Chapter 1

Catelynn

“Moon goddess, this is awful!”

I watch Catinka, my twin sister, groan and growl while pacing the room in her wedding dress like a caged animal. 

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“What’s wrong?” Catinka repeats. “What’s wrong is that I absolutely despise Alpha Spencer Hawk! Of all the Omegas in our village, why on earth did he choose ME to be his bride?”

I bite back the urge to tell her that maybe, just maybe, our Alpha chose her because she’s not only smart but also stunning with doe-like eyes and soft light brown hair that reaches past her shoulders.

Catinka is gorgeous, but saying that would feel like I’m complimenting myself since we are identical. And calling myself gorgeous would be embarrassing. As a wallflower type of person, I don’t like to take space. I’m too shy.

Catinka goes on, “I’ve been dreaming of my fated mate, Cat! He’s out there somewhere, waiting for me to find him. The last thing I need is for our arrogant Alpha to force me into marriage. I don’t want to carry his pups!”

Her words tug at my heartstrings, a sensation as familiar as breathing. As identical werewolf twins, I have this theory that Catinka and I were born connected by an invisible thread. Sometimes, I can feel her pain like my own, and right now, I don’t only feel it, but I also understand it.

As Omega werewolves, we are expected to bear children and speak little of our emotions. But Catinka has the chance to change her destiny by finding and mating with her true mate—someone who would treasure her.

A sob comes out from Catinka’s lips. “Why are Omegas the only werewolves able to get pregnant without a true mate bond? It’s a curse! If I hadn’t been born as an Omega, I could be out there searching for my mate right now!”

Pain wrecks me when I see her tears. I can’t stand it. Her pain is my own, and when she buries her face in her hands and most likely ruining her makeup, I can’t just sit back.

She is my sister, and she has protected me all my life. Catinka has defended me from bullies since we were five. She has spoken when I’ve been too shy, and it’s about time I grew a backbone and repaid her!

“I…I will marry Alpha Spencer in your place. Th-that way, you can be with your mate,” I say in the loudest voice I’ve ever used. It’s still soft, but it’s enough to draw my sister’s attention.

And she…gawks at me.

“What are you saying? That you will switch places with me and marry our Alpha?”

“Yes?”

Catinka runs to me and cups my cheeks, making me feel like a fat meatball because she squeezes my cheeks while staring into my eyes. Her gaze is intense, and she isn’t moving. I’m beginning to wonder if someone hit pause, but finally, she breathes. 

“No, I can’t allow you to marry him. You’re my precious little sister—”

“You’re one minute older than I am,” I manage to sputter even though it feels like she is trying to turn my face into mush with her incredible strength. She squeezes harder, probably to silence me, but I still manage to speak. “Lemme marry Speshar…”

“What was that?” She asks. 

“Maaaarry Speshaaaa…”

Catinka’s eyes widen when she realizes I mean business, and she finally releases my face. I rub my cheeks, feeling the blood rush back into them. Catinka, on the other hand, isn’t relaxing. She starts pacing again, her wedding dress swishing around her feet.

“No, no, no. I can’t let you marry him, Cat. It’s too much to ask. You’ve always been so quiet, so gentle. How could I possibly throw you to that...to that arrogant wolf?! He is terrible and would destroy you! The only Alpha that would be worse marrying would be the demon Alpha in the South!”

Catinka isn’t wrong. Alpha Spencer is said to be the most selfish Alpha there is. He cares little for the poor and everyone in the village is suffering for it. But at least I’m not marrying the demon Alpha, the hybrid everyone fears. 

I wet my lips. “Catinka, listen to me. You have a mate out there waiting for you while I don’t know if I even have one. What if I’m one of those people who doesn’t have someone fated to me? At least this way, one of us gets a chance at true happiness.” Mates are rare in this world, and I don’t think I’m special enough to have one. 

My sister stops in her tracks with her eyes already watering. “But what about your happiness, Cat? Don’t you deserve love too?”

I force a smile, trying to ignore the ache in my chest since Catinka would never let me marry Spencer if I cried. “Maybe I’ll find it with Alpha Spencer. And if not... well, at least I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing I helped you find yours.”

Catinka can no longer hold back her tears. “You’ve always been the selfless one, haven’t you? Always putting others first. But this... this is too much!”

Before I know it, I’m hugged and squeezed so hard it feels like my ribs might break. “Catinka…” I wheeze. “Can’t…breathe…”

She steps back with a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”

“No problem. You just don’t know your own strength,” I smile back, and then I go back to the other conversation. “And it’s not too much to let me marry Alpha Spencer. I’m doing this to help you, and that’s what sisters do. We protect each other. You’ve been doing it for me our entire life. Please let me return the favor by marrying this man.”

Her bottom lip wobbles, and I can see that there’s a war going on in her eyes. She doesn’t want to marry Alpha Spencer, but the thought of her ‘little’ sister doing it in her stead is tormenting her.

Eventually, she slumps her shoulders. “Alright, fine. I will let you marry him, BUT there’s a condition.”

I smile softly. “What’s that?”

“That you trust me to come back and save you,” she places her fingertip on my nose to boop it while glaring at me with that inner fire that is all Catinka. “Once I’ve found my mate, I will come back here and save you with his pack.”

A soft gasp leaves my lips. “Is your mate an Alpha?”

She blushes slightly. “Maybe…”

I giggle. “You don’t know?”

Her whole face is breaking out in hives—it’s a curse we both share—and then she growls. “Okay, fine! My mate is an Alpha, and no, I don’t know his name, but I will force him to help me save you, okay?”

Even though I have a feeling it won’t be that easy, I still smile for my sister’s sake. I don’t want her to feel bad for running away to find her mate.

“Okay,” I whisper and link my pinky with hers. “I will marry Alpha Spencer in your place, and you will come and save me.”

I believe with my full heart that Catinka will come back for me. I just hope it happens before Alpha Spencer makes me pregnant with his heir…

Chapter 2

Catelynn

Alpha Spencer stands at the altar with a pack elder, his cold, imposing figure making each step feel heavier than the last.

Looking at him and realizing this man and his mansion are my new home makes me understand how a canary bird feels inside its cage: lonely, sad, and destined to wither away.

Will it kill my soul to marry a man I don’t love?

Alpha Spencer gives me a weird look as I approach. A bead of sweat trickles down my back in response, hidden beneath the layers of the wedding gown. Does he suspect something?

My sweat glands open as I reach the altar, my trembling hands clutching the bouquet so tightly my knuckles are turning white. Alpha Spencer’s nostrils open wide, and I know he’s scenting me. Can he tell the difference between Catinka and me? We are identical twins, but our scents have always been slightly different.

“Lift your veil,” he commands, his voice startling me.

No.

I don’t want to. I’m terrified he will see I’m not Catinka, but I can’t say no to my future husband. He is in charge, not me.

With shaking fingers, I lift the delicate lace. Alpha Spencer’s eyes widen, then narrow dangerously.

For the first time in my life, I feel true fear.

“You’re not Catinka—you’re her twin, the wallflower with the sad eyes!” he snarls, his hand shooting out to grip my arm with claws tasting my blood. I whimper at the pain, aware of the pack sitting in the chapel gasping.

“Did they trade places?” someone asks.

“She does have a different scent…”

“Did the twins think they could trick our Alpha?”

I would focus more on what the pack was saying if Alpha Spencer weren’t growling in my ears. He is furious and before I can react, he slaps me. It doesn’t surprise me. Men have been leaders in our pack for as long as I can remember, even in the households. Abuse isn’t anything new. But Alpha Spencer slaps me again and again until I taste blood in my mouth.

“How dare you try to deceive your Alpha?” Alpha Spencer roars, but he isn’t done with the violence yet.

The same hand that slapped me grips the back of my dress, and then I’m slung on the floor like I mean nothing to him. I land hard but don’t have time to breathe before the savage drags me to the center of the aisle.

The dress flies up, and the red carpet scrapes my soft skin. I’m hurting all over when Alpha Spencer finally stops in his tracks and points a finger at me.

“This Omega whore thought she could manipulate me!” he bellows to the stunned crowd and glares down at me with rage in his soulless eyes. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice the difference, you deceitful little bitch?”

I curl into myself, trying to make my body as small as possible. The pack members watch in shocked silence, no one daring to intervene against their Alpha’s wrath.

“I asked you a question!” Alpha Spencer roars. “Answer it if you don’t want me to kill you on the spot!”

“I-I’m sorry,” I whimper, my whole body burning. The carpet felt like a grater on my skin. I’m bleeding, and there is a headache throbbing against my skill. “I…I only wanted to help my sister!”

“Help your sister?” Alpha Spencer sneers. “By lying to your Alpha? By trying to trick me into marrying the wrong twin?”

He looms over me, his shadow engulfing my trembling form for a short second before he lifts me by the front of my wedding dress.

“Identical twins, my ass,” his lips become a cruel sneer. “You two don’t look alike in the slightest. Want to know why, little Omega? It’s because anyone in this room can see that you’re spineless.”

Alpha Spencer’s grip on my dress loosens, and I fall back to the floor with a thud.

“Men,” Spencer barks, his voice commanding, “take this deceitful Omega outside and tie her up. Every pack member will have the chance to teach her a lesson about respecting her Alpha.”

Strong hands grab me, hauling me to my feet. I try to struggle, but it’s futile against their strength. They drag me outside, my once pristine wedding dress now torn and dirty as it trails behind me.

“Should we take off her clothes?” one of the warriors asks the other.

“Nah,” another one of them grins. “It will be easier to see her blood when she is dressed in white.”

A frightened whimper leaves my lips at the word ‘blood,’ but I can’t escape. The warriors tie me to a pole outside the church. I can hear the pack filing out of the chapel, their murmurs filling the air.

Alpha Spencer’s warriors are standing in front of me with nasty sneers. The largest one, a brute with a scar across his cheek, steps forward first.

“Thought you could trick our Alpha, did you?” he scowls before his foot connects with my ribs. The pain is immediate, stealing the breath from my lungs.

Another warrior follows, and this one aims for my legs. “Stupid little Omega,” he spits, punctuating each word with a kick. “Thought you could fool our Alpha and become our new Luna and eat good food, huh?”

“Disgusting creature.”

“Wretch!”

“She did it so she could eat well and get fat in the Alpha’s mansion!”

“Manipulator!”

The pack members are taking turns now, each blow more painful than the last. I try to curl into myself to protect my vital organs, but the ropes hold me in place, leaving me exposed.

Vulnerable.

Hurting.

I wish breathing didn’t cause more pain.

A lean guy with cold blue eyes grabs a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. “Such pretty hair,” he mocks, twisting the strands around his fist. “Maybe we should cut it off as punishment?”

“No, let it be,” another one says, smirking. “I want to use her pretty little snatch later, and her hair will be a fine detail when I fill her mouth.”

“Oooh, are we allowed to do that?”

A loud, frightened whimper leaves my lips, and the tears I’ve been trying so hard to fight pour down into the dirt. Am I really to be used for someone’s sick fantasies? That should be forbidden. Isn’t anyone going to point that out?!

The pack warriors continue their assault, their blows raining down on my battered body. Each strike feels like fire against my skin, and I cry out in pain. The pack members jeer and laugh, taking pleasure in my suffering.

“Look at her squirm!” one of them shouts gleefully.

“Not so clever now, are you?” another taunts.

I try to retreat into my mind to escape from the pain, but I can’t. Every nerve ending is screaming, preventing me from tapping out. The wedding dress is now stained with dirt and blood, torn in places where particularly vicious blows have landed.

Time loses all meaning. How long have I been tortured? Minutes? Hours? It feels like an eternity. My vision blurs, the faces of my tormentors becoming smears of color.

Just when I think I can’t take anymore, a voice rings out.

“STOP!”

…is that the Beta?

Their voice is so loud, so unexpected, that everyone freezes. Through swollen eyes, I see a figure pushing through the crowd. It’s Cid, the Beta.

He rushes forward, his eyes scanning my battered form, and when our eyes meet, he asks, “Is this... is this Catelynn Smith?”

One of the warriors nods. “This is her...or what is left of her, at least.”

The Beta’s face drains of all color. “Oh no,” he whispers, then turns to address the crowd. “Everyone, stop this immediately!”

Alpha Spencer steps forward, his brow furrowed in confusion and anger. “What is the meaning of this, Beta? Why are you interfering with the punishment of this deceitful Omega?”

The Beta swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously. “Alpha, we... we just received a letter from the demon Alpha.”

A hush falls over the crowd. Even in my pain-addled state, I can feel the building tension around me. Everyone with red blood in their veins fears the demon Alpha, so it’s not unexpected.

“What does that have to do with this Omega?” Alpha Spencer demands with his nose held high in the air.

The Beta’s eyes flick between me and the Alpha, his face a picture of barely contained panic. “The letter, Alpha... it states that Catelynn Smith is...is his mate. His true mate. And he’s coming to claim her.”

The whole pack erupts in chaos at the Beta’s words. The once unified mob is now fractured, with some fleeing toward their homes and others frozen in shock.

“The demon Alpha? Coming here?”

“We’re all going to die for having beaten his mate into a pulp!”

“He will slaughter us all!”

The warriors who moments ago were gleefully torturing me now back away, their faces pale with dread. Even Alpha Spencer, usually so composed and arrogant, looks shaken.

I hang limply from my bonds, my mind a mess from this new information. The demon Alpha’s mate? Me? It can’t be true. It must be some cruel joke, another form of punishment.

But as I look around at the genuine terror on everyone’s faces, a cold realization settles in my gut. This is real.

The demon Alpha—the most feared Alpha of them all—is coming here to claim me.

“No…” I whisper, and even though I’m exhausted and on the brink of falling unconscious from my wounds, I try to pull myself free from the pole.

Only an idiot wouldn’t because the demon Alpha is not a normal pureblooded werewolf. Dark magic runs through his veins, and madness is brewing in his blood. Some claim he can kill with a single look; others say he needs blood in order to survive, and I don’t want to find out if those stories are true.

I would rather die than become the wife of a monster. With Alpha Spencer I would at least be married to someone with a soul, but the demon Alpha? He doesn’t have one.

Chapter 3

Catelynn

Wild panic is spreading like a fire through the pack, and through it all, I can hear an old grandma speaking to her taller grandson.

“Jarold, my sweet boy! Now is the time to run! We have to change our identities, get wild haircuts, grow enormous mustaches, and relocate to the middle of nowhere!”

“But grandma, we didn’t even touch her!”

“Yes, but the demon Alpha doesn’t know that!”

I want to listen to the rest of their story, but I’m roughly shaken by Alpha Spencer. “You!” he snarls, grabbing my chin. “Did you know about this? Is that why you tried to take your sister’s place? You knew the demon Alpha would save your ass before the wedding?!”

What? Is he crazy? “N-no... I didn’t... I swear...”

“Liar!” he roars, raising his hand to strike me again, but the Beta grabs his arm.

“Step back and let me untie her, Alpha,” Beta Cid says, his voice cracking with fear. “You know the demon Alpha will kill you if her blood is on your hands.”

Alpha Spencer hesitates. I can tell by the look in his eyes that he doesn’t want to step back. He is too proud. Too arrogant to let me ‘win’ whatever game he thinks that I’m playing.

Eventually, he backs. “Untie her,” he says, but Beta Cid doesn’t get the chance.

The sound of a bone-chilling howl cuts through the air, making everyone freeze in their spots as a portal made of darkness opens in the middle of the street.

Out steps…a tiny green fluffy rat with glasses?

I blink once, I blink twice, but yup, that’s a rat.

“I hate traveling like this, Alpha,” the rat complains as it shakes its fur before looking up a boot. “Alpha?”

“Quiet Tiberius,” a deep voice that makes the world stop on its axis commands. “She is here.”

The voice belongs to a towering figure emerging from the portal. I can’t see him clearly. My eyes are swollen from all the beating, and blood is dripping down onto the ground, but I’m trying. I blink, and I blink, and then my eyes finally land on a man who steals my next breath.

He is enormous, easily seven feet tall, with broad shoulders and muscles that ripple under his tight leather jacket. His face is ruggedly handsome: strong jaw, sharp cheekbones—he has the full package.

I might be afraid of the demon Alpha, but I’m not blind—this man is a looker. I watch him in silence, deathly still, when his glowing red eyes land on mine.

The moment we directly look at each other is magical. I see the world differently. Like every day has been gray, and now I’m opening a color book for the first time, but instead of color, I see him—the person I was supposed to find all along—my other half.

But as I stare into those glowing red eyes, I start paying attention to something that chills me to the bone: rage. Pure, unbridled fury burns in his gaze. Even his jaw is clenched so tight that it’s a wonder his head hasn’t exploded yet.

He’s angry.

The realization hits me like a physical blow. Of course, he’s angry. I’m not the strong, beautiful Omega he was probably expecting. Instead, I’m a weak, pathetic mess. Bruised, bloodied, and tied to a pole like some sort of criminal. I’m an embarrassment, a disappointment.

I want to look away, to hide from his furious gaze, but I can’t. The mate bond won’t let me.

And now he is walking forward, his boots clanking down on the ground.

“Who,” he snarls, his voice dripping with barely contained fury, “dared to lay a hand on my mate?”

No one dares to move or speak. Even Alpha Spencer, who moments ago was ready to strike me again, now stands paralyzed in place.

The demon Alpha’s eyes scan the crowd, his gaze piercing through each person. “I asked a question,” he growls. “Who. Touched. My. Mate?”

Still, no one answers. All of my pack members have turned into mute sheeps and the only sound filling the silence are my broken breaths.

Suddenly, the demon Alpha’s nostrils flare, and he turns his attention to Alpha Spencer. In two long strides, he’s standing in front of him, towering over the other Alpha.

“You,” he snarls, grabbing Spencer by the throat and lifting him off the ground with ease. “Your scent is all over her. You did this.”

Spencer chokes, his feet dangling in the air. “I... I didn’t know... she was... your mate,” he gasps out.

The demon Alpha’s grip tightens. “And that makes it acceptable?” His voice is eerily calm now, which somehow makes it even more terrifying.

“I… I’m…” Spencer is struggling to speak. He is kicking with his legs now, yet the demon Alpha doesn’t seem one bit bothered.

He holds him up higher. “I asked you a question, ‘Alpha’ Spencer.” It sounds like the demon Alpha is smiling on the inside as if he enjoys toying with the smaller man. “Do you think it’s acceptable to beat an innocent Omega as long as she doesn’t belong to me?”

Spencer’s face is turning purple. Gurgling sounds are coming out from his lips, and yet the demon Alpha’s grip doesn’t loosen. I hate watching it. I hate listening to Alpha Spencer’s dying sounds even more. Yes, my Alpha is evil, but he doesn’t deserve to be murdered like this. No one does!

“Please,” I manage to croak out. “Don’t kill him.”

The demon Alpha’s head snaps towards me, his red eyes blazing.

Intimidating.

Beautiful.

But also so very dangerous.

I can’t take my eyes off him, even as my neck is cramping from my head being tilted back so far. There is just...so much of him. Muscles. Height. Power. I can’t believe this is my mate, but our bond doesn’t matter. I made a terrible mistake by speaking up. Most werewolf men disrespect women even if they are their mates. Our wolves are smaller than theirs, weaker.

I’m probably an annoying nuisance in the demon Alpha’s eyes, dirt for speaking. He will surely fix that by slapping me.

His nostrils flare, and then…he drops Spencer to the ground.

His boots turn in my direction, and the little rat thing runs up to him. “Alpha Ryker, we—”

“Not now, Tiberius.”

The demon Alpha’s boots scrape against the dirt as he approaches me, his massive frame blocking out the sun. He is by far the most impressive man I’ve ever seen, and I want to disappear into the earth to hide from him. The ropes bite into my skin as I try to get away, a cruel reminder of my helplessness.

The demon Alpha—Ryker, the green rat called him—towers over me now. He’s so tall that my head wouldn’t be anywhere near his chest, even if I were standing up.

Scary.

Ryker silently crouches down in front of me. Like a lion surveying the zebra it caught, he stares at me. There’s not a smile curling his lips. Not a word leaving his lips. He is just silent.

Eventually, he asks, “What’s your name?”

I open my lips to answer, but then I hesitate. Would he hold power over me if I gave him my name? Is it safe to give your name to a demon? I probably shouldn’t risk it.

I blurt out the first name that pops into my head—a name stolen from one of the books I recently read at the library. “Bertha! My name is Bertha.”

Ryker’s lips twitch slightly. “Bertha? Are you sure about that?”

“Y-yes,” I stammer. I will die lying. I can’t tell him the truth now, can I? “My name is Bertha McFluffernutter.”

A low rumble comes from Ryker’s broad chest, and it takes me a moment to realize he’s chuckling. Does he find me funny?

“Little mate, you can be honest with me. I’m your other half, remember? Your destined partner. There’s no need for made-up names, no matter how... creative they might be.”

Heat rushes to my cheeks. “I... I’m sorry,” I whisper, my eyes downcast. “My name is Catelynn. Catelynn Smith.”

Ryker’s large hand gently tilts my face up to meet his gaze. His touch is surprisingly gentle for someone so intimidating. “Catelynn,” he says softly as if testing how my name feels on his tongue. “A beautiful name for a beautiful mate.”

Had I been brave I would scoff at his words. Beautiful? Me? After I was beaten? I doubt it. But the way Alpha Ryker is looking at me... it’s as if he truly sees beauty where I’m certain there is none.

He frowns when he sees an especially nasty bruise on my knee, and then he lifts his gaze back to mine, his thumb gently stroking my cheek. “My sweet little mate,” he murmurs. “Just what have they done to you?”

I don’t think I’m meant to answer that question because Ryker turns around to look at the fluffy rat thingie.

“Tiberius, open another portal,” he orders. “My mate needs to be tended to by the pack doctors.”

“Of course, Alpha,” Tiberius bows while my eyes widen in alarm.

“Wh-what?” I shriek. “You can’t just kidnap me. I have a sister and—”

“You’re my mate,” Ryker interrupts in a loud voice, making me shrink back. “And I’m taking you home.”