Chapter 1

• Artemesia
• I’m the daughter of Alpha Franco of the Blood Moon Pack, today is my twentieth birthday.
• I woke up before the sun, heart racing, body felt like it was on fire, because today was every single wolf waits for. I will find myself the happiest wolf in the world with finding a mate on my birthday.
• My wolf stirred, restless and excited, whispering his name into my soul like a prayer.
• Riccardo.
• Ricardo was my best friend, my childhood sweetheart, the boy that I loved since I was fifteen. We had been lovers after he stole my first kiss in high school, I gave him my everything as we went to college.
• For me to be fated to him, despite all, what could have gone wrong, That was something that I was happy about.
• I had waited patiently for this day, and now it was here. Now I can just be his and he can be mine.
• I believed it. Stupidly. Naively.
• Little did I know things were just going to take a turn that I did not know. Things were going to end up backfiring on me in a way that I did not calculate.
• The pack was throwing a celebration for me, I thought Riccardo will come to mark me and claim me.
• But he didn’t even come timely.
• Long time passed, he finally appeared, he looked like a stranger in my mate’s skin. No flowers. No kiss. No warmth in his eyes.
• I pushed through the crowd to get to him, heart thundering with anticipation, nerves fluttering. I wanted to be by his side.
• “Rick?” I asked softly. I extended my hand and brushed it over his own, trying to understand what was going on. “Is everything alright, Riccardo?”
• He stepped back. Just one step. But it felt like the ground cracked beneath my feet.
• “I, Riccardo Saviano, future Alpha of the Gray Shadow Moon Pack, reject you, Artemisia Guerrieri, daughter of Alpha Franco of the Blood Moon Pack, as my mate and future Luna.”
• The silence in the room was deafening.
• The silence of the pack members who were watching, listening, even looking at the two of us made me feel smaller than I ever did.
• My breath caught. I waited for him to laugh. To say it was a joke. But he didn’t. His expression was carved from stone. And my wolf felt it too. For a moment, neither one of us reacted, but then everything crashed on me like a wave that I refused to be able to swim in.
• The rejection hit like a blade to the chest. My knees nearly gave out.
• “You’re rejecting me?” I whispered. “You’re my… Riccardo, we’ve been…” My throat burned. “We’ve been everything to each other. Why?”
• “I’ve already found my mate, my two kids and my pregnant mate are waiting for me at home.,” he said coldly.
• Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall in front of him.
• “You have kids?” I whispered. “You kissed me. Slept in my bed. Made promises. And now… you’re with another woman? Why?”
• He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.
• I never thought I was betrayed and rejected on my 20th birthday.
• ***
• Four years later
• If there’s one thing I’m grateful for, it’s that even after my fated mate rejected me and left me broken, I didn’t give up on my studies. I healed well enough and managed to become a doctor at our pack hospital. But my heart never truly recovered. The pain of being rejected still lingers, heavy and unbearable.
• “Missy!” I turn around as I see my younger brother kick a stone in his path. “Mom wants to talk to you about Gio’s coronation.”
• I groan, picking up my shoes and getting up. “I’m going to help, but I won’t go!”
• “You have to. Gio would be sad if you didn’t.”
• My older brother would indeed be sad if I were to miss his coronation ceremony. He and his mate have been training for this moment for months and I know exactly how nervous he is.
• But the worst part is that Riccardo will also be attending Gio's coronation ceremony. Even though I boast about being over Riccardo at every possibility I’m given, I fear the moment of meeting him at the ceremony. Also, facing him without a mate by my side is always the worst thing to live through.
• Walking back with my younger brother, who talks non-stop about his sparring classes at school, I reach our pack house pretty fast.
• I find my mother in her office and knock at the open door, making her turn to me with a big smile. “Ah, Missy, there you are.”
• “Hey, Ma. Is there a possibility I could help without having to go?”
• She chuckles, moving her glasses up her nose by pinching their frame.
• “Honey, we have already discussed it. We all must show your brother our love and support. What will people think if you don’t show up?”
• I take a piece of paper that she is handing me over her desk and slump into the seat standing in front of it with a groan.
• “I need you to memorize the names of the guests, so we can make a good impression.”
• “Mom! These are hundreds of names!” I shout, looking at her agape, but she just waves dismissively.
• “Oh, I’ve highlighted the important ones, and you have a few days.”
• Scrunching my nose, I check the list and murmur, “You have to be kidding me.”
• She is humming along happily as my eyes fall on a special name.
• “Blackwood?” I whisper to myself, attracting my mother’s attention.
• “What was that, honey?”
• I turn the page for her to see and she squints her eyes at it. “You invited the Blackwood heir. From the Blood Fang pack?”