Chapter 3: Chapter 3

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Menu Kane I sat brooding in the bar, surrounded by pounding music and swirling fog from the smoke machines. “How dare she prepare divorce papers?” I muttered, glaring at my drink. “And she really thought I wouldn’t sign them?” My lips twisted into a bitter grin.

“Well, I sure crushed that little plan, didn’t I?”

Selene wasn’t just boring – she was manipulative. The night we “met” was still crystal clear in my mind. She’d been eighteen, and I’d just turned twenty–one. She drugged me that night, and I woke up next to her in a hotel bed. There was no doubt in my mind that she was behind it.

I’d hated her ever since, especially after my father forced me to marry her.

She must have begged my father to make it happen. As a gamma’s daughter, being Luna was way out of her league – unless she trapped me. And my father, always playing the perfect, compassionate pack leader, didn’t think twice about sacrificing his own son’s happiness. Even worse, he’d used my future position as alpha to blackmail me into the marriage.

The fact that she could scheme like that at eighteen showed just how devious she was.

Though we’d slept together, I never felt the mate bond with her. That’s why I never marked her. She didn’t deserve my mark anyway, and being wolfless, it wouldn’t have mattered. Oddly enough, my wolf had some weird soft spot for Selene, despite her not having a wolf of her own.

But fate had smiled on me. I met Ruby – sexy, gorgeous Ruby. Better yet, when I asked about a scar on her arm, I discovered she was the little girl who’d saved my life when I was a kid. Now she was saving me again, coming to the bar to comfort me after hearing about the divorce.

I felt her hand on my thigh and turned to her.

She pressed against me and whispered, “Don’t worry about her. She never deserved you. Be with me instead. I’ll never leave you.” She stood and held out her hand. “Come with me,” she purred.

I took her hand, following her through the crowd until we reached one of the bar’s private rooms. She pulled me inside and closed the door.

Her curves were driving me crazy, and I pushed her onto a couch, ready to take her right there. But my wolf went ballistic. ‘Stop!

You’ll regret sleeping with her!‘ he warned telepathically. ‘She’s not our mate.’

His reaction confused me. ‘If you’re so against Ruby because she’s not our mate, why are you so attached to that wolfless woman?‘ I snapped back.

He dodged my question. ‘Try this, and I’ll take control,‘ he threatened.

I couldn’t risk that. Sighing, I pulled away from Ruby.

“What’s wrong?” she frowned.

“You’re too pure,” I said, patting her hand. “I want to wait for the right time.”

A lame excuse, but what else could I say?

Later, I headed home, frustrated that both my father and my wolf were controlling my life. My driver kept nervously checking his rearview mirror – my mood must have been obvious. When we pulled up to the house, I spotted Selene leaving with a heavy suitcase.

08:44 3.36%

My anger boiled over. I jumped out, slammed the car door, and stormed toward her. She froze when she saw me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I demanded, eyeing her luggage.

“I already told you,” she said softly.

“Told me what?” I roared.

She flinched.

Pathetic. If my normal voice scared her this much, what would my alpha voice do to her?

“I’m leaving your house and your pack,” she whispered.

I sneered. Who was she kidding? She couldn’t leave without permission from my parents, the head Alpha and Luna. “What’s wrong? Too ashamed to stay in my pack?” I taunted.

She looked away like a frightened kitten.

“You coward. You have nowhere to go. No pack would dare shelter their future alpha’s ex–wife. You’re still bound to this pack.

Cross the boundary, and the wolves will tear you apart.”

She started crying those fake tears of hers. Disgusted, I brushed past her toward the house. But just as I reached the door, the sobbing stopped. I turned around to see her collapsed on the ground.