My fists clenched so tight my nails left small crescents in my palms when the video lit up the screen—my mate’s secret footage, showing him and another woman sharing a private moment, streaming for everyone to see.
And of course, I wasn’t the one meant to be on his side of the sheets.
“Baby, you’re the only one who knows how to keep it exciting,” he murmured, his voice low with thrill as they embraced.
“Please,” she whispered, curling against him. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m so much better than that poor little mate of yours who just stands there like a shadow.”
Their cruel laughter sliced straight through me like a knife.
A shadow? That’s what I was to him?
Or maybe, my darling mate, the real problem is your lack of connection.
So I went to the one man he could never stand—my mate’s half brother, his greatest rival.
And his strength? He had no trouble showing it.
He pushed me to my limits again and again until my body shook, until my cries filled the room, until every last breath left me in his arms... “Oh God, just like that! Yes!”
“My little sl*t, I love you so much. You’re nothing like my boring fiancée mate.”
My heart nearly stopped beating as the obscene sounds filled my ears through my laptop speakers.
And the sight on the screen made every drop of blood in my body turn to ice:
It was my mate, Logan, the future Alpha of my pack, and my best, my only friend Madeline.
They were going at it with the raw intensity that only the closest pair of mates could share. In my mate ceremony suite, the very room where Logan and I, his rightful mate, were supposed to consummate our bond tomorrow night.
But the one in that bed wasn’t me.
Madeline Cross, my so-called best friend writhed beneath my mate, her golden hair spilled across the silk pillows I had personally selected. She wore my wedding dress—the ivory gown I'd spent months choosing, now hiked up around her waist as she moved against him with shameless abandon.
"God, Logan," Madeline's breathy moan cut through me like a blade. "Tomorrow you'll have to pretend to want that frigid bi*ch instead of me."
My hands trembled as I gripped the laptop screen.
Frigid bi*ch? I had never realized that, in the eyes of the one friend I cherished most, I played such a role.
Just moments ago, all my thoughts and energy were tied up in preparing for the marking ceremony Logan and I would share tomorrow.
Like every she-wolf caught in the pull of the mate bond, I yearned for the moment he would mark me and make me his Luna, for the moment the whole pack—no, the whole werewolf world—would see that I was his destined choice.
I had arranged the flowers with trembling hands, gone over the menu again and again, checked every single invitation so no one would be forgotten.
In my mind I could already feel Logan’s arms around me when we finally became true mates, the heat of his breath on my skin, the slow and aching way he would strip me bare and claim every inch of me as his.
I imagined him taking me until nothing else existed but the two of us, his scent all over me, his seed planted deep where only he belonged. A secret hope whispered inside me that maybe, just maybe, by dawn I would already be carrying his pup.
Even before I opened that video, I had been rehearsing the vows I wanted to speak at the ceremony. I wanted Logan to hear how much he meant to me. I wanted everyone to see how completely I loved my mate.
But as I floated in that dream, an email arrived in my inbox. Its subject line read:
Something you should know before tomorrow.
I had clicked the link out of curiosity, never imagining it would lead to this nightmare.
On screen, Logan's laugh was dark, hungry. "Don't worry, baby. After the ceremony, I'll find excuses to be with you. Harper's so desperate for approval, she'll believe anything I tell her."
The words hit me like physical blows. My wolf whimpered in agony, the sound echoing through my mind as betrayal tore through our bond.
"She really thinks you love her," Madeline purred, trailing her fingers down Logan's chest.
"Poor little orphan girl, so grateful that the future Alpha would even look at her. If only she knew how pathetic she looks when she tries to please you in bed."
"Like a corpse," Logan agreed with a cruel chuckle. "No passion, no fire. Just lies there like she's doing me a favor. "
"At least with you, I actually enjoy myself."
“Remember when we were kids?” Madeline's voice turned sickeningly sweet, “How those other pups used to corner her, calling her ‘traitor’s daughter’? I pretended to rescue her, but honestly, watching her cower was so entertaining. She was so grateful for my friendship.”
The memory slammed into me—Madeline's gentle hands helping me up after particularly vicious attacks, her soothing words.
All lies. All manipulation.
And My heart tightened as I heard she called me the ‘traitor’s daughter’.
I had carried that label for more than ten years, ever since I was very young.
When I was six, our pack, the Silverpine Pack, suffered a devastating battle. It was an unprecedented attack launched by the rogues. My mother died in that assault.
I still remember my father, Mason Lane, the pack’s beta, holding my mother’s lifeless body, his eyes resolute.
“Stay here. Wait for me,” he said.
He turned and ran toward the battlefield, and that was the last time I saw my father.
I waited for days, until warriors returning from the alpha’s patrol brought back a message:
Beta Mason had betrayed the pack.
From that moment, I carried the label of “traitor’s daughter.”
I never imagined it would become the word my mate and my so-called friend would use to tease me in bed.
"She still has that same pathetic look," Logan said, his breathing growing heavier.
"Like a kicked puppy begging for scraps of affection. If she wasn't useful for securing my position as Alpha, I wouldn't waste my time."
Useful. That's all I was to him. A political alliance wrapped in the pretty lie of destined mates.
Unable to bear the silence any longer, I opened a mind link to Logan.
*Logan?* My mental voice sounded small, broken.
His response came immediately, breathless and distracted.
*Harper? What—ah, God—what do you need?*
I could hear everything through the link—Madeline's deliberate moans growing louder, the wet sounds of their coupling, Logan's ragged breathing.
My stomach churned with revulsion.
*Just wanted to confirm everything's ready for tomorrow,* I managed, my voice steady despite the chaos in my heart.
*Tomorrow?* He sounded genuinely confused for a moment before remembering.
*Oh, right. The ceremony. Yeah, whatever you planned is fine. I trust your—f*ck—I trust your judgment.*
Madeline's delighted squeal echoed through both the video and the mind link. She was performing for me now, making sure I heard every sound of pleasure Logan drew from her—pleasure he'd never managed to coax from me.
*Did you pick up my dress from the seamstress like we discussed?* I asked, watching on screen as Madeline lifted the hem of my wedding gown higher, using her foot to pull Logan deeper.
*Your dress? Right, yes. It's... it's taken care of.*
The mind link snapped shut abruptly as Logan lost himself in Madeline's body, leaving me in deafening silence.
On screen, Madeline deliberately spilled wine across the delicate beadwork, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as the red stain spread across the ivory silk.
"Oh no," she gasped in mock concern, loud enough for the microphone to catch.
"I hope Harper won't mind that her precious dress got a little dirty."
Logan's response was a growl of pleasure rather than concern. "She'll wear whatever I give her. She should be grateful I'm marking her at all."
I stared at the screen as they continued their betrayal in my sacred space, on my chosen sheets, wearing my dreams like a costume in their twisted game.
My wolf retreated deep inside me, wounded and bleeding from the severed trust.
I closed the laptop with shaking fingers and fell back onto my bed, staring at the ceiling as tears finally spilled down my cheeks.
Tomorrow was supposed to be the beginning of my new life, my chance to finally belong somewhere without question.
Instead, it would be a public humiliation orchestrated by the two people I trusted most.
I needed to leave, to run, to disappear before I had to face the mockery of a ceremony that would bind me to a man who saw me as nothing more than a useful tool.
I rolled over and reached for my duffel bag, my hands moving automatically to pack the few belongings that mattered. My mother's jewelry. The photo of my parents from before everything went wrong. The warrior training certificates I'd earned through blood and determination.
I was halfway through folding clothes when a voice slid through my mind like silk over steel—a voice that definitely wasn't Logan's.
*Did you enjoy my gift?*
I froze, my hands clutching a sweater to my chest. The voice was deep, magnetic, with an edge of dark amusement that sent shivers down my spine.
I knew that voice, though I'd never heard it directed at me before.
Grayson Hayes. Logan's older half-brother, the rightful heir who'd been stripped of his inheritance for reasons no one spoke about openly.
The dangerous, mysterious Alpha's son who made my wolf pace restlessly whenever he was near.
*What gift?* I responded cautiously, though my heart was already racing with a different kind of anticipation.
His low chuckle resonated through the mind link, rich and dark like expensive whiskey.
*The video, little wolf. Did it show you everything you needed to see?*The silver wolf that emerged from the treeline was magnificent—larger than any I'd ever seen, more powerful than even our Alpha.
His coat gleamed like liquid mercury in the dying sunlight, muscles rippling beneath the lustrous fur as he approached with predatory grace.
Every instinct in my body screamed danger, yet I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.
My wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, responding to the raw alpha energy radiating from him.
This wasn't just any alpha—this was something primal, untamed.
When the shift began, I should have looked away. Should have given him privacy.
Instead, I stood transfixed as bones reformed, as fur receded to reveal bronzed skin stretched over a frame that belonged in ancient warrior legends.
Grayson Hayes stood before me, completely naked and utterly unashamed.
Heat flooded my cheeks as my eyes traced the defined lines of his chest, the ridged muscles of his abdomen.
My wolf whined with want, pressing against my consciousness with a hunger I'd never felt before—not even with Logan.
"Enjoying the view?" Grayson's voice held dark amusement.
I jerked my gaze up to his face, mortified to be caught staring. Those golden eyes held mine captive, seeming to see straight through every defense I'd ever built.
"I—" My voice cracked. I cleared my throat, forcing steel into my spine. "You wanted to meet."
"Mmm." He moved with fluid grace toward a tree where clothes hung from a low branch.
"The question is, Harper Lane, have you thought about what you really want?"
The way he said my name—like he was tasting something forbidden—sent shivers down my spine.
I watched, helpless, as he pulled on dark jeans that hugged his powerful thighs, the muscles in his back shifting as he reached for his shirt.
"Why?" The word burst from me before I could stop it. "Why are you doing this? Just to steal the Alpha position from Logan?"
Grayson paused, shirt halfway over his head. When he emerged, his expression had shifted to something predatory.
"Steal?" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and smoke and something uniquely male that made my knees weak. "That position was mine by right of birth, little beta. Logan is nothing more than a bastard who got lucky."
"I don't see how I could possibly help you with that." I lifted my chin, trying to project confidence I didn't feel. "I'm just—"
"Just what?" His eyes narrowed dangerously, and the look sent heat pooling low in my belly. "The daughter of a traitor? A beta with no real power?"
Each word was a blade, cutting deep. But instead of the usual shame, anger flared in my chest. "If that's what you think, then why—"
"Because you're wrong." He was close enough now that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin.
"You have no idea what you really are, do you?"
My heart hammered against my ribs. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Instead of answering, he circled me slowly, like a predator sizing up prey. "Tell me, Harper—why do you think that fool brother of mine chose you as his mate?"
The question hit like a physical blow. Logan's words from the video echoed in my mind:
*If she wasn't useful, I wouldn't have chosen her.*
"I..." I swallowed hard. "We're fated mates."
Grayson's laugh was dark silk. "Are you? Or is that just what you've been told?"
Before I could process that bombshell, memories crashed over me—fragments I'd tried to forget.
The day I'd won the pack training competition, earning rare praise from Alpha Ryan. The jealous she-wolves who'd cornered me afterward, their claws leaving marks that would scar.
I'd searched desperately for Logan in the crowd, needing my mate to defend me. Instead, I'd watched him turn and walk away, leaving me to face their cruelty alone.
Later, bleeding and humiliated, I'd fled to the forest to tend my wounds in private.
That's when I'd first encountered him—Grayson, sitting beneath a canopy of branches, watching me with those unsettling golden eyes.
*"Working so hard to prove yourself,"* he'd said, voice laced with mockery.
*"Tell me, little beta, what happens when you realize it's never going to be enough?"*
I'd wanted to hate him for those words. Instead, I'd found myself returning to that spot, hoping to see him again. Each encounter left me breathless, confused by the way he looked at me—like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve.
"You were watching me." The realization hit like lightning. "Even then, you were—"
"Observing," he corrected smoothly. "Waiting."
"For what?"
His smile was sharp as a blade. "For you to realize what that pathetic excuse for an alpha really is."
The truth of it burned. Logan, who'd abandoned me when I needed him most. Who'd let others tear me down while he stood by and watched. Who was, at this very moment, defiling our future together with my supposed best friend.
"What do you want from me?" I whispered.
Grayson stepped closer, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. "I want to give you what you deserve, Harper. What we both deserve."
"Which is?"
"Revenge." The word rolled off his tongue like a promise. "Let's work together. Let's give that cheating bastard and his whore exactly what they've earned."
My breath caught. This was what I'd come here hoping for, yet hearing him say it made it real in a way that terrified me.
"How?" I managed.
His smile turned predatory, and I felt my wolf respond with a hunger that should have frightened me.
"We destroy them, little beta. We give that pair of traitors a mating ceremony they'll never forget—right in the middle of what should have been your wedding."
The heat in his eyes promised dark pleasures, dangerous games. And despite every rational thought screaming warnings, I found myself leaning closer, drawn like a moth to flame.
"On their special day," he continued, voice dropping to a seductive whisper, "we'll show the entire pack exactly what they really are."Grayson's sudden honesty struck me harder than I expected. The stark contrast between him and his brother was impossible to ignore now.
Two years ago, when Logan and I had first decided to choose each other as mates, he'd made me promises under the moonlight. His hands had been gentle then, his voice soft with what I'd believed was love.
But even in those tender moments, he'd pushed for more.
"Come on, Harper," he'd whispered against my neck, his hands roaming places that made my wolf purr. "We're going to be mated anyway. Why wait?"
I'd pushed him away each time, my cheeks burning. "After the ceremony, Logan. I want to do this right."
His frustration had been palpable, but he'd backed down. Or so I'd thought.
Now I knew better—he'd simply found someone else to satisfy his needs.
"You're thinking about him."
Grayson's low voice cut through my bitter memories.
I blinked, finding those golden eyes studying me with an intensity that made my skin tingle.
"What?"
"My brother. You're thinking about what he did to you." His lips curved in a knowing smirk. "I can smell your anger from here."
Heat flooded my cheeks. "I wasn't—"
"Liar." He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous.
"So, what's it going to be, Harper? Are you going to work with me or not?"
I straightened my spine, meeting his gaze head-on. "I'm going to refuse the mark ceremony tomorrow. I'll reject Logan publicly."
"And then what? Run away with your tail between your legs?"
The mockery in his voice made my wolf bristle. "That's not running away. That's making a choice."
"Is it?" Grayson tilted his head, studying me like I was some fascinating puzzle.
"You'll just let them win? Let that bastard brother of mine and his little whore laugh about how they played the great Harper Lane?"
My hands clenched into fists. The way he said it, so casually cruel, made something dark unfurl in my chest. But I forced myself to stay calm.
"I won't be part of your games, Grayson."
"Games?" He laughed, the sound rich and dangerous. "Sweetheart, this isn't a game. This is war."
The endearment sent an unwelcome shiver down my spine. I hated how my body reacted to him, how my wolf seemed to perk up every time he spoke.
It made no sense—he wasn't my mate. I would have felt the bond.
So why did every instinct I had scream at me to step closer?
"You were Logan's right hand," Grayson continued, circling me slowly like a predator.
"His future Luna. You attended pack meetings, diplomatic functions. Tell me you don't have dirt on him."
"Even if I did, I wouldn't use it."
"Why?" He stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. "Because you promised to protect him?"
My silence was answer enough.
Grayson's eyes gleamed with something that looked almost like approval. "Loyal to the end, aren't you? Even after he betrayed you."
"I keep my word."
"How admirable." His voice dropped to a whisper, and he leaned in until his breath ghosted across my ear. "And how incredibly naive."
I jerked back, my heart hammering. "I'm not naive."
"No?" His smile was all sharp edges. "Then you know exactly what kind of man my brother is. What kind of Alpha he'll make."
I did know. That was the problem.
Grayson seemed to sense my internal struggle. Instead of pressing harder, he stepped back, giving me space to breathe.
"Think about it, Harper. When you're ready to stop playing the victim, you know where to find me."
He turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the clearing.
"Oh, and Harper?" He glanced back over his shoulder, and the look in his eyes made my knees weak. "When I take back what's mine, I'll need a Beta I can trust. Someone strong enough to stand beside me."
Then he was gone, melting into the shadows between the trees like he'd never been there at all.
I stood there for a long moment, my mind reeling. Everything about Grayson Hayes was dangerous—his confidence, his intensity, the way he looked at me like he could see straight through to my soul.
And the way my body responded to him was even more dangerous.
----
By the time I made it home, the sun had set completely. I was still turning Grayson's offer over in my mind when the doorbell rang.
I opened it to find Olivia Hayes on my doorstep, her perfectly styled blonde hair gleaming under the porch light. Logan's mother had never liked me, and she'd never bothered to hide it.
"Olivia." I forced a polite smile. "What can I do for you?"
She pushed past me without invitation, her sharp eyes scanning my modest living room with obvious disdain.
"The wedding dress needs alterations," she announced, dropping a garment bag on my coffee table like it was garbage. "The seamstress said you need to come in tomorrow morning."
I stared at the bag, my stomach churning. "Tomorrow's the ceremony."
"Which is why you need to go early." Her tone suggested I was an idiot for not understanding. "Really, Harper, I would have expected you to be more organized."
The criticism rolled off me easier than it used to. Funny how learning your fiancé was cheating could put things in perspective.
"Of course," I said flatly. "I'll handle it."
Olivia's eyes narrowed at my tone. "Is there a problem?"
"No problem."
She studied me for a moment longer, then unzipped the garment bag with sharp, efficient movements. The dress that spilled out was beautiful—cream silk with intricate beadwork—but it was wrinkled and...
I frowned. "It's dirty."
"Barely." Olivia waved a dismissive hand. "Nothing that won't come out."
But it wasn't just dirt. My enhanced senses picked up something else—the lingering scent of another she-wolf. My wolf's hackles rose.
"There's another shewolf's scent on this dress."
Olivia's laugh was cold and sharp. "Oh, please. As if that matters."
The casual cruelty in her voice hit me like a slap. She knew. She knew about Logan's affair, and she didn't care.
"You think I don't deserve better than a soiled dress?"
"I think you should be grateful for what you get." Olivia's smile was all teeth. "Let's be honest, dear. A girl with your... background... should count herself lucky to marry into this family at all."
My father's disgrace. Always, it came back to that.
"Your son cheated on me," I said quietly.
"Boys will be boys." She shrugged. "What matters is that he's choosing you for his Luna. Don't ruin it by being dramatic."
The dismissal in her voice, the complete lack of respect—it crystallized something inside me.
For years, I'd tried to earn this woman's approval, to prove I was worthy of her precious son.
What a waste of time that had been.
"Get out."
Olivia blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I said get out. Take your dirty dress and your condescending attitude and leave."
Her face flushed red. "How dare you speak to me that way? I am going to be your—"
"You're going to be nothing to me." I opened the front door and held it wide. "Get out. Now."
For a moment, I thought she might argue. Then she snatched up the garment bag and stalked toward the door.
"You'll regret this," she hissed as she passed. "Logan deserves so much better than a disgraced beta's daughter."
The door slammed behind her, leaving me alone with the echo of her venom.
I should have felt satisfied. Instead, I felt empty.
----
Later that night, I sat on my bed surrounded by photos and mementos from my relationship with Logan. Two years of memories spread out before me like evidence in a trial.
I should burn it all. Should expose every ugly secret, every questionable decision he'd made with me by his side.
Instead, I gathered it all up and locked it away in a box. Some promises were worth keeping, even when the person who'd inspired them wasn't.
I was just settling into bed when a familiar tap came at my window.
Logan crouched on the fire escape outside, his boyish smile bright in the moonlight. Once, that smile would have made my heart race. Now it just made me tired.
I opened the window but didn't invite him in.
"Hey, beautiful." He swung one leg over the sill. "Miss me?"The scent hit me immediately—Madeline's perfume clinging to his clothes, her essence marking him like a brand. My stomach turned.
"Don't."
But he was already climbing through, reaching for me with hands that had been on another woman hours ago.
"Come on, Harper. Tomorrow we'll be mated. Tonight's our last night of freedom." His hands found my waist, pulling me against him. "Let me show you how much I've missed you."
I pushed against his chest, but he held firm. "Logan, stop."
"What's wrong with you lately?" His grip tightened, and something ugly flickered in his blue eyes. "You've been cold, distant. A good mate doesn't act like this."
"A good mate doesn't cheat."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Logan went very still.
"What did you say?"
I lifted my chin, meeting his gaze steadily. "You heard me."
For a moment, his mask slipped completely. The charming, golden boy facade cracked, revealing something cold and calculating underneath.
Then he laughed.
"Is that what this is about? You're jealous?" His hands moved to frame my face, his touch possessive rather than gentle. "Sweetheart, you're going to be my Luna. What I do with other shewolf doesn't matter."
The casual dismissal of my feelings, the complete lack of remorse—it was like looking at a stranger.
"It matters to me."
"Then you need to grow up." His voice hardened. "You think being Luna means you get to be precious about every little thing? You think my father's been faithful to every Luna he's had?"
The comparison to his father—who'd discarded Grayson's mother for Olivia—made my skin crawl.
"Let go of me."
"I don't think so." His smile turned predatory. "See, I think you need a reminder of who you belong to."
His mouth crashed against mine, hard and demanding. I could taste Madeline on his lips, smell her scent on his skin. When I tried to pull away, his grip tightened painfully.
"Stop fighting me, Harper." His voice was low, dangerous. "You're mine. Tomorrow everyone will know it."
But I wasn't his. Not anymore.
Maybe I never had been.
The taste of betrayal still burned bitter on my tongue as Logan's grip tightened around my wrist. His blue-gray eyes had darkened to something I barely recognized—something predatory and cruel.
"You think you can just walk away from me?" His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "After everything I've done for you? After all the times I've defended you when the pack whispered about your father?"
My heart hammered against my ribs. The scent of Madeline still clung to his skin like a poisonous perfume, making my stomach churn. "Let go of me, Logan."
"No." His other hand shot out, gripping my shoulder hard enough to bruise. "You're going to listen to me, Harper. You're going to understand exactly what you owe me."
I tried to pull away, but his alpha strength was overwhelming. The power difference between us had never felt more pronounced—more terrifying. My wolf whimpered inside me, caught between submission to his alpha dominance and the burning need to fight back.
"I don't owe you anything," I managed through gritted teeth, even as his fingers dug deeper into my flesh.
His laugh was harsh, grating. "Don't you? Who stood by you when everyone called you a traitor's daughter? Who made you believe you could be Luna despite your bloodline?"
The words hit like physical blows. Each one designed to cut, to remind me of my place in the pack hierarchy. But something had shifted inside me since discovering his betrayal. The shame that once would have crippled me now transformed into cold, burning rage.
"You mean who used me?" I shot back. "Who needed a convenient mate to secure his position while he f*cked around with—"
His hand moved faster than I could react, fingers wrapping around my throat. Not tight enough to cut off air, but enough to make his point crystal clear. "Watch your mouth."
The violence in his touch sent ice through my veins. This wasn't the Logan who'd promised to love and protect me. This was someone else entirely—someone who'd always been there, hidden beneath the charming facade.
"You're hurting me," I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded.
"Good." His thumb pressed against my pulse point. "Maybe now you'll remember your place."
That's when it happened—a sound that made every hair on my body stand on end. A low, dangerous growl echoed from somewhere in the darkness beyond my house. It was primal, threatening, and unmistakably alpha.
Logan's head snapped toward the sound, his grip loosening slightly. His eyes widened with something that looked almost like fear.
Then his expression shifted, becoming distant in that telltale way of someone receiving a mind link. I watched his face change—the anger melting into something softer, more concerned.
"Logan?" Madeline's voice seemed to whisper through his thoughts, though I couldn't hear her directly. But I knew that tone, that needy, helpless quality she used to manipulate him.
"I have to go," he said abruptly, releasing me so suddenly I stumbled backward. "Madeline needs me."
Of course she did.
He was already moving toward the door, his earlier violence forgotten in his rush to answer her call. "We'll finish this later, Harper. Don't think this is over."
The door slammed behind him, leaving me alone with the echo of his threats and the phantom sensation of his hands on my skin.
I stood there for a moment, shaking with adrenaline and rage. Then I forced myself to move, to walk to the bathroom on unsteady legs. I turned the water as hot as I could stand and scrubbed at every place he'd touched me, trying to wash away the feeling of violation.
That's when Grayson's voice slipped into my mind, smooth and dark as silk.
*I helped you again.*
My hands stilled on the washcloth. Anger flared fresh and hot in my chest.
*You were following me.*
There was a pause, long enough that I thought he might not respond. When he did, his mental voice carried an edge of something I couldn't quite identify.
*I don't need to follow you, Harper. My people keep me informed of threats to pack members. When they reported Logan heading to your house in a rage...*
Another pause.
*I was concerned.*
The admission hung between us through the mind link. I pressed my palms against the bathroom counter, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My throat showed the faint marks of Logan's fingers, and my eyes looked wild, haunted.
*How much did you hear?* The question slipped out before I could stop it, embarrassment burning through me.
*Enough.* His response was carefully neutral, offering me the dignity of not elaborating.
I closed my eyes, grateful for his discretion even as shame crawled up my spine. The future Luna of Silverpine Pack, nearly assaulted by her own mate. What would the pack think if they knew? What would they say?
But as I stood there, feeling the phantom ache of Logan's grip, something crystallized inside me. The last thread of tolerance, of hope, finally snapped.
*I'll do it,* I sent to Grayson, my mental voice steady despite the tremor in my hands. *I'll work with you.*
The silence stretched long enough that I wondered if he'd heard me. Then his voice returned, lower and more intimate than before, with an undertone that made my pulse skip.
*I'm glad to hear it. Welcome to the partnership, Harper.*
The way he said my name sent an unexpected shiver down my spine. There was something in his tone—satisfaction, yes, but also something warmer. Something that made my wolf stir restlessly.
*I'll be in touch soon.*
The mind link faded, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts and the strange flutter in my chest that Grayson's voice always seemed to cause.
I was still standing there, trying to process everything that had happened, when I heard a soft knock at my front door. My body tensed, ready to flee if Logan had returned, but the knock came again—patient, almost respectful.
When I opened the door, no one was there. But on my doorstep sat a manila envelope, thick with documents.
I carried it inside with trembling fingers, already knowing what I'd find but dreading the confirmation. The evidence was all there—photos, timestamps, witness statements. A complete record of Logan's infidelity, laid out with methodical precision.
But it was the social media screenshots that made my blood freeze.A social media screenshots from an envelope from somebody unknown made my blood freeze.
Madeline's Instagram, three years ago.
It’s a photo of her and Logan kissing in some dimly lit bar, her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands tangled in her golden hair. The timestamp showed a date burned into my memory—my birthday.
The night I'd been punished for a minor training mistake, forced to run drills in the snow for six hours wearing nothing but a thin training outfit.
I remembered that night with crystal clarity. The way the cold had seeped into my bones, how I'd kept looking toward the pack house, hoping Logan would come. Hoping he'd bring me a jacket, or convince Alpha Ryan to end the punishment early.
He never came.
I'd collapsed in the snow around midnight, hypothermia setting in. One of the pack omegas had found me by chance, rushed me to the pack hospital. I'd spent days recovering from frostbite and pneumonia, and when Logan finally visited, he'd looked so guilty. So sorry.
"I should have been there," he'd whispered, holding my bandaged hands. "I'm so sorry, Harper. I'll never let you down again."
Lies. All of it, lies.
While I'd been freezing in the snow, fighting to stay conscious, he'd been warming Madeline's bed. While I'd lain in the hospital, believing in his remorse, he'd probably been planning their next rendezvous.
The paper crumpled in my fist as rage consumed me. Not just at the betrayal, but at my own stupidity.
How many signs had I missed? How many times had I made excuses for his absences, his distraction, his growing coldness?
Tomorrow was supposed to be our mating ceremony. The day I'd dreamed about since we were teenagers, when he'd first promised to choose me as his mate. The day that would finally prove to the pack that I was worthy, despite my father's tainted legacy.
Instead, it would be the day I destroyed him.
I smiled grimly at my reflection in the window.
Logan wanted to remind me of my place? Fine. I'd show him exactly where that was—and it wasn't beneath him anymore.
----
The next morning came too quickly and not quickly enough. I dressed carefully in a simple black dress—not the elaborate gown that had been chosen for the ceremony, but something that felt like me. Something that felt like armor.
The mating ceremony was being held in the pack's main hall, decorated with white flowers and golden ribbons. I could hear the murmur of voices, the excited chatter of pack members gathering to witness what should have been the happiest day of my life.
But I wasn't in the hall. Instead, I hide behind the thick curtains of the pack house's upper balcony, I watched as guests filled the seats below, their excited chatter drifting up like smoke.
My fingers traced the remote control in my pocket. Today, everything would change.
Alpha Ryan stood at the altar, his expression growing increasingly thunderous as the minutes ticked by. Luna Olivia kept glancing toward the entrance, her perfectly composed mask beginning to slip.
And Logan? He looked genuinely panicked, his eyes darting around the room as if I might materialize from thin air.
"Harper should be here by now," Logan's voice carried clearly from the front row, his concern evident even from this distance.
"Where is she?" Luna Olivia hissed, loud enough for the front rows to hear.
Logan stood frozen at the altar, his blue-gray eyes darting between the entrance and his parents. The golden sunlight that should have made him look radiant only highlighted the nervous sweat beading on his forehead.
That's when Grayson stepped forward from the shadows near the sound booth. His golden eyes found Logan's across the crowd, and something passed between them—a look that made my breath catch.
The large screen behind the altar flickered to life.
Gasps erupted from the crowd as the image sharpened. There, in high definition for everyone to see, was Logan. Naked. His hands gripping Madeline's hips as she arched beneath him, her golden hair spilled across white silk.
My wedding dress. The one I was supposed to wear today.
"What the hell—" Alpha Ryan's roar cut through the chaos.
"Turn it off!" Olivia shrieked, her composure finally cracking. "Turn it off right now!"
But the screen wouldn't respond. Madeline's voice filled the ceremonial grounds, breathy and desperate: "God, Logan, yes... Harper could never make you feel like this, could she?"
The crowd erupted. Omegas covered their mouths in shock while Gammas whispered furiously to each other. I caught fragments of their conversations, each word a blade to my chest.
"Serves her right, honestly."
"The traitor's daughter was never going to keep an Alpha."
"Did you really think someone like her deserved a true mate?"
My hands clenched into fists, nails digging crescents into my palms. The familiar ache of shame and rage burned in my throat.
A warm hand covered mine, and electricity shot through my entire body. My wolf stirred, a low, pleased rumble vibrating through my chest. The sensation was so unexpected, so intense, that I gasped.
It was Grayson.
His fingers intertwined with mine, his touch sending waves of something I couldn't name racing through my veins.
This wasn't right. He wasn't my mate—Logan was supposed to be. So why did every nerve ending feel like it was coming alive under his touch?
"Easy," he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chaos below.
I turned to look at him, confused by my body's reaction, and found his face suddenly much closer than before. His golden eyes held mine, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just the space between us. His scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous—filled my lungs.The upcoming chapters are even more exciting! Click the download button below to read the entire book!👇👇👇 {"title":"Seducing My Mate's Half-brother","cover":"https://static-v1.mydramawave.com/novel/landing-page/image-crawl/ce25c8fa471db97a62a81185d090bf27.jpg?image_process=quality,85/resize,w_600/format,webp","chapter_title":"","chapter_text":"“Oh God, just like that! Yes!”\n“My little sl*t, I love you so much. You’re nothing like my boring fiancée mate.”\nMy heart nearly stopped beating as the obscene sounds filled my ears through my laptop speakers.\nAnd the sight on the screen made every drop of blood in my body turn to ice:\nIt was my mate, Logan, the future Alpha of my pack, and my best, my only friend Madeline.\nThey were going at it with the raw intensity that only the closest pair of mates could share. In my mate ceremony suite, the very room where Logan and I, his rightful mate, were supposed to consummate our bond tomorrow night.\nBut the one in that bed wasn’t me.\nMadeline Cross, my so-called best friend writhed beneath my mate, her golden hair spilled across the silk pillows I had personally selected. She wore my wedding dress—the ivory gown I'd spent months choosing, now hiked up around her waist as she moved against him with shameless abandon.\n\"God, Logan,\" Madeline's breathy moan cut through me like a blade. \"Tomorrow you'll have to pretend to want that frigid bi*ch instead of me.\"\nMy hands trembled as I gripped the laptop screen.\nFrigid bi*ch? I had never realized that, in the eyes of the one friend I cherished most, I played such a role.\nJust moments ago, all my thoughts and energy were tied up in preparing for the marking ceremony Logan and I would share tomorrow.\nLike every she-wolf caught in the pull of the mate bond, I yearned for the moment he would mark me and make me his Luna, for the moment the whole pack—no, the whole werewolf world—would see that I was his destined choice.\nI had arranged the flowers with trembling hands, gone over the menu again and again, checked every single invitation so no one would be forgotten.\nIn my mind I could already feel Logan’s arms around me when we finally became true mates, the heat of his breath on my skin, the slow and aching way he would strip me bare and claim every inch of me as his.\nI imagined him taking me until nothing else existed but the two of us, his scent all over me, his seed planted deep where only he belonged. A secret hope whispered inside me that maybe, just maybe, by dawn I would already be carrying his pup.\nEven before I opened that video, I had been rehearsing the vows I wanted to speak at the ceremony. I wanted Logan to hear how much he meant to me. I wanted everyone to see how completely I loved my mate.\nBut as I floated in that dream, an email arrived in my inbox. Its subject line read:\nSomething you should know before tomorrow.\nI had clicked the link out of curiosity, never imagining it would lead to this nightmare.\nOn screen, Logan's laugh was dark, hungry. \"Don't worry, baby. After the ceremony, I'll find excuses to be with you. Harper's so desperate for approval, she'll believe anything I tell her.\"\nThe words hit me like physical blows. My wolf whimpered in agony, the sound echoing through my mind as betrayal tore through our bond.\n\"She really thinks you love her,\" Madeline purred, trailing her fingers down Logan's chest.\n\"Poor little orphan girl, so grateful that the future Alpha would even look at her. If only she knew how pathetic she looks when she tries to please you in bed.\"\n\"Like a corpse,\" Logan agreed with a cruel chuckle. \"No passion, no fire. Just lies there like she's doing me a favor. \"\n\"At least with you, I actually enjoy myself.\"\n“Remember when we were kids?” Madeline's voice turned sickeningly sweet, “How those other pups used to corner her, calling her ‘traitor’s daughter’? I pretended to rescue her, but honestly, watching her cower was so entertaining. She was so grateful for my friendship.”\nThe memory slammed into me—Madeline's gentle hands helping me up after particularly vicious attacks, her soothing words.\nAll lies. All manipulation.\nAnd My heart tightened as I heard she called me the ‘traitor’s daughter’.\nI had carried that label for more than ten years, ever since I was very young.\nWhen I was six, our pack, the Silverpine Pack, suffered a devastating battle. It was an unprecedented attack launched by the rogues. My mother died in that assault.\nI still remember my father, Mason Lane, the pack’s beta, holding my mother’s lifeless body, his eyes resolute.\n“Stay here. Wait for me,” he said.\nHe turned and ran toward the battlefield, and that was the last time I saw my father.\nI waited for days, until warriors returning from the alpha’s patrol brought back a message:\nBeta Mason had betrayed the pack.\nFrom that moment, I carried the label of “traitor’s daughter.”\nI never imagined it would become the word my mate and my so-called friend would use to tease me in bed.\n\"She still has that same pathetic look,\" Logan said, his breathing growing heavier.\n\"Like a kicked puppy begging for scraps of affection. If she wasn't useful for securing my position as Alpha, I wouldn't waste my time.\"\nUseful. That's all I was to him. A political alliance wrapped in the pretty lie of destined mates.\nUnable to bear the silence any longer, I opened a mind link to Logan.\n*Logan?* My mental voice sounded small, broken.\nHis response came immediately, breathless and distracted.\n*Harper? What—ah, God—what do you need?*\nI could hear everything through the link—Madeline's deliberate moans growing louder, the wet sounds of their coupling, Logan's ragged breathing.\nMy stomach churned with revulsion.\n*Just wanted to confirm everything's ready for tomorrow,* I managed, my voice steady despite the chaos in my heart.\n*Tomorrow?* He sounded genuinely confused for a moment before remembering.\n*Oh, right. The ceremony. Yeah, whatever you planned is fine. I trust your—f*ck—I trust your judgment.*\nMadeline's delighted squeal echoed through both the video and the mind link. She was performing for me now, making sure I heard every sound of pleasure Logan drew from her—pleasure he'd never managed to coax from me.\n*Did you pick up my dress from the seamstress like we discussed?* I asked, watching on screen as Madeline lifted the hem of my wedding gown higher, using her foot to pull Logan deeper.\n*Your dress? Right, yes. It's... it's taken care of.*\nThe mind link snapped shut abruptly as Logan lost himself in Madeline's body, leaving me in deafening silence.\nOn screen, Madeline deliberately spilled wine across the delicate beadwork, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as the red stain spread across the ivory silk.\n\"Oh no,\" she gasped in mock concern, loud enough for the microphone to catch.\n\"I hope Harper won't mind that her precious dress got a little dirty.\"\nLogan's response was a growl of pleasure rather than concern. \"She'll wear whatever I give her. She should be grateful I'm marking her at all.\"\nI stared at the screen as they continued their betrayal in my sacred space, on my chosen sheets, wearing my dreams like a costume in their twisted game.\nMy wolf retreated deep inside me, wounded and bleeding from the severed trust.\nI closed the laptop with shaking fingers and fell back onto my bed, staring at the ceiling as tears finally spilled down my cheeks.\nTomorrow was supposed to be the beginning of my new life, my chance to finally belong somewhere without question.\nInstead, it would be a public humiliation orchestrated by the two people I trusted most.\nI needed to leave, to run, to disappear before I had to face the mockery of a ceremony that would bind me to a man who saw me as nothing more than a useful tool.\nI rolled over and reached for my duffel bag, my hands moving automatically to pack the few belongings that mattered. My mother's jewelry. The photo of my parents from before everything went wrong. The warrior training certificates I'd earned through blood and determination.\nI was halfway through folding clothes when a voice slid through my mind like silk over steel—a voice that definitely wasn't Logan's.\n*Did you enjoy my gift?*\nI froze, my hands clutching a sweater to my chest. The voice was deep, magnetic, with an edge of dark amusement that sent shivers down my spine.\nI knew that voice, though I'd never heard it directed at me before.\nGrayson Hayes. Logan's older half-brother, the rightful heir who'd been stripped of his inheritance for reasons no one spoke about openly.\nThe dangerous, mysterious Alpha's son who made my wolf pace restlessly whenever he was near.\n*What gift?* I responded cautiously, though my heart was already racing with a different kind of anticipation.\nHis low chuckle resonated through the mind link, rich and dark like expensive whiskey.\n*The video, little wolf. Did it show you everything you needed to see?*","chapter_content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/1/en_834f5c61-90f0-48fc-af9a-17c72178bed5.txt","chapters":[{"chapter_key":"ozvFgSj9eb","title":"","serial_number":1,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/1/en_834f5c61-90f0-48fc-af9a-17c72178bed5.txt","word_count":1508,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"“Oh God, just like that! Yes!”\n“My little sl*t, I love you so much. You’re nothing like my boring fiancée mate.”\nMy heart nearly stopped beating as the obscene sounds filled my ears through my laptop speakers.\nAnd the sight on the screen made every drop of blood in my body turn to ice:\nIt was my mate, Logan, the future Alpha of my pack, and my best, my only friend Madeline.\nThey were going at it with the raw intensity that only the closest pair of mates could share. In my mate ceremony suite, the very room where Logan and I, his rightful mate, were supposed to consummate our bond tomorrow night.\nBut the one in that bed wasn’t me.\nMadeline Cross, my so-called best friend writhed beneath my mate, her golden hair spilled across the silk pillows I had personally selected. She wore my wedding dress—the ivory gown I'd spent months choosing, now hiked up around her waist as she moved against him with shameless abandon.\n\"God, Logan,\" Madeline's breathy moan cut through me like a blade. \"Tomorrow you'll have to pretend to want that frigid bi*ch instead of me.\"\nMy hands trembled as I gripped the laptop screen.\nFrigid bi*ch? I had never realized that, in the eyes of the one friend I cherished most, I played such a role.\nJust moments ago, all my thoughts and energy were tied up in preparing for the marking ceremony Logan and I would share tomorrow.\nLike every she-wolf caught in the pull of the mate bond, I yearned for the moment he would mark me and make me his Luna, for the moment the whole pack—no, the whole werewolf world—would see that I was his destined choice.\nI had arranged the flowers with trembling hands, gone over the menu again and again, checked every single invitation so no one would be forgotten.\nIn my mind I could already feel Logan’s arms around me when we finally became true mates, the heat of his breath on my skin, the slow and aching way he would strip me bare and claim every inch of me as his.\nI imagined him taking me until nothing else existed but the two of us, his scent all over me, his seed planted deep where only he belonged. A secret hope whispered inside me that maybe, just maybe, by dawn I would already be carrying his pup.\nEven before I opened that video, I had been rehearsing the vows I wanted to speak at the ceremony. I wanted Logan to hear how much he meant to me. I wanted everyone to see how completely I loved my mate.\nBut as I floated in that dream, an email arrived in my inbox. Its subject line read:\nSomething you should know before tomorrow.\nI had clicked the link out of curiosity, never imagining it would lead to this nightmare.\nOn screen, Logan's laugh was dark, hungry. \"Don't worry, baby. After the ceremony, I'll find excuses to be with you. Harper's so desperate for approval, she'll believe anything I tell her.\"\nThe words hit me like physical blows. My wolf whimpered in agony, the sound echoing through my mind as betrayal tore through our bond.\n\"She really thinks you love her,\" Madeline purred, trailing her fingers down Logan's chest.\n\"Poor little orphan girl, so grateful that the future Alpha would even look at her. If only she knew how pathetic she looks when she tries to please you in bed.\"\n\"Like a corpse,\" Logan agreed with a cruel chuckle. \"No passion, no fire. Just lies there like she's doing me a favor. \"\n\"At least with you, I actually enjoy myself.\"\n“Remember when we were kids?” Madeline's voice turned sickeningly sweet, “How those other pups used to corner her, calling her ‘traitor’s daughter’? I pretended to rescue her, but honestly, watching her cower was so entertaining. She was so grateful for my friendship.”\nThe memory slammed into me—Madeline's gentle hands helping me up after particularly vicious attacks, her soothing words.\nAll lies. All manipulation.\nAnd My heart tightened as I heard she called me the ‘traitor’s daughter’.\nI had carried that label for more than ten years, ever since I was very young.\nWhen I was six, our pack, the Silverpine Pack, suffered a devastating battle. It was an unprecedented attack launched by the rogues. My mother died in that assault.\nI still remember my father, Mason Lane, the pack’s beta, holding my mother’s lifeless body, his eyes resolute.\n“Stay here. Wait for me,” he said.\nHe turned and ran toward the battlefield, and that was the last time I saw my father.\nI waited for days, until warriors returning from the alpha’s patrol brought back a message:\nBeta Mason had betrayed the pack.\nFrom that moment, I carried the label of “traitor’s daughter.”\nI never imagined it would become the word my mate and my so-called friend would use to tease me in bed.\n\"She still has that same pathetic look,\" Logan said, his breathing growing heavier.\n\"Like a kicked puppy begging for scraps of affection. If she wasn't useful for securing my position as Alpha, I wouldn't waste my time.\"\nUseful. That's all I was to him. A political alliance wrapped in the pretty lie of destined mates.\nUnable to bear the silence any longer, I opened a mind link to Logan.\n*Logan?* My mental voice sounded small, broken.\nHis response came immediately, breathless and distracted.\n*Harper? What—ah, God—what do you need?*\nI could hear everything through the link—Madeline's deliberate moans growing louder, the wet sounds of their coupling, Logan's ragged breathing.\nMy stomach churned with revulsion.\n*Just wanted to confirm everything's ready for tomorrow,* I managed, my voice steady despite the chaos in my heart.\n*Tomorrow?* He sounded genuinely confused for a moment before remembering.\n*Oh, right. The ceremony. Yeah, whatever you planned is fine. I trust your—f*ck—I trust your judgment.*\nMadeline's delighted squeal echoed through both the video and the mind link. She was performing for me now, making sure I heard every sound of pleasure Logan drew from her—pleasure he'd never managed to coax from me.\n*Did you pick up my dress from the seamstress like we discussed?* I asked, watching on screen as Madeline lifted the hem of my wedding gown higher, using her foot to pull Logan deeper.\n*Your dress? Right, yes. It's... it's taken care of.*\nThe mind link snapped shut abruptly as Logan lost himself in Madeline's body, leaving me in deafening silence.\nOn screen, Madeline deliberately spilled wine across the delicate beadwork, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as the red stain spread across the ivory silk.\n\"Oh no,\" she gasped in mock concern, loud enough for the microphone to catch.\n\"I hope Harper won't mind that her precious dress got a little dirty.\"\nLogan's response was a growl of pleasure rather than concern. \"She'll wear whatever I give her. She should be grateful I'm marking her at all.\"\nI stared at the screen as they continued their betrayal in my sacred space, on my chosen sheets, wearing my dreams like a costume in their twisted game.\nMy wolf retreated deep inside me, wounded and bleeding from the severed trust.\nI closed the laptop with shaking fingers and fell back onto my bed, staring at the ceiling as tears finally spilled down my cheeks.\nTomorrow was supposed to be the beginning of my new life, my chance to finally belong somewhere without question.\nInstead, it would be a public humiliation orchestrated by the two people I trusted most.\nI needed to leave, to run, to disappear before I had to face the mockery of a ceremony that would bind me to a man who saw me as nothing more than a useful tool.\nI rolled over and reached for my duffel bag, my hands moving automatically to pack the few belongings that mattered. My mother's jewelry. The photo of my parents from before everything went wrong. The warrior training certificates I'd earned through blood and determination.\nI was halfway through folding clothes when a voice slid through my mind like silk over steel—a voice that definitely wasn't Logan's.\n*Did you enjoy my gift?*\nI froze, my hands clutching a sweater to my chest. The voice was deep, magnetic, with an edge of dark amusement that sent shivers down my spine.\nI knew that voice, though I'd never heard it directed at me before.\nGrayson Hayes. Logan's older half-brother, the rightful heir who'd been stripped of his inheritance for reasons no one spoke about openly.\nThe dangerous, mysterious Alpha's son who made my wolf pace restlessly whenever he was near.\n*What gift?* I responded cautiously, though my heart was already racing with a different kind of anticipation.\nHis low chuckle resonated through the mind link, rich and dark like expensive whiskey.\n*The video, little wolf. Did it show you everything you needed to see?*"},{"chapter_key":"4zEDFQlaTH","title":"","serial_number":2,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/2/en_524c91e8-1514-4e8d-bf84-f37f8edaee16.txt","word_count":1018,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"The silver wolf that emerged from the treeline was magnificent—larger than any I'd ever seen, more powerful than even our Alpha.\nHis coat gleamed like liquid mercury in the dying sunlight, muscles rippling beneath the lustrous fur as he approached with predatory grace.\nEvery instinct in my body screamed danger, yet I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.\nMy wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, responding to the raw alpha energy radiating from him.\nThis wasn't just any alpha—this was something primal, untamed.\nWhen the shift began, I should have looked away. Should have given him privacy.\nInstead, I stood transfixed as bones reformed, as fur receded to reveal bronzed skin stretched over a frame that belonged in ancient warrior legends.\nGrayson Hayes stood before me, completely naked and utterly unashamed.\nHeat flooded my cheeks as my eyes traced the defined lines of his chest, the ridged muscles of his abdomen.\nMy wolf whined with want, pressing against my consciousness with a hunger I'd never felt before—not even with Logan.\n\"Enjoying the view?\" Grayson's voice held dark amusement.\nI jerked my gaze up to his face, mortified to be caught staring. Those golden eyes held mine captive, seeming to see straight through every defense I'd ever built.\n\"I—\" My voice cracked. I cleared my throat, forcing steel into my spine. \"You wanted to meet.\"\n\"Mmm.\" He moved with fluid grace toward a tree where clothes hung from a low branch.\n\"The question is, Harper Lane, have you thought about what you really want?\"\nThe way he said my name—like he was tasting something forbidden—sent shivers down my spine.\nI watched, helpless, as he pulled on dark jeans that hugged his powerful thighs, the muscles in his back shifting as he reached for his shirt.\n\"Why?\" The word burst from me before I could stop it. \"Why are you doing this? Just to steal the Alpha position from Logan?\"\nGrayson paused, shirt halfway over his head. When he emerged, his expression had shifted to something predatory.\n\"Steal?\" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and smoke and something uniquely male that made my knees weak. \"That position was mine by right of birth, little beta. Logan is nothing more than a bastard who got lucky.\"\n\"I don't see how I could possibly help you with that.\" I lifted my chin, trying to project confidence I didn't feel. \"I'm just—\"\n\"Just what?\" His eyes narrowed dangerously, and the look sent heat pooling low in my belly. \"The daughter of a traitor? A beta with no real power?\"\nEach word was a blade, cutting deep. But instead of the usual shame, anger flared in my chest. \"If that's what you think, then why—\"\n\"Because you're wrong.\" He was close enough now that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin.\n\"You have no idea what you really are, do you?\"\nMy heart hammered against my ribs. \"What's that supposed to mean?\"\nInstead of answering, he circled me slowly, like a predator sizing up prey. \"Tell me, Harper—why do you think that fool brother of mine chose you as his mate?\"\nThe question hit like a physical blow. Logan's words from the video echoed in my mind:\n*If she wasn't useful, I wouldn't have chosen her.*\n\"I...\" I swallowed hard. \"We're fated mates.\"\nGrayson's laugh was dark silk. \"Are you? Or is that just what you've been told?\"\nBefore I could process that bombshell, memories crashed over me—fragments I'd tried to forget.\nThe day I'd won the pack training competition, earning rare praise from Alpha Ryan. The jealous she-wolves who'd cornered me afterward, their claws leaving marks that would scar.\nI'd searched desperately for Logan in the crowd, needing my mate to defend me. Instead, I'd watched him turn and walk away, leaving me to face their cruelty alone.\nLater, bleeding and humiliated, I'd fled to the forest to tend my wounds in private.\nThat's when I'd first encountered him—Grayson, sitting beneath a canopy of branches, watching me with those unsettling golden eyes.\n*\"Working so hard to prove yourself,\"* he'd said, voice laced with mockery.\n*\"Tell me, little beta, what happens when you realize it's never going to be enough?\"*\nI'd wanted to hate him for those words. Instead, I'd found myself returning to that spot, hoping to see him again. Each encounter left me breathless, confused by the way he looked at me—like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve.\n\"You were watching me.\" The realization hit like lightning. \"Even then, you were—\"\n\"Observing,\" he corrected smoothly. \"Waiting.\"\n\"For what?\"\nHis smile was sharp as a blade. \"For you to realize what that pathetic excuse for an alpha really is.\"\nThe truth of it burned. Logan, who'd abandoned me when I needed him most. Who'd let others tear me down while he stood by and watched. Who was, at this very moment, defiling our future together with my supposed best friend.\n\"What do you want from me?\" I whispered.\nGrayson stepped closer, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. \"I want to give you what you deserve, Harper. What we both deserve.\"\n\"Which is?\"\n\"Revenge.\" The word rolled off his tongue like a promise. \"Let's work together. Let's give that cheating bastard and his whore exactly what they've earned.\"\nMy breath caught. This was what I'd come here hoping for, yet hearing him say it made it real in a way that terrified me.\n\"How?\" I managed.\nHis smile turned predatory, and I felt my wolf respond with a hunger that should have frightened me.\n\"We destroy them, little beta. We give that pair of traitors a mating ceremony they'll never forget—right in the middle of what should have been your wedding.\"\nThe heat in his eyes promised dark pleasures, dangerous games. And despite every rational thought screaming warnings, I found myself leaning closer, drawn like a moth to flame.\n\"On their special day,\" he continued, voice dropping to a seductive whisper, \"we'll show the entire pack exactly what they really are.\""},{"chapter_key":"wULTZPTQC2","title":"","serial_number":3,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/3/en_1edfa2b7-8e11-4353-9c02-781e31232501.txt","word_count":1427,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"Grayson's sudden honesty struck me harder than I expected. The stark contrast between him and his brother was impossible to ignore now.\nTwo years ago, when Logan and I had first decided to choose each other as mates, he'd made me promises under the moonlight. His hands had been gentle then, his voice soft with what I'd believed was love.\nBut even in those tender moments, he'd pushed for more.\n\"Come on, Harper,\" he'd whispered against my neck, his hands roaming places that made my wolf purr. \"We're going to be mated anyway. Why wait?\"\nI'd pushed him away each time, my cheeks burning. \"After the ceremony, Logan. I want to do this right.\"\nHis frustration had been palpable, but he'd backed down. Or so I'd thought.\nNow I knew better—he'd simply found someone else to satisfy his needs.\n\"You're thinking about him.\"\nGrayson's low voice cut through my bitter memories.\nI blinked, finding those golden eyes studying me with an intensity that made my skin tingle.\n\"What?\"\n\"My brother. You're thinking about what he did to you.\" His lips curved in a knowing smirk. \"I can smell your anger from here.\"\nHeat flooded my cheeks. \"I wasn't—\"\n\"Liar.\" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous.\n\"So, what's it going to be, Harper? Are you going to work with me or not?\"\nI straightened my spine, meeting his gaze head-on. \"I'm going to refuse the mark ceremony tomorrow. I'll reject Logan publicly.\"\n\"And then what? Run away with your tail between your legs?\"\nThe mockery in his voice made my wolf bristle. \"That's not running away. That's making a choice.\"\n\"Is it?\" Grayson tilted his head, studying me like I was some fascinating puzzle.\n\"You'll just let them win? Let that bastard brother of mine and his little whore laugh about how they played the great Harper Lane?\"\nMy hands clenched into fists. The way he said it, so casually cruel, made something dark unfurl in my chest. But I forced myself to stay calm.\n\"I won't be part of your games, Grayson.\"\n\"Games?\" He laughed, the sound rich and dangerous. \"Sweetheart, this isn't a game. This is war.\"\nThe endearment sent an unwelcome shiver down my spine. I hated how my body reacted to him, how my wolf seemed to perk up every time he spoke.\nIt made no sense—he wasn't my mate. I would have felt the bond.\nSo why did every instinct I had scream at me to step closer?\n\"You were Logan's right hand,\" Grayson continued, circling me slowly like a predator.\n\"His future Luna. You attended pack meetings, diplomatic functions. Tell me you don't have dirt on him.\"\n\"Even if I did, I wouldn't use it.\"\n\"Why?\" He stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. \"Because you promised to protect him?\"\nMy silence was answer enough.\nGrayson's eyes gleamed with something that looked almost like approval. \"Loyal to the end, aren't you? Even after he betrayed you.\"\n\"I keep my word.\"\n\"How admirable.\" His voice dropped to a whisper, and he leaned in until his breath ghosted across my ear. \"And how incredibly naive.\"\nI jerked back, my heart hammering. \"I'm not naive.\"\n\"No?\" His smile was all sharp edges. \"Then you know exactly what kind of man my brother is. What kind of Alpha he'll make.\"\nI did know. That was the problem.\nGrayson seemed to sense my internal struggle. Instead of pressing harder, he stepped back, giving me space to breathe.\n\"Think about it, Harper. When you're ready to stop playing the victim, you know where to find me.\"\nHe turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the clearing.\n\"Oh, and Harper?\" He glanced back over his shoulder, and the look in his eyes made my knees weak. \"When I take back what's mine, I'll need a Beta I can trust. Someone strong enough to stand beside me.\"\nThen he was gone, melting into the shadows between the trees like he'd never been there at all.\nI stood there for a long moment, my mind reeling. Everything about Grayson Hayes was dangerous—his confidence, his intensity, the way he looked at me like he could see straight through to my soul.\nAnd the way my body responded to him was even more dangerous.\n----\nBy the time I made it home, the sun had set completely. I was still turning Grayson's offer over in my mind when the doorbell rang.\nI opened it to find Olivia Hayes on my doorstep, her perfectly styled blonde hair gleaming under the porch light. Logan's mother had never liked me, and she'd never bothered to hide it.\n\"Olivia.\" I forced a polite smile. \"What can I do for you?\"\nShe pushed past me without invitation, her sharp eyes scanning my modest living room with obvious disdain.\n\"The wedding dress needs alterations,\" she announced, dropping a garment bag on my coffee table like it was garbage. \"The seamstress said you need to come in tomorrow morning.\"\nI stared at the bag, my stomach churning. \"Tomorrow's the ceremony.\"\n\"Which is why you need to go early.\" Her tone suggested I was an idiot for not understanding. \"Really, Harper, I would have expected you to be more organized.\"\nThe criticism rolled off me easier than it used to. Funny how learning your fiancé was cheating could put things in perspective.\n\"Of course,\" I said flatly. \"I'll handle it.\"\nOlivia's eyes narrowed at my tone. \"Is there a problem?\"\n\"No problem.\"\nShe studied me for a moment longer, then unzipped the garment bag with sharp, efficient movements. The dress that spilled out was beautiful—cream silk with intricate beadwork—but it was wrinkled and...\nI frowned. \"It's dirty.\"\n\"Barely.\" Olivia waved a dismissive hand. \"Nothing that won't come out.\"\nBut it wasn't just dirt. My enhanced senses picked up something else—the lingering scent of another she-wolf. My wolf's hackles rose.\n\"There's another shewolf's scent on this dress.\"\nOlivia's laugh was cold and sharp. \"Oh, please. As if that matters.\"\nThe casual cruelty in her voice hit me like a slap. She knew. She knew about Logan's affair, and she didn't care.\n\"You think I don't deserve better than a soiled dress?\"\n\"I think you should be grateful for what you get.\" Olivia's smile was all teeth. \"Let's be honest, dear. A girl with your... background... should count herself lucky to marry into this family at all.\"\nMy father's disgrace. Always, it came back to that.\n\"Your son cheated on me,\" I said quietly.\n\"Boys will be boys.\" She shrugged. \"What matters is that he's choosing you for his Luna. Don't ruin it by being dramatic.\"\nThe dismissal in her voice, the complete lack of respect—it crystallized something inside me.\nFor years, I'd tried to earn this woman's approval, to prove I was worthy of her precious son.\nWhat a waste of time that had been.\n\"Get out.\"\nOlivia blinked. \"Excuse me?\"\n\"I said get out. Take your dirty dress and your condescending attitude and leave.\"\nHer face flushed red. \"How dare you speak to me that way? I am going to be your—\"\n\"You're going to be nothing to me.\" I opened the front door and held it wide. \"Get out. Now.\"\nFor a moment, I thought she might argue. Then she snatched up the garment bag and stalked toward the door.\n\"You'll regret this,\" she hissed as she passed. \"Logan deserves so much better than a disgraced beta's daughter.\"\nThe door slammed behind her, leaving me alone with the echo of her venom.\nI should have felt satisfied. Instead, I felt empty.\n----\nLater that night, I sat on my bed surrounded by photos and mementos from my relationship with Logan. Two years of memories spread out before me like evidence in a trial.\nI should burn it all. Should expose every ugly secret, every questionable decision he'd made with me by his side.\nInstead, I gathered it all up and locked it away in a box. Some promises were worth keeping, even when the person who'd inspired them wasn't.\nI was just settling into bed when a familiar tap came at my window.\nLogan crouched on the fire escape outside, his boyish smile bright in the moonlight. Once, that smile would have made my heart race. Now it just made me tired.\nI opened the window but didn't invite him in.\n\"Hey, beautiful.\" He swung one leg over the sill. \"Miss me?\""},{"chapter_key":"Gl7fMGzl6T","title":"","serial_number":4,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/4/en_69d36f72-585c-4f43-8e3f-2db89acafeb9.txt","word_count":1427,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"The scent hit me immediately—Madeline's perfume clinging to his clothes, her essence marking him like a brand. My stomach turned.\n\"Don't.\"\nBut he was already climbing through, reaching for me with hands that had been on another woman hours ago.\n\"Come on, Harper. Tomorrow we'll be mated. Tonight's our last night of freedom.\" His hands found my waist, pulling me against him. \"Let me show you how much I've missed you.\"\nI pushed against his chest, but he held firm. \"Logan, stop.\"\n\"What's wrong with you lately?\" His grip tightened, and something ugly flickered in his blue eyes. \"You've been cold, distant. A good mate doesn't act like this.\"\n\"A good mate doesn't cheat.\"\nThe words slipped out before I could stop them.\nLogan went very still.\n\"What did you say?\"\nI lifted my chin, meeting his gaze steadily. \"You heard me.\"\nFor a moment, his mask slipped completely. The charming, golden boy facade cracked, revealing something cold and calculating underneath.\nThen he laughed.\n\"Is that what this is about? You're jealous?\" His hands moved to frame my face, his touch possessive rather than gentle. \"Sweetheart, you're going to be my Luna. What I do with other shewolf doesn't matter.\"\nThe casual dismissal of my feelings, the complete lack of remorse—it was like looking at a stranger.\n\"It matters to me.\"\n\"Then you need to grow up.\" His voice hardened. \"You think being Luna means you get to be precious about every little thing? You think my father's been faithful to every Luna he's had?\"\nThe comparison to his father—who'd discarded Grayson's mother for Olivia—made my skin crawl.\n\"Let go of me.\"\n\"I don't think so.\" His smile turned predatory. \"See, I think you need a reminder of who you belong to.\"\nHis mouth crashed against mine, hard and demanding. I could taste Madeline on his lips, smell her scent on his skin. When I tried to pull away, his grip tightened painfully.\n\"Stop fighting me, Harper.\" His voice was low, dangerous. \"You're mine. Tomorrow everyone will know it.\"\nBut I wasn't his. Not anymore.\nMaybe I never had been.\nThe taste of betrayal still burned bitter on my tongue as Logan's grip tightened around my wrist. His blue-gray eyes had darkened to something I barely recognized—something predatory and cruel.\n\"You think you can just walk away from me?\" His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. \"After everything I've done for you? After all the times I've defended you when the pack whispered about your father?\"\nMy heart hammered against my ribs. The scent of Madeline still clung to his skin like a poisonous perfume, making my stomach churn. \"Let go of me, Logan.\"\n\"No.\" His other hand shot out, gripping my shoulder hard enough to bruise. \"You're going to listen to me, Harper. You're going to understand exactly what you owe me.\"\nI tried to pull away, but his alpha strength was overwhelming. The power difference between us had never felt more pronounced—more terrifying. My wolf whimpered inside me, caught between submission to his alpha dominance and the burning need to fight back.\n\"I don't owe you anything,\" I managed through gritted teeth, even as his fingers dug deeper into my flesh.\nHis laugh was harsh, grating. \"Don't you? Who stood by you when everyone called you a traitor's daughter? Who made you believe you could be Luna despite your bloodline?\"\nThe words hit like physical blows. Each one designed to cut, to remind me of my place in the pack hierarchy. But something had shifted inside me since discovering his betrayal. The shame that once would have crippled me now transformed into cold, burning rage.\n\"You mean who used me?\" I shot back. \"Who needed a convenient mate to secure his position while he f*cked around with—\"\nHis hand moved faster than I could react, fingers wrapping around my throat. Not tight enough to cut off air, but enough to make his point crystal clear. \"Watch your mouth.\"\nThe violence in his touch sent ice through my veins. This wasn't the Logan who'd promised to love and protect me. This was someone else entirely—someone who'd always been there, hidden beneath the charming facade.\n\"You're hurting me,\" I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded.\n\"Good.\" His thumb pressed against my pulse point. \"Maybe now you'll remember your place.\"\nThat's when it happened—a sound that made every hair on my body stand on end. A low, dangerous growl echoed from somewhere in the darkness beyond my house. It was primal, threatening, and unmistakably alpha.\nLogan's head snapped toward the sound, his grip loosening slightly. His eyes widened with something that looked almost like fear.\nThen his expression shifted, becoming distant in that telltale way of someone receiving a mind link. I watched his face change—the anger melting into something softer, more concerned.\n\"Logan?\" Madeline's voice seemed to whisper through his thoughts, though I couldn't hear her directly. But I knew that tone, that needy, helpless quality she used to manipulate him.\n\"I have to go,\" he said abruptly, releasing me so suddenly I stumbled backward. \"Madeline needs me.\"\nOf course she did.\nHe was already moving toward the door, his earlier violence forgotten in his rush to answer her call. \"We'll finish this later, Harper. Don't think this is over.\"\nThe door slammed behind him, leaving me alone with the echo of his threats and the phantom sensation of his hands on my skin.\nI stood there for a moment, shaking with adrenaline and rage. Then I forced myself to move, to walk to the bathroom on unsteady legs. I turned the water as hot as I could stand and scrubbed at every place he'd touched me, trying to wash away the feeling of violation.\nThat's when Grayson's voice slipped into my mind, smooth and dark as silk.\n*I helped you again.*\nMy hands stilled on the washcloth. Anger flared fresh and hot in my chest.\n*You were following me.*\nThere was a pause, long enough that I thought he might not respond. When he did, his mental voice carried an edge of something I couldn't quite identify.\n*I don't need to follow you, Harper. My people keep me informed of threats to pack members. When they reported Logan heading to your house in a rage...*\nAnother pause.\n*I was concerned.*\nThe admission hung between us through the mind link. I pressed my palms against the bathroom counter, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My throat showed the faint marks of Logan's fingers, and my eyes looked wild, haunted.\n*How much did you hear?* The question slipped out before I could stop it, embarrassment burning through me.\n*Enough.* His response was carefully neutral, offering me the dignity of not elaborating.\nI closed my eyes, grateful for his discretion even as shame crawled up my spine. The future Luna of Silverpine Pack, nearly assaulted by her own mate. What would the pack think if they knew? What would they say?\nBut as I stood there, feeling the phantom ache of Logan's grip, something crystallized inside me. The last thread of tolerance, of hope, finally snapped.\n*I'll do it,* I sent to Grayson, my mental voice steady despite the tremor in my hands. *I'll work with you.*\nThe silence stretched long enough that I wondered if he'd heard me. Then his voice returned, lower and more intimate than before, with an undertone that made my pulse skip.\n*I'm glad to hear it. Welcome to the partnership, Harper.*\nThe way he said my name sent an unexpected shiver down my spine. There was something in his tone—satisfaction, yes, but also something warmer. Something that made my wolf stir restlessly.\n*I'll be in touch soon.*\nThe mind link faded, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts and the strange flutter in my chest that Grayson's voice always seemed to cause.\nI was still standing there, trying to process everything that had happened, when I heard a soft knock at my front door. My body tensed, ready to flee if Logan had returned, but the knock came again—patient, almost respectful.\nWhen I opened the door, no one was there. But on my doorstep sat a manila envelope, thick with documents.\nI carried it inside with trembling fingers, already knowing what I'd find but dreading the confirmation. The evidence was all there—photos, timestamps, witness statements. A complete record of Logan's infidelity, laid out with methodical precision.\nBut it was the social media screenshots that made my blood freeze."},{"chapter_key":"RKl0bBmkzv","title":"","serial_number":5,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/5/en_c13877dc-7ee7-4fa7-9a02-d33e66efc861.txt","word_count":969,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"A social media screenshots from an envelope from somebody unknown made my blood freeze.\nMadeline's Instagram, three years ago.\nIt’s a photo of her and Logan kissing in some dimly lit bar, her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands tangled in her golden hair. The timestamp showed a date burned into my memory—my birthday.\nThe night I'd been punished for a minor training mistake, forced to run drills in the snow for six hours wearing nothing but a thin training outfit.\nI remembered that night with crystal clarity. The way the cold had seeped into my bones, how I'd kept looking toward the pack house, hoping Logan would come. Hoping he'd bring me a jacket, or convince Alpha Ryan to end the punishment early.\nHe never came.\nI'd collapsed in the snow around midnight, hypothermia setting in. One of the pack omegas had found me by chance, rushed me to the pack hospital. I'd spent days recovering from frostbite and pneumonia, and when Logan finally visited, he'd looked so guilty. So sorry.\n\"I should have been there,\" he'd whispered, holding my bandaged hands. \"I'm so sorry, Harper. I'll never let you down again.\"\nLies. All of it, lies.\nWhile I'd been freezing in the snow, fighting to stay conscious, he'd been warming Madeline's bed. While I'd lain in the hospital, believing in his remorse, he'd probably been planning their next rendezvous.\nThe paper crumpled in my fist as rage consumed me. Not just at the betrayal, but at my own stupidity.\nHow many signs had I missed? How many times had I made excuses for his absences, his distraction, his growing coldness?\nTomorrow was supposed to be our mating ceremony. The day I'd dreamed about since we were teenagers, when he'd first promised to choose me as his mate. The day that would finally prove to the pack that I was worthy, despite my father's tainted legacy.\nInstead, it would be the day I destroyed him.\nI smiled grimly at my reflection in the window.\nLogan wanted to remind me of my place? Fine. I'd show him exactly where that was—and it wasn't beneath him anymore.\n----\nThe next morning came too quickly and not quickly enough. I dressed carefully in a simple black dress—not the elaborate gown that had been chosen for the ceremony, but something that felt like me. Something that felt like armor.\nThe mating ceremony was being held in the pack's main hall, decorated with white flowers and golden ribbons. I could hear the murmur of voices, the excited chatter of pack members gathering to witness what should have been the happiest day of my life.\nBut I wasn't in the hall. Instead, I hide behind the thick curtains of the pack house's upper balcony, I watched as guests filled the seats below, their excited chatter drifting up like smoke.\nMy fingers traced the remote control in my pocket. Today, everything would change.\nAlpha Ryan stood at the altar, his expression growing increasingly thunderous as the minutes ticked by. Luna Olivia kept glancing toward the entrance, her perfectly composed mask beginning to slip.\nAnd Logan? He looked genuinely panicked, his eyes darting around the room as if I might materialize from thin air.\n\"Harper should be here by now,\" Logan's voice carried clearly from the front row, his concern evident even from this distance.\n\"Where is she?\" Luna Olivia hissed, loud enough for the front rows to hear.\nLogan stood frozen at the altar, his blue-gray eyes darting between the entrance and his parents. The golden sunlight that should have made him look radiant only highlighted the nervous sweat beading on his forehead.\nThat's when Grayson stepped forward from the shadows near the sound booth. His golden eyes found Logan's across the crowd, and something passed between them—a look that made my breath catch.\nThe large screen behind the altar flickered to life.\nGasps erupted from the crowd as the image sharpened. There, in high definition for everyone to see, was Logan. Naked. His hands gripping Madeline's hips as she arched beneath him, her golden hair spilled across white silk.\nMy wedding dress. The one I was supposed to wear today.\n\"What the hell—\" Alpha Ryan's roar cut through the chaos.\n\"Turn it off!\" Olivia shrieked, her composure finally cracking. \"Turn it off right now!\"\nBut the screen wouldn't respond. Madeline's voice filled the ceremonial grounds, breathy and desperate: \"God, Logan, yes... Harper could never make you feel like this, could she?\"\nThe crowd erupted. Omegas covered their mouths in shock while Gammas whispered furiously to each other. I caught fragments of their conversations, each word a blade to my chest.\n\"Serves her right, honestly.\"\n\"The traitor's daughter was never going to keep an Alpha.\"\n\"Did you really think someone like her deserved a true mate?\"\nMy hands clenched into fists, nails digging crescents into my palms. The familiar ache of shame and rage burned in my throat.\nA warm hand covered mine, and electricity shot through my entire body. My wolf stirred, a low, pleased rumble vibrating through my chest. The sensation was so unexpected, so intense, that I gasped.\nIt was Grayson.\nHis fingers intertwined with mine, his touch sending waves of something I couldn't name racing through my veins.\nThis wasn't right. He wasn't my mate—Logan was supposed to be. So why did every nerve ending feel like it was coming alive under his touch?\n\"Easy,\" he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chaos below.\nI turned to look at him, confused by my body's reaction, and found his face suddenly much closer than before. His golden eyes held mine, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just the space between us. His scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous—filled my lungs."}],"chapter_list":[{"chapter_key":"ozvFgSj9eb","title":"","serial_number":1,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/1/en_834f5c61-90f0-48fc-af9a-17c72178bed5.txt","word_count":1508,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"“Oh God, just like that! Yes!”\n“My little sl*t, I love you so much. You’re nothing like my boring fiancée mate.”\nMy heart nearly stopped beating as the obscene sounds filled my ears through my laptop speakers.\nAnd the sight on the screen made every drop of blood in my body turn to ice:\nIt was my mate, Logan, the future Alpha of my pack, and my best, my only friend Madeline.\nThey were going at it with the raw intensity that only the closest pair of mates could share. In my mate ceremony suite, the very room where Logan and I, his rightful mate, were supposed to consummate our bond tomorrow night.\nBut the one in that bed wasn’t me.\nMadeline Cross, my so-called best friend writhed beneath my mate, her golden hair spilled across the silk pillows I had personally selected. She wore my wedding dress—the ivory gown I'd spent months choosing, now hiked up around her waist as she moved against him with shameless abandon.\n\"God, Logan,\" Madeline's breathy moan cut through me like a blade. \"Tomorrow you'll have to pretend to want that frigid bi*ch instead of me.\"\nMy hands trembled as I gripped the laptop screen.\nFrigid bi*ch? I had never realized that, in the eyes of the one friend I cherished most, I played such a role.\nJust moments ago, all my thoughts and energy were tied up in preparing for the marking ceremony Logan and I would share tomorrow.\nLike every she-wolf caught in the pull of the mate bond, I yearned for the moment he would mark me and make me his Luna, for the moment the whole pack—no, the whole werewolf world—would see that I was his destined choice.\nI had arranged the flowers with trembling hands, gone over the menu again and again, checked every single invitation so no one would be forgotten.\nIn my mind I could already feel Logan’s arms around me when we finally became true mates, the heat of his breath on my skin, the slow and aching way he would strip me bare and claim every inch of me as his.\nI imagined him taking me until nothing else existed but the two of us, his scent all over me, his seed planted deep where only he belonged. A secret hope whispered inside me that maybe, just maybe, by dawn I would already be carrying his pup.\nEven before I opened that video, I had been rehearsing the vows I wanted to speak at the ceremony. I wanted Logan to hear how much he meant to me. I wanted everyone to see how completely I loved my mate.\nBut as I floated in that dream, an email arrived in my inbox. Its subject line read:\nSomething you should know before tomorrow.\nI had clicked the link out of curiosity, never imagining it would lead to this nightmare.\nOn screen, Logan's laugh was dark, hungry. \"Don't worry, baby. After the ceremony, I'll find excuses to be with you. Harper's so desperate for approval, she'll believe anything I tell her.\"\nThe words hit me like physical blows. My wolf whimpered in agony, the sound echoing through my mind as betrayal tore through our bond.\n\"She really thinks you love her,\" Madeline purred, trailing her fingers down Logan's chest.\n\"Poor little orphan girl, so grateful that the future Alpha would even look at her. If only she knew how pathetic she looks when she tries to please you in bed.\"\n\"Like a corpse,\" Logan agreed with a cruel chuckle. \"No passion, no fire. Just lies there like she's doing me a favor. \"\n\"At least with you, I actually enjoy myself.\"\n“Remember when we were kids?” Madeline's voice turned sickeningly sweet, “How those other pups used to corner her, calling her ‘traitor’s daughter’? I pretended to rescue her, but honestly, watching her cower was so entertaining. She was so grateful for my friendship.”\nThe memory slammed into me—Madeline's gentle hands helping me up after particularly vicious attacks, her soothing words.\nAll lies. All manipulation.\nAnd My heart tightened as I heard she called me the ‘traitor’s daughter’.\nI had carried that label for more than ten years, ever since I was very young.\nWhen I was six, our pack, the Silverpine Pack, suffered a devastating battle. It was an unprecedented attack launched by the rogues. My mother died in that assault.\nI still remember my father, Mason Lane, the pack’s beta, holding my mother’s lifeless body, his eyes resolute.\n“Stay here. Wait for me,” he said.\nHe turned and ran toward the battlefield, and that was the last time I saw my father.\nI waited for days, until warriors returning from the alpha’s patrol brought back a message:\nBeta Mason had betrayed the pack.\nFrom that moment, I carried the label of “traitor’s daughter.”\nI never imagined it would become the word my mate and my so-called friend would use to tease me in bed.\n\"She still has that same pathetic look,\" Logan said, his breathing growing heavier.\n\"Like a kicked puppy begging for scraps of affection. If she wasn't useful for securing my position as Alpha, I wouldn't waste my time.\"\nUseful. That's all I was to him. A political alliance wrapped in the pretty lie of destined mates.\nUnable to bear the silence any longer, I opened a mind link to Logan.\n*Logan?* My mental voice sounded small, broken.\nHis response came immediately, breathless and distracted.\n*Harper? What—ah, God—what do you need?*\nI could hear everything through the link—Madeline's deliberate moans growing louder, the wet sounds of their coupling, Logan's ragged breathing.\nMy stomach churned with revulsion.\n*Just wanted to confirm everything's ready for tomorrow,* I managed, my voice steady despite the chaos in my heart.\n*Tomorrow?* He sounded genuinely confused for a moment before remembering.\n*Oh, right. The ceremony. Yeah, whatever you planned is fine. I trust your—f*ck—I trust your judgment.*\nMadeline's delighted squeal echoed through both the video and the mind link. She was performing for me now, making sure I heard every sound of pleasure Logan drew from her—pleasure he'd never managed to coax from me.\n*Did you pick up my dress from the seamstress like we discussed?* I asked, watching on screen as Madeline lifted the hem of my wedding gown higher, using her foot to pull Logan deeper.\n*Your dress? Right, yes. It's... it's taken care of.*\nThe mind link snapped shut abruptly as Logan lost himself in Madeline's body, leaving me in deafening silence.\nOn screen, Madeline deliberately spilled wine across the delicate beadwork, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as the red stain spread across the ivory silk.\n\"Oh no,\" she gasped in mock concern, loud enough for the microphone to catch.\n\"I hope Harper won't mind that her precious dress got a little dirty.\"\nLogan's response was a growl of pleasure rather than concern. \"She'll wear whatever I give her. She should be grateful I'm marking her at all.\"\nI stared at the screen as they continued their betrayal in my sacred space, on my chosen sheets, wearing my dreams like a costume in their twisted game.\nMy wolf retreated deep inside me, wounded and bleeding from the severed trust.\nI closed the laptop with shaking fingers and fell back onto my bed, staring at the ceiling as tears finally spilled down my cheeks.\nTomorrow was supposed to be the beginning of my new life, my chance to finally belong somewhere without question.\nInstead, it would be a public humiliation orchestrated by the two people I trusted most.\nI needed to leave, to run, to disappear before I had to face the mockery of a ceremony that would bind me to a man who saw me as nothing more than a useful tool.\nI rolled over and reached for my duffel bag, my hands moving automatically to pack the few belongings that mattered. My mother's jewelry. The photo of my parents from before everything went wrong. The warrior training certificates I'd earned through blood and determination.\nI was halfway through folding clothes when a voice slid through my mind like silk over steel—a voice that definitely wasn't Logan's.\n*Did you enjoy my gift?*\nI froze, my hands clutching a sweater to my chest. The voice was deep, magnetic, with an edge of dark amusement that sent shivers down my spine.\nI knew that voice, though I'd never heard it directed at me before.\nGrayson Hayes. Logan's older half-brother, the rightful heir who'd been stripped of his inheritance for reasons no one spoke about openly.\nThe dangerous, mysterious Alpha's son who made my wolf pace restlessly whenever he was near.\n*What gift?* I responded cautiously, though my heart was already racing with a different kind of anticipation.\nHis low chuckle resonated through the mind link, rich and dark like expensive whiskey.\n*The video, little wolf. Did it show you everything you needed to see?*"},{"chapter_key":"4zEDFQlaTH","title":"","serial_number":2,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/2/en_524c91e8-1514-4e8d-bf84-f37f8edaee16.txt","word_count":1018,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"The silver wolf that emerged from the treeline was magnificent—larger than any I'd ever seen, more powerful than even our Alpha.\nHis coat gleamed like liquid mercury in the dying sunlight, muscles rippling beneath the lustrous fur as he approached with predatory grace.\nEvery instinct in my body screamed danger, yet I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.\nMy wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, responding to the raw alpha energy radiating from him.\nThis wasn't just any alpha—this was something primal, untamed.\nWhen the shift began, I should have looked away. Should have given him privacy.\nInstead, I stood transfixed as bones reformed, as fur receded to reveal bronzed skin stretched over a frame that belonged in ancient warrior legends.\nGrayson Hayes stood before me, completely naked and utterly unashamed.\nHeat flooded my cheeks as my eyes traced the defined lines of his chest, the ridged muscles of his abdomen.\nMy wolf whined with want, pressing against my consciousness with a hunger I'd never felt before—not even with Logan.\n\"Enjoying the view?\" Grayson's voice held dark amusement.\nI jerked my gaze up to his face, mortified to be caught staring. Those golden eyes held mine captive, seeming to see straight through every defense I'd ever built.\n\"I—\" My voice cracked. I cleared my throat, forcing steel into my spine. \"You wanted to meet.\"\n\"Mmm.\" He moved with fluid grace toward a tree where clothes hung from a low branch.\n\"The question is, Harper Lane, have you thought about what you really want?\"\nThe way he said my name—like he was tasting something forbidden—sent shivers down my spine.\nI watched, helpless, as he pulled on dark jeans that hugged his powerful thighs, the muscles in his back shifting as he reached for his shirt.\n\"Why?\" The word burst from me before I could stop it. \"Why are you doing this? Just to steal the Alpha position from Logan?\"\nGrayson paused, shirt halfway over his head. When he emerged, his expression had shifted to something predatory.\n\"Steal?\" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and smoke and something uniquely male that made my knees weak. \"That position was mine by right of birth, little beta. Logan is nothing more than a bastard who got lucky.\"\n\"I don't see how I could possibly help you with that.\" I lifted my chin, trying to project confidence I didn't feel. \"I'm just—\"\n\"Just what?\" His eyes narrowed dangerously, and the look sent heat pooling low in my belly. \"The daughter of a traitor? A beta with no real power?\"\nEach word was a blade, cutting deep. But instead of the usual shame, anger flared in my chest. \"If that's what you think, then why—\"\n\"Because you're wrong.\" He was close enough now that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin.\n\"You have no idea what you really are, do you?\"\nMy heart hammered against my ribs. \"What's that supposed to mean?\"\nInstead of answering, he circled me slowly, like a predator sizing up prey. \"Tell me, Harper—why do you think that fool brother of mine chose you as his mate?\"\nThe question hit like a physical blow. Logan's words from the video echoed in my mind:\n*If she wasn't useful, I wouldn't have chosen her.*\n\"I...\" I swallowed hard. \"We're fated mates.\"\nGrayson's laugh was dark silk. \"Are you? Or is that just what you've been told?\"\nBefore I could process that bombshell, memories crashed over me—fragments I'd tried to forget.\nThe day I'd won the pack training competition, earning rare praise from Alpha Ryan. The jealous she-wolves who'd cornered me afterward, their claws leaving marks that would scar.\nI'd searched desperately for Logan in the crowd, needing my mate to defend me. Instead, I'd watched him turn and walk away, leaving me to face their cruelty alone.\nLater, bleeding and humiliated, I'd fled to the forest to tend my wounds in private.\nThat's when I'd first encountered him—Grayson, sitting beneath a canopy of branches, watching me with those unsettling golden eyes.\n*\"Working so hard to prove yourself,\"* he'd said, voice laced with mockery.\n*\"Tell me, little beta, what happens when you realize it's never going to be enough?\"*\nI'd wanted to hate him for those words. Instead, I'd found myself returning to that spot, hoping to see him again. Each encounter left me breathless, confused by the way he looked at me—like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve.\n\"You were watching me.\" The realization hit like lightning. \"Even then, you were—\"\n\"Observing,\" he corrected smoothly. \"Waiting.\"\n\"For what?\"\nHis smile was sharp as a blade. \"For you to realize what that pathetic excuse for an alpha really is.\"\nThe truth of it burned. Logan, who'd abandoned me when I needed him most. Who'd let others tear me down while he stood by and watched. Who was, at this very moment, defiling our future together with my supposed best friend.\n\"What do you want from me?\" I whispered.\nGrayson stepped closer, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. \"I want to give you what you deserve, Harper. What we both deserve.\"\n\"Which is?\"\n\"Revenge.\" The word rolled off his tongue like a promise. \"Let's work together. Let's give that cheating bastard and his whore exactly what they've earned.\"\nMy breath caught. This was what I'd come here hoping for, yet hearing him say it made it real in a way that terrified me.\n\"How?\" I managed.\nHis smile turned predatory, and I felt my wolf respond with a hunger that should have frightened me.\n\"We destroy them, little beta. We give that pair of traitors a mating ceremony they'll never forget—right in the middle of what should have been your wedding.\"\nThe heat in his eyes promised dark pleasures, dangerous games. And despite every rational thought screaming warnings, I found myself leaning closer, drawn like a moth to flame.\n\"On their special day,\" he continued, voice dropping to a seductive whisper, \"we'll show the entire pack exactly what they really are.\""},{"chapter_key":"wULTZPTQC2","title":"","serial_number":3,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/3/en_1edfa2b7-8e11-4353-9c02-781e31232501.txt","word_count":1427,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"Grayson's sudden honesty struck me harder than I expected. The stark contrast between him and his brother was impossible to ignore now.\nTwo years ago, when Logan and I had first decided to choose each other as mates, he'd made me promises under the moonlight. His hands had been gentle then, his voice soft with what I'd believed was love.\nBut even in those tender moments, he'd pushed for more.\n\"Come on, Harper,\" he'd whispered against my neck, his hands roaming places that made my wolf purr. \"We're going to be mated anyway. Why wait?\"\nI'd pushed him away each time, my cheeks burning. \"After the ceremony, Logan. I want to do this right.\"\nHis frustration had been palpable, but he'd backed down. Or so I'd thought.\nNow I knew better—he'd simply found someone else to satisfy his needs.\n\"You're thinking about him.\"\nGrayson's low voice cut through my bitter memories.\nI blinked, finding those golden eyes studying me with an intensity that made my skin tingle.\n\"What?\"\n\"My brother. You're thinking about what he did to you.\" His lips curved in a knowing smirk. \"I can smell your anger from here.\"\nHeat flooded my cheeks. \"I wasn't—\"\n\"Liar.\" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous.\n\"So, what's it going to be, Harper? Are you going to work with me or not?\"\nI straightened my spine, meeting his gaze head-on. \"I'm going to refuse the mark ceremony tomorrow. I'll reject Logan publicly.\"\n\"And then what? Run away with your tail between your legs?\"\nThe mockery in his voice made my wolf bristle. \"That's not running away. That's making a choice.\"\n\"Is it?\" Grayson tilted his head, studying me like I was some fascinating puzzle.\n\"You'll just let them win? Let that bastard brother of mine and his little whore laugh about how they played the great Harper Lane?\"\nMy hands clenched into fists. The way he said it, so casually cruel, made something dark unfurl in my chest. But I forced myself to stay calm.\n\"I won't be part of your games, Grayson.\"\n\"Games?\" He laughed, the sound rich and dangerous. \"Sweetheart, this isn't a game. This is war.\"\nThe endearment sent an unwelcome shiver down my spine. I hated how my body reacted to him, how my wolf seemed to perk up every time he spoke.\nIt made no sense—he wasn't my mate. I would have felt the bond.\nSo why did every instinct I had scream at me to step closer?\n\"You were Logan's right hand,\" Grayson continued, circling me slowly like a predator.\n\"His future Luna. You attended pack meetings, diplomatic functions. Tell me you don't have dirt on him.\"\n\"Even if I did, I wouldn't use it.\"\n\"Why?\" He stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. \"Because you promised to protect him?\"\nMy silence was answer enough.\nGrayson's eyes gleamed with something that looked almost like approval. \"Loyal to the end, aren't you? Even after he betrayed you.\"\n\"I keep my word.\"\n\"How admirable.\" His voice dropped to a whisper, and he leaned in until his breath ghosted across my ear. \"And how incredibly naive.\"\nI jerked back, my heart hammering. \"I'm not naive.\"\n\"No?\" His smile was all sharp edges. \"Then you know exactly what kind of man my brother is. What kind of Alpha he'll make.\"\nI did know. That was the problem.\nGrayson seemed to sense my internal struggle. Instead of pressing harder, he stepped back, giving me space to breathe.\n\"Think about it, Harper. When you're ready to stop playing the victim, you know where to find me.\"\nHe turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the clearing.\n\"Oh, and Harper?\" He glanced back over his shoulder, and the look in his eyes made my knees weak. \"When I take back what's mine, I'll need a Beta I can trust. Someone strong enough to stand beside me.\"\nThen he was gone, melting into the shadows between the trees like he'd never been there at all.\nI stood there for a long moment, my mind reeling. Everything about Grayson Hayes was dangerous—his confidence, his intensity, the way he looked at me like he could see straight through to my soul.\nAnd the way my body responded to him was even more dangerous.\n----\nBy the time I made it home, the sun had set completely. I was still turning Grayson's offer over in my mind when the doorbell rang.\nI opened it to find Olivia Hayes on my doorstep, her perfectly styled blonde hair gleaming under the porch light. Logan's mother had never liked me, and she'd never bothered to hide it.\n\"Olivia.\" I forced a polite smile. \"What can I do for you?\"\nShe pushed past me without invitation, her sharp eyes scanning my modest living room with obvious disdain.\n\"The wedding dress needs alterations,\" she announced, dropping a garment bag on my coffee table like it was garbage. \"The seamstress said you need to come in tomorrow morning.\"\nI stared at the bag, my stomach churning. \"Tomorrow's the ceremony.\"\n\"Which is why you need to go early.\" Her tone suggested I was an idiot for not understanding. \"Really, Harper, I would have expected you to be more organized.\"\nThe criticism rolled off me easier than it used to. Funny how learning your fiancé was cheating could put things in perspective.\n\"Of course,\" I said flatly. \"I'll handle it.\"\nOlivia's eyes narrowed at my tone. \"Is there a problem?\"\n\"No problem.\"\nShe studied me for a moment longer, then unzipped the garment bag with sharp, efficient movements. The dress that spilled out was beautiful—cream silk with intricate beadwork—but it was wrinkled and...\nI frowned. \"It's dirty.\"\n\"Barely.\" Olivia waved a dismissive hand. \"Nothing that won't come out.\"\nBut it wasn't just dirt. My enhanced senses picked up something else—the lingering scent of another she-wolf. My wolf's hackles rose.\n\"There's another shewolf's scent on this dress.\"\nOlivia's laugh was cold and sharp. \"Oh, please. As if that matters.\"\nThe casual cruelty in her voice hit me like a slap. She knew. She knew about Logan's affair, and she didn't care.\n\"You think I don't deserve better than a soiled dress?\"\n\"I think you should be grateful for what you get.\" Olivia's smile was all teeth. \"Let's be honest, dear. A girl with your... background... should count herself lucky to marry into this family at all.\"\nMy father's disgrace. Always, it came back to that.\n\"Your son cheated on me,\" I said quietly.\n\"Boys will be boys.\" She shrugged. \"What matters is that he's choosing you for his Luna. Don't ruin it by being dramatic.\"\nThe dismissal in her voice, the complete lack of respect—it crystallized something inside me.\nFor years, I'd tried to earn this woman's approval, to prove I was worthy of her precious son.\nWhat a waste of time that had been.\n\"Get out.\"\nOlivia blinked. \"Excuse me?\"\n\"I said get out. Take your dirty dress and your condescending attitude and leave.\"\nHer face flushed red. \"How dare you speak to me that way? I am going to be your—\"\n\"You're going to be nothing to me.\" I opened the front door and held it wide. \"Get out. Now.\"\nFor a moment, I thought she might argue. Then she snatched up the garment bag and stalked toward the door.\n\"You'll regret this,\" she hissed as she passed. \"Logan deserves so much better than a disgraced beta's daughter.\"\nThe door slammed behind her, leaving me alone with the echo of her venom.\nI should have felt satisfied. Instead, I felt empty.\n----\nLater that night, I sat on my bed surrounded by photos and mementos from my relationship with Logan. Two years of memories spread out before me like evidence in a trial.\nI should burn it all. Should expose every ugly secret, every questionable decision he'd made with me by his side.\nInstead, I gathered it all up and locked it away in a box. Some promises were worth keeping, even when the person who'd inspired them wasn't.\nI was just settling into bed when a familiar tap came at my window.\nLogan crouched on the fire escape outside, his boyish smile bright in the moonlight. Once, that smile would have made my heart race. Now it just made me tired.\nI opened the window but didn't invite him in.\n\"Hey, beautiful.\" He swung one leg over the sill. \"Miss me?\""},{"chapter_key":"Gl7fMGzl6T","title":"","serial_number":4,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/4/en_69d36f72-585c-4f43-8e3f-2db89acafeb9.txt","word_count":1427,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"The scent hit me immediately—Madeline's perfume clinging to his clothes, her essence marking him like a brand. My stomach turned.\n\"Don't.\"\nBut he was already climbing through, reaching for me with hands that had been on another woman hours ago.\n\"Come on, Harper. Tomorrow we'll be mated. Tonight's our last night of freedom.\" His hands found my waist, pulling me against him. \"Let me show you how much I've missed you.\"\nI pushed against his chest, but he held firm. \"Logan, stop.\"\n\"What's wrong with you lately?\" His grip tightened, and something ugly flickered in his blue eyes. \"You've been cold, distant. A good mate doesn't act like this.\"\n\"A good mate doesn't cheat.\"\nThe words slipped out before I could stop them.\nLogan went very still.\n\"What did you say?\"\nI lifted my chin, meeting his gaze steadily. \"You heard me.\"\nFor a moment, his mask slipped completely. The charming, golden boy facade cracked, revealing something cold and calculating underneath.\nThen he laughed.\n\"Is that what this is about? You're jealous?\" His hands moved to frame my face, his touch possessive rather than gentle. \"Sweetheart, you're going to be my Luna. What I do with other shewolf doesn't matter.\"\nThe casual dismissal of my feelings, the complete lack of remorse—it was like looking at a stranger.\n\"It matters to me.\"\n\"Then you need to grow up.\" His voice hardened. \"You think being Luna means you get to be precious about every little thing? You think my father's been faithful to every Luna he's had?\"\nThe comparison to his father—who'd discarded Grayson's mother for Olivia—made my skin crawl.\n\"Let go of me.\"\n\"I don't think so.\" His smile turned predatory. \"See, I think you need a reminder of who you belong to.\"\nHis mouth crashed against mine, hard and demanding. I could taste Madeline on his lips, smell her scent on his skin. When I tried to pull away, his grip tightened painfully.\n\"Stop fighting me, Harper.\" His voice was low, dangerous. \"You're mine. Tomorrow everyone will know it.\"\nBut I wasn't his. Not anymore.\nMaybe I never had been.\nThe taste of betrayal still burned bitter on my tongue as Logan's grip tightened around my wrist. His blue-gray eyes had darkened to something I barely recognized—something predatory and cruel.\n\"You think you can just walk away from me?\" His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. \"After everything I've done for you? After all the times I've defended you when the pack whispered about your father?\"\nMy heart hammered against my ribs. The scent of Madeline still clung to his skin like a poisonous perfume, making my stomach churn. \"Let go of me, Logan.\"\n\"No.\" His other hand shot out, gripping my shoulder hard enough to bruise. \"You're going to listen to me, Harper. You're going to understand exactly what you owe me.\"\nI tried to pull away, but his alpha strength was overwhelming. The power difference between us had never felt more pronounced—more terrifying. My wolf whimpered inside me, caught between submission to his alpha dominance and the burning need to fight back.\n\"I don't owe you anything,\" I managed through gritted teeth, even as his fingers dug deeper into my flesh.\nHis laugh was harsh, grating. \"Don't you? Who stood by you when everyone called you a traitor's daughter? Who made you believe you could be Luna despite your bloodline?\"\nThe words hit like physical blows. Each one designed to cut, to remind me of my place in the pack hierarchy. But something had shifted inside me since discovering his betrayal. The shame that once would have crippled me now transformed into cold, burning rage.\n\"You mean who used me?\" I shot back. \"Who needed a convenient mate to secure his position while he f*cked around with—\"\nHis hand moved faster than I could react, fingers wrapping around my throat. Not tight enough to cut off air, but enough to make his point crystal clear. \"Watch your mouth.\"\nThe violence in his touch sent ice through my veins. This wasn't the Logan who'd promised to love and protect me. This was someone else entirely—someone who'd always been there, hidden beneath the charming facade.\n\"You're hurting me,\" I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded.\n\"Good.\" His thumb pressed against my pulse point. \"Maybe now you'll remember your place.\"\nThat's when it happened—a sound that made every hair on my body stand on end. A low, dangerous growl echoed from somewhere in the darkness beyond my house. It was primal, threatening, and unmistakably alpha.\nLogan's head snapped toward the sound, his grip loosening slightly. His eyes widened with something that looked almost like fear.\nThen his expression shifted, becoming distant in that telltale way of someone receiving a mind link. I watched his face change—the anger melting into something softer, more concerned.\n\"Logan?\" Madeline's voice seemed to whisper through his thoughts, though I couldn't hear her directly. But I knew that tone, that needy, helpless quality she used to manipulate him.\n\"I have to go,\" he said abruptly, releasing me so suddenly I stumbled backward. \"Madeline needs me.\"\nOf course she did.\nHe was already moving toward the door, his earlier violence forgotten in his rush to answer her call. \"We'll finish this later, Harper. Don't think this is over.\"\nThe door slammed behind him, leaving me alone with the echo of his threats and the phantom sensation of his hands on my skin.\nI stood there for a moment, shaking with adrenaline and rage. Then I forced myself to move, to walk to the bathroom on unsteady legs. I turned the water as hot as I could stand and scrubbed at every place he'd touched me, trying to wash away the feeling of violation.\nThat's when Grayson's voice slipped into my mind, smooth and dark as silk.\n*I helped you again.*\nMy hands stilled on the washcloth. Anger flared fresh and hot in my chest.\n*You were following me.*\nThere was a pause, long enough that I thought he might not respond. When he did, his mental voice carried an edge of something I couldn't quite identify.\n*I don't need to follow you, Harper. My people keep me informed of threats to pack members. When they reported Logan heading to your house in a rage...*\nAnother pause.\n*I was concerned.*\nThe admission hung between us through the mind link. I pressed my palms against the bathroom counter, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My throat showed the faint marks of Logan's fingers, and my eyes looked wild, haunted.\n*How much did you hear?* The question slipped out before I could stop it, embarrassment burning through me.\n*Enough.* His response was carefully neutral, offering me the dignity of not elaborating.\nI closed my eyes, grateful for his discretion even as shame crawled up my spine. The future Luna of Silverpine Pack, nearly assaulted by her own mate. What would the pack think if they knew? What would they say?\nBut as I stood there, feeling the phantom ache of Logan's grip, something crystallized inside me. The last thread of tolerance, of hope, finally snapped.\n*I'll do it,* I sent to Grayson, my mental voice steady despite the tremor in my hands. *I'll work with you.*\nThe silence stretched long enough that I wondered if he'd heard me. Then his voice returned, lower and more intimate than before, with an undertone that made my pulse skip.\n*I'm glad to hear it. Welcome to the partnership, Harper.*\nThe way he said my name sent an unexpected shiver down my spine. There was something in his tone—satisfaction, yes, but also something warmer. Something that made my wolf stir restlessly.\n*I'll be in touch soon.*\nThe mind link faded, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts and the strange flutter in my chest that Grayson's voice always seemed to cause.\nI was still standing there, trying to process everything that had happened, when I heard a soft knock at my front door. My body tensed, ready to flee if Logan had returned, but the knock came again—patient, almost respectful.\nWhen I opened the door, no one was there. But on my doorstep sat a manila envelope, thick with documents.\nI carried it inside with trembling fingers, already knowing what I'd find but dreading the confirmation. The evidence was all there—photos, timestamps, witness statements. A complete record of Logan's infidelity, laid out with methodical precision.\nBut it was the social media screenshots that made my blood freeze."},{"chapter_key":"RKl0bBmkzv","title":"","serial_number":5,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/5/en_c13877dc-7ee7-4fa7-9a02-d33e66efc861.txt","word_count":969,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"A social media screenshots from an envelope from somebody unknown made my blood freeze.\nMadeline's Instagram, three years ago.\nIt’s a photo of her and Logan kissing in some dimly lit bar, her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands tangled in her golden hair. The timestamp showed a date burned into my memory—my birthday.\nThe night I'd been punished for a minor training mistake, forced to run drills in the snow for six hours wearing nothing but a thin training outfit.\nI remembered that night with crystal clarity. The way the cold had seeped into my bones, how I'd kept looking toward the pack house, hoping Logan would come. Hoping he'd bring me a jacket, or convince Alpha Ryan to end the punishment early.\nHe never came.\nI'd collapsed in the snow around midnight, hypothermia setting in. One of the pack omegas had found me by chance, rushed me to the pack hospital. I'd spent days recovering from frostbite and pneumonia, and when Logan finally visited, he'd looked so guilty. So sorry.\n\"I should have been there,\" he'd whispered, holding my bandaged hands. \"I'm so sorry, Harper. I'll never let you down again.\"\nLies. All of it, lies.\nWhile I'd been freezing in the snow, fighting to stay conscious, he'd been warming Madeline's bed. While I'd lain in the hospital, believing in his remorse, he'd probably been planning their next rendezvous.\nThe paper crumpled in my fist as rage consumed me. Not just at the betrayal, but at my own stupidity.\nHow many signs had I missed? How many times had I made excuses for his absences, his distraction, his growing coldness?\nTomorrow was supposed to be our mating ceremony. The day I'd dreamed about since we were teenagers, when he'd first promised to choose me as his mate. The day that would finally prove to the pack that I was worthy, despite my father's tainted legacy.\nInstead, it would be the day I destroyed him.\nI smiled grimly at my reflection in the window.\nLogan wanted to remind me of my place? Fine. I'd show him exactly where that was—and it wasn't beneath him anymore.\n----\nThe next morning came too quickly and not quickly enough. I dressed carefully in a simple black dress—not the elaborate gown that had been chosen for the ceremony, but something that felt like me. Something that felt like armor.\nThe mating ceremony was being held in the pack's main hall, decorated with white flowers and golden ribbons. I could hear the murmur of voices, the excited chatter of pack members gathering to witness what should have been the happiest day of my life.\nBut I wasn't in the hall. Instead, I hide behind the thick curtains of the pack house's upper balcony, I watched as guests filled the seats below, their excited chatter drifting up like smoke.\nMy fingers traced the remote control in my pocket. Today, everything would change.\nAlpha Ryan stood at the altar, his expression growing increasingly thunderous as the minutes ticked by. Luna Olivia kept glancing toward the entrance, her perfectly composed mask beginning to slip.\nAnd Logan? He looked genuinely panicked, his eyes darting around the room as if I might materialize from thin air.\n\"Harper should be here by now,\" Logan's voice carried clearly from the front row, his concern evident even from this distance.\n\"Where is she?\" Luna Olivia hissed, loud enough for the front rows to hear.\nLogan stood frozen at the altar, his blue-gray eyes darting between the entrance and his parents. The golden sunlight that should have made him look radiant only highlighted the nervous sweat beading on his forehead.\nThat's when Grayson stepped forward from the shadows near the sound booth. His golden eyes found Logan's across the crowd, and something passed between them—a look that made my breath catch.\nThe large screen behind the altar flickered to life.\nGasps erupted from the crowd as the image sharpened. There, in high definition for everyone to see, was Logan. Naked. His hands gripping Madeline's hips as she arched beneath him, her golden hair spilled across white silk.\nMy wedding dress. The one I was supposed to wear today.\n\"What the hell—\" Alpha Ryan's roar cut through the chaos.\n\"Turn it off!\" Olivia shrieked, her composure finally cracking. \"Turn it off right now!\"\nBut the screen wouldn't respond. Madeline's voice filled the ceremonial grounds, breathy and desperate: \"God, Logan, yes... Harper could never make you feel like this, could she?\"\nThe crowd erupted. Omegas covered their mouths in shock while Gammas whispered furiously to each other. I caught fragments of their conversations, each word a blade to my chest.\n\"Serves her right, honestly.\"\n\"The traitor's daughter was never going to keep an Alpha.\"\n\"Did you really think someone like her deserved a true mate?\"\nMy hands clenched into fists, nails digging crescents into my palms. The familiar ache of shame and rage burned in my throat.\nA warm hand covered mine, and electricity shot through my entire body. My wolf stirred, a low, pleased rumble vibrating through my chest. The sensation was so unexpected, so intense, that I gasped.\nIt was Grayson.\nHis fingers intertwined with mine, his touch sending waves of something I couldn't name racing through my veins.\nThis wasn't right. He wasn't my mate—Logan was supposed to be. So why did every nerve ending feel like it was coming alive under his touch?\n\"Easy,\" he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chaos below.\nI turned to look at him, confused by my body's reaction, and found his face suddenly much closer than before. His golden eyes held mine, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just the space between us. His scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous—filled my lungs."}],"recommend_text":"My fists clenched so tight my nails left small crescents in my palms when the video lit up the screen—my mate’s secret footage, showing him and another woman sharing a private moment, streaming for everyone to see.\nAnd of course, I wasn’t the one meant to be on his side of the sheets.\n “Baby, you’re the only one who knows how to keep it exciting,” he murmured, his voice low with thrill as they embraced.\n “Please,” she whispered, curling against him. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m so much better than that poor little mate of yours who just stands there like a shadow.”\n Their cruel laughter sliced straight through me like a knife.\n A shadow? That’s what I was to him?\n Or maybe, my darling mate, the real problem is your lack of connection.\n So I went to the one man he could never stand—my mate’s half brother, his greatest rival.\n And his strength? He had no trouble showing it.\n He pushed me to my limits again and again until my body shook, until my cries filled the room, until every last breath left me in his arms...","button_text":"","bottom_text":""} "2600:1f28:365:80b0:a9fc:cf4c:966:931d" {"clickToRead":"🔥🔥Click to read the next chapter for free 👇","continueReading":"CONTINUE READING","more":"More","open":"Open","bottomText":"The upcoming chapters are even more exciting! Click the download button below to read the entire book!👇👇👇"} {"id":1000106,"name":"Seducing My Mate's Half-brother","start_time":1761583955,"end_time":4917257555,"status":1,"version_config":[{"name":"base","traffic_interval":1},{"name":"实验529","traffic_interval":99,"landing_page_id":308,"novel":{"novel_id":4616,"novel_key":"4LdtAP88uK","title":"Seducing My Mate's Half-brother","cover":"https://static-v1.mydramawave.com/novel/landing-page/image-crawl/ce25c8fa471db97a62a81185d090bf27.jpg?image_process=quality,85/resize,w_600/format,webp","intro":"My fists clenched so tight my nails cut into my skin when the video lit up my screen—my mate’s sex tape, streaming live for everyone to see.\nAnd of course, I wasn’t the woman writhing beneath him.\n“Baby, you’re the only one who knows how to keep it interesting,” he groaned, his voice thick with pleasure as their bodies tangled together.\n“Please,” she moaned, curling against him. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m so much better than that pathetic little mate of yours who just lies there like a corpse.”\nTheir filthy laughter sliced straight through me like a knife.\nA corpse? That’s what I was to him?\nOr maybe, my darling mate, the real problem is your bad performance in bed.\nSo I went to the one man he could never stand—my mate’s half brother, his greatest rival.\nAnd his stamina? He had no trouble proving it. \nHe drove me to the edge again and again until my body shook uncontrollably, until my cries filled the room, until every last breath left me trembling in his arms....","use_default_button_text":true,"lang":"en-US","style":200003,"chapter_count":50,"word_count":75771,"use_novel_desc":true,"chapter":{"chapter_key":"ozvFgSj9eb","title":"","serial_number":1,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/1/en_834f5c61-90f0-48fc-af9a-17c72178bed5.txt","word_count":1508,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false},"recommend_text":"My fists clenched so tight my nails left small crescents in my palms when the video lit up the screen—my mate’s secret footage, showing him and another woman sharing a private moment, streaming for everyone to see.\nAnd of course, I wasn’t the one meant to be on his side of the sheets.\n “Baby, you’re the only one who knows how to keep it exciting,” he murmured, his voice low with thrill as they embraced.\n “Please,” she whispered, curling against him. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m so much better than that poor little mate of yours who just stands there like a shadow.”\n Their cruel laughter sliced straight through me like a knife.\n A shadow? That’s what I was to him?\n Or maybe, my darling mate, the real problem is your lack of connection.\n So I went to the one man he could never stand—my mate’s half brother, his greatest rival.\n And his strength? He had no trouble showing it.\n He pushed me to my limits again and again until my body shook, until my cries filled the room, until every last breath left me in his arms...","use_default_bottom_text":true,"chapter_list":[{"chapter_key":"ozvFgSj9eb","title":"","serial_number":1,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/1/en_834f5c61-90f0-48fc-af9a-17c72178bed5.txt","word_count":1508,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"“Oh God, just like that! Yes!”\n“My little sl*t, I love you so much. You’re nothing like my boring fiancée mate.”\nMy heart nearly stopped beating as the obscene sounds filled my ears through my laptop speakers.\nAnd the sight on the screen made every drop of blood in my body turn to ice:\nIt was my mate, Logan, the future Alpha of my pack, and my best, my only friend Madeline.\nThey were going at it with the raw intensity that only the closest pair of mates could share. In my mate ceremony suite, the very room where Logan and I, his rightful mate, were supposed to consummate our bond tomorrow night.\nBut the one in that bed wasn’t me.\nMadeline Cross, my so-called best friend writhed beneath my mate, her golden hair spilled across the silk pillows I had personally selected. She wore my wedding dress—the ivory gown I'd spent months choosing, now hiked up around her waist as she moved against him with shameless abandon.\n\"God, Logan,\" Madeline's breathy moan cut through me like a blade. \"Tomorrow you'll have to pretend to want that frigid bi*ch instead of me.\"\nMy hands trembled as I gripped the laptop screen.\nFrigid bi*ch? I had never realized that, in the eyes of the one friend I cherished most, I played such a role.\nJust moments ago, all my thoughts and energy were tied up in preparing for the marking ceremony Logan and I would share tomorrow.\nLike every she-wolf caught in the pull of the mate bond, I yearned for the moment he would mark me and make me his Luna, for the moment the whole pack—no, the whole werewolf world—would see that I was his destined choice.\nI had arranged the flowers with trembling hands, gone over the menu again and again, checked every single invitation so no one would be forgotten.\nIn my mind I could already feel Logan’s arms around me when we finally became true mates, the heat of his breath on my skin, the slow and aching way he would strip me bare and claim every inch of me as his.\nI imagined him taking me until nothing else existed but the two of us, his scent all over me, his seed planted deep where only he belonged. A secret hope whispered inside me that maybe, just maybe, by dawn I would already be carrying his pup.\nEven before I opened that video, I had been rehearsing the vows I wanted to speak at the ceremony. I wanted Logan to hear how much he meant to me. I wanted everyone to see how completely I loved my mate.\nBut as I floated in that dream, an email arrived in my inbox. Its subject line read:\nSomething you should know before tomorrow.\nI had clicked the link out of curiosity, never imagining it would lead to this nightmare.\nOn screen, Logan's laugh was dark, hungry. \"Don't worry, baby. After the ceremony, I'll find excuses to be with you. Harper's so desperate for approval, she'll believe anything I tell her.\"\nThe words hit me like physical blows. My wolf whimpered in agony, the sound echoing through my mind as betrayal tore through our bond.\n\"She really thinks you love her,\" Madeline purred, trailing her fingers down Logan's chest.\n\"Poor little orphan girl, so grateful that the future Alpha would even look at her. If only she knew how pathetic she looks when she tries to please you in bed.\"\n\"Like a corpse,\" Logan agreed with a cruel chuckle. \"No passion, no fire. Just lies there like she's doing me a favor. \"\n\"At least with you, I actually enjoy myself.\"\n“Remember when we were kids?” Madeline's voice turned sickeningly sweet, “How those other pups used to corner her, calling her ‘traitor’s daughter’? I pretended to rescue her, but honestly, watching her cower was so entertaining. She was so grateful for my friendship.”\nThe memory slammed into me—Madeline's gentle hands helping me up after particularly vicious attacks, her soothing words.\nAll lies. All manipulation.\nAnd My heart tightened as I heard she called me the ‘traitor’s daughter’.\nI had carried that label for more than ten years, ever since I was very young.\nWhen I was six, our pack, the Silverpine Pack, suffered a devastating battle. It was an unprecedented attack launched by the rogues. My mother died in that assault.\nI still remember my father, Mason Lane, the pack’s beta, holding my mother’s lifeless body, his eyes resolute.\n“Stay here. Wait for me,” he said.\nHe turned and ran toward the battlefield, and that was the last time I saw my father.\nI waited for days, until warriors returning from the alpha’s patrol brought back a message:\nBeta Mason had betrayed the pack.\nFrom that moment, I carried the label of “traitor’s daughter.”\nI never imagined it would become the word my mate and my so-called friend would use to tease me in bed.\n\"She still has that same pathetic look,\" Logan said, his breathing growing heavier.\n\"Like a kicked puppy begging for scraps of affection. If she wasn't useful for securing my position as Alpha, I wouldn't waste my time.\"\nUseful. That's all I was to him. A political alliance wrapped in the pretty lie of destined mates.\nUnable to bear the silence any longer, I opened a mind link to Logan.\n*Logan?* My mental voice sounded small, broken.\nHis response came immediately, breathless and distracted.\n*Harper? What—ah, God—what do you need?*\nI could hear everything through the link—Madeline's deliberate moans growing louder, the wet sounds of their coupling, Logan's ragged breathing.\nMy stomach churned with revulsion.\n*Just wanted to confirm everything's ready for tomorrow,* I managed, my voice steady despite the chaos in my heart.\n*Tomorrow?* He sounded genuinely confused for a moment before remembering.\n*Oh, right. The ceremony. Yeah, whatever you planned is fine. I trust your—f*ck—I trust your judgment.*\nMadeline's delighted squeal echoed through both the video and the mind link. She was performing for me now, making sure I heard every sound of pleasure Logan drew from her—pleasure he'd never managed to coax from me.\n*Did you pick up my dress from the seamstress like we discussed?* I asked, watching on screen as Madeline lifted the hem of my wedding gown higher, using her foot to pull Logan deeper.\n*Your dress? Right, yes. It's... it's taken care of.*\nThe mind link snapped shut abruptly as Logan lost himself in Madeline's body, leaving me in deafening silence.\nOn screen, Madeline deliberately spilled wine across the delicate beadwork, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as the red stain spread across the ivory silk.\n\"Oh no,\" she gasped in mock concern, loud enough for the microphone to catch.\n\"I hope Harper won't mind that her precious dress got a little dirty.\"\nLogan's response was a growl of pleasure rather than concern. \"She'll wear whatever I give her. She should be grateful I'm marking her at all.\"\nI stared at the screen as they continued their betrayal in my sacred space, on my chosen sheets, wearing my dreams like a costume in their twisted game.\nMy wolf retreated deep inside me, wounded and bleeding from the severed trust.\nI closed the laptop with shaking fingers and fell back onto my bed, staring at the ceiling as tears finally spilled down my cheeks.\nTomorrow was supposed to be the beginning of my new life, my chance to finally belong somewhere without question.\nInstead, it would be a public humiliation orchestrated by the two people I trusted most.\nI needed to leave, to run, to disappear before I had to face the mockery of a ceremony that would bind me to a man who saw me as nothing more than a useful tool.\nI rolled over and reached for my duffel bag, my hands moving automatically to pack the few belongings that mattered. My mother's jewelry. The photo of my parents from before everything went wrong. The warrior training certificates I'd earned through blood and determination.\nI was halfway through folding clothes when a voice slid through my mind like silk over steel—a voice that definitely wasn't Logan's.\n*Did you enjoy my gift?*\nI froze, my hands clutching a sweater to my chest. The voice was deep, magnetic, with an edge of dark amusement that sent shivers down my spine.\nI knew that voice, though I'd never heard it directed at me before.\nGrayson Hayes. Logan's older half-brother, the rightful heir who'd been stripped of his inheritance for reasons no one spoke about openly.\nThe dangerous, mysterious Alpha's son who made my wolf pace restlessly whenever he was near.\n*What gift?* I responded cautiously, though my heart was already racing with a different kind of anticipation.\nHis low chuckle resonated through the mind link, rich and dark like expensive whiskey.\n*The video, little wolf. Did it show you everything you needed to see?*"},{"chapter_key":"4zEDFQlaTH","title":"","serial_number":2,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/2/en_524c91e8-1514-4e8d-bf84-f37f8edaee16.txt","word_count":1018,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"The silver wolf that emerged from the treeline was magnificent—larger than any I'd ever seen, more powerful than even our Alpha.\nHis coat gleamed like liquid mercury in the dying sunlight, muscles rippling beneath the lustrous fur as he approached with predatory grace.\nEvery instinct in my body screamed danger, yet I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.\nMy wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, responding to the raw alpha energy radiating from him.\nThis wasn't just any alpha—this was something primal, untamed.\nWhen the shift began, I should have looked away. Should have given him privacy.\nInstead, I stood transfixed as bones reformed, as fur receded to reveal bronzed skin stretched over a frame that belonged in ancient warrior legends.\nGrayson Hayes stood before me, completely naked and utterly unashamed.\nHeat flooded my cheeks as my eyes traced the defined lines of his chest, the ridged muscles of his abdomen.\nMy wolf whined with want, pressing against my consciousness with a hunger I'd never felt before—not even with Logan.\n\"Enjoying the view?\" Grayson's voice held dark amusement.\nI jerked my gaze up to his face, mortified to be caught staring. Those golden eyes held mine captive, seeming to see straight through every defense I'd ever built.\n\"I—\" My voice cracked. I cleared my throat, forcing steel into my spine. \"You wanted to meet.\"\n\"Mmm.\" He moved with fluid grace toward a tree where clothes hung from a low branch.\n\"The question is, Harper Lane, have you thought about what you really want?\"\nThe way he said my name—like he was tasting something forbidden—sent shivers down my spine.\nI watched, helpless, as he pulled on dark jeans that hugged his powerful thighs, the muscles in his back shifting as he reached for his shirt.\n\"Why?\" The word burst from me before I could stop it. \"Why are you doing this? Just to steal the Alpha position from Logan?\"\nGrayson paused, shirt halfway over his head. When he emerged, his expression had shifted to something predatory.\n\"Steal?\" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and smoke and something uniquely male that made my knees weak. \"That position was mine by right of birth, little beta. Logan is nothing more than a bastard who got lucky.\"\n\"I don't see how I could possibly help you with that.\" I lifted my chin, trying to project confidence I didn't feel. \"I'm just—\"\n\"Just what?\" His eyes narrowed dangerously, and the look sent heat pooling low in my belly. \"The daughter of a traitor? A beta with no real power?\"\nEach word was a blade, cutting deep. But instead of the usual shame, anger flared in my chest. \"If that's what you think, then why—\"\n\"Because you're wrong.\" He was close enough now that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin.\n\"You have no idea what you really are, do you?\"\nMy heart hammered against my ribs. \"What's that supposed to mean?\"\nInstead of answering, he circled me slowly, like a predator sizing up prey. \"Tell me, Harper—why do you think that fool brother of mine chose you as his mate?\"\nThe question hit like a physical blow. Logan's words from the video echoed in my mind:\n*If she wasn't useful, I wouldn't have chosen her.*\n\"I...\" I swallowed hard. \"We're fated mates.\"\nGrayson's laugh was dark silk. \"Are you? Or is that just what you've been told?\"\nBefore I could process that bombshell, memories crashed over me—fragments I'd tried to forget.\nThe day I'd won the pack training competition, earning rare praise from Alpha Ryan. The jealous she-wolves who'd cornered me afterward, their claws leaving marks that would scar.\nI'd searched desperately for Logan in the crowd, needing my mate to defend me. Instead, I'd watched him turn and walk away, leaving me to face their cruelty alone.\nLater, bleeding and humiliated, I'd fled to the forest to tend my wounds in private.\nThat's when I'd first encountered him—Grayson, sitting beneath a canopy of branches, watching me with those unsettling golden eyes.\n*\"Working so hard to prove yourself,\"* he'd said, voice laced with mockery.\n*\"Tell me, little beta, what happens when you realize it's never going to be enough?\"*\nI'd wanted to hate him for those words. Instead, I'd found myself returning to that spot, hoping to see him again. Each encounter left me breathless, confused by the way he looked at me—like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve.\n\"You were watching me.\" The realization hit like lightning. \"Even then, you were—\"\n\"Observing,\" he corrected smoothly. \"Waiting.\"\n\"For what?\"\nHis smile was sharp as a blade. \"For you to realize what that pathetic excuse for an alpha really is.\"\nThe truth of it burned. Logan, who'd abandoned me when I needed him most. Who'd let others tear me down while he stood by and watched. Who was, at this very moment, defiling our future together with my supposed best friend.\n\"What do you want from me?\" I whispered.\nGrayson stepped closer, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. \"I want to give you what you deserve, Harper. What we both deserve.\"\n\"Which is?\"\n\"Revenge.\" The word rolled off his tongue like a promise. \"Let's work together. Let's give that cheating bastard and his whore exactly what they've earned.\"\nMy breath caught. This was what I'd come here hoping for, yet hearing him say it made it real in a way that terrified me.\n\"How?\" I managed.\nHis smile turned predatory, and I felt my wolf respond with a hunger that should have frightened me.\n\"We destroy them, little beta. We give that pair of traitors a mating ceremony they'll never forget—right in the middle of what should have been your wedding.\"\nThe heat in his eyes promised dark pleasures, dangerous games. And despite every rational thought screaming warnings, I found myself leaning closer, drawn like a moth to flame.\n\"On their special day,\" he continued, voice dropping to a seductive whisper, \"we'll show the entire pack exactly what they really are.\""},{"chapter_key":"wULTZPTQC2","title":"","serial_number":3,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/3/en_1edfa2b7-8e11-4353-9c02-781e31232501.txt","word_count":1427,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"Grayson's sudden honesty struck me harder than I expected. The stark contrast between him and his brother was impossible to ignore now.\nTwo years ago, when Logan and I had first decided to choose each other as mates, he'd made me promises under the moonlight. His hands had been gentle then, his voice soft with what I'd believed was love.\nBut even in those tender moments, he'd pushed for more.\n\"Come on, Harper,\" he'd whispered against my neck, his hands roaming places that made my wolf purr. \"We're going to be mated anyway. Why wait?\"\nI'd pushed him away each time, my cheeks burning. \"After the ceremony, Logan. I want to do this right.\"\nHis frustration had been palpable, but he'd backed down. Or so I'd thought.\nNow I knew better—he'd simply found someone else to satisfy his needs.\n\"You're thinking about him.\"\nGrayson's low voice cut through my bitter memories.\nI blinked, finding those golden eyes studying me with an intensity that made my skin tingle.\n\"What?\"\n\"My brother. You're thinking about what he did to you.\" His lips curved in a knowing smirk. \"I can smell your anger from here.\"\nHeat flooded my cheeks. \"I wasn't—\"\n\"Liar.\" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous.\n\"So, what's it going to be, Harper? Are you going to work with me or not?\"\nI straightened my spine, meeting his gaze head-on. \"I'm going to refuse the mark ceremony tomorrow. I'll reject Logan publicly.\"\n\"And then what? Run away with your tail between your legs?\"\nThe mockery in his voice made my wolf bristle. \"That's not running away. That's making a choice.\"\n\"Is it?\" Grayson tilted his head, studying me like I was some fascinating puzzle.\n\"You'll just let them win? Let that bastard brother of mine and his little whore laugh about how they played the great Harper Lane?\"\nMy hands clenched into fists. The way he said it, so casually cruel, made something dark unfurl in my chest. But I forced myself to stay calm.\n\"I won't be part of your games, Grayson.\"\n\"Games?\" He laughed, the sound rich and dangerous. \"Sweetheart, this isn't a game. This is war.\"\nThe endearment sent an unwelcome shiver down my spine. I hated how my body reacted to him, how my wolf seemed to perk up every time he spoke.\nIt made no sense—he wasn't my mate. I would have felt the bond.\nSo why did every instinct I had scream at me to step closer?\n\"You were Logan's right hand,\" Grayson continued, circling me slowly like a predator.\n\"His future Luna. You attended pack meetings, diplomatic functions. Tell me you don't have dirt on him.\"\n\"Even if I did, I wouldn't use it.\"\n\"Why?\" He stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. \"Because you promised to protect him?\"\nMy silence was answer enough.\nGrayson's eyes gleamed with something that looked almost like approval. \"Loyal to the end, aren't you? Even after he betrayed you.\"\n\"I keep my word.\"\n\"How admirable.\" His voice dropped to a whisper, and he leaned in until his breath ghosted across my ear. \"And how incredibly naive.\"\nI jerked back, my heart hammering. \"I'm not naive.\"\n\"No?\" His smile was all sharp edges. \"Then you know exactly what kind of man my brother is. What kind of Alpha he'll make.\"\nI did know. That was the problem.\nGrayson seemed to sense my internal struggle. Instead of pressing harder, he stepped back, giving me space to breathe.\n\"Think about it, Harper. When you're ready to stop playing the victim, you know where to find me.\"\nHe turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the clearing.\n\"Oh, and Harper?\" He glanced back over his shoulder, and the look in his eyes made my knees weak. \"When I take back what's mine, I'll need a Beta I can trust. Someone strong enough to stand beside me.\"\nThen he was gone, melting into the shadows between the trees like he'd never been there at all.\nI stood there for a long moment, my mind reeling. Everything about Grayson Hayes was dangerous—his confidence, his intensity, the way he looked at me like he could see straight through to my soul.\nAnd the way my body responded to him was even more dangerous.\n----\nBy the time I made it home, the sun had set completely. I was still turning Grayson's offer over in my mind when the doorbell rang.\nI opened it to find Olivia Hayes on my doorstep, her perfectly styled blonde hair gleaming under the porch light. Logan's mother had never liked me, and she'd never bothered to hide it.\n\"Olivia.\" I forced a polite smile. \"What can I do for you?\"\nShe pushed past me without invitation, her sharp eyes scanning my modest living room with obvious disdain.\n\"The wedding dress needs alterations,\" she announced, dropping a garment bag on my coffee table like it was garbage. \"The seamstress said you need to come in tomorrow morning.\"\nI stared at the bag, my stomach churning. \"Tomorrow's the ceremony.\"\n\"Which is why you need to go early.\" Her tone suggested I was an idiot for not understanding. \"Really, Harper, I would have expected you to be more organized.\"\nThe criticism rolled off me easier than it used to. Funny how learning your fiancé was cheating could put things in perspective.\n\"Of course,\" I said flatly. \"I'll handle it.\"\nOlivia's eyes narrowed at my tone. \"Is there a problem?\"\n\"No problem.\"\nShe studied me for a moment longer, then unzipped the garment bag with sharp, efficient movements. The dress that spilled out was beautiful—cream silk with intricate beadwork—but it was wrinkled and...\nI frowned. \"It's dirty.\"\n\"Barely.\" Olivia waved a dismissive hand. \"Nothing that won't come out.\"\nBut it wasn't just dirt. My enhanced senses picked up something else—the lingering scent of another she-wolf. My wolf's hackles rose.\n\"There's another shewolf's scent on this dress.\"\nOlivia's laugh was cold and sharp. \"Oh, please. As if that matters.\"\nThe casual cruelty in her voice hit me like a slap. She knew. She knew about Logan's affair, and she didn't care.\n\"You think I don't deserve better than a soiled dress?\"\n\"I think you should be grateful for what you get.\" Olivia's smile was all teeth. \"Let's be honest, dear. A girl with your... background... should count herself lucky to marry into this family at all.\"\nMy father's disgrace. Always, it came back to that.\n\"Your son cheated on me,\" I said quietly.\n\"Boys will be boys.\" She shrugged. \"What matters is that he's choosing you for his Luna. Don't ruin it by being dramatic.\"\nThe dismissal in her voice, the complete lack of respect—it crystallized something inside me.\nFor years, I'd tried to earn this woman's approval, to prove I was worthy of her precious son.\nWhat a waste of time that had been.\n\"Get out.\"\nOlivia blinked. \"Excuse me?\"\n\"I said get out. Take your dirty dress and your condescending attitude and leave.\"\nHer face flushed red. \"How dare you speak to me that way? I am going to be your—\"\n\"You're going to be nothing to me.\" I opened the front door and held it wide. \"Get out. Now.\"\nFor a moment, I thought she might argue. Then she snatched up the garment bag and stalked toward the door.\n\"You'll regret this,\" she hissed as she passed. \"Logan deserves so much better than a disgraced beta's daughter.\"\nThe door slammed behind her, leaving me alone with the echo of her venom.\nI should have felt satisfied. Instead, I felt empty.\n----\nLater that night, I sat on my bed surrounded by photos and mementos from my relationship with Logan. Two years of memories spread out before me like evidence in a trial.\nI should burn it all. Should expose every ugly secret, every questionable decision he'd made with me by his side.\nInstead, I gathered it all up and locked it away in a box. Some promises were worth keeping, even when the person who'd inspired them wasn't.\nI was just settling into bed when a familiar tap came at my window.\nLogan crouched on the fire escape outside, his boyish smile bright in the moonlight. Once, that smile would have made my heart race. Now it just made me tired.\nI opened the window but didn't invite him in.\n\"Hey, beautiful.\" He swung one leg over the sill. \"Miss me?\""},{"chapter_key":"Gl7fMGzl6T","title":"","serial_number":4,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/4/en_69d36f72-585c-4f43-8e3f-2db89acafeb9.txt","word_count":1427,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"The scent hit me immediately—Madeline's perfume clinging to his clothes, her essence marking him like a brand. My stomach turned.\n\"Don't.\"\nBut he was already climbing through, reaching for me with hands that had been on another woman hours ago.\n\"Come on, Harper. Tomorrow we'll be mated. Tonight's our last night of freedom.\" His hands found my waist, pulling me against him. \"Let me show you how much I've missed you.\"\nI pushed against his chest, but he held firm. \"Logan, stop.\"\n\"What's wrong with you lately?\" His grip tightened, and something ugly flickered in his blue eyes. \"You've been cold, distant. A good mate doesn't act like this.\"\n\"A good mate doesn't cheat.\"\nThe words slipped out before I could stop them.\nLogan went very still.\n\"What did you say?\"\nI lifted my chin, meeting his gaze steadily. \"You heard me.\"\nFor a moment, his mask slipped completely. The charming, golden boy facade cracked, revealing something cold and calculating underneath.\nThen he laughed.\n\"Is that what this is about? You're jealous?\" His hands moved to frame my face, his touch possessive rather than gentle. \"Sweetheart, you're going to be my Luna. What I do with other shewolf doesn't matter.\"\nThe casual dismissal of my feelings, the complete lack of remorse—it was like looking at a stranger.\n\"It matters to me.\"\n\"Then you need to grow up.\" His voice hardened. \"You think being Luna means you get to be precious about every little thing? You think my father's been faithful to every Luna he's had?\"\nThe comparison to his father—who'd discarded Grayson's mother for Olivia—made my skin crawl.\n\"Let go of me.\"\n\"I don't think so.\" His smile turned predatory. \"See, I think you need a reminder of who you belong to.\"\nHis mouth crashed against mine, hard and demanding. I could taste Madeline on his lips, smell her scent on his skin. When I tried to pull away, his grip tightened painfully.\n\"Stop fighting me, Harper.\" His voice was low, dangerous. \"You're mine. Tomorrow everyone will know it.\"\nBut I wasn't his. Not anymore.\nMaybe I never had been.\nThe taste of betrayal still burned bitter on my tongue as Logan's grip tightened around my wrist. His blue-gray eyes had darkened to something I barely recognized—something predatory and cruel.\n\"You think you can just walk away from me?\" His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. \"After everything I've done for you? After all the times I've defended you when the pack whispered about your father?\"\nMy heart hammered against my ribs. The scent of Madeline still clung to his skin like a poisonous perfume, making my stomach churn. \"Let go of me, Logan.\"\n\"No.\" His other hand shot out, gripping my shoulder hard enough to bruise. \"You're going to listen to me, Harper. You're going to understand exactly what you owe me.\"\nI tried to pull away, but his alpha strength was overwhelming. The power difference between us had never felt more pronounced—more terrifying. My wolf whimpered inside me, caught between submission to his alpha dominance and the burning need to fight back.\n\"I don't owe you anything,\" I managed through gritted teeth, even as his fingers dug deeper into my flesh.\nHis laugh was harsh, grating. \"Don't you? Who stood by you when everyone called you a traitor's daughter? Who made you believe you could be Luna despite your bloodline?\"\nThe words hit like physical blows. Each one designed to cut, to remind me of my place in the pack hierarchy. But something had shifted inside me since discovering his betrayal. The shame that once would have crippled me now transformed into cold, burning rage.\n\"You mean who used me?\" I shot back. \"Who needed a convenient mate to secure his position while he f*cked around with—\"\nHis hand moved faster than I could react, fingers wrapping around my throat. Not tight enough to cut off air, but enough to make his point crystal clear. \"Watch your mouth.\"\nThe violence in his touch sent ice through my veins. This wasn't the Logan who'd promised to love and protect me. This was someone else entirely—someone who'd always been there, hidden beneath the charming facade.\n\"You're hurting me,\" I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded.\n\"Good.\" His thumb pressed against my pulse point. \"Maybe now you'll remember your place.\"\nThat's when it happened—a sound that made every hair on my body stand on end. A low, dangerous growl echoed from somewhere in the darkness beyond my house. It was primal, threatening, and unmistakably alpha.\nLogan's head snapped toward the sound, his grip loosening slightly. His eyes widened with something that looked almost like fear.\nThen his expression shifted, becoming distant in that telltale way of someone receiving a mind link. I watched his face change—the anger melting into something softer, more concerned.\n\"Logan?\" Madeline's voice seemed to whisper through his thoughts, though I couldn't hear her directly. But I knew that tone, that needy, helpless quality she used to manipulate him.\n\"I have to go,\" he said abruptly, releasing me so suddenly I stumbled backward. \"Madeline needs me.\"\nOf course she did.\nHe was already moving toward the door, his earlier violence forgotten in his rush to answer her call. \"We'll finish this later, Harper. Don't think this is over.\"\nThe door slammed behind him, leaving me alone with the echo of his threats and the phantom sensation of his hands on my skin.\nI stood there for a moment, shaking with adrenaline and rage. Then I forced myself to move, to walk to the bathroom on unsteady legs. I turned the water as hot as I could stand and scrubbed at every place he'd touched me, trying to wash away the feeling of violation.\nThat's when Grayson's voice slipped into my mind, smooth and dark as silk.\n*I helped you again.*\nMy hands stilled on the washcloth. Anger flared fresh and hot in my chest.\n*You were following me.*\nThere was a pause, long enough that I thought he might not respond. When he did, his mental voice carried an edge of something I couldn't quite identify.\n*I don't need to follow you, Harper. My people keep me informed of threats to pack members. When they reported Logan heading to your house in a rage...*\nAnother pause.\n*I was concerned.*\nThe admission hung between us through the mind link. I pressed my palms against the bathroom counter, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My throat showed the faint marks of Logan's fingers, and my eyes looked wild, haunted.\n*How much did you hear?* The question slipped out before I could stop it, embarrassment burning through me.\n*Enough.* His response was carefully neutral, offering me the dignity of not elaborating.\nI closed my eyes, grateful for his discretion even as shame crawled up my spine. The future Luna of Silverpine Pack, nearly assaulted by her own mate. What would the pack think if they knew? What would they say?\nBut as I stood there, feeling the phantom ache of Logan's grip, something crystallized inside me. The last thread of tolerance, of hope, finally snapped.\n*I'll do it,* I sent to Grayson, my mental voice steady despite the tremor in my hands. *I'll work with you.*\nThe silence stretched long enough that I wondered if he'd heard me. Then his voice returned, lower and more intimate than before, with an undertone that made my pulse skip.\n*I'm glad to hear it. Welcome to the partnership, Harper.*\nThe way he said my name sent an unexpected shiver down my spine. There was something in his tone—satisfaction, yes, but also something warmer. Something that made my wolf stir restlessly.\n*I'll be in touch soon.*\nThe mind link faded, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts and the strange flutter in my chest that Grayson's voice always seemed to cause.\nI was still standing there, trying to process everything that had happened, when I heard a soft knock at my front door. My body tensed, ready to flee if Logan had returned, but the knock came again—patient, almost respectful.\nWhen I opened the door, no one was there. But on my doorstep sat a manila envelope, thick with documents.\nI carried it inside with trembling fingers, already knowing what I'd find but dreading the confirmation. The evidence was all there—photos, timestamps, witness statements. A complete record of Logan's infidelity, laid out with methodical precision.\nBut it was the social media screenshots that made my blood freeze."},{"chapter_key":"RKl0bBmkzv","title":"","serial_number":5,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/5/en_c13877dc-7ee7-4fa7-9a02-d33e66efc861.txt","word_count":969,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"A social media screenshots from an envelope from somebody unknown made my blood freeze.\nMadeline's Instagram, three years ago.\nIt’s a photo of her and Logan kissing in some dimly lit bar, her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands tangled in her golden hair. The timestamp showed a date burned into my memory—my birthday.\nThe night I'd been punished for a minor training mistake, forced to run drills in the snow for six hours wearing nothing but a thin training outfit.\nI remembered that night with crystal clarity. The way the cold had seeped into my bones, how I'd kept looking toward the pack house, hoping Logan would come. Hoping he'd bring me a jacket, or convince Alpha Ryan to end the punishment early.\nHe never came.\nI'd collapsed in the snow around midnight, hypothermia setting in. One of the pack omegas had found me by chance, rushed me to the pack hospital. I'd spent days recovering from frostbite and pneumonia, and when Logan finally visited, he'd looked so guilty. So sorry.\n\"I should have been there,\" he'd whispered, holding my bandaged hands. \"I'm so sorry, Harper. I'll never let you down again.\"\nLies. All of it, lies.\nWhile I'd been freezing in the snow, fighting to stay conscious, he'd been warming Madeline's bed. While I'd lain in the hospital, believing in his remorse, he'd probably been planning their next rendezvous.\nThe paper crumpled in my fist as rage consumed me. Not just at the betrayal, but at my own stupidity.\nHow many signs had I missed? How many times had I made excuses for his absences, his distraction, his growing coldness?\nTomorrow was supposed to be our mating ceremony. The day I'd dreamed about since we were teenagers, when he'd first promised to choose me as his mate. The day that would finally prove to the pack that I was worthy, despite my father's tainted legacy.\nInstead, it would be the day I destroyed him.\nI smiled grimly at my reflection in the window.\nLogan wanted to remind me of my place? Fine. I'd show him exactly where that was—and it wasn't beneath him anymore.\n----\nThe next morning came too quickly and not quickly enough. I dressed carefully in a simple black dress—not the elaborate gown that had been chosen for the ceremony, but something that felt like me. Something that felt like armor.\nThe mating ceremony was being held in the pack's main hall, decorated with white flowers and golden ribbons. I could hear the murmur of voices, the excited chatter of pack members gathering to witness what should have been the happiest day of my life.\nBut I wasn't in the hall. Instead, I hide behind the thick curtains of the pack house's upper balcony, I watched as guests filled the seats below, their excited chatter drifting up like smoke.\nMy fingers traced the remote control in my pocket. Today, everything would change.\nAlpha Ryan stood at the altar, his expression growing increasingly thunderous as the minutes ticked by. Luna Olivia kept glancing toward the entrance, her perfectly composed mask beginning to slip.\nAnd Logan? He looked genuinely panicked, his eyes darting around the room as if I might materialize from thin air.\n\"Harper should be here by now,\" Logan's voice carried clearly from the front row, his concern evident even from this distance.\n\"Where is she?\" Luna Olivia hissed, loud enough for the front rows to hear.\nLogan stood frozen at the altar, his blue-gray eyes darting between the entrance and his parents. The golden sunlight that should have made him look radiant only highlighted the nervous sweat beading on his forehead.\nThat's when Grayson stepped forward from the shadows near the sound booth. His golden eyes found Logan's across the crowd, and something passed between them—a look that made my breath catch.\nThe large screen behind the altar flickered to life.\nGasps erupted from the crowd as the image sharpened. There, in high definition for everyone to see, was Logan. Naked. His hands gripping Madeline's hips as she arched beneath him, her golden hair spilled across white silk.\nMy wedding dress. The one I was supposed to wear today.\n\"What the hell—\" Alpha Ryan's roar cut through the chaos.\n\"Turn it off!\" Olivia shrieked, her composure finally cracking. \"Turn it off right now!\"\nBut the screen wouldn't respond. Madeline's voice filled the ceremonial grounds, breathy and desperate: \"God, Logan, yes... Harper could never make you feel like this, could she?\"\nThe crowd erupted. Omegas covered their mouths in shock while Gammas whispered furiously to each other. I caught fragments of their conversations, each word a blade to my chest.\n\"Serves her right, honestly.\"\n\"The traitor's daughter was never going to keep an Alpha.\"\n\"Did you really think someone like her deserved a true mate?\"\nMy hands clenched into fists, nails digging crescents into my palms. The familiar ache of shame and rage burned in my throat.\nA warm hand covered mine, and electricity shot through my entire body. My wolf stirred, a low, pleased rumble vibrating through my chest. The sensation was so unexpected, so intense, that I gasped.\nIt was Grayson.\nHis fingers intertwined with mine, his touch sending waves of something I couldn't name racing through my veins.\nThis wasn't right. He wasn't my mate—Logan was supposed to be. So why did every nerve ending feel like it was coming alive under his touch?\n\"Easy,\" he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chaos below.\nI turned to look at him, confused by my body's reaction, and found his face suddenly much closer than before. His golden eyes held mine, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just the space between us. His scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous—filled my lungs."}]}}]} {"name":"实验529","traffic_interval":99,"landing_page_id":308,"novel":{"novel_id":4616,"novel_key":"4LdtAP88uK","title":"Seducing My Mate's Half-brother","cover":"https://static-v1.mydramawave.com/novel/landing-page/image-crawl/ce25c8fa471db97a62a81185d090bf27.jpg?image_process=quality,85/resize,w_600/format,webp","intro":"My fists clenched so tight my nails cut into my skin when the video lit up my screen—my mate’s sex tape, streaming live for everyone to see.\nAnd of course, I wasn’t the woman writhing beneath him.\n“Baby, you’re the only one who knows how to keep it interesting,” he groaned, his voice thick with pleasure as their bodies tangled together.\n“Please,” she moaned, curling against him. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m so much better than that pathetic little mate of yours who just lies there like a corpse.”\nTheir filthy laughter sliced straight through me like a knife.\nA corpse? That’s what I was to him?\nOr maybe, my darling mate, the real problem is your bad performance in bed.\nSo I went to the one man he could never stand—my mate’s half brother, his greatest rival.\nAnd his stamina? He had no trouble proving it. \nHe drove me to the edge again and again until my body shook uncontrollably, until my cries filled the room, until every last breath left me trembling in his arms....","use_default_button_text":true,"lang":"en-US","style":200003,"chapter_count":50,"word_count":75771,"use_novel_desc":true,"chapter":{"chapter_key":"ozvFgSj9eb","title":"","serial_number":1,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/1/en_834f5c61-90f0-48fc-af9a-17c72178bed5.txt","word_count":1508,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false},"recommend_text":"My fists clenched so tight my nails left small crescents in my palms when the video lit up the screen—my mate’s secret footage, showing him and another woman sharing a private moment, streaming for everyone to see.\nAnd of course, I wasn’t the one meant to be on his side of the sheets.\n “Baby, you’re the only one who knows how to keep it exciting,” he murmured, his voice low with thrill as they embraced.\n “Please,” she whispered, curling against him. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m so much better than that poor little mate of yours who just stands there like a shadow.”\n Their cruel laughter sliced straight through me like a knife.\n A shadow? That’s what I was to him?\n Or maybe, my darling mate, the real problem is your lack of connection.\n So I went to the one man he could never stand—my mate’s half brother, his greatest rival.\n And his strength? He had no trouble showing it.\n He pushed me to my limits again and again until my body shook, until my cries filled the room, until every last breath left me in his arms...","use_default_bottom_text":true,"chapter_list":[{"chapter_key":"ozvFgSj9eb","title":"","serial_number":1,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/1/en_834f5c61-90f0-48fc-af9a-17c72178bed5.txt","word_count":1508,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"“Oh God, just like that! Yes!”\n“My little sl*t, I love you so much. You’re nothing like my boring fiancée mate.”\nMy heart nearly stopped beating as the obscene sounds filled my ears through my laptop speakers.\nAnd the sight on the screen made every drop of blood in my body turn to ice:\nIt was my mate, Logan, the future Alpha of my pack, and my best, my only friend Madeline.\nThey were going at it with the raw intensity that only the closest pair of mates could share. In my mate ceremony suite, the very room where Logan and I, his rightful mate, were supposed to consummate our bond tomorrow night.\nBut the one in that bed wasn’t me.\nMadeline Cross, my so-called best friend writhed beneath my mate, her golden hair spilled across the silk pillows I had personally selected. She wore my wedding dress—the ivory gown I'd spent months choosing, now hiked up around her waist as she moved against him with shameless abandon.\n\"God, Logan,\" Madeline's breathy moan cut through me like a blade. \"Tomorrow you'll have to pretend to want that frigid bi*ch instead of me.\"\nMy hands trembled as I gripped the laptop screen.\nFrigid bi*ch? I had never realized that, in the eyes of the one friend I cherished most, I played such a role.\nJust moments ago, all my thoughts and energy were tied up in preparing for the marking ceremony Logan and I would share tomorrow.\nLike every she-wolf caught in the pull of the mate bond, I yearned for the moment he would mark me and make me his Luna, for the moment the whole pack—no, the whole werewolf world—would see that I was his destined choice.\nI had arranged the flowers with trembling hands, gone over the menu again and again, checked every single invitation so no one would be forgotten.\nIn my mind I could already feel Logan’s arms around me when we finally became true mates, the heat of his breath on my skin, the slow and aching way he would strip me bare and claim every inch of me as his.\nI imagined him taking me until nothing else existed but the two of us, his scent all over me, his seed planted deep where only he belonged. A secret hope whispered inside me that maybe, just maybe, by dawn I would already be carrying his pup.\nEven before I opened that video, I had been rehearsing the vows I wanted to speak at the ceremony. I wanted Logan to hear how much he meant to me. I wanted everyone to see how completely I loved my mate.\nBut as I floated in that dream, an email arrived in my inbox. Its subject line read:\nSomething you should know before tomorrow.\nI had clicked the link out of curiosity, never imagining it would lead to this nightmare.\nOn screen, Logan's laugh was dark, hungry. \"Don't worry, baby. After the ceremony, I'll find excuses to be with you. Harper's so desperate for approval, she'll believe anything I tell her.\"\nThe words hit me like physical blows. My wolf whimpered in agony, the sound echoing through my mind as betrayal tore through our bond.\n\"She really thinks you love her,\" Madeline purred, trailing her fingers down Logan's chest.\n\"Poor little orphan girl, so grateful that the future Alpha would even look at her. If only she knew how pathetic she looks when she tries to please you in bed.\"\n\"Like a corpse,\" Logan agreed with a cruel chuckle. \"No passion, no fire. Just lies there like she's doing me a favor. \"\n\"At least with you, I actually enjoy myself.\"\n“Remember when we were kids?” Madeline's voice turned sickeningly sweet, “How those other pups used to corner her, calling her ‘traitor’s daughter’? I pretended to rescue her, but honestly, watching her cower was so entertaining. She was so grateful for my friendship.”\nThe memory slammed into me—Madeline's gentle hands helping me up after particularly vicious attacks, her soothing words.\nAll lies. All manipulation.\nAnd My heart tightened as I heard she called me the ‘traitor’s daughter’.\nI had carried that label for more than ten years, ever since I was very young.\nWhen I was six, our pack, the Silverpine Pack, suffered a devastating battle. It was an unprecedented attack launched by the rogues. My mother died in that assault.\nI still remember my father, Mason Lane, the pack’s beta, holding my mother’s lifeless body, his eyes resolute.\n“Stay here. Wait for me,” he said.\nHe turned and ran toward the battlefield, and that was the last time I saw my father.\nI waited for days, until warriors returning from the alpha’s patrol brought back a message:\nBeta Mason had betrayed the pack.\nFrom that moment, I carried the label of “traitor’s daughter.”\nI never imagined it would become the word my mate and my so-called friend would use to tease me in bed.\n\"She still has that same pathetic look,\" Logan said, his breathing growing heavier.\n\"Like a kicked puppy begging for scraps of affection. If she wasn't useful for securing my position as Alpha, I wouldn't waste my time.\"\nUseful. That's all I was to him. A political alliance wrapped in the pretty lie of destined mates.\nUnable to bear the silence any longer, I opened a mind link to Logan.\n*Logan?* My mental voice sounded small, broken.\nHis response came immediately, breathless and distracted.\n*Harper? What—ah, God—what do you need?*\nI could hear everything through the link—Madeline's deliberate moans growing louder, the wet sounds of their coupling, Logan's ragged breathing.\nMy stomach churned with revulsion.\n*Just wanted to confirm everything's ready for tomorrow,* I managed, my voice steady despite the chaos in my heart.\n*Tomorrow?* He sounded genuinely confused for a moment before remembering.\n*Oh, right. The ceremony. Yeah, whatever you planned is fine. I trust your—f*ck—I trust your judgment.*\nMadeline's delighted squeal echoed through both the video and the mind link. She was performing for me now, making sure I heard every sound of pleasure Logan drew from her—pleasure he'd never managed to coax from me.\n*Did you pick up my dress from the seamstress like we discussed?* I asked, watching on screen as Madeline lifted the hem of my wedding gown higher, using her foot to pull Logan deeper.\n*Your dress? Right, yes. It's... it's taken care of.*\nThe mind link snapped shut abruptly as Logan lost himself in Madeline's body, leaving me in deafening silence.\nOn screen, Madeline deliberately spilled wine across the delicate beadwork, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as the red stain spread across the ivory silk.\n\"Oh no,\" she gasped in mock concern, loud enough for the microphone to catch.\n\"I hope Harper won't mind that her precious dress got a little dirty.\"\nLogan's response was a growl of pleasure rather than concern. \"She'll wear whatever I give her. She should be grateful I'm marking her at all.\"\nI stared at the screen as they continued their betrayal in my sacred space, on my chosen sheets, wearing my dreams like a costume in their twisted game.\nMy wolf retreated deep inside me, wounded and bleeding from the severed trust.\nI closed the laptop with shaking fingers and fell back onto my bed, staring at the ceiling as tears finally spilled down my cheeks.\nTomorrow was supposed to be the beginning of my new life, my chance to finally belong somewhere without question.\nInstead, it would be a public humiliation orchestrated by the two people I trusted most.\nI needed to leave, to run, to disappear before I had to face the mockery of a ceremony that would bind me to a man who saw me as nothing more than a useful tool.\nI rolled over and reached for my duffel bag, my hands moving automatically to pack the few belongings that mattered. My mother's jewelry. The photo of my parents from before everything went wrong. The warrior training certificates I'd earned through blood and determination.\nI was halfway through folding clothes when a voice slid through my mind like silk over steel—a voice that definitely wasn't Logan's.\n*Did you enjoy my gift?*\nI froze, my hands clutching a sweater to my chest. The voice was deep, magnetic, with an edge of dark amusement that sent shivers down my spine.\nI knew that voice, though I'd never heard it directed at me before.\nGrayson Hayes. Logan's older half-brother, the rightful heir who'd been stripped of his inheritance for reasons no one spoke about openly.\nThe dangerous, mysterious Alpha's son who made my wolf pace restlessly whenever he was near.\n*What gift?* I responded cautiously, though my heart was already racing with a different kind of anticipation.\nHis low chuckle resonated through the mind link, rich and dark like expensive whiskey.\n*The video, little wolf. Did it show you everything you needed to see?*"},{"chapter_key":"4zEDFQlaTH","title":"","serial_number":2,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/2/en_524c91e8-1514-4e8d-bf84-f37f8edaee16.txt","word_count":1018,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"The silver wolf that emerged from the treeline was magnificent—larger than any I'd ever seen, more powerful than even our Alpha.\nHis coat gleamed like liquid mercury in the dying sunlight, muscles rippling beneath the lustrous fur as he approached with predatory grace.\nEvery instinct in my body screamed danger, yet I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.\nMy wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, responding to the raw alpha energy radiating from him.\nThis wasn't just any alpha—this was something primal, untamed.\nWhen the shift began, I should have looked away. Should have given him privacy.\nInstead, I stood transfixed as bones reformed, as fur receded to reveal bronzed skin stretched over a frame that belonged in ancient warrior legends.\nGrayson Hayes stood before me, completely naked and utterly unashamed.\nHeat flooded my cheeks as my eyes traced the defined lines of his chest, the ridged muscles of his abdomen.\nMy wolf whined with want, pressing against my consciousness with a hunger I'd never felt before—not even with Logan.\n\"Enjoying the view?\" Grayson's voice held dark amusement.\nI jerked my gaze up to his face, mortified to be caught staring. Those golden eyes held mine captive, seeming to see straight through every defense I'd ever built.\n\"I—\" My voice cracked. I cleared my throat, forcing steel into my spine. \"You wanted to meet.\"\n\"Mmm.\" He moved with fluid grace toward a tree where clothes hung from a low branch.\n\"The question is, Harper Lane, have you thought about what you really want?\"\nThe way he said my name—like he was tasting something forbidden—sent shivers down my spine.\nI watched, helpless, as he pulled on dark jeans that hugged his powerful thighs, the muscles in his back shifting as he reached for his shirt.\n\"Why?\" The word burst from me before I could stop it. \"Why are you doing this? Just to steal the Alpha position from Logan?\"\nGrayson paused, shirt halfway over his head. When he emerged, his expression had shifted to something predatory.\n\"Steal?\" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and smoke and something uniquely male that made my knees weak. \"That position was mine by right of birth, little beta. Logan is nothing more than a bastard who got lucky.\"\n\"I don't see how I could possibly help you with that.\" I lifted my chin, trying to project confidence I didn't feel. \"I'm just—\"\n\"Just what?\" His eyes narrowed dangerously, and the look sent heat pooling low in my belly. \"The daughter of a traitor? A beta with no real power?\"\nEach word was a blade, cutting deep. But instead of the usual shame, anger flared in my chest. \"If that's what you think, then why—\"\n\"Because you're wrong.\" He was close enough now that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin.\n\"You have no idea what you really are, do you?\"\nMy heart hammered against my ribs. \"What's that supposed to mean?\"\nInstead of answering, he circled me slowly, like a predator sizing up prey. \"Tell me, Harper—why do you think that fool brother of mine chose you as his mate?\"\nThe question hit like a physical blow. Logan's words from the video echoed in my mind:\n*If she wasn't useful, I wouldn't have chosen her.*\n\"I...\" I swallowed hard. \"We're fated mates.\"\nGrayson's laugh was dark silk. \"Are you? Or is that just what you've been told?\"\nBefore I could process that bombshell, memories crashed over me—fragments I'd tried to forget.\nThe day I'd won the pack training competition, earning rare praise from Alpha Ryan. The jealous she-wolves who'd cornered me afterward, their claws leaving marks that would scar.\nI'd searched desperately for Logan in the crowd, needing my mate to defend me. Instead, I'd watched him turn and walk away, leaving me to face their cruelty alone.\nLater, bleeding and humiliated, I'd fled to the forest to tend my wounds in private.\nThat's when I'd first encountered him—Grayson, sitting beneath a canopy of branches, watching me with those unsettling golden eyes.\n*\"Working so hard to prove yourself,\"* he'd said, voice laced with mockery.\n*\"Tell me, little beta, what happens when you realize it's never going to be enough?\"*\nI'd wanted to hate him for those words. Instead, I'd found myself returning to that spot, hoping to see him again. Each encounter left me breathless, confused by the way he looked at me—like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve.\n\"You were watching me.\" The realization hit like lightning. \"Even then, you were—\"\n\"Observing,\" he corrected smoothly. \"Waiting.\"\n\"For what?\"\nHis smile was sharp as a blade. \"For you to realize what that pathetic excuse for an alpha really is.\"\nThe truth of it burned. Logan, who'd abandoned me when I needed him most. Who'd let others tear me down while he stood by and watched. Who was, at this very moment, defiling our future together with my supposed best friend.\n\"What do you want from me?\" I whispered.\nGrayson stepped closer, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. \"I want to give you what you deserve, Harper. What we both deserve.\"\n\"Which is?\"\n\"Revenge.\" The word rolled off his tongue like a promise. \"Let's work together. Let's give that cheating bastard and his whore exactly what they've earned.\"\nMy breath caught. This was what I'd come here hoping for, yet hearing him say it made it real in a way that terrified me.\n\"How?\" I managed.\nHis smile turned predatory, and I felt my wolf respond with a hunger that should have frightened me.\n\"We destroy them, little beta. We give that pair of traitors a mating ceremony they'll never forget—right in the middle of what should have been your wedding.\"\nThe heat in his eyes promised dark pleasures, dangerous games. And despite every rational thought screaming warnings, I found myself leaning closer, drawn like a moth to flame.\n\"On their special day,\" he continued, voice dropping to a seductive whisper, \"we'll show the entire pack exactly what they really are.\""},{"chapter_key":"wULTZPTQC2","title":"","serial_number":3,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/3/en_1edfa2b7-8e11-4353-9c02-781e31232501.txt","word_count":1427,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"Grayson's sudden honesty struck me harder than I expected. The stark contrast between him and his brother was impossible to ignore now.\nTwo years ago, when Logan and I had first decided to choose each other as mates, he'd made me promises under the moonlight. His hands had been gentle then, his voice soft with what I'd believed was love.\nBut even in those tender moments, he'd pushed for more.\n\"Come on, Harper,\" he'd whispered against my neck, his hands roaming places that made my wolf purr. \"We're going to be mated anyway. Why wait?\"\nI'd pushed him away each time, my cheeks burning. \"After the ceremony, Logan. I want to do this right.\"\nHis frustration had been palpable, but he'd backed down. Or so I'd thought.\nNow I knew better—he'd simply found someone else to satisfy his needs.\n\"You're thinking about him.\"\nGrayson's low voice cut through my bitter memories.\nI blinked, finding those golden eyes studying me with an intensity that made my skin tingle.\n\"What?\"\n\"My brother. You're thinking about what he did to you.\" His lips curved in a knowing smirk. \"I can smell your anger from here.\"\nHeat flooded my cheeks. \"I wasn't—\"\n\"Liar.\" He stepped closer, and I caught his scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous.\n\"So, what's it going to be, Harper? Are you going to work with me or not?\"\nI straightened my spine, meeting his gaze head-on. \"I'm going to refuse the mark ceremony tomorrow. I'll reject Logan publicly.\"\n\"And then what? Run away with your tail between your legs?\"\nThe mockery in his voice made my wolf bristle. \"That's not running away. That's making a choice.\"\n\"Is it?\" Grayson tilted his head, studying me like I was some fascinating puzzle.\n\"You'll just let them win? Let that bastard brother of mine and his little whore laugh about how they played the great Harper Lane?\"\nMy hands clenched into fists. The way he said it, so casually cruel, made something dark unfurl in my chest. But I forced myself to stay calm.\n\"I won't be part of your games, Grayson.\"\n\"Games?\" He laughed, the sound rich and dangerous. \"Sweetheart, this isn't a game. This is war.\"\nThe endearment sent an unwelcome shiver down my spine. I hated how my body reacted to him, how my wolf seemed to perk up every time he spoke.\nIt made no sense—he wasn't my mate. I would have felt the bond.\nSo why did every instinct I had scream at me to step closer?\n\"You were Logan's right hand,\" Grayson continued, circling me slowly like a predator.\n\"His future Luna. You attended pack meetings, diplomatic functions. Tell me you don't have dirt on him.\"\n\"Even if I did, I wouldn't use it.\"\n\"Why?\" He stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. \"Because you promised to protect him?\"\nMy silence was answer enough.\nGrayson's eyes gleamed with something that looked almost like approval. \"Loyal to the end, aren't you? Even after he betrayed you.\"\n\"I keep my word.\"\n\"How admirable.\" His voice dropped to a whisper, and he leaned in until his breath ghosted across my ear. \"And how incredibly naive.\"\nI jerked back, my heart hammering. \"I'm not naive.\"\n\"No?\" His smile was all sharp edges. \"Then you know exactly what kind of man my brother is. What kind of Alpha he'll make.\"\nI did know. That was the problem.\nGrayson seemed to sense my internal struggle. Instead of pressing harder, he stepped back, giving me space to breathe.\n\"Think about it, Harper. When you're ready to stop playing the victim, you know where to find me.\"\nHe turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the clearing.\n\"Oh, and Harper?\" He glanced back over his shoulder, and the look in his eyes made my knees weak. \"When I take back what's mine, I'll need a Beta I can trust. Someone strong enough to stand beside me.\"\nThen he was gone, melting into the shadows between the trees like he'd never been there at all.\nI stood there for a long moment, my mind reeling. Everything about Grayson Hayes was dangerous—his confidence, his intensity, the way he looked at me like he could see straight through to my soul.\nAnd the way my body responded to him was even more dangerous.\n----\nBy the time I made it home, the sun had set completely. I was still turning Grayson's offer over in my mind when the doorbell rang.\nI opened it to find Olivia Hayes on my doorstep, her perfectly styled blonde hair gleaming under the porch light. Logan's mother had never liked me, and she'd never bothered to hide it.\n\"Olivia.\" I forced a polite smile. \"What can I do for you?\"\nShe pushed past me without invitation, her sharp eyes scanning my modest living room with obvious disdain.\n\"The wedding dress needs alterations,\" she announced, dropping a garment bag on my coffee table like it was garbage. \"The seamstress said you need to come in tomorrow morning.\"\nI stared at the bag, my stomach churning. \"Tomorrow's the ceremony.\"\n\"Which is why you need to go early.\" Her tone suggested I was an idiot for not understanding. \"Really, Harper, I would have expected you to be more organized.\"\nThe criticism rolled off me easier than it used to. Funny how learning your fiancé was cheating could put things in perspective.\n\"Of course,\" I said flatly. \"I'll handle it.\"\nOlivia's eyes narrowed at my tone. \"Is there a problem?\"\n\"No problem.\"\nShe studied me for a moment longer, then unzipped the garment bag with sharp, efficient movements. The dress that spilled out was beautiful—cream silk with intricate beadwork—but it was wrinkled and...\nI frowned. \"It's dirty.\"\n\"Barely.\" Olivia waved a dismissive hand. \"Nothing that won't come out.\"\nBut it wasn't just dirt. My enhanced senses picked up something else—the lingering scent of another she-wolf. My wolf's hackles rose.\n\"There's another shewolf's scent on this dress.\"\nOlivia's laugh was cold and sharp. \"Oh, please. As if that matters.\"\nThe casual cruelty in her voice hit me like a slap. She knew. She knew about Logan's affair, and she didn't care.\n\"You think I don't deserve better than a soiled dress?\"\n\"I think you should be grateful for what you get.\" Olivia's smile was all teeth. \"Let's be honest, dear. A girl with your... background... should count herself lucky to marry into this family at all.\"\nMy father's disgrace. Always, it came back to that.\n\"Your son cheated on me,\" I said quietly.\n\"Boys will be boys.\" She shrugged. \"What matters is that he's choosing you for his Luna. Don't ruin it by being dramatic.\"\nThe dismissal in her voice, the complete lack of respect—it crystallized something inside me.\nFor years, I'd tried to earn this woman's approval, to prove I was worthy of her precious son.\nWhat a waste of time that had been.\n\"Get out.\"\nOlivia blinked. \"Excuse me?\"\n\"I said get out. Take your dirty dress and your condescending attitude and leave.\"\nHer face flushed red. \"How dare you speak to me that way? I am going to be your—\"\n\"You're going to be nothing to me.\" I opened the front door and held it wide. \"Get out. Now.\"\nFor a moment, I thought she might argue. Then she snatched up the garment bag and stalked toward the door.\n\"You'll regret this,\" she hissed as she passed. \"Logan deserves so much better than a disgraced beta's daughter.\"\nThe door slammed behind her, leaving me alone with the echo of her venom.\nI should have felt satisfied. Instead, I felt empty.\n----\nLater that night, I sat on my bed surrounded by photos and mementos from my relationship with Logan. Two years of memories spread out before me like evidence in a trial.\nI should burn it all. Should expose every ugly secret, every questionable decision he'd made with me by his side.\nInstead, I gathered it all up and locked it away in a box. Some promises were worth keeping, even when the person who'd inspired them wasn't.\nI was just settling into bed when a familiar tap came at my window.\nLogan crouched on the fire escape outside, his boyish smile bright in the moonlight. Once, that smile would have made my heart race. Now it just made me tired.\nI opened the window but didn't invite him in.\n\"Hey, beautiful.\" He swung one leg over the sill. \"Miss me?\""},{"chapter_key":"Gl7fMGzl6T","title":"","serial_number":4,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/4/en_69d36f72-585c-4f43-8e3f-2db89acafeb9.txt","word_count":1427,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"The scent hit me immediately—Madeline's perfume clinging to his clothes, her essence marking him like a brand. My stomach turned.\n\"Don't.\"\nBut he was already climbing through, reaching for me with hands that had been on another woman hours ago.\n\"Come on, Harper. Tomorrow we'll be mated. Tonight's our last night of freedom.\" His hands found my waist, pulling me against him. \"Let me show you how much I've missed you.\"\nI pushed against his chest, but he held firm. \"Logan, stop.\"\n\"What's wrong with you lately?\" His grip tightened, and something ugly flickered in his blue eyes. \"You've been cold, distant. A good mate doesn't act like this.\"\n\"A good mate doesn't cheat.\"\nThe words slipped out before I could stop them.\nLogan went very still.\n\"What did you say?\"\nI lifted my chin, meeting his gaze steadily. \"You heard me.\"\nFor a moment, his mask slipped completely. The charming, golden boy facade cracked, revealing something cold and calculating underneath.\nThen he laughed.\n\"Is that what this is about? You're jealous?\" His hands moved to frame my face, his touch possessive rather than gentle. \"Sweetheart, you're going to be my Luna. What I do with other shewolf doesn't matter.\"\nThe casual dismissal of my feelings, the complete lack of remorse—it was like looking at a stranger.\n\"It matters to me.\"\n\"Then you need to grow up.\" His voice hardened. \"You think being Luna means you get to be precious about every little thing? You think my father's been faithful to every Luna he's had?\"\nThe comparison to his father—who'd discarded Grayson's mother for Olivia—made my skin crawl.\n\"Let go of me.\"\n\"I don't think so.\" His smile turned predatory. \"See, I think you need a reminder of who you belong to.\"\nHis mouth crashed against mine, hard and demanding. I could taste Madeline on his lips, smell her scent on his skin. When I tried to pull away, his grip tightened painfully.\n\"Stop fighting me, Harper.\" His voice was low, dangerous. \"You're mine. Tomorrow everyone will know it.\"\nBut I wasn't his. Not anymore.\nMaybe I never had been.\nThe taste of betrayal still burned bitter on my tongue as Logan's grip tightened around my wrist. His blue-gray eyes had darkened to something I barely recognized—something predatory and cruel.\n\"You think you can just walk away from me?\" His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. \"After everything I've done for you? After all the times I've defended you when the pack whispered about your father?\"\nMy heart hammered against my ribs. The scent of Madeline still clung to his skin like a poisonous perfume, making my stomach churn. \"Let go of me, Logan.\"\n\"No.\" His other hand shot out, gripping my shoulder hard enough to bruise. \"You're going to listen to me, Harper. You're going to understand exactly what you owe me.\"\nI tried to pull away, but his alpha strength was overwhelming. The power difference between us had never felt more pronounced—more terrifying. My wolf whimpered inside me, caught between submission to his alpha dominance and the burning need to fight back.\n\"I don't owe you anything,\" I managed through gritted teeth, even as his fingers dug deeper into my flesh.\nHis laugh was harsh, grating. \"Don't you? Who stood by you when everyone called you a traitor's daughter? Who made you believe you could be Luna despite your bloodline?\"\nThe words hit like physical blows. Each one designed to cut, to remind me of my place in the pack hierarchy. But something had shifted inside me since discovering his betrayal. The shame that once would have crippled me now transformed into cold, burning rage.\n\"You mean who used me?\" I shot back. \"Who needed a convenient mate to secure his position while he f*cked around with—\"\nHis hand moved faster than I could react, fingers wrapping around my throat. Not tight enough to cut off air, but enough to make his point crystal clear. \"Watch your mouth.\"\nThe violence in his touch sent ice through my veins. This wasn't the Logan who'd promised to love and protect me. This was someone else entirely—someone who'd always been there, hidden beneath the charming facade.\n\"You're hurting me,\" I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded.\n\"Good.\" His thumb pressed against my pulse point. \"Maybe now you'll remember your place.\"\nThat's when it happened—a sound that made every hair on my body stand on end. A low, dangerous growl echoed from somewhere in the darkness beyond my house. It was primal, threatening, and unmistakably alpha.\nLogan's head snapped toward the sound, his grip loosening slightly. His eyes widened with something that looked almost like fear.\nThen his expression shifted, becoming distant in that telltale way of someone receiving a mind link. I watched his face change—the anger melting into something softer, more concerned.\n\"Logan?\" Madeline's voice seemed to whisper through his thoughts, though I couldn't hear her directly. But I knew that tone, that needy, helpless quality she used to manipulate him.\n\"I have to go,\" he said abruptly, releasing me so suddenly I stumbled backward. \"Madeline needs me.\"\nOf course she did.\nHe was already moving toward the door, his earlier violence forgotten in his rush to answer her call. \"We'll finish this later, Harper. Don't think this is over.\"\nThe door slammed behind him, leaving me alone with the echo of his threats and the phantom sensation of his hands on my skin.\nI stood there for a moment, shaking with adrenaline and rage. Then I forced myself to move, to walk to the bathroom on unsteady legs. I turned the water as hot as I could stand and scrubbed at every place he'd touched me, trying to wash away the feeling of violation.\nThat's when Grayson's voice slipped into my mind, smooth and dark as silk.\n*I helped you again.*\nMy hands stilled on the washcloth. Anger flared fresh and hot in my chest.\n*You were following me.*\nThere was a pause, long enough that I thought he might not respond. When he did, his mental voice carried an edge of something I couldn't quite identify.\n*I don't need to follow you, Harper. My people keep me informed of threats to pack members. When they reported Logan heading to your house in a rage...*\nAnother pause.\n*I was concerned.*\nThe admission hung between us through the mind link. I pressed my palms against the bathroom counter, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My throat showed the faint marks of Logan's fingers, and my eyes looked wild, haunted.\n*How much did you hear?* The question slipped out before I could stop it, embarrassment burning through me.\n*Enough.* His response was carefully neutral, offering me the dignity of not elaborating.\nI closed my eyes, grateful for his discretion even as shame crawled up my spine. The future Luna of Silverpine Pack, nearly assaulted by her own mate. What would the pack think if they knew? What would they say?\nBut as I stood there, feeling the phantom ache of Logan's grip, something crystallized inside me. The last thread of tolerance, of hope, finally snapped.\n*I'll do it,* I sent to Grayson, my mental voice steady despite the tremor in my hands. *I'll work with you.*\nThe silence stretched long enough that I wondered if he'd heard me. Then his voice returned, lower and more intimate than before, with an undertone that made my pulse skip.\n*I'm glad to hear it. Welcome to the partnership, Harper.*\nThe way he said my name sent an unexpected shiver down my spine. There was something in his tone—satisfaction, yes, but also something warmer. Something that made my wolf stir restlessly.\n*I'll be in touch soon.*\nThe mind link faded, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts and the strange flutter in my chest that Grayson's voice always seemed to cause.\nI was still standing there, trying to process everything that had happened, when I heard a soft knock at my front door. My body tensed, ready to flee if Logan had returned, but the knock came again—patient, almost respectful.\nWhen I opened the door, no one was there. But on my doorstep sat a manila envelope, thick with documents.\nI carried it inside with trembling fingers, already knowing what I'd find but dreading the confirmation. The evidence was all there—photos, timestamps, witness statements. A complete record of Logan's infidelity, laid out with methodical precision.\nBut it was the social media screenshots that made my blood freeze."},{"chapter_key":"RKl0bBmkzv","title":"","serial_number":5,"start_chapter":0,"content_path":"https://video-v6.mydramawave.com/novel/25477/5/en_c13877dc-7ee7-4fa7-9a02-d33e66efc861.txt","word_count":969,"unlock":false,"has_set_free_remind":false,"is_free":false,"text":"A social media screenshots from an envelope from somebody unknown made my blood freeze.\nMadeline's Instagram, three years ago.\nIt’s a photo of her and Logan kissing in some dimly lit bar, her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands tangled in her golden hair. The timestamp showed a date burned into my memory—my birthday.\nThe night I'd been punished for a minor training mistake, forced to run drills in the snow for six hours wearing nothing but a thin training outfit.\nI remembered that night with crystal clarity. The way the cold had seeped into my bones, how I'd kept looking toward the pack house, hoping Logan would come. Hoping he'd bring me a jacket, or convince Alpha Ryan to end the punishment early.\nHe never came.\nI'd collapsed in the snow around midnight, hypothermia setting in. One of the pack omegas had found me by chance, rushed me to the pack hospital. I'd spent days recovering from frostbite and pneumonia, and when Logan finally visited, he'd looked so guilty. So sorry.\n\"I should have been there,\" he'd whispered, holding my bandaged hands. \"I'm so sorry, Harper. I'll never let you down again.\"\nLies. All of it, lies.\nWhile I'd been freezing in the snow, fighting to stay conscious, he'd been warming Madeline's bed. While I'd lain in the hospital, believing in his remorse, he'd probably been planning their next rendezvous.\nThe paper crumpled in my fist as rage consumed me. Not just at the betrayal, but at my own stupidity.\nHow many signs had I missed? How many times had I made excuses for his absences, his distraction, his growing coldness?\nTomorrow was supposed to be our mating ceremony. The day I'd dreamed about since we were teenagers, when he'd first promised to choose me as his mate. The day that would finally prove to the pack that I was worthy, despite my father's tainted legacy.\nInstead, it would be the day I destroyed him.\nI smiled grimly at my reflection in the window.\nLogan wanted to remind me of my place? Fine. I'd show him exactly where that was—and it wasn't beneath him anymore.\n----\nThe next morning came too quickly and not quickly enough. I dressed carefully in a simple black dress—not the elaborate gown that had been chosen for the ceremony, but something that felt like me. Something that felt like armor.\nThe mating ceremony was being held in the pack's main hall, decorated with white flowers and golden ribbons. I could hear the murmur of voices, the excited chatter of pack members gathering to witness what should have been the happiest day of my life.\nBut I wasn't in the hall. Instead, I hide behind the thick curtains of the pack house's upper balcony, I watched as guests filled the seats below, their excited chatter drifting up like smoke.\nMy fingers traced the remote control in my pocket. Today, everything would change.\nAlpha Ryan stood at the altar, his expression growing increasingly thunderous as the minutes ticked by. Luna Olivia kept glancing toward the entrance, her perfectly composed mask beginning to slip.\nAnd Logan? He looked genuinely panicked, his eyes darting around the room as if I might materialize from thin air.\n\"Harper should be here by now,\" Logan's voice carried clearly from the front row, his concern evident even from this distance.\n\"Where is she?\" Luna Olivia hissed, loud enough for the front rows to hear.\nLogan stood frozen at the altar, his blue-gray eyes darting between the entrance and his parents. The golden sunlight that should have made him look radiant only highlighted the nervous sweat beading on his forehead.\nThat's when Grayson stepped forward from the shadows near the sound booth. His golden eyes found Logan's across the crowd, and something passed between them—a look that made my breath catch.\nThe large screen behind the altar flickered to life.\nGasps erupted from the crowd as the image sharpened. There, in high definition for everyone to see, was Logan. Naked. His hands gripping Madeline's hips as she arched beneath him, her golden hair spilled across white silk.\nMy wedding dress. The one I was supposed to wear today.\n\"What the hell—\" Alpha Ryan's roar cut through the chaos.\n\"Turn it off!\" Olivia shrieked, her composure finally cracking. \"Turn it off right now!\"\nBut the screen wouldn't respond. Madeline's voice filled the ceremonial grounds, breathy and desperate: \"God, Logan, yes... Harper could never make you feel like this, could she?\"\nThe crowd erupted. Omegas covered their mouths in shock while Gammas whispered furiously to each other. I caught fragments of their conversations, each word a blade to my chest.\n\"Serves her right, honestly.\"\n\"The traitor's daughter was never going to keep an Alpha.\"\n\"Did you really think someone like her deserved a true mate?\"\nMy hands clenched into fists, nails digging crescents into my palms. The familiar ache of shame and rage burned in my throat.\nA warm hand covered mine, and electricity shot through my entire body. My wolf stirred, a low, pleased rumble vibrating through my chest. The sensation was so unexpected, so intense, that I gasped.\nIt was Grayson.\nHis fingers intertwined with mine, his touch sending waves of something I couldn't name racing through my veins.\nThis wasn't right. He wasn't my mate—Logan was supposed to be. So why did every nerve ending feel like it was coming alive under his touch?\n\"Easy,\" he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chaos below.\nI turned to look at him, confused by my body's reaction, and found his face suddenly much closer than before. His golden eyes held mine, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just the space between us. His scent—pine and something darker, more dangerous—filled my lungs."}]}} 200003
My fists clenched so tight my nails left small crescents in my palms when the video lit up the screen—my mate’s secret footage, showing him and another woman sharing a private moment, streaming for everyone to see.
And of course, I wasn’t the one meant to be on his side of the sheets.
“Baby, you’re the only one who knows how to keep it exciting,” he murmured, his voice low with thrill as they embraced.
“Please,” she whispered, curling against him. “Didn’t I tell you? I’m so much better than that poor little mate of yours who just stands there like a shadow.”
Their cruel laughter sliced straight through me like a knife.
A shadow? That’s what I was to him?
Or maybe, my darling mate, the real problem is your lack of connection.
So I went to the one man he could never stand—my mate’s half brother, his greatest rival.
And his strength? He had no trouble showing it.
He pushed me to my limits again and again until my body shook, until my cries filled the room, until every last breath left me in his arms...