Chapter 1

Gianna Marino

"Stop dragging your feet, Gianna! The guests will be arriving soon and nothing looks ready," Beatrice snapped, with a scowl as I hurried back to the hall to double-check the arrangements.

That day was my twenty-first birthday but Beatrice thought it best to make a special announcement on that day regarding my late father's pack. Beatrice was my stepmother who got married to my father (the Alpha of Silverton pack) two years after the death of my mother.

Six months after their marriage, I lost my dad to the cold hands of death. And his pack had been under her control ever since. Because I haven't felt my wolf yet. I was often regarded as a weakling or useless. I wasn't even an omega.

"The table settings are crooked. Honestly, can you organize anything properly?" she added with a sneer, hovering nearby as I adjusted the placements and made sure the seating chart was intact.

But it's all going to end when I finally get married to my fiancé who just returned from his two-month trip and is going to engage me tonight.

Everything was planned out already. After I get married to the man after my heart, I can fight to get back my father's company from Beatrice with my fiance; Ethan's backing. 

"You should thank your stars your father got married to me." Beatrice huffed.

"How else would you have managed to keep the pack in one piece? You had better have every detail in place before I return from the kitchen. If even one thing is out of order, you’ll regret it, you sluggish peasant!" She hissed and walked away, and I pressed on, reviewing the guest list and checking the lighting one last time.

Beatrice wasn't the only person who had something going on for her that day. It was my freaking birthday as well!

*-*-*-*-*-

A couple more hours passed and I was finally ready for the night.

Beatrice said it was a big night for a special announcement. She even provided rooms for all invited guests, mainly Alpha's from other packs to spend the night. 

I dressed like I was the reason for the night and I wasn't entirely wrong. If my dad were here, he would throw me a big feast to celebrate my birthday.

I wore a simple yet classy peach gown with floral patterns. The most expensive dress I had, it was given to me by my dad before his death.

A pair of gold earrings, necklace and wristwatch. A flat but elegant black shoe to match with my carefully curled hair. A red lipstick and eyeliner to finish up and I looked pleasant.

The hall was filled and the guests were dressed in luxurious clothes and exchanged pleasantries with warm smiles.

I heaved a sigh and checked my watch, it was one of the expensive jewelry Ethan sent to me while he was away -- my earrings and my necklace too.

"Come on..." I bit my lower lip nervously. He was thirty minutes late. The plan was to steal the occasion by proposing to me first but he was not there yet.

Just as I tried to scan the hall for the umpteenth time, I heard my name from behind. 

"Gianna!" Beatrice called with a sharp tone and I turned to meet her disdainful gaze.

"Go to my room and bring me the wine on my table. I reserved it, specially for Alpha Dmitri." She threw her room key at me and waved me away.

I followed the staircase leading to the rows with doors on each side. I headed for Beatrice's room which was the last in the row but when I walked past the door before hers, I thought I heard something -- no, I know I heard something so I retraced my steps and placed my ear on the not fully closed door.

And I heard it again, clearer this time. It was a moan.

I gritted. 

'Who dare defile a room in the late Alpha's mansion?' I was going to disgrace such a person. The house was open because a special announcement wanted to be made not for some quickie needs.

I pushed the door open and stepped in, ready to disgrace whoever didn't have the slightest dignity but I froze when I saw my friend, Cassie moaning while she had a man thrust in and out of her.

"What?" I whimpered and squinted my eyes. My first instinct was to leave the room and give my friend some privacy, and I almost did but then the man thrusting into her changed position on the bed and that was when I got the shocker of my miserable life.

Ethan, my fiance was screwing my friend! 

"Oh.. please don't stop Ethan! Fuck me like you haven't done to Gianna!" Cassie clutched her leg around his waist and pulled him in even more and he moaned like he never did with me.

My hands trembled as I held on to the doorknob like my life depended on it. 

"Ethan," I whispered as tears glistened in my eyes. I called him severally but he didn't pick up. So he was here all along with my friend.

My body felt like it would give way beneath me, my heart pounding in my ears louder than the sinful moans that still echoed from the room behind me.

I stumbled back, bumping into the wall as bile rose in my throat.

Cassie? Ethan?

The two people I trusted the most.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The hallway spun. My vision blurred with tears, and the walls seemed to close in. I clutched at my chest and then forced myself to turn and run, my heels clicking erratically against the marble floor, I was in utter panic.