Prologue

He lied... He lied to me when I left for college, and all his promises to be a better mate were nothing but lies.

There he was, dancing with her, looking at her with love while our packs and the leaders of the community watched with pride and awe at the beautifully matched couple.

The pack’s thunderous claps and howls of approval when he proclaimed her as his mate echoed through the halls of the mansion and out through the windows. Her, not me.

Finally, he’s going to mate with the one he loves but not the one he was promised to.

His gaze met mine as a lone teardrop escaped the corner of my eye. His own widened as he just realized his divinely ordained mate was present for this travesty and I had been watching all along.

I couldn’t endure another second of this hell as I forced myself to smile at him before I stood up and ran out of the hall in agony. My wolf’s defenses were down. She was curled up and whimpering, but there was nothing I could do to keep away the pain. Not this time.

“Clementine!”

I heard him call my name as sure as my heels clicked on the marble floor, but I couldn’t stop.

“Clementine,” he yelled, but I only quickened my steps.

“Clementine, stop!”

Too late. A forceful, substantial mass crashed into me and my body flew up in the air. It threw me backward and I hit the cement wall hard. The back of my head smacked the corner of a mount that held a giant brass wolf, and blood ran down from my scalp into my eyes.

Within minutes, I heard the sirens of incoming emergency medical services and watched through my red-hazed vision as a stream of people came out of the mansion, shifting into their wolfen form. He was far ahead of them,  calling my name as he ran toward me.

I am dying and I welcome it. The pain of seeing my mate with another female suffuses my body and I'm unable to move or say anything. A wolf separated from her mate is only half a wolf; a wolf betrayed by her mate is a dead wolf. I had done everything for him, given him all I had and this is how he repays me. I shouldn't have trusted him with my heart.

Not that I was given a choice about loving him. The Goddess assigns every wolf with a mate, someone they are fated to be with for the rest of their lives. The moment I saw Gian, I knew I could never love anyone else. He took advantage of that. He took advantage of me. He was a liar and a cheater.

I'm so cold all over. I know my body must be going into shock. I hurt my head really bad.

Darkness threatened to take us and my wolf begged for salvation. As I let go and ceded to unconsciousness, my last sight was my handsome Alpha and his lying mouth telling me he was sorry.

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