other guessed you'd hurt yourself to force his hand."

She turned the camera to the side.

Dad was cradling Hedy's pup, beaming from ear to ear—but the moment his eyes landed on me, every trace of warmth vanished from his face.

"Sera, I never imagined you could be so shameless. You're no better than a rogue!"

Johnathan stroked Hedy's hair, his eyes full of tenderness and fond exasperation—yet the instant he looked into the camera, his face went cold.

"Sera, I know you're upset."

"If you need money, I can transfer some into your account. But you shouldn't be asking Sebastian for it."

"Hedy and Sebastian are in love. They don't owe you a thing."

"Is that so?"

I cut him off, eyes rimmed red.

"Stealing my mate. Stealing my father and my brother. Destroying my marriage and my family."

"Stringing me along for three years, leaving me to suffer through three years of a severed mate bond."

"And you call that not owing me anything?"

Johnathan frowned.

"Sera, there's no need to be so dramatic about it."

"We didn't set out to deceive you—but you've been stubborn since you were a child. If we hadn't done it this way, you never would have accepted Hedy."

"Hedy's been in low spirits since the delivery. We were worried about her postpartum depression, so we came up with this little bet to cheer her up. Don't take it to heart."

"Well, in that case, just give me the money."

"Dad, give me fifty million dollars. Johnathan, thirty million dollars. And I'll keep playing along with your charade. How does that sound?"

Johnathan's face went dark.

"Seraphina, stop horsing around."

I smiled coldly.

"It's just a bit of pocket change. Don't tell me the Alphas of two Packs can't even scrape together that much."

"Enough."

"Since money is what you want, I'll give it to you."

Sebastian shot me a glance and pulled a document from his desk drawer.

"Hedy has given birth. In the Quinn Pack, only the Luna's children can be recognized as heirs. Sign this agreement to dissolve the mate bond, and a hundred million will be transferred to your account immediately."

I looked at the thin stack of papers.

I didn't hesitate for a single second. I grabbed the pen and wrote my name.