Charles’ breath quickened, and his movements became more urgent. “I’m close,” he gasped in my ear, his voice breaking between moans. My own pleasure surged, and I couldn’t hold back the scream that tore from my throat. A wave of electric tingles swept through me, my temples throbbed, and the world around me faded into white…
Every pore on my body felt wide open, heat radiating from me in waves. It was surreal, as if I were in a dream, feeling everything but grasping none of it…
I could hardly believe it—I had married this man, the infamous Alpha of the Black Valley Pack, Charles McLean, and I had just slept with him.
But there was no love between us. We weren’t fated mates.
Since his first shift at eighteen, Charles McLean had never found his fated mate. And after one engagement after another, each of his fiancées had died under mysterious circumstances. Rumor had it that he wore a mask to conceal his hideous face and that he was a cruel, violent man who would kill without hesitation. People whispered that he had murdered his previous fiancées.
His last fiancée—my sister—was terrified of him. Horrified by the stories, she had vehemently refused to marry him. And just before the wedding, she found her fated mate. So, without warning or preparation, I was forced to take her place, pushed into marrying Charles in her stead, to stand as his wife in name only and the unacknowledged Luna of the Black Valley Pack…

A Substituted Bride But A Fated Luna

When I called out, the butler entered the room, looking a bit troubled as he glanced over at my father, still lying in bed, moaning softly.


"Miss, the study is a space exclusively for Alpha. Without permission, no one is allowed to work in there," the butler said, shifting his gaze between me and my father, back and forth. "Are you sure you want to do this?"


The butler’s words only made my father more agitated. He let out a louder wail, his eyes seeming to agree with the butler’s caution.


I hesitated briefly, but as soon as I thought of the documents on the Moonstone that might be hidden in the study, I forced myself to stay firm. I nodded. "Yes, I’m sure."


“Uhhh…” My father let out a long, pained moan, his glare sharp enough to feel like it might poison me on the spot.


But he was powerless, immobilized, and could only glare and moan helplessly.


127 Secrets in the Study