Chapter1
“Luna Camille, congratulations! Your pup’s very healthy.”
The nurse’s words echoed in my ears, and I floated out of that clinic like I had just won the lottery. I was practically grinning from ear to ear, clutching the ultrasound picture like it was the Holy Grail. My hand kept drifting to my slightly rounded belly.
A pup. How had I missed the signs?
I couldn’t wait to see Alpha Thomas’s face when I told him. I’d been planning this moment for weeks–he was going to be so proud,
so…surprised.
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But first, I had to get the birthday gift I had originally planned–a key to the mansion. And now, I was about to throw a huge curveball into his birthday plans. Because, surprise, we’re going to be parents!
I mean, not that we weren’t already trying- okay, so technically the fact that we aren’t destined mates made things a little trickier, but we’d been working on it.
And now, the Moon Goddess had blessed us
with a pup.
I rehearsed my big reveal in the car. Should
I show him the test first? Present the keys dramatically and let him stew over it? Or be all romantic and wait until dinner?
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But by the time I reached his office, my plans fell
apart fast.
I raised my hand to knock, but then I froze.
Through the door, I heard voices.
“Camille doesn’t need to know, Denton,” Alpha Thomas’s voice was calm, but I could hear the underlying tension. “The past is behind us. It’s
over.”
What the hell? What were they talking about?
Denton’s response landed like a blow to my chest. “You took her mother’s organ-
without telling her–and used it to save Audrey Hopkins’s sister. You lied to Luna Camille, Thomas. Her mother died because of it. What do
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you think she’ll do when she finds out?”
The world tilted beneath me. My heart thudded
like a drum in my chest.
Audrey Hopkins.
The name triggered a sharp pang in my stomach.
Audrey–Alpha Thomas’s first love.
Audrey–the woman, Alpha Gilbert, my ex–mate, had walked out on me for.
Audrey–the one Alpha Thomas had never let go
- of.
I pressed myself against the door, straining to
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hear every word.
“I did what I had to do,” Alpha Thomas said, his voice eerily calm. “Audrey needed me. Her sister needed me. Camille’s mother was already dying. It was the logical choice.”
So, that’s it. He sacrificed my mother.
Denton’s next words hit like a punch to the gut. “So you killed her?”
“I saved Audrey’s sister,” Alpha Thomas corrected, his tone cold and dismissive. “And I married Camille. Isn’t that enough?”
“Enough? You’ve lied to her for five years, Thomas. Five years of pretending to love her. Camille adores you! She doesn’t deserve this.”
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“Camille means nothing to me,” Alpha Thomas said flatly. “I’ve repaid her–given her a comfortable life, a powerful Alpha husband. I’ve done my duty. But if she ever finds out…”
There was a long pause before he shrugged. “Then so be it. I’ll cut her loose without a second thought. As long as Audrey is happy, nothing else matters.”
My heart shattered.
The pregnancy test slipped from my trembling fingers, falling to the floor with a sickening thud. I could barely register it.
I staggered back, my chest tightening. For five years, Alpha Thomas had treated me like I was
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his everything. Every smile, every touch, every word. I thought it was real. I thought he loved
- me.
But I was wrong.
Tears blurred my vision as I turned and bolted. The keys–my gift to him–went flying into the trash, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t breathe. The world was spinning, and all I could think about was how stupid I had been.
I didn’t stop running until I reached the car. I slammed the door shut, hands gripping the steering wheel like I was trying to hold onto the last shreds of my sanity.
The tears came faster as I started driving, my vision clouded by the flood of emotion. My mind
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was a whirlpool, spinning around every word Thomas had just said. My mother’s death… it wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t fate.
It was his choice. He had killed her for Audrey.
I barely noticed the headlights speeding toward
- me.
The screech of the brakes.
Then…nothing.
When I woke, the world was sterile and bright. The sharp scent of antiseptic tickled my nose, and pain pulsed fiercely throughout my body.
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I blinked against the harsh light of the hospital room, and then my gaze fell on him.
“Camille,” Alpha Thomas said, his voice hoarse with emotion. He was seated beside my bed, gripping my hand as though it was the only thing anchoring him. His eyes were bloodshot, his face pale and unshaven.
“What happened?” he rasped. His voice wavered with raw vulnerability. “Why were you driving like that? Do you have any idea how close you came to dying?”
I stared at him, my mind caught somewhere between reality and the suffocating memories of his words.
He looked at me like I was his everything. His
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expression brimmed with pain, worry, and -if I hadn’t known better–love. He was so
convincing.
I forced a weak smile, summoning every ounce of strength I had. “I’m fine,” I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper.
Relief washed over his face in waves. He leaned over and kissed my forehead tenderly, his whispers brushing against my skin. “I love you, Camille. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You mean everything to me.”
And I let him have his lie.
I let him believe I hadn’t heard the truth behind that office door. I let him cling to the illusion of me as the trusting, devoted Luna he had so
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carefully constructed.
But deep within, something sinister had taken
root.
Thomas Cole had stolen my mother’s life. He had shattered my trust. He had destroyed my love for him.
He had taken everything from me.
Now, I was going to take everything from him.
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