---- Chapter 2 On the last day of River's trials, I boarded a flight toa remote town in Alaska. The air bit at my skin, but I welcomed the cold. It reminded me that I was alive. That I was free. For years, I'd tried to be the mate Eric needed-the polished Luna, the perfect Omega. I smothered my instincts, buried my wildness beneath silk dresses and obedient smiles. But none of it ever reached him. Not truly. "Any Omega could do that. It's nothing," he would say when I presented pack reports or ran community events. The sycophants in the pack would immediately chime in. "So true, Alpha! Lyra is so lucky. It's only by your power that she lives so comfortably." ---- "And the corporation's new CFO, Aurora-I hear she's an old flame of yours. Alpha, you two should be seen together more. Show us what a real power couple looks like!" They'd say these things right in front of me, with no regard for my feelings. Aurora. I knew that name all too well. Eric's unforgettable first love from the wolf academy, his childhood sweetheart. For years, she was an invisible wall between us. Just when everyone in the pack thought the academy's golden couple would be mated for life, Aurora broke up with him before graduation. She chose to explore the world rather than be tied down. Eric was a wreck for six months. Then came the family pressure, the weight of duty. He took over the pack-and me, the mate chosen by ---- the Moon Goddess, or so they said. His lingering love for Aurora had blinded him to my decade of devotion. On our mating anniversary, he had gone to a class reunion. He came back reeking of alcohol, but even that couldn't mask the sharp, familiar scent. It was Aurora's signature scent, aggressive and invasive-a silent declaration of another woman's claim. It was a quiet testament to how pathetic my ten years as his mate had been. But what stung more than the scent was the confusion in his eyes when I confronted him. He hadn't meant to hurt me. He just hadn't realized he still could. So I walked away.