The Wolfless Contract Luna (Grace and Ethan) novel Chapter 1

**Glass Gardens Falling by George Orwell**

**Chapter 1: Betrayal with Brother’s Widow**

**Grace POV**

Damien’s hands rest possessively on Lilith’s waist, his mouth crashing against hers with a fervor that is both hungry and desperate—a rawness I haven’t witnessed in three long years.

My legs feel like they’ve been rooted to the ground, paralyzed by the sight before me. The steam from the hot spring wraps around my lower limbs like a suffocating fog, making it difficult to breathe, to think, to comprehend what I am witnessing. All I can do is stand there, a silent observer, as my husband kisses his deceased brother’s widow as if she were the very air he needs to survive.

‘This isn’t happening,’ I repeat in my mind, a mantra against the reality unfolding before my eyes.

But deep down, I know it is.

Just thirty minutes earlier, a knock at my door had shattered the fragile calm of my evening.

“Luna Grace,” Beta Luka’s voice had come out strained, like he was forcing the words through a tight throat. “Alpha Damien requests your presence.”

A jolt of adrenaline surged through me. “Where?”

“The hot spring. In Sunset Forest.” He shifted his weight awkwardly, avoiding my gaze. “He’s waiting.”

Heat flooded my cheeks, a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

‘A surprise. He planned something special after all,’ I thought, a flicker of hope igniting within me.

I smoothed my hands down the delicate black lace of my lingerie, the fabric hugging my curves in all the right places—Damien’s favorite set.

Taking one last glance in the mirror, I assessed my reflection. My golden hair cascaded around my shoulders, just as he used to like it. My green eyes sparkled with a mixture of anticipation and something darker, something I was desperately trying to convince myself was excitement rather than desperation.

Three years. Three years of being his Luna, his mate, his wife. I had willingly handed over the pack I inherited to him, helping him manage its affairs with love and devotion.

Three years that should have meant everything.

Yet the bond that once pulsed warmly in my chest now ached—dull and distant. It had been that way ever since his brother’s untimely death. Since the moment Damien assumed the Alpha title, he had ceased to look at me as if I were anything more than a duty.

‘Tonight will be different,’ I told myself, clinging to the hope that maybe—just maybe—tonight things could return to the way they once were.

With determination, I moved swiftly, grabbing a robe from the bed and throwing it on. The silk barely concealed the lace beneath, but at that moment, I couldn’t care less.

Hope burned within me, bright and painful, with each step feeling like I was soaring—desperate, reckless, alive. The chill of the floor beneath my feet faded away, and I was blissfully unaware of the omegas I brushed past. All that mattered was the wild, consuming hope clawing its way up my throat.

For the first time in months, my chest felt light. The mate bond stirred within me—sluggish, yes, but still there. Perhaps tonight it could regain its strength.

“Please, let this be real,” I whispered under my breath, my heart racing as I ventured deeper into the forest.

Anticipation thrummed beneath my skin, and with each step, my heart hammered in rhythm with my conflicting emotions—hope and fear intertwined so tightly that I could hardly distinguish one from the other.

Then, I heard it.

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