Unrequited love is no match for secret admiration

chapter 1

My childhood sweetheart, Noah, comes from a family of werewolves. After their twentieth birthday, every full moon sends them into a powerful heat. And according to their ancient laws, the first person they mark becomes their one and only mate for life.

I always thought that when the time came, Noah would choose me.

So when his friends called me on the night of his first transformation, telling me he was in agony and needed me, I rushed over without a second thought. But as I reached the door of the private room, I heard Noah's voice, tight with frustration.

"God, I really don't want to waste it on Pearl."

"I want to go after Karen, the most popular girl in school, but she's not the easy type."

"Not like Pearl. She's like a pathetic little lapdog who comes running whenever I call."

"When she gets here, I'll have to resist, even if she begs me to let her help. The last thing I need is to be shackled to her for life after one mistake. She'd have me wrapped around her little finger forever."

I stood frozen outside the door, my mind a complete blank. I couldn't believe it. The boy I'd grown up with, the boy I adored, saw me as nothing more than that.

His friends, all of them the type to kiss up and kick down, burst out laughing.

"So, she's just a toy to you."

"Should I call and tell her not to come? Save her the trouble of trying to climb into your bed and trap you. Honestly, man, you get what you pay for."

But Noah stopped him. "No, don't," he said, his voice strained with discomfort. "If we tell her not to come now, how would that make her feel? Even if she is just a toy, she's one I've cared for since we were kids. I don't want to hurt her."

He let out a ragged breath. "When she gets here, I'll just see if I can hold back. I don't want to spell things out for her, but maybe this will finally make her understand."

In that moment, I wanted to storm in there and scream at him. You don't want to hurt me? You call me a dog in front of your friends and let them laugh at me, and you think you have the right to my devotion?

But I held back. Why waste my breath on someone who didn't value me?

I turned and walked away, a humiliating retreat. Don't cry, I told myself. Don't you dare cry.

Then, I remembered a different call. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number of his brother's bodyguard.

"That offer you made earlier to help Noah's brother? Is it still on the table? Send me the address. I'm on my way."