I once believed Kaden was the Alpha fate had sent to protect me. On that blood-soaked night we were trapped at Breakline Watchtower in our childhood, he masked my scent with his own blood, hooked his pinky finger around mine, and swore he would shield me forever.Years later, I married into the Windridge Pack, became his officially registered Luna, and bore his child. Yet time and again, he chose to rush to Selena, the battlefield correspondent. Worse still, he credited her with the childhood vow that had belonged solely to me.On that night at the hot springs, he unleashed his Alpha aura to shield Selena right in front of a crowd of journalists, leaving his pregnant mate stranded alone on the snow-capped mountain. During the Stormfang investiture ceremony, Selena secretly released a trained scent to incite the war wolf Stormfang to attack me. Without a second thought, Kaden swept her into his arms to keep her safe.Bleeding heavily, I hurled my mate ring at his feet. I lost our child, and in that moment, I took back every shred of my heart that had belonged to him.By the time Kaden uncovered the truth, found the bloodstained ring, and realized Selena had stolen every promise meant for me, I had already enrolled at Grey Tower Neutral Academy, emerging as an heir qualified to independently command the border defense forces.Selena was stripped of all her honors, fitted with a scent-suppression collar, and exiled. Kaden was stripped of his inheritance rights, his authority over Stormfang, and the mate bond binding him to me.
