Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1
Tessa’s POV
“You leave by dawn.”
My father’s voice cut through the air like a blade. He stared down at me from his throne, while I knelt on the stone floor. His eyes held nothing. No warmth. No hesitaton. Nothing.
My breath caught. Sweat beaded along my hairline and slid down my temple as fear flooded through my veins.
“F-Father. What do you mean?”
I already knew. goddess, please help me.
“Father, you can’t send me to him. The Feral Alpha will kill me.”
“I can,” he said, waving his hand to dismiss me. “And I will.”
My fingers dug into my thighs hard enough to bruise. The room tilted, the edges blurring as panic crushed the air from my lungs.
Dmitri.
The Feral Alpha.
The monster whose name mothers hissed at their children when they misbehaved. The beast who took women to his bed and left only corpses behind.
“They say his beast…” My voice splintered. “None of them survive. None of them. You’re sending me to my death.” I looked up at him, searching for something—anything—human in his face. “I’m your daughter.”
But his expression didn’t change. My heart sank. He had already made his decision.
When he summoned me an hour earlier, I assumed it would be another degrading task, something meant for the omegas—scrubbing floors, serving at banquets, the usual reminders of my place.
I should have known better.
Father had never loved me. He made that clear from the moment I drew my first breath, the breath that had stolen my mother’s last. He blamed me for her death every day since. When I grew up wolfless, he stripped away what little status I had and reduced me to an omega. He poured all his affection into Thea, my twin sister, and I learned to live with the scraps. At least I had a roof over my head, food, a bed—the bare minimum to survive.
It had been enough.
But now he was sending me to Dmitri, straight into the arms of a monster who killed women for sport.
No. I had to do something. I had to save myself.
“Father, please.” The sob tore from my throat before I could stop it. My hands clasped together, trembling. “Please, don’t do this. I’ll do anything you ask. Anything. I’ll work twice as hard. I’ll take the worst jobs. I’ll tend the dogs at the kennels, I’ll clean the latrines, I don’t care. Just please, not this.”
Nothing.
His eyes stayed cold, unmoved. My heart plummeted.
“There’s no use begging for what’s already decided,” he snarled. “Since the day you were born, you’ve been useless to me. Think of this as you finally serving a purpose. I’d rather sell you to that feral beast than lose Thea. At least she has a future now that she’s awakened as a white wolf.”
I froze.
The words didn’t make sense at first. Thea. White wolf. Since when?
White wolves were among the rarest creatures in existence—one in a thousand, maybe less. They had power that rivaled an Alpha’s, sometimes exceeded it. They were chosen by the Moon Goddess herself, blessed and revered.
And somehow, my twin sister had awakened one.
While I had nothing.
Why? Why was I the one cursed with this life?
“Surprised?” My father’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “Well, since you’ll be gone by dawn, I suppose you should know why.” He descended the steps from his throne, slow and deliberate. “Dmitri caught wind that our pack harbors a white wolf—your sister. He’s sending an envoy tomorrow with an offer I can’t refuse.”
My stomach dropped.
“If Dmitri wants a white wolf, then why…” My voice cracked. “Why am I the one being sent? I’m wolfless.”
“Do you really think I’d let Dmitri get his hands on Thea? Thea is the future of this pack, the first white wolf we’ve had in generations. I’d be damned before I hand her over to that animal.” His gaze raked over me. “You, on the other hand, serve no purpose here, Tessa. You’re nothing. A wolfless burden who can’t even complete simple tasks.”
I looked down, my fists clenching until my nails bit into my palms, the tears streaming down my cheeks.
“You’ll take Thea’s place when the envoy arrives.” His tone left no room for argument. “I’ll make sure you look exactly like her. They’ll take you instead, and Dmitri will get what he thinks he’s paid for. At least this way, you’ll finally be worth something.”
The tears fell faster now, blurring my vision. I tried to blink them away, but it was useless.
He really wanted me gone.
Not just out of his sight—out of his life entirely.
“Father.” I could barely get the word out.
He raised his hand, cutting me off.
“Enough. This discussion is over. Go to your chambers. The makeup artist will be there shortly to change your appearance.”
I bowed and got up, my legs barely holding me. I didn’t look back as I left the throne room; more like I couldn’t look back. My palm pressed hard against my mouth, holding in the scream clawing up my throat.
I ran.
Down corridors I had scrubbed on my hands and knees. My vision blurred, feet stumbling, until I tripped over my own skirts and crashed to the floor.
The sob ripped out of me then. I pressed my forehead to the cold stone, shoulders shaking, and let it all pour out—the fear, the rejection, the crushing weight of knowing my own father would rather see me dead than keep me here.
How could he do this? What was I supposed to do?
Think. Think.
I dragged in a ragged breath, wiping my face with trembling hands.
“Lucien.”
His name slipped from my lips.
I pushed myself up, my whole body aching. Lucien would help me. He had to. He loved me—he had told me so a hundred times. He’d know what to do. He’d find a way out of this.
I stumbled through the castle, nearly falling down the stairs in my haste. Outside, the courtyard was quiet except for the creak of a carriage wheel. The driver was still there, thank the Goddess, half-asleep on his bench.
“Please.” I grabbed the side of the carriage, breathless. “Please, I need you to take me to the Montclair estate.”
He blinked at me, then glanced back toward the palace, uncertain.
“Please.” My voice cracked. “I have no one else.”
He studied my face for a long moment, seeing my desperation before he sighed. “Get in.”
I collapsed onto the seat, shaking so hard my teeth chattered.
The ride felt endless. Every bump in the road sent my stomach lurching. By the time we pulled up to the estate, I was already scrambling out before the wheels had fully stopped.
“Good evening, my lady,” the guard at the entrance said, bowing slightly.
I muttered a response and rushed past him.
The corridors stretched on forever. My footsteps echoed too loud in the silence. Finally, I reached Lucien’s door.
I reached for the handle.
And froze.
A sound came from inside. Low. Breathless.
A moan.
“Fuck, you’re so tight—oh, shit—”
That was Lucien’s voice.
Something inside me cracked clean in half.
My hand hovered over the door, trembling. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. There had to be an explanation. Maybe he wasn’t alone. Maybe—
I shoved the door open, and I honestly wished I hadn’t.
Lucien was on the bed, his back to me, body moving in a rhythm I recognized too well. Beneath him, her head thrown back, lips parted—
Thea.
My sister.
The world tilted. Sound disappeared. All I could hear was my own heartbeat drowning everything else out.
Thea’s eyes flicked to the door. To me.
And she smiled.
“Lucien!”
His name tore out of me before I could stop it.
He jerked away from her, scrambling for the blanket, yanking it up to cover himself. His face drained of color the second he saw me standing there.
“How could you?” My voice broke. “Both of you—how could you do this to me?”
“Tessa, wait—” Lucien reached for me, desperation all over his face. “It’s not—listen, it’s not what it looks like—”
My hand cracked across his cheek before I even realized I’d moved.
“Shut up!” I screamed. “Don’t you dare stand there and lie to my face!”
He flinched, mouth opening, then closing again.
I turned to Thea.
She was still in his bed, propped up on one elbow, looking utterly unbothered. That smirk. That goddamn smirk.
“Why?” My voice shook. “Why would you do this to me?”
She laughed softly.
“Because I was tired of hearing about him.” She shrugged, examining her nails like we were discussing the weather. “You never shut up, you know. Lucien this, Lucien that. How loyal he was. How much he loved you. How honorable he was.” She glanced up at him, almost bored. “I thought, why not see if it was true? Turns out it wasn’t.”
The words hit me like a punch to the gut.
“You… you did this to prove a point?”
“Pretty much.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed, reaching for her robe. Then her expression shifted. “But what are you even doing here, Tessa? Shouldn’t you be getting ready? You know, for tomorrow? When you get shipped off to the Feral Alpha in my place?”
My mouth opened. Nothing came out.
Suddenly, boots thundered in the hallway outside.
The doors slammed open, and guards flooded in—castle guards, wearing Father’s crest on their chests.
My blood turned to ice.
“No—”
Thea’s smile widened. “I mind-linked them the second you walked through that door.” She paused, tilting her head in mock sympathy. “Oh, right. You wouldn’t know what that feels like, since you don’t have a wolf.”
She lifted one hand and pointed straight at me.
“Take her.”