Chapter 1 Chapter 1

Amara’s POV

You’re a curse.”

I watched with steady eyes as my mate pressed his nails into my skin, not the first time, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. I bit down hard to stop a scream from tearing out of me.

“Cursed and worthless,” the pack had whispered about me since I was born. Never did I expect to hear it from him.

That was the cruel new normal. Aphia, who once softened his gaze at me, who once cared, had changed. Those gentle months felt like a lifetime ago.

He withdrew his fingers and the metallic tang of blood filled the room. Thrusting me against the wall, he left me gasping and then throwing myself to the floor, clutching at the pain.

“You’re nothing but bad luck, Amara! You ruined the only thing you could’ve done right.” His eyes landed on the pile of dirty-stained clothes on the floor.

My palms were cut from Aphia’s earlier scolding, yet when he’d ordered me to wash his things, I’d done it despite the ache. I’d returned with them clean and he’d flung them aside like trash, finding fault in every fold.

Even as my body throbbed, I swallowed the blame. “I’m sorry. I’ll… you can have the maids wash them.”

“Nonsense!” Aphia spat, venom sharp. “You washed them and now you want me to hand them to the maids? You’ll wash them again yourself.”

“But—”

“Shut up.” His voice had lost the man I once knew. “There’s no difference between you and the maids. You’re beneath them.”

I clutched the hem of my pale dress, my whole face twisting with effort to breathe through the shame. I wanted to believe this wasn’t really Aphia, but my heart kept betraying me with its small, stubborn hope. He flinched at my expression and hauled me up roughly.

“Argh, careful,” I gasped, pain ringing through me. Aphia heard it as defiance and shoved harder; the ache doubled, tripled, until every breath was a fight.

“You’re disgusting, cursed and ugly. I don’t even know why I ever wanted you.” His fingers tangled in his hair, tugging it with a rage that made his voice cut sharper than any blade.

My breaths came shallow, uneven. I didn’t dare wince, didn’t dare make a sound, afraid another blow would follow. The ache in my body burned past excruciating, yet all I could manage was a stifled moan.

“Urgh.” He yanked his hands away from me, the sudden force sending me crashing to the ground. His eyes swept over me with a look so vile it made my stomach twist.

My heart sank. An icy discomfort spread through me. Had I been wrong all along? Did Aphia never love me? I wanted to deny it, to cling to the hope I’d held onto, but the truth was beginning to bleed through.

My lips trembled as I forced out the words, broken and fragile. “Don’t you love me anymore?”

His silence held me captive. For a fleeting moment, I mistook it for hesitation, even hope, until the sharp glare he gave me shattered everything.

“I never loved you. I only pitied the abandoned pack member and chose to mate you.” His words were few, but his eyes carried a thousand daggers, each one stabbing deeper than the last.

My knees buckled, the ground threatening to pull me under. It all made sense now. Aphia hadn’t taken me as a mate out of love, he had done it to paint himself as merciful, to be praised as a benevolent Alpha by his people. To them, he was kind. To me, he was a lie.

I remembered the way I used to watch him, the way I’d convinced myself his touch, his eyes, his care were real. But they weren’t. They had never been. Every smile, every tender gesture, it was all an act.

A bitter curve tugged at my lips. I was a fool. A toy. A shield for his reputation.

And I knew why the mask had fallen now. His pretense had no use anymore. After the last competition, where he had failed to prove himself the strongest, the most powerful, even the most benevolent, his pride had been torn to shreds. Since then, his frustration had been carved into me, every slap, every punch, every cruel word.

He had promised me once. Promised to love me, to protect me, to cherish me forever. But forever had turned into scars.

I couldn’t do it anymore. Better loneliness than this. Better emptiness than being chained to a man built of lies.

My lips pressed together, trembling as I finally turned away. My heart felt strangely numb, like I had been emptied of all feeling.

Behind me, his voice lashed out one last time, venomous and sharp.

“Bitch. Stop staring at me like that, you make me want to puke.”

I let out a hollow scoff inside, watching him. This was the real Aphia. Not the sweet words, not the promises, this. The one who spat my ugliness back at me, who told me I was nothing but filth. That was who he truly was.

He used to say he loved me, that being wolfless and ugly didn’t matter. But that was a lie.

Yes, I’m ugly. Ugly and wolfless. A disgrace.

Sometimes I think the goddess hates me. What other reason could there be? Why else would every curse in this world find its way to me? A weak wolf. A cursed body. And now the one person I thought would stand beside me, crushing me even further with every word.

The tears I had fought so hard to keep back slipped free before I even noticed, rushing hot down my cheeks. I turned to leave, to escape, but his hand stopped me mid-step.

“Why?” The question tore from my lips, ragged and broken.

I wasn’t stupid enough to think he was hesitating, or that he felt regret. I had been a fool once, but not anymore.

“Sign this first.” His tone was flat, his eyes colder than death. He shoved a file toward me.

My breath stilled. My hands shook as I glanced down, and my heart nearly stopped. Staring back at me was the one thing I had prayed never to see. A divorce agreement. The final severing of the bond between mates.

I blinked, again and again, as if the words would blur and change. They didn’t. They burned.

Swallowing hard, I realized I had no choice. My fingers trembled as I signed away the last thread tying us together.

“I, Aphia, Alpha of Silverpine pack, reject you, Amira, as my mate.”

His voice was empty, lifeless. Yet the sound carved itself into my skull like steel.

My lips quivered, but I forced the words out, matching his coldness. “I, Amira, from the Silverpine pack, reject you, Alpha Aphia, as my mate. I will leave the pack house immediately.”

I turned to go, but before I could take a step, Aphia blocked my way. Shadows filled the doorway—three gammas and his Beta.

A chill crawled down my spine. I’d seen them countless times before, but tonight… something was wrong. Dread seeped into my bones.

“What… what are you doing, Aphia?” My voice trembled.

His lips curled into a grin that made my blood run cold.

“Nothing much,” he drawled. “Just sending you off to meet your people.”

“My… people?” My voice cracked. I had no people. I had been alone my whole life. So who was he talking about?

His grin widened, cruel and triumphant. “I sold you to the Alpha triplets of Beadblood pack.”

The world spun. My ears rang. His words echoed over and over until they were all I could hear.

The Alpha triplets. Maximus. Alexander. Santiago.