Chapter 1 Chapter 1
Ava's POV
The wedding dress hung on my closet door like a ghost. White silk and lace that cost more than three months of my salary. Tomorrow was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. Tomorrow I would marry Garry Stone, the Beta of our Moonvalley Pack.
But tonight, something felt wrong.
I checked my phcone again. Garry hadn't answered my texts for two hours. He said he had an important pack meeting, but those never ran this late. My wolf, Luna, paced restlessly in my mind.
"Something's not right," she whispered.
I grabbed my jacket and headed out into the cool night air. The pack house was only a ten minute walk from my apartment. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I needed to see him. Tomorrow we would be married. Tomorrow everything would be perfect.
The pack house windows glowed warmly in the darkness. I could hear voices inside, laughing and talking. The meeting must have ended. I smiled, feeling silly for worrying. I pushed open the heavy oak door.
The laughter stopped immediately.
Twenty pairs of eyes turned to stare at me. Pack members I had known my whole life suddenly looked uncomfortable. Some looked away. Others whispered to each other.
"Ava?" My best friend Mia rushed over to me, her face pale. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for Garry. Is he still here?"
Mia's eyes darted to the stairs leading to the second floor. "Maybe you should go home. We can talk tomorrow."
"What's going on?" My heart started racing. "Where is he?"
Before Mia could answer, I heard it. A woman's laugh from upstairs. Then Garry's deep voice, saying something I couldn't make out. More laughter.
I pushed past Mia and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. My wolf howled in my head, already knowing what we would find. The hallway stretched before me, and at the end, one door stood slightly open. Light spilled out into the darkness.
I reached the door and pushed it open.
Garry stood there, shirtless, his arms around a woman with long red hair. Sophia Blackwood. The Alpha's daughter who had just returned from studying abroad. They jumped apart when they saw me, but it was too late. Her lipstick was smeared across his mouth.
"Ava!" Garry's eyes went wide. "This isn't what it looks like."
I couldn't speak. My whole body felt numb. The man I was supposed to marry tomorrow, the man who promised me forever, stood there with another woman's perfume all over him.
"How long?" My voice came out as a whisper.
Sophia laughed, a cruel sound that made my skin crawl. "Three months. Ever since I came back." She stepped closer to Garry, placing her hand on his chest. "He was going to tell you after the wedding. Weren't you, baby?"
"After the wedding?" I stared at Garry. "You were going to marry me knowing you were with her?"
Garry ran his hand through his hair, a gesture I once found charming. Now it made me sick. "Ava, listen. The pack needs this marriage. Your father's business connections, they're important. But Sophia... she's my true mate."
The word hit me like a physical blow. True mate. The rarest bond a werewolf could find. The one person the Moon Goddess chose specifically for you.
"I'm pregnant," Sophia announced, her hand moving to her still flat stomach. "Two weeks along."
The room spun. I grabbed the doorframe to steady myself. Pregnant. She was pregnant with Garry's child.
"You're lying," I said, but even as the words left my mouth, I could smell it. The subtle change in her scent that meant she was telling the truth.
"The wedding is off," Garry said quietly. "I'm sorry, Ava. I never meant for it to happen this way. But I can't marry you when I have a true mate. And now, with the baby..."
"You're sorry?" I laughed, but it sounded hollow even to my own ears. "You cheated on me for three months. You were going to marry me tomorrow and make me look like a fool in front of the entire pack. And you're sorry?"
"Watch your tone," Sophia warned. "You're talking to your future Alpha and Beta."
"Future Alpha?" I looked between them, understanding dawning on me. "My father. He's stepping down."
Sophia smiled triumphantly. "Next month. And when he does, Garry will be my Beta. We'll run this pack together. As it should be."
I felt my wolf rising to the surface, fury burning through my veins. My eyes flashed gold, and I took a step forward. Several pack members appeared in the doorway behind me, ready to intervene if necessary.
"Ava, please," Garry said. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be. Your father will be compensated for the wedding expenses. We'll make sure your family's business stays under pack protection."
"Compensated?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You think money will fix this?"
"What else do you want?" Sophia asked, examining her perfect nails. "You're not his mate. You were just... convenient. Pretty enough, from a good family. But that's all. Did you really think you could keep him?"
Each word was like a knife to my heart. I looked at Garry, waiting for him to defend me, to say something, anything. But he just stood there, looking guilty but not denying a single word.
"I hate you," I whispered. "Both of you."
"You'll get over it," Sophia said. "Maybe you'll find your own mate someday. Though at twenty five, your chances are getting slim."
I turned and walked out, pushing through the crowd of pack members who had gathered to watch my humiliation. I could hear them whispering as I passed. Some sounded sympathetic. Others seemed to have known all along.
I made it outside before the tears came. Great, gasping sobs that shook my whole body. Everything I had planned, everything I had dreamed of, was gone. The dress, the flowers, the honeymoon in Paris. The children we had talked about having. The house we were going to buy. All of it was gone.
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
"You deserve better than him. Meet me at the Crimson Moon Hotel tomorrow at noon. Room 1408. I can help you get your revenge. Trust me."
I stared at the message, my tears drying on my cheeks. Who would send this? And what kind of revenge were they talking about?
Another text came through, this time with a photo attached. It was Garry and Sophia at a restaurant, obviously taken weeks ago. They were kissing while I had been at home, addressing wedding invitations.
My sadness turned to rage. Maybe revenge was exactly what I needed.
I typed back one word: "Yes."