I came from the Cedar Pass pack. My family had no money and no prestigious bloodline.
Colton Moretti, on the other hand, was the Alpha heir of the Nightfall pack. So everyone around him assumed the only reason I’d agreed to become his chosen mate was for the title of Luna.
Especially Bianca Vale, the Beta’s daughter who had grown up with him.
She was always saying she’d seen too many women use tricks to get close to Alpha blood, so she knew my type.
To shut them up, I spent three years with Colton and never accepted a single expensive gift from him.
Bianca still said, “She only says no because she’s holding out for something bigger. She’s after the Moretti family’s resources and the Luna position.”
Then came Colton’s birthday. I saved for six months to buy him a mechanical watch.
I was almost at their private dining room in the Nightfall pack’s clubhouse when I heard Bianca’s laugh from inside.
“I knew she’d buy something expensive.”
“Women like her are always calculating. Spend a little now, and once the claim is complete, take a lot more from the pack.”
Colton was sitting right beside her. He didn’t deny it.
Someone laughed. “Colt, your future Luna really knows her math.”
Another person saw me and held up a hand, silencing the table.
“She’s here.”
Bianca let out a cold little laugh. The scent of her smugness was so sharp even my wolf could smell it.
“Some people are such fakes. Alphas prefer someone who’s direct, like me. Isn’t that right?”
Colton was silent for a moment before he looked up at me.
“Have you been pretending this whole time? Just waiting for the claim so you could get more out of me?”
I stood in the doorway, the watch box in my hand suddenly feeling impossibly heavy.
We weren’t fated mates. We had only registered as chosen partners with the pack. The claim hadn’t been completed, so there was no mark, no bond.
But after three years together, he should have known whether my feelings were real.
My wolf knew the scent of cedar that clung to Colton. It used to feel like home. Now, she recoiled from it.
I didn’t say a word. I just turned and walked away.
If he saw my sincerity as a joke, then there was no point in offering it.
After leaving the clubhouse, I went straight back to the mall where I’d bought the watch.
The saleswoman recognized me.
Half an hour earlier, I had been smiling as I took the gift box from her.
Now, with the ribbon still tied, I was asking her to take it back.
“Ma’am, his name is already engraved on the back. We can’t offer a full refund. We can only buy it back at the secondhand price.”
“How much?”
“Seven thousand dollars.”
I had spent six months saving ten thousand dollars for that watch.
I lost three thousand dollars in a single moment.
I nodded.
“That’s fine.”
The saleswoman had just taken the box when Bianca’s laugh echoed behind me.
“See? I knew she’d return it.”
Colton and everyone from the dining room had followed me.
A circle of high-ranking werewolves gathered around the counter, watching me like I was some kind of specimen up for inspection.
Someone took out their phone and snapped a picture of the refund slip.
“Ten grand for a watch. She’s probably angling for a sports car next.”
“That’s a better ROI than our top brokers get. Maybe she should give lessons.”
“Clawing her way from a border pack like Cedar Pass into the Alpha heir’s bed? You’ve got to admit, she’s got skills.”
The words hit me, one after another, until my fingers started to shake.
They all came from powerful Nightfall families. The nearby employees heard every word, but no one was about to offend the future Alpha and the Beta’s daughter.
Bianca walked over and glanced at the buyback receipt.
“You’re all so naive.”
“A normal gold digger just asks for money.”
“She’s smarter than that. Spend a little, then make a show of being hurt and returning the gift. Make the man feel guilty, and the car, the apartment, and the Luna title are sure to follow.”
The people beside her laughed even louder.
“So that’s the trick.”
“No wonder she didn’t take Colt’s gifts for three years. She’s been playing the long game for the title of Mrs. Moretti.”
I took my bank card back and turned to leave.
Colton caught my wrist.
“Are you done?”
He pulled a black card from his wallet and shoved it into my hand.
“I was harsh today. Go buy yourself something you like and cut the attitude.”
I looked down at the card, my chest tight with a pain so sharp it was hard to breathe.
We’d been together for three years, and I had never spent a cent of his money.
But even now, he still thought money and his Alpha-heir privilege could fix anything.
I set the card on the counter.
“Colton, we’re done.”
His expression shifted.
Bianca clapped her hands once.
“I told you.”
“Returning the gift was just step one. The breakup threat—that’s the real power play.”
She turned to Colton, her voice full of smug certainty.
“She waited three years. The claim was right around the corner. There’s no way she’d actually walk away.”
“She’s trying to force your hand, make you move up the ceremony.”
The others chimed in at once.
“Just move up the claim ceremony, Colt.”
“If you don’t claim her soon, the next thing you know she’ll be filing to cancel her registration.”
The crease between Colton’s brows slowly smoothed out.
He looked down at me, his voice suddenly lighter with the infuriating confidence of a man who thought he’d figured me out.
“If you want the claim, you can just say so.”
“Don’t use walking out to manipulate me. It’s childish.”
I pulled my hand free.
“I’m not manipulating you.”
“I’m just done with you.”
Colton stared at me for a few seconds, the last of his patience gone.
“Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep this up.”
I didn’t answer. I just left the mall alone.
The moment I got into a rideshare, my director called.
“We’re suddenly short-handed on a project in the Red Sand territory. It’s a three-year posting, and you’d have to leave the day after tomorrow.”
“The local partner is the Crimson Sand pack. The conditions there are rough. Are you interested?”
I had already turned down two overseas assignments for Colton.
This time, I didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll go.”
I booked a flight for nine o’clock the morning after next.
Forty-eight hours. Then I would leave Gray Harbor—and Colton—behind.
He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 20 The Nightfall pack’s assembly hall was full on the day of the public review. The high-ranking werewolves who had laughed at me in the club three years ago sat in the last two rows of the gallery. There was no alcohol, and no one
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 19 My request was approved that same day. The Nightfall pack’s council of elders scheduled the public review for three days later. The vote on the transport-line partnership was postponed until after the result. After reading the notice, my director asked, “Do you want to
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 18 On the seventh day, he went back to Gray Harbor alone. Bianca tried to intercept him at the airport. She cried, saying everyone had blocked her, her work had been affected, and now he was the only one who could help her. Colton walked
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 17 “Now that I don’t want to say it anymore, you’re suddenly willing to listen.” “Colton, I never needed the future Alpha to grant me innocence.” “I just needed my partner to stand with me when other people were tearing me down.” “But you didn’t.”
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 16 Colton’s hand froze in midair. We had never completed the claim. There was no mate bond to make separation ache, no force in the world that could compel me to forgive him. “I can change.” “You’ve said that before.” After the first fake attack,
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 15 No one answered. Within half an hour, she had been removed from over a dozen group chats. Women she had once insulted started speaking up, too. One had merely spoken to Colton a few times and been labeled as someone using the Alpha to
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 14 After Bianca was thrown out of the club, she posted a long statement on her public account. She claimed she was only looking out for the future Alpha, that everyone else had joined in on the jokes, and that now she was the only
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 13 Bianca choked on her words. “We didn’t know her mother was really sick.” “She told you.” Colton looked at the others. “Which one of you didn’t see the medical bill and the healer’s signature she posted in the group chat?” Several of his friends
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 12 Colton gripped the phone, his throat working. “I looked into the watch.” “Mm-hm.” “You saved for half a year to buy it.” “So?” He seemed caught off guard by my calm. “I didn’t know that at the time.” “Didn’t know, or never bothered to
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He Scorned My Love Now He Watches My Rise Chapter 11 “So what, exactly, did she take from me?” Bianca froze for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed. “My feelings, obviously. She wasted three years of your life waiting to become Luna of the Nightfall pack.” “The public claim ceremony was set. The elder witnesses
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