Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Denise POV I’d lost count of how many times Dante Blackwood had taken me tonight. My body felt like it was literally coming apart at the seams as I was drowning from the intensity of the sensations that I was experiencing in the hands of Dante. The Alpha knew every inch of me too well, he knew every sensitive spot that made me gasp. Four years together had given him a map and he was well detailed when using that knowledge in the privacy of his bed chambers. “Clear my schedule starting tomorrow,” Dante said, already getting up from the bed and dressing like his life depended on it. His tone was business-like and cold, like he was speaking to someone lesser than him. “I’m taking the week off. Book two tickets to the Northern Territories.” Hope grew in my chest before I could stop it because I had come to be disappointed by Dante, many times. “You’re taking me on vacation?” Stupid. So stupid to hope. Dante paused, his jaw tightening as he looked at me. “I’m going with Elena.” The name hit me like a physical blow. Elena Silvermoon—his childhood sweetheart, the daughter of the Silver Creek Pack’s Alpha. The she-wolf who’d married someone else four years ago and just finalized her divorce and was finally a free woman and available for the taking. I lowered my head, forcing the words past the lump in my throat as I nodded my head pretending to not look affected by his cruelty. “Okay, Alpha…” “Denise.” His voice softened slightly—the tone that used to make me think he cared about me, and was trying not to make me feel bad. “You’re just an omega. You know I can’t take you as my Luna.” I looked up at him, managing a bitter smile on my face as I shrugged my shoulders. “I never expected you to… But now that Elena’s back, shouldn’t we end this?” His expression darkened immediately hearing the words from my mouth. He reached out, threading his fingers through my hair in what might have looked like affection to anyone else, a sign that he loved me and he cared. To me, it felt like a leash, one that I was unable to pull off. He placed a credit card on the nightstand as it was the answer to all the problems. “Be good. Buy whatever you want.” “I don’t want to be your mistress anymore.” The words came out stronger than I’d intended, and I held his gaze. He had deflected the first message that I said. But there was no way I was backing down from this. I knew he’d eventually make Elena his Luna. I’d always known. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.” His patience was already wearing thin as I could see his hands forming into a fist for a brief moment before releasing it. “We’ll deal with that when the time comes. This isn’t your decision to make.” He left without another word. As the door closed, a ringing started in my deaf ear—the one that hadn’t worked properly since my first year at the pack academy. The injury came courtesy of Lyra Blackwood, Dante’s sister, and her friends. The bullying had left me deaf on one side, with a crushed pinky toe and a cigarette burn that nearly blinded me. Someone had filmed it and posted it online. The scandal exploded across the werewolf community. The academy called in the parents. Representing Lyra was Dante—her older brother and the pack’s heir. Maybe it was for the Blackwood Pack’s reputation. Maybe it was pity. But Dante reached out to me in that hospital room, his dark eyes intense as he’d said, “Don’t be scared. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.” God, I’d been so pathetic. So desperate for protection, so desperate to be seen as anything other than a weak orphan omega. I fell for him completely. At my most vulnerable time in my life, Dante had become everything to me. I used to think he was my salvation. Now I knew better. He didn’t love me. He just wouldn’t let me go. — At Blackwood Enterprises, Dante had a meeting about transferring some responsibilities. Elena waited in his office while I brought her coffee, that she had ordered me to do in front of Dante and Dante had pretended to be blind. “Thank you, Denise.” Elena’s smile was everything, gentle and alluring to men who saw her as a masterpiece to own. She came from an Alpha bloodline, a perfect match for Dante’s status. They’d known each other since childhood. She had everything I didn’t—she came from the right type of family, she was educated, she also had the easy confidence of someone who’d never had to fight for scraps. Just sitting there, her mere presence made me feel like I was suffocating. I practically ran from the office. In the break room, I overheard the other assistants gossiping instead of focusing on their workload. The office was buzzing with conversation as I heard someone speak. “Alpha Blackwood and Elena are going on their honeymoon, apparently. I heard it’s official now—once they’re back, the Luna ceremony will be announced.” My hand jerked, and boiling water splashed across my skin. The cup shattered on the floor. I barely felt the burn as I showed my hand under the cold water trying to minimise the pain. Dante was making Elena his Luna. Which meant us, whatever we were behind closed doors were over and not only that, my internship at this company too was over. “Denise, Alpha Blackwood wants you to drive him and Elena to the airport at eleven,” someone called out. I forced a smile. Of course he did. There were drivers available that would kill for this duty, in a bid to get close to the alpha and Luna apparent, but he chose me. To remind me of my place. To kill whatever foolish hope that still lived in my heart. Dante and his sister were the same. The only difference was that his sister was someone who shattered bodies while Dante went for the hearts. I pulled out my phone and stared at a blocked number for a long moment before unblocking it. “Mr. Nightshade,” I said when he answered, my voice steadier than I felt. “You once said if I agreed to your arrangement, you’d sponsor my studies abroad. Does that offer still stand?” Kieran Nightshade—Alpha of the Moonlight Pack, one of the most powerful wolves in the region. We’d met at a business function months ago. His interest in me had been… obvious. “Think carefully,” his deep voice rumbled through the phone. “Come to Moonlight Ma nor on the 13th at seven. We’ll discuss details.”