I thought the worst part of my life was over when Lucas Mattfield divorced me and dissolved our bond. I thought I'd be free.

I was wrong.

After enduring two years of abuse at the hands of the future Alpha of Red Ridge, I’m left bruised and broken.

Betrayed by my mate, my pack, my best friend, and even my own father, I’m nothing more than a discarded Omega, sold to yet another man. A rogue Alpha in a town I’ve never heard of - Haven's Crest.

Alpha Johnathan Banks — tall, commanding, and impossibly handsome — offers me a new life and the chance to be his Luna. With his dark eyes and rugged charm, he’s as dangerous as he is captivating.

The town is breathtaking, the people are friendly, and everything seems perfect. But something dark and dangerous lurks beneath the surface, and I don't know who I can trust anymore.

Mara

I climb the steps to my father’s mansion with heavy legs.

Haley, my best and probably only friend, dropped me off at the gate because Lucas, my mate, won’t allow me to drive.

The guard refused to let Haley in, and I was forced to walk up the kilometre long driveway, while my bruised and battered body screamed out in agony.

I haven’t been home in two years. Today is my twenty-first birthday, and my father wanted to see me for the first time since I married Lucas Mattfield - the future Alpha of Red Ridge.

I am in a sad state. I’m only allowed to eat once a day - Lucas wants a hot wife - and last night I took a particularly brutal beating. It was one of the worst he’d ever given me, and he laughed the whole time.

I think it’s one of the reasons my father refuses to see me. I’m always covered in fresh and healing bruises now, and he can’t stand to look at the thing he had done to me.

On the night of our wedding, Lucas took me into the bond room - the place where newly wed couples have sex to seal their bond - and proceeded to beat me black and blue. When he was done, he threw me on the bed and violently took my virginity.

He dragged me out of the bond room and presented me to my father, as is the custom, with blood streaming down my legs and my face beaten to a pulp. “Thank you for my mate, Douglas,” he said. “I’ll be sure to enjoy her.”

Lucas wanted to send both our fathers a message. He was pissed. He didn’t want to marry me, and I didn’t want to marry him. Our fathers set the whole thing up. It still amazes me that Lucas could not see that I was as trapped and unhappy as he was.

My father looked at me, then at Lucas, said, “May she give you many, healthy sons,” and left.

In the years since, it has only gotten worse and worse. Every day that Lucas is with me, is another reminder to him that an Omega owns his pack, and he can’t stand it.

Sometimes, the only break I get from the constant beatings and stream of verbal assaults is when Lucas is forced to attend a meeting at BioGen - my father’s biomedical engineering company.

Douglas Smith, once an unassuming pack wolf, Omega, genius, and my father, started that company from scratch and single-handedly saved Red Ridge from financial ruin. Everyone, from the humans in the bordering town, to the wolves in our pack works for my father.

The current Alpha and future Alphas for generations to come, will always be indebted to my family.

And they hate it. Being forced to marry an Omega’s daughter so the pack won’t lose their cash cow, was an insult to Lucas’s pride.

With a sigh, I press the doorbell and wait for Ira, the butler, to open the door. I am just a guest now, and I have to announce myself like everyone else.

The door flies open and Lucas looms over me, his amber eyes flashing in the gloom of the foyer. “What took you so long?”

My heart almost stops beating and a knot forms in the pit of my stomach. Why is he here? “Sorry,” I mumble and keep my eyes on the marble floor.

My mate’s fist disappears into my stomach. All the air whooshes from my lungs, and I fold in half, unable to breathe. “Well…come in,” he says as if nothing has happened.

I grab the doorframe and force myself to stand up straight as I gasp for air and try to keep my tears at bay.

Lucas hates it when I cry.

My head spins as I step into the familiar house. I grew up here, but I can never come back. My father made that much clear on my wedding night when he turned his back on me and left me with Lucas.

I quietly follow him through the mansion, trying not to make a sound as every step sends shockwaves of pure agony rattling through my body.

I’m not healing anymore. Aria, my wolf, has gone silent and Lucas forbids me to shift. Even on the full moon, when the shift is inevitable, he makes sure I can’t shift by forcing some kind of potion down my throat that puts Aria to sleep.

I haven’t felt her for months now. She’s so weak, and as a result so am I.

We walk into my father’s impressive parlour. Alpha Kyson, my father, Haley, Donovan, her mate, and a man I don’t know, all look up at the same time.

I focus my gaze on Haley. Not twenty minutes ago, I watched her drive away. Why is she here?

Everyone has a glass of champagne in their hands and looks ecstatic. All of them except for Donovan. I manage to catch his eye and he woefully shakes his head at me. He holds up his left hand to show me that his wedding ring is gone.

This can’t be good. But things rarely are these days.

“Fantastic news, Mara!” Alpha Kyson exclaims. “Your bond with Lucas will be dissolved.”

My heart does a little flip-flop of excitement, but when I look at my father my joy evaporates.

“You have been married for two years, and haven’t produced an heir,” Kyson says. “That entitles Lucas to abjure you and take a new mate.”

I let out a fluttery little breath. I’ve been buying an illegal and very dangerous birth control potion on the black market. I told Haley about it, but no one else knows.

“Why have you not produced an heir, Mara?” my father asks, his loud voice booming around the parlour.

“I- I don’t know,” I lie.

“I’m very disappointed in you,” he declares.

“Haley is pregnant with my child,” Lucas says without a hint of embarrassment. “She has agreed to marry me.”

This time, I think I black out for a few seconds. A low buzz starts to echo in my ears. Haley?

I glance at Donovan who looks like he’d rather be eaten alive by alligators than be here right now.

My head begins to spin and I can’t seem to pull any air into my lungs. I blindly start to feel around for a chair but can’t find one.

“All is not lost,” my father announces. “Alpha Johnathan Banks of Haven’s Crest will take you as his mate.”

Out of the frying pan and into the fire I go. “What?” I ask.

The unknown man steps forward as if summoned. “Hi, Mara,” he says in a warm, friendly voice. “I’m Beta Preston. Alpha Johnathan sent me to pay your bride price, and bring you to your new home.”

I’m so confused. He already sold me to someone else? I look from the Beta to my father. “Why are you doing this?”

“What did you think would happen?” my father asks. “You have a responsibility to produce an heir. You failed.”

The law. If a she-wolf can’t give her mate an heir, he can abjure her and demand compensation for his loss from her father.

I bargained on this. It was my only way out of that hell of a marriage, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon.

Or that my father would sell me to another Alpha.

Knowing that my father cares so little about me almost crushes the last bit of life out of me, but I refuse to die. I’ll go on living simply to spite these assholes.

Haley’s betrayal cuts far deeper. So deep that I can’t bear to look at the wound. With tears in my eyes, I stare up at Preston. I’ve never heard of this Alpha Johnathan or Haven’s Crest. “He doesn’t want me. I can’t have children,” I say in a low whisper.

It might be my only way out. The way I feel now, I’d rather go rogue than marry yet another wolf who’ll use me as his personal punching bag.

“It doesn’t matter,” Preston answers. “He doesn’t want you for your childbearing abilities.”

“Why does he want me? I’m just an Omega.”

“What are you doing, Mara?” my father hisses through gritted teeth. “The deal is done.”

“There’s no need for that, Mister Smith,” The Beta says and gives me the warmest, most genuine smile I’ve seen in a long time. “Alpha Banks wants you for the same reason any Alpha wants a mate. Our pack is in need of a Luna.”

“I…” I catch a glimpse of my father’s disapproving eyes and shut my mouth.

“I disown you as my daughter,” my father says in a chillingly cold voice. “You are removed from my care.”

As he did on my wedding night, my father turns his back on me and walks over to the bay windows overlooking the gardens.

“Mara Smith,” Alpha Kyson says. “You are banished. Red Ridge is your pack no longer. You are not welcome here. You may not shift with us or hunt with us.”

Before I can even recover, Lucas takes his turn. “I Lucas Mattfield, future Alpha of Red Ridge, abjure you Mara Smith, daughter of Douglas Smith. My protection and love is yours no more. I will call you mine no longer.”

“I accept,” I croak.

It is a lot to deal with all at once. I’m not Lucas’s fated mate, but I can still feel the agony of the breaking bond. It’s as if someone’s carving my heart apart with a rusty blade.

I start to sway as darkness creeps up on me.

The last face I see is Haley's, then the world simply blinks out of existence.

Mara

I wake to the sound of tyres humming softly on the tarmac, the woodsy scent of Beta Preston’s cologne in my nose, and the more flowery lavender scent of a woman.

Frowning, I sit upright and look out of the windshield of the moving SUV. Ahead of us is a long, deserted road and the setting sun.

I have no idea where we are. Red Ridge must be far behind us. I’ve never seen anything so empty and desolate in all my life. The world here is flat, with nothing but the road and grasslands as far as the eye can see.

How long was I out?

“Hello lovely,” a chirpy voice says from the front seat. “Did yeh have a good sleep?”

I look over at the platinum blonde sitting in the passenger seat. She’s in her mid-twenties. Her make-up is heavy, and she’s dressed in a tight, red dress that leaves little to the imagination.

All I manage in way of an answer is a croak.

“Give her some water,” Beta Preston says, his voice deep and even.

He’s a handsome man, with salt and pepper hair, hazel eyes, and a beard that matches his hair. Everytime he smiles, two deep dimples appear in cheeks, and like all wolves of his station, he’s huge. The steering wheel looks like a toy in his hands.

“I’m Rhoda,” the woman says and leans back to hand me a bottle of water. “E’ryone jus’ calls me Roe.”

“I-” a frog catches in my throat and it takes several tries to clear it. “I’m Mara. Thank you,” I say and take the water.

“Nice ta meet, yeh, Mara.”

“Luna Mara,” Preston corrects her.

“I’m not a Luna,” I remind him.

He looks at me in the rearview mirror, his warm eyes catching mine. “You will be.”

I don’t answer him. I haven’t had much to say since I got married. Sometimes, it feels as if my brain is empty - like someone went in there with a brush and scrubbed out all my thoughts. Lucas didn’t allow me to talk to guests, and I could only leave our house with his permission.

He only ever let me see Haley, and she was allowed to visit me once a week. I used to think it was the one small kindness he allowed. Now I think it was so he could get information about me.

Not that she’d tell him anything he didn’t already know, other than the fact that I used birth control and that I hated him. He must have known, surely.

“Yeh’re lookin’ a bit rough there, Mara,” Rhoda says. “What happened to yeh?”

“Rhoda!” Preston scolds her. “That is none of your business.”

He’s right, but I answer her anyway. “My mate liked to take his frustrations out on me.”

“Ah yeah,” she sighs. “I had one of those too.”

I look down at my left hand resting on my lap. Someone took my rings off. I have nothing but the clothes on my back. They even took my purse with my cell phone in it. “They took everything,” I mutter, more to myself than the other two occupants in the car.

Rhoda glances at Preston who shakes his head, but she either doesn’t care or doesn’t see the warning. “Yeah, I’m sorry lovey. Them men are assholes.”

Warm tears spill down my cheeks. It’s the first time in two years that I’ve allowed myself to cry in front of others, but it’s too much to hold on to. “What will happen to me?”

“Look what you’ve done,” Preston says and flicks the indicator on.

It wasn’t Rhoda’s fault, but I don’t have the energy to stand up for her. The Beta pulls off the road, and shoves the gear into neutral before he awkwardly tries to turn in his seat. “Mara. You are going to a good place,” he says. “A better place.”

It’s the kind of thing people said to my mother when she lay on her deathbed. It stirs a restless fear in me that has been my ever-present companion since the day we buried her. “Am I going to die?” I ask.

“What? No!” Preston exclaims. “I’m just saying…Haven’s Crest is a good place full of good people.”

“And the Alpha?”

Preston and Rhoda exchange a glance that doesn’t put my mind at ease. “He’s okay,” Rhoda says at last. “He can be a lil…snippy, sometimes.”

“Snippy?” I ask.

“He has a temper,” Preston explains.

The fear in me grows, swallowing my insides like a big, black hole.

“Don’t worry,” Rhoda says quickly. “He don’t beat women or nothing like that.”

But he might beat his mate. Lucas doesn’t beat women either, yet he enjoyed using his fists on me.

Preston exchanges another one of those troubled glances with Rhoda. “You’ll be okay,” he says and straightens.

Was that supposed to be comforting? If anything, he just made me feel worse.

A few seconds later, we’re back on the road. A sense of impending doom settles over me like a heavy blanket. It’s so bad that I’m afraid to breathe.

This day has been too much to deal with. My whole world, fucked up as it might have been, came crashing down in less than ten minutes.

I lie back down and go to sleep.

When I wake again, it’s dark and the SUV is parked outside a small hotel. There are a few other cars in the parking lot, but otherwise the place is deserted. Preston is not in the car, but Rhoda is. “Do yeh feel better, sweetie?” she asks.

No. Not at all. “Sure,” I say and rub my hand over my throat.

Rhoda’s eyes fall on my throat and she lets out a soft, tsk, sound. “Why are yeh not ‘ealing?”

“He beats me too much.”

“My mate…he used ta go in with his fists too.”

“Where is he now?”

“Dead. I killed ‘im.”

“That was brave,” I say. “I wish I was that brave.”

“You are very young, lovey,” she says with a grimace. “I din’t find my bravery ‘til I was much older.”

I snort softly. “You are what? Four years older than me?”

“I’m thirty-five, schnookums.”

I like her. There’s an honesty about her in the way she speaks, and she doesn’t seem to care what people think of her. “What do you do for the pack?”

“We’re not really a pack. Yeh’ll see when we get there.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

Rhoda opens her mouth to answer me, but before she can, Preston is back and leaning into the car. “You are in room ten. Eat. Sleep. We leave at dawn.”

Mara

I stare in wonder at the winding road ahead of us. It disappears around several bends, leading all the way to the top of the mountain, and the town of Haven’s Crest.

Who the hell builds an entire town on the top of a mountain?

We crawl up the road. There’s literally nothing between us and a sheer drop into the canyon below, but it’s idyllic, with the green mountain rising up against the bright blue sky. Cotton candy clouds drift in the azure heavens.

As we round one of the many dangerous bends, a waterfall comes into view. Rainbows dance in the misty water that vanishes into the pond below. “Wow,” I gasp.

“Pretty, ain’t it?” Rhoda says with a soft laugh.

I can’t tear my eyes away from the beautiful scenery. It’s like a postcard sent from some exotic place I never knew existed. Far below and in the distance, a blue lake glimmers in the bright sun.

At long last, we reach the top. A massive white and black sign welcomes us to *Haven’s Crest - A home for every soul.*

I smile wryly. How deceptively cute. I bet not everyone’s welcome here.

When Preston pulls up to the first stop sign, I understand why they built the town here. The view is spectacular, the heavens lie wide open above us, and below us the peaks and valleys stretch out for miles around.

The Alpha’s compound is built right on the edge of a cliff. From here, I can just make out the roof peaking out above the trees. I don’t see any fences, walls or guards. Everything blends in perfectly with nature.

“No security?” I ask as Preston drives up to the front door of a truly impressive mansion built entirely from wood and stone.

“We have warriors patrolling,” he says. “At night the vampires take care of security.”

My stomach flips over. “Vampires?”

“Hm. We have all sorts here,” Preston answers. “Did you not see the sign?”

“I thought it was just for show.”

“No,” the Beta says. “In the summers, humans like to vacation here. It’s how we make our money.”

“Do they know what this place is?”

Rhoda cackles loudly. “The tourists don’t.”

But the regular residents do. Vampires need to feed, and werewolf blood is toxic to them. Where I’m from, we despise vampires and hunt them with impunity.

The moment we stop, the front door opens and a man dressed in comfortable linen trousers and a white shirt exits the palatial mansion. “That’s Chad,” Rhoda helpfully points out. “The butler.”

My father’s butlers wore grey pinstripe suits.

Lucas wouldn’t allow me to have any help. According to him, the only thing I was good for was to cook, clean, and breed. I learned how to do the first two, but I refused to breed with him.

The butler opens my door first and steps aside so I can get out. “Luna,” he says. “Welcome to Haven’s Crest.”

Everyone’s so nice. A little too nice. I don’t trust it.

“Thu- thank you, I guess.”

He just smiles. “Did you bring any luggage?”

I shake my head. My father really let me come here with nothing more than the clothes on my back. Last night, I had to borrow a t-shirt from Rhoda, and this morning I had no other choice but to dress in the same clothes I wore yesterday. A light green maxi dress with long sleeves and a high neck - chosen because it hides most of my bruises.

“That’s all right,” the butler says. “We have several lovely boutiques here in town that should be to your liking.”

I bite into my lower lip and swallow the tears that threaten to overwhelm me. I don’t have money. It was bad enough that I had to beg Lucas to give me money for new underwear, I don’t have it in me to ask my new mate for the same.

“This way, madam,” he says and sweeps his arm in the direction of the big, oak door.

It’s surprisingly warm here. I thought it would be cold, being in the mountains and all, but the weather feels more tropical than anything else. The humidity is almost stifling, and the breeze that lifts my skirt away is scorching hot.

I’m relieved when we enter the air-conditioned mansion. “Please wait here,” Chad says when we’re in the vast, open foyer. “Alpha Johnathan will be right with you.”

Preston and Chad disappear deeper into the mansion, and I take the time to look around.

Everything is rustic and beautiful. The furniture is handcrafted from reclaimed wood with leather upholstery. The gleaming hardwood floors give the place a warm, homey feel.

The decor is minimalist, screaming of understated wealth. There are a few art pieces, hand carved from wood and stone, depicting various animals. On either side of the foyer are a pair of staircases leading to the upper floors.

I’m drawn to a particularly magnificent sculpture of an African elephant. Carved entirely from some kind of black stone, it’s a lifesize piece with intricate details. I run my hand over the smooth stone, marvelling at the little details the artist included. The wrinkles of the animal's skin, the almost sad eyes and big ears that seem to move in the shadows.

“Mara,” a velvety smooth voice says right behind me, pulling me from my thoughts.

I freeze. I can tell by the aura that rolls over me that it’s an Alpha who just entered the room.

My new mate.

Slowly, I turn to face him.

My mouth dries up and my heart does a silly little flip-flop in my chest. The physical attraction is immediate and visceral, almost forcing me to my knees.

The man is huge. Taller than Preston by at least a head, broad shouldered, with dark brown hair, and onyx eyes that I can drown in. He’s as perfect as the sculptures. As if an artist cut him from marble, making sure to capture every immaculate detail - from his perfectly straight nose, to his high cheekbones, full lips, and square jaw.

Like the butler, the Alpha is dressed comfortably, wearing only a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He didn’t even bother to put on shoes. His hair is a little too long and messy. The stubble around his jaw is at least two days old.

He drops his chin and looks at me through a fringe of hair that flops over his forehead. “Can you speak?” he asks.

“Yu- yes, Alpha. Sorry. I- it’s nice to meet you.”

He gives me a lopsided grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “This way,” he says and points at a door on the other side of the foyer.

On shaky legs, I follow him through the mansion, trying to take it all in. Living like this might not be too bad. Maybe I’ll be lucky this time. Perhaps, my new mate won't beat me that much, and hopefully, he’ll allow me some measure of freedom.

Johnathan pushes a door open and stands aside so I can enter his office first. This room, like everything else I’ve seen so far, is minimally decorated with only the finest handmade furniture.

One wall of his office is just a big window. It looks out over the stream that leads to the waterfall, and shows off the amazing palette of colourful plants and trees. There is no garden. Nature itself is his garden.

“Sit,” the Alpha says curtly and walks past me to take a seat behind his desk.

Before I can even sit down, there’s a knock on the door, and Chad enters with a tray of sparkling drinks. He puts it on Johnathan’s desk, and as quietly as he entered he leaves again, closing the door behind him.

Johnathan hands one of the glasses to me. “Drink it,” he orders. “You’ll feel better.”

The flavoured water is refreshing and tastes mildly like peaches and strawberries.

“So,” the Alpha says after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. “You must be wondering what this is all about?”