It's just another day…
It's our anniversary—the first year of being mates—but it feels like nothing special. Just another day like all the rest.
This morning, I woke up to an empty bed. No flowers. No note. Nothing to mark the occasion. Just cold sheets beside me, his scent faint, as if he'd been gone for hours.
Maybe he didn't even remember. He's not the sentimental type. Even on the night his parents, the Alpha and Luna of the Fire Moon Pack, announced our bond to the entire pack… even after we mated for the first time… I still woke up the next morning alone.
To a cold and empty bed.
If I were an optimist, I'd call this our tradition—a sad, hollow tradition that marks every milestone between us. But I'm not. I stopped having positive thoughts about this union long ago. To me, this is just another day… another reminder that I don't matter to him.
I crawl out of the sheets, wincing at the dull ache between my legs.
Non-sentimental. Rough. That's what I am mated to. Cameron Haine—the cold, distant, unbearably harsh Alpha heir of our pack.
His sexual appetite is extreme… cruel even. I used to beg him to be gentle, to show me something that felt like love, but he would only snarl and go harder, like my pain pleased him. To him, I'm not a mate. I'm a breeder. A future Luna meant to give him an heir, and love—at least in the way I know it—has no place in that equation.
If I were human, I wouldn't have survived our first night together. Especially as a virgin. Waking up to his absence that morning was a blessing. It gave me the chance to cry, alone, in peace, while my wolf, Cortina, healed me from the inside out.
I pull a blanket around my body and walk to the window. Outside, on the training grounds, the female warriors are gathered for their morning session. Micro shorts. Sports bras. Uniforms designed to show off more skin than they protect.
And there he is… Cameron. My mate.
He stands in the middle of the field, arms crossed, next to his future Beta. They're whispering, smirking, eyes locked on the ass of a she-wolf who bends just far enough to give them a show.
Cortina whimpers in my head, wounded by what she sees.
She still wants him. She still craves the bond. But I'm starting to loathe it… loathe him. Without her, I would've walked away months ago. To her, this bond is sacred. To me, it's a cage.
We are his fated mate, and that's the only reason I'm still here—still enduring his neglect during the day and his abuse at night. Cameron knows, like all Alphas do, that the strongest heir can only come from a fated mate. I'm not his love. I'm his obligation.
And because I haven't conceived a pup yet, that obligation grows crueler every night.
The day before I turned eighteen, I was just like the women on that field—training hard, a warrior determined to earn my place among the elite. Back then, Cameron barely noticed me, and I barely noticed him.
Until that morning.
I was stretching on the field when I felt it… that deep, guttural growl behind me. When I turned, Cameron was there, steam curling from his breath, his dark eyes glowing with his wolf close to the surface.
I didn't understand until he was ten feet away… until his scent wrapped around me and the word slipped from my lips.
Mate.
I never wanted it. Never asked for it.
He waited three months before claiming me. His mother insisted I needed time to "transition" from warrior to Luna. Translation? Time to break me. Time to mold me into the submissive little puppet she wanted at her son's side.
Now, a year later, I feel trapped. Staring out this window, the world outside feels brighter, freer, than this life beside him.
I turn away. I won't watch Cameron ogle other women anymore. Cortina whines, but I block her out. Watching him will only hurt her more.
The only reason I haven't left is Rome. His wolf. Unlike the man, Rome actually likes Cortina. When they run together every weekend, Rome is gentle, playful, protective… everything Cameron isn't. Cortina loves him. I can't stand the man he's tied to.
"Chloe!" Luna Klarissa's voice screeches from outside the bathroom as I step out of the tub.
I roll my eyes. I don't answer. She'll barge in anyway.
And, like clockwork, the French doors slam open. She gasps dramatically, as though she's shocked to see me naked in my own bathroom.
"By the Goddess… how can you still be indecent at this hour?"
"At this hour?" I glance at the clock. It's not even eight.
"Yes, well… come, child. Hurry and dress. We have visitors this evening, and as the future Luna, you have much to prepare."
"Visitors?" I grab a towel and head into the closet. Most of it is Cameron's. His mother buys him endless suits and casual wear. My things barely take up one corner of my side.
I reach for jeans, but her shrill voice cuts me off.
"Oh, no. Not that, Chloe, dear. Far too informal for a Luna." She sighs, as if I've disappointed her yet again. "If only you'd had parents to teach you these things… my life would be much easier."
Cortina growls at the jab, and I grit my teeth. I let her choose the dress she deems "fitting."
Blood-red. Of course. The pack's color.
The rest of the day is a blur of tasks, prepping for a dinner I don't want to attend.
Luna Klarissa keeps reminding me how she wished Cameron had been mated to Odette Wright—the visiting Alpha's daughter. "Not a classless orphan like you," she doesn't say… but I can feel the words in her tone.
Cameron doesn't appear once all day. Not until I'm slipping into the suffocating gown Klarissa picked out. It's tight, heavy, with a neckline that plunges far too low, and heels that feel like weapons against my balance. I'm pinning my hair up, the mark on my neck exposed, when Cameron appears.
His eyes sweep over me, and what I see in them isn't desire. It's disapproval.
"Your mother picked this," I snap before he can speak. "If you hate it, take it up with her."
His lip curls. He doesn't bother to reply. He just strips off his clothes and heads for the shower.
I flee the bathroom, needing distance from him, from all of this. If I were free, I'd be with the other warriors in the annex, laughing, training, living.
Instead, I'm standing in the foyer, alone, waiting to greet guests I don't care about.
To my dismay, they arrive early. Alpha Marvin Wright. Luna Bernice. Their perfect children, Kevin and Odette.
And I'm here… forced to smile… while the rest of the Alpha family hasn't even come downstairs yet.