Eve’s POVThe moonlight bathed us in its immaculate glow, teasing the soft highlights of our features. I smiled as Dorian moved, the whispers of the sheets rousing me awake.

“Shhh,” he whispered, pushing back a stray curl from my face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

"It's okay." I felt the soreness between my thighs as I tried to sit up, reminding me of the kind of night we just had. Alpha Dorian watched me like I was the most intriguing thing he'd ever come across.

Yet, it still wasn’t complete.

“Where were you going?” I questioned, my eyes scanning his bedroom for the clock. It was a few minutes past 4 am. The entirety of the pack was bound to still be asleep.

“I wanted to get a glass of water,” he replied. He still had that look in his eyes when he leaned closer and planted a chaste kiss on my lips.

I waited for the sensation from last night. The heat that had engulfed us both. How we couldn't keep our hands off each other. But a lot had changed. Although Dorian still smiled at me, it didn't reach his eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" I grazed his hands slightly and tried not to feel affected when they stiffened underneath my touch.

"Nothing, Eve." He stopped looking at my eyes, leaning away from me. He stared at the wall on the other side, like he was mind-linking someone close by. "Do you need something from the kitchen?"

“You didn’t mark me, Dorian.” There was no accusation in my voice. Just a mere statement. I still trusted him. “You told me you were going to.”

He didn’t say anything, talking over to the door after grabbing a robe from the hook. “I’ll be back,” I heard him call. “And I’ll get you a bottle of water.”

Left in the silence, I settle back into bed, allowing his scent to wash over me. I love Dorian. I'd always loved him even before I realized I was his mate last night, before I found myself in his bed.

And I knew he loved me too, because even if everyone had stopped talking to me in the pack because my father, the former Beta, had just been sentenced to death on the accusation of treason, Dorian didn’t treat me the same way.

He told me it was not my fault that my father was a horrible person. I didn't think they were right, but there was little I could do about it.

The door creaked open, and a lazy smile etched on my face. "That was fast," I whispered. "Did you get help from one of the pack slaves?"

A scoff made my head whip up so fast that I felt blood rush into my head.

Astrid.

“Who let you into his part of the pack?” I asked at once, getting the sheets to cover my naked frame. “It is supposed to be off-limits to you.”

It was only past 4, yet she looked like she’d just walked out of a fashion magazine, with her beautifully styled hair, falling around her face in bangs, and her pretty brown eyes, with cruelty laced in them.

“I should be asking you that,” she shot back, shaking her head. “I guess Dorian should be the one to blame, letting traitors like you down this path.”

"I am not a traitor, Astrid. I am the Alpha's son's mate, and you will treat me with the respect I deserve."

Dorian asked me not to tell anyone he was my mate for now, until he made the formal announcement. But I hated Astrid's guts. She wasn't even a member of our pack, but she waltzed in and out as she pleased without restraint.

And for some reason, she had always gone about saying she was going to be our future Luna. Now that I was Dorian's mate, I could laugh at her silly dreams.

“Mate?” She laughed, the sound piercing into the night and making the hair at the back of my neck stand. “Is that why you are here, naked in his bed? Did he mark you, Eve?”

Unconsciously, my hand moves to my neck, where his teeth should have clamped down on. But it was still smooth. Still painless. Astrid's eyes followed my actions, and her laughter grew even louder.

“I know you can be quite silly, Eve, but I never actually thought you were naïve. Dorian was only using you. If he wanted to make you his Luna, he wouldn’t have been able to resist marking you. You should have at least known that much.”

I remembered it from class. The irresistible mate bond. The heat that follows, and then the marking. It was in that particular order.

Still, I shook my head, wrapping the sheets around me even tighter. “Dorian loves me, Astrid. I’m sure someone as vile and jealous as you won’t be able to understand.”

Her shoulder bobs as she chuckles, as she moves further into the room, leaning on the windowsill. My dress is still draped on the chair next to her. She scrunches her nose in disgust at the sight.

"Is that the underwear you had on when Dorian slept with you?" She asked with mock horror on her face. "It looks like a grandma's."

I jumped out of the bed at once, lunging to pull my panties off her hands, panties that she was now sampling mid-air.

But the door opened again, and Dorian walked in. He held no glass of water in his hand, and he didn't pay any attention to Astrid.

He knew she was in there.

“Eve, put on your clothes. It’s time to leave.”

“What?” I stared at him with confusion etched in my face.

“Did you really think I would mark you?”

Astrid laughed again, this time louder. It felt like claws digging into my skin. “The bitch seems to think sex means automatic appointment as Luna.”

Dorian snickers. “She’s dumb.”

I think I am going to lose it. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me, Eve. I, Dorian Voss, son of the Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack, hereby reject you as my mate.”

I shake my head, tears tinging the corners of my eyes.

“You should have known better than to trust the man who killed your father.”