Destiney POV: I held my five-year-old daughter Daisy tightly in my arms, sitting in the cramped bedroom of my family's old house. Through the thin walls, the harsh voices of my adoptive brother Glen and his wife Consuelo echoed loudly. "I am pregnant, Glen! We need money!" Consuelo shrieked. "Collin Mckenzie is willing to pay a fifty-thousand-crystal bride price for your sister. He does not even care that she has a bastard child. I am going to see him tomorrow to set the wedding date! With that money, we can buy a bigger house for our new baby!" Glen's voice was muffled but helpless. He had a crippled leg, and finding a wife had been incredibly hard for him. He used to treat me so well, which was the only reason I had endured Consuelo's insults for so long. I could not be the reason their marriage fell apart. But I could never marry Collin. He was a notorious playboy with a history of violence and sick, twisted desires for young girls. I looked down at Daisy's sweet sleeping face, my heart aching. I had to protect her from that monster. Desperate, I pulled out my phone and thought of the man I had saved five years ago. Taking a chance, I typed a message. "Can you marry me?" To my surprise, his reply came almost instantly, asking for details. I did not want to hide anything. "I have a five-year-old daughter. I just need a married status to solve a huge problem. I will not cling to you, and you do not need to support my child. Once my trouble is resolved, I will divorce you and will not delay your future happiness." His response was brief. "See you at the Mistfall Blood-Contract Registry tomorrow at nine-thirty in the morning." The next morning, I shoved open the heavy glass door of the Mistfall Blood-Contract Registry, my fingers twisting the faded hem of my trench coat as freezing wind bit into my neck. Inside my pocket, my phone vibrated violently. The screen flashed with the name of my sister-in-law, Consuelo Cain. I hit reject with a trembling thumb, my stomach knotting tightly. Consuelo and my greedy stepmother Rosa had already promised me to Collin Mckenzie, the notorious playboy heir of the Mckenzie Pack, in exchange for a fifty-thousand-crystal bride price. Near the lobby entrance, two yellow-haired thugs in leather jackets craned their necks, scanning the crowd. They were Collin's hounds, sent to drag me into Mckenzie territory before sundown. I bit my lower lip and slipped behind a massive stone pillar, checking my battered wristwatch. Three minutes left until the agreed time. If the man didn't show up, my only option was to take my five-year-old daughter Daisy, who suffered from congenital bloodline depletion, and flee into the lethal wilderness crawling with packless Rogues. Suddenly, the temperature in the hall plummeted. A sharp, aggressive scent of winter cedar mixed with frost surged into my nostrils. I jerked my chin up and collided with a pair of piercing dark-gray eyes. A tall, broad-shouldered man in a worn black jacket strode toward me. Every heavy step he took radiated a battlefield pressure that forced the ordinary werewolves in the lobby to lower their heads and scramble out of his path. I assumed he must have been a soldier who bled on the borders. I drew a sharp breath and stepped out from the shadow, my voice dry but steady. "Kane Gutierrez? We met at the border hospital five years ago. You agreed to my proposal?" Kane halted half a step away, towering over me at over six-foot-two. He didn't utter a word, simply pulling a chipped identity crystal card from his pocket and slapping it onto the registration counter. The elderly Beta clerk glanced at the tags reading "Retired, Landless, Inner Wolf Lost" on Kane's file, a sneer curling his lip before he tossed two blood-contract forms onto the desk. In werewolf society, losing one's inner wolf meant dropping to the very bottom of the gene hierarchy, no better than a genetic defective like me. I picked up the steel pen and handed it to him. As my fingertips brushed the rough skin of his knuckles, a violent jolt of static electricity shot up my spine. My heart hammered against my ribs, and a strange, warm fullness flooded the hollow ache in my chest, as if a missing piece of my soul had snapped into place. I yanked my hand back in shock. It had to be a hallucination caused by sheer panic. Everyone in Mistfall knew I was a wolfless defective born without an inner wolf, completely incapable of triggering the Moon Goddess's mate recognition ritual. Kane's dark-gray eyes darkened at the contact, and he irritably tugged at his collar, briefly exposing a jagged, silver-bullet scar right above his collarbone. Keeping his face blank, he signed his name across the parchment in swift strokes, his voice rumbling like a cello. "Eight thousand dollars, plus room and board, correct?" I nodded hard, pulling eighty crumpled hundred-dollar bills from my canvas bag and pushing the stack toward him. "Here is the advance payment." Kane stared at the pile of small bills, the corner of his eye twitching faintly before he pinched the cash between two fingers and shoved it into his jacket pocket. "I am so sorry for using you like this," I whispered, feeling deeply apologetic. "I promise our marriage will only last for one month. I will not take a single crystal of your property when we divorce." "Starting today, you are my legal mate, and Collin has no right to touch me," I whispered, clutching the red-stamped blood contract against my chest as a long breath left my lungs. Across the lobby, Collin's two yellow-haired thugs spotted us and charged over cursing, only to freeze dead in their tracks when Kane shot them a frigid, murderous glare. Whimpering like whipped dogs, both thugs spun around and bolted out the exit. I looked up at Kane with genuine gratitude. "Thank you. Come with me to the old Aguilar house first. I need to announce our bond to my stepmother and sister-in-law." Kane let out a noncommittal grunt, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked out the glass doors ahead of me, leaving me staring at his rigid back. Kane POV: Walking out of the registry, I stepped out of Destiney's line of sight and headed straight into the alley shadow where a modified, armor-plated black SUV idled. I pulled the door open, and Furman Nash, my Beta and chief executive assistant at the Gutierrez Apex Syndicate, adjusted the gold-rimmed monocle over his right eye, bowing his head to hand me a classified folder. "Alpha, are you really going to play house with this low-ranking woman just to recover that mythril rune watch?" Furman projected his voice directly into my mind through our Pack Mind-Link. In our kind, wolves of the same Pack communicate silently through soul-bound telepathy, a channel a wolfless woman like Destiney could never tap into. I leaned back against the leather seat, shook a cigarette from my pack, and lit it, inhaling deeply before answering in my head. "That watch holds the supreme defense codes of the Gutierrez empire, and her little mural shop's IP address is our only lead." I felt nothing but disdain for my new wife. I had seen countless women throw themselves at me for my wealth. She was using her life-saving grace from five years ago to blackmail me into marriage, obviously aiming for my massive family fortune. I despised women with hidden agendas. If it were not for retrieving my lost mythril watch, I would have just given her a large sum of money to disappear. She was so hypocritical, setting a one-month contract limit. Did she really think she could captivate me in a month and make me refuse to divorce her? My thumb rubbed the spot on my hand where her skin had brushed mine, my blood still simmering from the deafening roar my giant Dire Wolf had unleashed inside my skull. Mine! All five fated mate reactions, the intoxicating scent of moonlit grass, the racing pulse, the electric sparks, the soul's peace, and my wolf's possessive roar, had hit me at once. This dirt-poor, stubborn gold-digging woman was my fated Luna. This had to be the Moon Goddess's cruelest joke. Yet five years ago, I had nearly bled out on a full moon night when my watch was stolen, and I refused to let primal instinct blind me to a potential trap. "Monitor every cent moving through her accounts," I commanded coldly, crushing the burning cigarette butt into the ashtray. "If she's a gold-digging thief who engineered this to climb into the syndicate, I'll snap her neck myself." I shoved the SUV door open and walked back into the freezing wind toward my "cheap" new wife, who was waiting by the curb for the city bus. Once the one-month deadline was up, I would ruthlessly throw her away.

Destiney POV: I led Kane onto the crowded cross-town bus, his six-foot-two muscular frame looking painfully out of place squeezed between rusted handrails as his brows drew into a tight knot. Halfway down the avenue, the driver slammed on the brakes. My boots slipped on the grimy floor, and I crashed straight into Kane's rock-hard chest, the crisp scent of winter cedar wrapping around me until my cheeks burned. His large hand shot out and clamped firmly around my waist, pulling me close to protect me from falling. His deep voice dropping from above my head. "Stand steady." A strange warmth spread through my chest at his protective gesture, making my cheeks burn. "Sorry," I muttered, taking a flustered half-step back and staring out the scratched window while my pulse hammered in my ears. Thirty minutes later, we stepped off the bus and stood before the peeling wooden door of the old Aguilar house. I gripped the hem of my trench coat, drew a deep breath, and pushed the door open. The living room reeked of cheap perfume, and my stepmother Rosa sat on the floral sofa counting crystal gambling chips, her eyelids lifting in a nasty sneer the moment she saw the stranger behind me. "Destiney, you finally decided to crawl back?" Rosa barked shrilly. "Young Master Collin's betrothal gifts arrive tomorrow morning, so go scrub yourself clean and get ready to serve him!" I met her greedy gaze without flinching and slammed the red-stamped blood contract onto the coffee table. "I'm mated. This is my legal husband, Kane." Rosa froze, snatched up the parchment, and burst into ear-splitting laughter. "A landless retired grunt who can't even sense his own inner wolf? Have you lost your mind, you stupid girl?" Kane stood behind my right shoulder with his hands in his pockets, his dark-gray eyes as cold as a frozen abyss while he stayed completely silent, playing the part of a helpless bottom-tier wolf. "He is not trash!" I snapped, stepping squarely in front of Kane to shield him. "He bled on the border to protect our kind, which makes him a hundred times nobler than bloodsuckers like you!" Rosa flinched at my outburst, though her eyeballs rolled slyly before she plastered a fake smile across her face. "Oh my, since you two already signed the blood bond, stay for dinner while I go check the kitchen." Knowing she was plotting something foul, I turned to Kane and kept my voice low. "Wait for me here. I'm going to check on Daisy." I hurried down the narrow hallway to the damp, windowless storage closet at the end that served as a bedroom for my daughter and me. Pushing the door open, I found five-year-old Daisy curled up on the thin mattress, her small face pale as paper while the faint surgical scar over her chest rose and fell with her shallow breaths. "Mommy..." Daisy whispered weakly, reaching out her thin arms as I scooped her against my chest and kissed her forehead. "Sweetheart, Mommy is taking you away from here today. We have a new home now." After tucking the blanket around her until she drifted back to sleep, I stepped out of the storage room, only to find the living room sofa completely empty. Kane POV: The moment that greedy stepmother ducked into the kitchen and Destiney went to check on her little bastard, I glided into the hallway without making a sound. Years of lethal combat as the supreme Alpha had honed my stealth to perfection. Slipping into the cramped bedroom right after Destiney stepped out to grab a towel in the washroom, I wrinkled my nose at the suffocating stench of damp mold. A frail cub lay asleep on the cot. She was innocent, and my gaze softened slightly as I looked at her pale face. I swept my hands through the battered wardrobe, under the mattress, and inside the cardboard boxes in the corner. There was no trace of the mythril rune watch anywhere. Irritation pricked at my temples as I wondered if she had hidden it at her mural shop, and just as I turned to leave, a faded photograph on the nightstand caught my eye. It showed an eighteen-year-old Destiney with long, cascading silver-white curls and bright golden eyes, smiling wildly under the moonlight. My heart contracted violently. On that full moon night five years ago at The Moonlit Velvet club, the woman who had tangled with me in a delirious frenzy of The Heat had possessed that exact same silver hair. Could it be Destiney? No, that was impossible. Alexa Fletcher was the one who claimed she was with me that night and bore my son Jared. But I had always despised Alexa's greedy face. I only acknowledged her as Jared's biological mother and absolutely refused to accept her as my wife or fiancee. I squeezed my eyes shut to banish the absurd thought, but just then, the little girl on the bed rolled over and let out a soft sigh. A faint, unmistakable scent drifted into my nose, making my blood boil instantly. It was the unique aura of the Gutierrez golden wolf bloodline! How could a dying, bottom-tier cub carry the royal genetic signature of my family? Destiney clearly had many secrets. My brows furrowed in deep suspicion just as Destiney's hurried footsteps echoed right outside the hallway. Suppressing my aura immediately, I slipped out the side gap and returned to the living room sofa, picking up the chipped teacup to take a slow sip right as Destiney pushed the hallway door open.

Destiney POV: I walked briskly back into the living room and let out a breath of relief when I saw Kane sitting calmly on the sofa holding his teacup. I knew my life was tough, and seeing Kane's worn clothes, I realized his situation was not much better. "Do not worry, Kane," I whispered. "I will work hard to paint murals and support our family." A flicker of genuine amusement crossed Kane's dark-gray eyes. It was incredibly ironic for the supreme heir of a billionaire syndicate to be told he would be supported by a woman. Before I could speak, the front door was kicked open with a deafening bang. My sister-in-law, Consuelo Cain, stormed inside supporting her seven-month pregnant belly, her painted face twisted with rage. "Destiney! You shameless bitch, have you gone insane?" Consuelo shrieked, hurling her designer handbag onto the floor. "How dare you sign a mate contract with street garbage behind Young Master Collin's back?" I straightened my spine and stared at her coldly. "My life is none of your business, Consuelo. I'm legally mated now, so you won't get a single crystal of Collin's bride price." Trembling with fury, Consuelo jabbed a manicured finger inches from my nose. "You think finding a penniless shield will save you? Young Master Collin promised me fifty thousand crystals to buy my brother a new territory, and you are marching into his bed tonight!" My adoptive brother, Glen Aguilar, limped through the doorway on his crippled leg, his face flushed red as he grabbed Consuelo's arm. "Stop it, Consuelo, Destiney has the right to choose her own mate..." "Shut your mouth, you useless cripple!" Consuelo snarled, swinging her palm backhand to deliver a loud slap across Glen's cheek before cradling her stomach arrogantly. "I'm carrying a purebred heir in my belly. How dare a broken dog talk back to me?" "What gives this penniless beggar the right to marry you?" Consuelo continued screaming at me. "He has a handsome face but cannot even pull out a single coin for a bride price!" My hands trembled with fury. "I love Kane!" I declared, forcing myself to endure her insults. "Even if I have to work to feed him, I am completely willing to do so! We are truly in love!" A trace of unexpected warmth flashed deep within Kane's eyes at my words. Fury burned in my chest and I lunged forward to defend my brother, but a broad, calloused hand pressed firmly down on my shoulder. Kane rose slowly from the sofa, his towering six-foot-two frame casting a suffocating shadow across the cramped living room as he stepped in front of me and locked his eyes on Consuelo like she was a rotting corpse. He didn't speak a single word, yet the air in the room seemed to vanish instantly. Deep within Kane's dark-gray pupils, a violent glint of dark gold flared. A terrifying, invisible pressure, an Alpha's Command, crashed down upon the room. In the werewolf world, an Alpha's genetic dominance is absolute law, forcing any lower-ranking wolf within its range into immediate physiological submission. Consuelo's screeching cut off mid-syllable, the blood draining from her face until her knees buckled and she dropped to the floor with a loud thud, shaking uncontrollably. Beside the kitchen door, Rosa collapsed onto the sofa, clutching her throat and gasping for air like a fish out of water. Standing safely behind Kane's broad back, I felt none of that crushing force and assumed Consuelo had simply suffered a sudden pregnancy cramp from screaming too hard. I looked down at Consuelo sprawled on the floorboards. "Take your greed and get out of my sight," I said evenly. "From this moment on, I have nothing to do with the Aguilar family." Kane retracted his aura, allowing air to flow back into the room as he turned his head toward me, his voice returning to its usual flat rumble. "Pack your things. We're leaving." I nodded quickly, hurried back to the storage closet to wrap Daisy in a thick coat, slung my canvas bag over my shoulder, and carried my daughter out. As we reached the front threshold, Consuelo barely managed to prop herself up on her elbows, her eyes wide with terror even as her mouth twitched spitefully. "Y-you won't get away with this! Young Master Collin will tear you both to pieces!" Without even turning his head, Kane tossed two icy words over his shoulder. "Let him." The sheer disdain in his tone made the feared Mckenzie heir sound like an ant waiting to be crushed under a boot. We left the suffocating house behind and walked down the chilly pavement of Mistfall's outer district. Kane looked down at me, his voice flat but carrying a sharp edge. "You should not indulge that woman. If it were me, I would have thrown her out of the house immediately." I let out a helpless sigh. "I have endured it for five months. We are moving out right now, so there is no need to make things so ugly." Kane frowned, clearly thinking I was too soft and would easily get bullied out in the real world. Glancing up at Kane's sharp profile, I couldn't help speaking softly. "Thank you for back there. Even though you lost your inner wolf, the aura you gave off just now was terrifying." Kane's footsteps paused for a fraction of a second before a dark, unreadable smirk curved his lips. "Is that so? Maybe it's because I've slaughtered too many enemies on the border." "Whatever the reason," I said, stopping to look straight into his dark-gray eyes while clutching my sleeping daughter, "I promised you room and board. I paint wall murals for a living, and I'll work hard to support you so you never have to bow your head to anyone again." A flash of genuine shock crossed Kane's eyes before giving way to a deeper, hidden amusement, though he merely gave a quiet grunt of acknowledgment. Ten minutes later, I stopped in front of a rundown apartment building I had rented in advance, where peeling plaster hung from the walls and the stairwell reeked of sour garbage. My fingers tightened awkwardly around the brass key as I glanced at his spotless black boots. "The place is pretty rough, so I'm sorry you have to put up with it for now. There's only one bed inside, so I'll take the sofa." Kane scanned the stained concrete corridor, his brows furrowing into a rigid knot as every muscle in his body tensed against the filth.