Love unmarked

On the fourth anniversary of my son's death, I went to the Pack Archives to perform a soul-soothing ritual for his spirit.

But the records showed a truth I couldn't comprehend. My mate, Alpha Damien, had another child—a secret son with the she-wolf he'd sworn was just a crazed stalker.

He lied through our sacred mind-link, claiming a pack emergency, but I found them at a secret manor, laughing. He, his mistress, and their boy—a perfect, happy family.

Hiding in my own garage, I overheard the conversation that shattered my world. My son didn't just slip and fall into the river. He ran in terror, scared by the sound of their wild, careless mating nearby.

Their affair killed my baby.

As this horror crashed down on me, our mate bond, meant for love, became a tool of torture. It forced me to feel every second of his pleasure as he took her again, right there in the car, just feet from where I hid.

He and his mother then framed me for abuse, had my son’s ashes dug up and flushed down a sewer, and beat me with a silver whip before leaving me for dead with a pack of feral Rogues.

But I survived. And I made a choice. I wouldn’t seek revenge. I would seek oblivion.

I found a pack that practiced forbidden magic, a ritual that could wipe my mind clean.

I would erase him, our son, and every memory of my old life. I would be reborn.

Chapter 1

SERAPHINA'S POV:

The full moon hung in the sky like a silver scar, a perfect, mocking circle. Four years. It had been four years to the day since the light of my life, my only cub, Zayn, was extinguished.

My fingers trembled as I parked the car. The Black Moon Pack's Archives were an old stone building, smelling of ancient paper and secrets. Tonight, I was here to perform the final soul-soothing ritual for Zayn. A small, private ceremony to help his spirit find peace. It was all I had left.

The Elder at the records desk, a stooped wolf with cloudy eyes, greeted me with a respectful nod. "Luna Seraphina."

"I'm here for the soul-soothing," I said, my voice a thin whisper.

He nodded slowly, pulling out a heavy ledger bound in dark leather. "Of course. We just need to verify the bloodline records for the ritual."

He ran a gnarled finger down the page. "Alpha Damien Blackwood... your mate. One cub, Zayn Blackwood, deceased." He paused, his brow furrowed. "Ah, and... one other."

A cold dread, heavy and thick, settled in my stomach. "What other?"

The Elder squinted at the book. "A second cub. Orion. Mother's name is listed as Lila."

Lila.

The name hit me like a physical blow. Lila, the she-wolf who had been so obsessed with Damien that she'd been cast out, declared a Rogue for her relentless stalking. That was years ago.

Just then, a warmth spread through my mind, a familiar presence. It was Damien, using our Mind-Link. The sacred connection between fated mates, meant to be a channel of pure truth and love.

"My moon," his voice echoed in my head, smooth as velvet. "I love you. I'm caught up dealing with an urgent Pack emergency. I'll be home as soon as I can."

The words, once a source of comfort, now felt like ice. A lie. I could feel the falsehood of it, a sour note in the symphony of our bond. An emergency?

My wolf, a broken and silent thing since Zayn's death, stirred with a flicker of rage.