Chapter 1

I was Alpha Caleb’s fated mate.

But his mother, Clara, the Elder Luna, always despised me. She looked down on me because I was wolfless, believing I was unworthy of her son.

I thought if I just endured enough and worked hard enough, she would eventually see my worth.

Until the Full Moon ceremony, when Alpha Caleb rejected me in front of the entire pack and banished me.

Just as despair was about to swallow me whole, the powerful Alpha of the Southern Pack saved me.

"My child, I am your biological father. You were poisoned as a pup, which sealed your wolf. Come home with me. Our pack's healer can cure you."

I looked at him, and a cold smile touched my lips.

I couldn’t wait to see the look on Caleb’s face when he realized that the "useless, wolfless girl" he threw away was actually the daughter of the most powerful Alpha on the continent.

Moonlight filtered through the branches, casting long shadows across the borders of the North Wind Pack.

I dragged my exhausted body back home.

After two weeks of grueling diplomatic negotiations with neighboring packs, every muscle in my body screamed in pain.

But the moment I thought of Caleb—my fated mate, my Alpha—a wave of warmth washed over me.

Honestly, Caleb wasn’t a strong Alpha.

Instead of managing pack affairs, he cared far more about his own comfort and entertainment.

But I told myself it didn't matter. As long as he could stand up and protect the pack when it mattered, that was enough.

I would handle the rest.

For the past three years, I had run the North Wind Pack. I managed the ledgers, handled external negotiations, and kept the Packhouse running. All he had to do was show up at the Full Moon ceremonies and play the part of a proud Alpha.

The alliance treaty I had secured on this trip would guarantee our pack’s resources for an entire year.

On my way back, I stopped by the luxury watch boutique in the city to pick up the limited-edition mechanical watch I had reserved for him months ago. Picturing his excited face when he saw the gift, all my exhaustion melted away.

I quickened my pace, wanting to surprise him with a hug.

The Packhouse door was slightly ajar, and a strange scent drifted out.

I froze.

What was going on?

I took a few steps closer, and the unfamiliar scent grew stronger.

A faint sense of dread crept up my spine like vines.

I stopped in my tracks. This scent definitely didn't belong to anyone in the North Wind Pack.

Then, Clara's sharp voice drifted from inside the Packhouse. "You must reject her tonight at the Full Moon ceremony."

I leaned against the cold wall, my nails digging into the plaster.

I stood there in the shadows, waiting for the night to fully fall.

Dusk turned into night, and the full moon rose. The pack members escorted me to the center of the ceremonial hall.

I stood on the platform, waiting for the moment we would officially announce our union.

But Caleb didn't walk toward me. He walked toward another female werewolf, Sera.

The bright chandelier on the ceiling cast a blinding, cold light. The pack members' stares felt like physical needles piercing my skin.

Caleb stood on the stage. He didn't even bother to look at me, his voice dripping with impatience. "Elena, you are wolfless. I cannot link my life to a useless weakling. Therefore, I, Alpha Caleb of the North Wind Pack, officially reject you as my fated mate."

I looked up at him, begging with my eyes, hoping he would take it back.

But he didn't show even a flicker of guilt. Instead, he frowned, looking embarrassed that I was even standing there.

I was rejected. The harsh truth hit me like a bucket of ice-cold water.

I collapsed onto the freezing floor, my body shaking uncontrollably.

Just then, an elder werewolf walked up to me and sighed. "Leave, child. There is no place for you in North Wind anymore."

"Caleb will hold his mating ceremony with Sera. You are no longer welcome here."

Wolfless. Rejected. Banishment.

Each word felt like a silver dagger plunge deep into my chest.

I finally understood.

This wasn't a misunderstanding.

This was a carefully planned betrayal.

I had given everything to this pack. To prove my worth, I had worked myself to the bone, never taking a single day off during the Full Moon for three whole years.

To please Caleb's demanding mother, Clara, I endured endless humiliation.

I took on the most dangerous diplomatic missions, traveling between hostile packs, just to show I was valuable.

I thought my loyalty would be met with love.

But in their eyes, I was just trash they could throw away whenever they pleased.

My number was blocked. They blocked me on Snapchat and Instagram. Every single way to contact them was cut off.

It was as if I had vanished into thin air.

They erased every single trace of my existence.

The darkness slowly crept in.

The cold night swallowed the entire hall, and it swallowed me.

"Time to go."

A voice called out.

I looked up numbly. Two young pack warriors in uniform were standing at the exit.

"Alpha's orders. We are here to escort you past the pack borders."

One of them looked down at me.

"But this is my home," I whispered, my voice cracked and raw.

"Your home? Alpha Caleb has decreed that you are banned from ever setting foot in the North Wind Pack again. Move."

The older guard sneered, his eyes filled with impatience.

They grabbed me by my arms, dragging me toward the boundary line, and shoved me out.

My heels scraped loudly against the asphalt.

I stood outside the border, watching the warm, golden lights of the Packhouse in the distance. For the first time in my life, I felt completely humiliated.

I had become a joke.

A homeless, rejected joke.