The Alpha’s Punishment Her Faked Death, His RuinChapter 1

My mate's omega liaison deliberately destroyed a painting I'd poured two years of my soul into.

The canvas held moon-blessed pigments, each stroke infused with my rare bloodline's gift. I was furious. As punishment, I made her serve as a den-maid for three days—scrubbing floors at my exhibition while the pack watched.

Alaric said nothing at first. He carried on as if the incident had never occurred.

But three moons later, his pack's territory collapsed. Allied packs severed their blood oaths. The Council Elders stripped him of his holdings and cast him into the binding den beneath the central keep.

To settle the tribute debts he'd accumulated, I worked three positions each day, running myself to exhaustion. I cleaned dens for hostile packs. I served at alliance gatherings where wolves who once bowed to me now spat at my feet.

For three years, I was cornered in shadowed alleyways by rogue hunters demanding payment, their claws leaving marks on my arms as they hurled insults at my bloodline. For a hundred coins, I took work as a "test sleeper" in abandoned territories rumored to be cursed by feral spirits.