Chapter 1

My boyfriend introduces me to his Alpha brother, and I realize he is my husband who died three years ago.

Noah Blackwood has a woman he owes his life to.

Her name is Bella Hart, a she-wolf from another pack.

Ever since she showed up a few months ago, Noah has asked me to give in to her again and again.

“She’s sensitive, Ava. Just let it go this once.”

So I let things go.

She takes my clothes.

She uses my things without asking.

She even convinces Noah to leave me alone on a mountain road because she suddenly “can’t breathe” with too many people in the car.

I swallow every insult.

Until tonight.

At the Blackthorn Pack banquet, Bella takes the ring I have kept for years and slips it onto her finger.

“That’s mine.” I hold out my hand. “Give it back.”

Bella smiles and turns away.

I step forward, but Noah catches my wrist.

“Ava, not now.”

My anger spikes.

Then he pulls me toward a man standing near the center of the ballroom.

“Come on. There’s someone important I want you to meet.”

Noah puts an arm around my shoulders.

“This is my older brother. We have the same father.”

I look up.

And every thought in my head disappears.

No.

It can’t be.

The man in front of me is taller than I remember.

Harder too.

His black suit fits perfectly over broad shoulders, and wolves all around us instinctively leave space for him.

But I know that face.

I know every line of it.

Noah smiles beside me.

“Brother, this is Ava Bennett. She’s human. We’ve been together for six months.”

My whole body goes stiff.

“This is Cassian Blackwood,” Noah says. “Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack.”

Cassian lifts his eyes.

Silver-gray.

Exactly the same.

For one second, something wild flashes through them.

My breath stops.

Three years ago, I was told Cassian died.

I searched for him until there was nothing left to search.

I mourned him.

I carried the ring he gave me through every miserable year after his death.

And now he is standing in front of me.

Alive.

“Ava?” Noah lowers his head. “What’s wrong?”

I force myself to breathe.

“Nothing.”

Cassian walks toward us.

His gaze never leaves my face.

Then it drops to Noah’s arm around my shoulders.

His expression turns colder.

“Hello.”

His voice is exactly the same.

Lower now.

Sharper.

Then he looks at me.

“My brother’s girlfriend.”

He puts extra weight on the last word.

Cassian holds out his hand.

That is when I see the ring on his finger.

My ring.

The matching one.

I bite the inside of my lip and quickly touch his hand.

Before I can say anything, Bella runs over.

“Noah!”

She wraps both hands around his arm.

“Come with me. I hate being around this many people.”

Noah immediately turns to her.

“Okay.”

My chest tightens.

Normally, I would let him go.

Tonight, I don’t want him to.

Not even for one minute.

But he doesn’t give me the chance to speak.

“Cassian, can you keep Ava company for a bit? I’ll be right back.”

Then Noah walks away with Bella.

Before she leaves, Bella looks back at me with a small, satisfied smile.

My ring is still on her finger.

For once, I barely care.

I turn to Cassian.

A thousand questions press against my throat.

Only one comes out.

“You…”

My voice shakes.

“How are you here?”

Cassian gives me a cold smile.

“What does that have to do with you?”

I freeze.

He never spoke to me like this before.

Not once.

“About what happened three years ago…”

His expression changes instantly.

He steps closer.

“You still have the nerve to bring that up?”

His voice drops.

“You left because I had nothing.”

I stare at him.

“You walked away the second you thought you could have a better life.”

Each word hits harder than the last.

His eyes are full of hatred.

“I have regretted one thing more than anything else in my life.”

He looks straight at me.

“Saving you.”

My chest feels like it has been cut open.

This pain is nothing like Noah choosing Bella over me.

I stare at the man I spent three years mourning.

“So you did it on purpose?”

Cassian goes still.

For one second, he says nothing.

I take his silence as an answer.

“Fine.”

I step back.

“You think I wanted to see you again?”

I turn and walk away before he can see my eyes burn.

Behind me, I don’t see Cassian’s face darken.

I don’t see the glass crack in his hand.