Marked in Shadows

Four years ago, Alpha Matteo Donovan was drugged. On that crazy night, I became his cure. From that moment on, I was his most trusted Beta by day and his lover by night, tangled up in his sheets until dawn.

Just when I started drowning in the heat of his gaze, his first love, Sabrina Monroe, came back.

To please her, Matteo threw me to the pack’s borderlands, where it was rogue-infested. He even tore up Mom's keepsakes right in front of me.

When I finally gave up and applied to leave the pack, Matteo suddenly began to look for me like he had gone mad.

I held the document in my hands that confirmed my release from the pack, signed with the Alpha's own name, Matteo Donovan.

Just as I was about to leave the office building, Elder Jason Briggs called me again.

He said, "The Alpha doesn't know it's you who's leaving. If you tell him, he'll definitely ask you to stay since you're his most trusted Beta."

I lowered my eyes slightly and replied, "No need to trouble him with something so trivial."

Jason still refused to give up. "You've been at his side for four years. You've handled almost everything for him. If you leave, he won't know how to manage without you."

He kept trying to talk me out of it, but my mind was made up.

"His life will be more comfortable without me anyway. I'm just an extra presence that doesn't belong. My pack is at war, and I have to go back.

"Plus, I've reached the age for my marking ceremony, so I really don't have the energy to stay by the Alpha's side anymore. Since the Alpha already approved my request, I'll spend the next month briefing his new Beta on everything, and then I'll leave."

Jason tried once more to convince me over the phone. However, seeing how firm I was, he finally gave up.

After hanging up, I started packing my belongings.

I had lived in that house for three years. Aside from daily necessities, I threw everything else away.

Sitting in the empty room, I felt my heart hollow out too. For a moment, memories from eight years ago came flooding back.

Eight years ago, I left my poor, struggling pack and went to the Norland Pack to study. At college, I met the Matteo's sister, Penelope Donovan.

We hit it off quickly despite her privileged upbringing, and soon we became best friends. She never cared about where I came from and even brought me into high society circles, introducing me to influential wolves.

At one gathering, she introduced me to her brother, the pack's greatest man, the Alpha. I was instantly drawn to Matteo's tall, handsome appearance and fell hard for him.

Throughout college, I channeled my love for him into improving myself, all just to get a little closer to him.

After graduation, I got my wish and became Matteo's Beta. Just thinking about seeing him