Alina
I once thought betrayal was the deepest kind of pain a person could endure. I was wrong.
There is something worse than betrayal.
It is standing inside a courtroom, hands shaking, forced to recount how a man violated you—only to watch the man you once loved rise and defend him as though nothing had happened.
That day, Gideon had come dangerously close to taking more from me than just my dignity. His grip had been certain, his movements controlled, deliberate. There had been no smell of alcohol, no slurred excuses, no signs of confusion. He knew exactly what he was doing from the very beginning.
And yet, when I stood before the regional pack tribunal, voice unsteady but still clear, I never imagined the person who would stand to testify would be Alpha Soren.
My Alpha. My fiancé. The man who once told me I saved him.
“I witnessed the incident,” he said with composed certainty, standing tall as if nothing weighed on him. “Gideon did not assault her. This was simply a misunderstanding.”
My ears rang sharply at his words.
A misunderstanding.
“He was only trying to assist her when she panicked,” Soren continued without hesitation. “There was no wrongdoing.”
I stared at him, unable to reconcile the man before me with the one I thought I knew.
The council exchanged subtle glances among themselves. Gideon stood off to the side, head bowed in an act of remorse that felt rehearsed rather than real. Behind him, Evelina sat composed, hands folded neatly, her expression painted with soft concern.
It felt as though I was no longer inside my own body.
A council member finally spoke. “Gideon Crosswell is a respected heir. With Alpha Soren’s testimony, there is insufficient basis for the accusation.”
And just like that, my case collapsed before midday.
Five years of devotion erased in a single statement.
Outside the courthouse steps, I stood alone, fingers shaking uncontrollably.
Footsteps followed soon after.
I didn’t need to turn to know who it was.
“Alina,” Soren’s voice reached me first—controlled, but edged with irritation. “You should have let this go instead of filing charges. He was intoxicated.”
I turned slowly.
“I didn’t smell any alcohol on him,” I said quietly.
Gideon had smelled of expensive cologne, precision, and restraint. Nothing about him suggested drunkenness.
Evelina stepped forward with a gentle sigh. “He’s not a bad person,” she said softly. “It was just an unfortunate mistake.”
My chest tightened painfully.
A mistake was an accident. A spilled drink. A misstep.
What happened to me was not a mistake. It was a decision.
I looked at Soren again, but he still would not meet my gaze.
“You’ve put both packs in an awkward position,” he added. “This could jeopardize our alliance.”
Our alliance.
That mattered more than anything else. More than my fear. More than my humiliation. More than me.
A quiet, broken laugh escaped my lips.
“So that’s what you’re worried about?” I asked. “Politics? Not what he did to me?”
His jaw flexed. “Don’t exaggerate what happened.”
Something inside me finally gave way. I said nothing more and simply turned away.
If I stayed even a moment longer, I might have screamed until there was nothing left of my voice.
That night, sitting alone in the room we once shared, everything became painfully obvious.
Five years had meant nothing. He did not love me. He never truly saw me.
He saw her in me.
Even then, the difference was clear.
With me, I served. I cooked for him, cleaned after him, adjusted my entire life around his. I waited in silence like someone trained to belong beside him but never truly with him.
With Evelina, he changed. He bowed his attention to her, listened to her words, adjusted his time for her presence, gifted her jewelry and gowns that spoke of value I was never granted.
To him, I was always what I had been in the beginning.
A maid.
Even if he called me his fiancée.
The realization should have broken me. Instead, it left only emptiness.
That evening, I began to pack.
I folded my plain clothes into a worn suitcase and quietly sold a few of the dresses he had once given me through a discreet merchant in town. I needed enough to leave without depending on anyone.
If I was going to disappear, I would not do it on my knees.
By nightfall, I hid the suitcase beneath the bed.
As though the world wanted to test my resolve, Alpha Soren entered shortly after.
I straightened immediately, keeping my expression neutral.
“I need you at the Alpha Gathering tomorrow,” he said.
I looked up at him.
“The allied packs already recognize you as my fiancée. Your absence would raise questions.”
I nodded once. “I understand.”
If Fallendawn truly had something to do with me, then that gathering might reveal why.
The following evening, we arrived at the grand hall.
Crystal chandeliers cast a warm glow over polished marble floors. Alphas and heirs from various territories filled the space, dressed in elegance, power carefully contained beneath composed smiles.
I wore a simple gown—plain, familiar, unremarkable.
Evelina, however, stood out immediately in a silver dress that shimmered with every movement. It fit her perfectly, as though it had been made for her alone.
I recognized it instantly. It was one of Soren’s gifts.
Gideon stood beside her, calm and composed, as though he had never cornered me in private or made my skin crawl with fear.
We moved through the crowd, and a painful truth settled in.
I was not the one beside Soren.
Evelina was.
His hand guided her gently at the waist, never mine.
A foreign Alpha soon approached them with an easy smile.
“So this is your fiancée,” he said, gesturing toward Evelina.
Soren did not correct him immediately. For a brief moment, he almost looked pleased.
Evelina only smiled faintly, accepting it without protest.
I waited.
I waited for him to correct the mistake.
He didn’t.
The Alpha’s attention eventually shifted to me. “And her?”
Soren answered without hesitation. “A maid.”
The word cut deeper than anything I had endured.
The Alpha chuckled lightly. “How considerate of you to bring your maid along.”
Heat rushed to my face. I couldn’t breathe properly. I turned away before anyone could see what was breaking in my eyes.
I moved toward the quieter edge of the hall, near the balcony doors. Cold air brushed against my skin as I tried to steady my breathing while staring into the night.
Then a wine glass was offered to me.
“Careful,” a low voice said. “You look like you might collapse.”
I turned.
A man stood before me—tall, composed, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit. His presence was heavy, controlled, and unsettling in its calmness. His dark eyes studied me like he was piecing something together.
“I’m fine,” I answered carefully.
He observed me a moment longer. “You’re Alina of Nightfall.”
Not a question.
I nodded. “And you are?”
A faint curve touched his lips, though it held no warmth.
“I am the Alpha of Fallendawn Pack.”
The name struck like a pause in time.
Fallendawn.
My pulse quickened instantly.
So this was him. The Alpha no records ever properly spoke of. The enemy Soren spoke of in silence and hatred.
His gaze drifted across the hall toward Soren and Evelina, who were laughing together as if nothing else existed.
“Watching your Alpha so comfortably with another woman,” he said evenly, “you should come with me instead of remaining beside that fool.”
My breath caught. There was no teasing in his voice. Only certainty.
I turned back briefly. Soren hadn’t noticed I was gone. He hadn’t looked for me at all.
Slowly, I faced the man again.
I didn’t know him. I didn’t trust him.
But staying there was no longer something I could endure.
“Will you help me get revenge?” I asked quietly.
His gaze darkened slightly.
“More than that,” he replied.
