There he was, kneeling before Violet Frost, a she-wolf who bore an uncanny resemblance to me. Tears glistened in his amber eyes as he pressed the moonstone pendant to her palm and vowed to her, “Violet, you are my true mate. My only one in this lifetime.”
My breath hitched, but I didn’t cry—until his Beta’s taunting words reached my ears. “Finally, Alpha, your real Luna has returned. What about the stand-in omega you’ve been keeping warm at night?”
Ronan exhaled a long, smoky breath, his tone cold and calculating. “Ayla? She’s nothing but a substitute. The poor girl worships me. She won’t survive without me, so I’ll let her down gently—when the time is right.”
I stumbled back, my wolf whimpering in agony. I clutched my chest, where his phantom touch burned like betrayal. Swallowing my pride, I sent a message to my father. “Father, I’ll accept the bond with the Crescent Fang heir.”
It was pure coincidence—or cruel irony—that Ronan’s mating ceremony fell on the same night I registered my own union with a distant Alpha. When I posted the ceremonial photo, marking myself as claimed, I heard later that Ronan’s face had paled instantly.