Chapter 2

I never imagined the girl who was supposedly “recovering from an illness in Europe” would turn out to be Richard’s fated mate.

Lynn.

Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Every curve dripping with confidence. She was fate’s cruelest joke.

She clicked across the floor in stilettos, that saccharine smile fixed on her lips. “Ann, I’m sorry… did I bother you?”

Bang!

I slammed the door in her face.

From the hall, my father’s roar shook the walls. “Ann! Do you have no manners? Get out of that room. Lynn likes it, so it’s hers from now on!”

I laughed bitterly and yanked my closet open, pulling clothes down in sharp, frantic motions.

The voices outside carried through the wood, clear as day.

“Uncle David, is Ann… angry?” Lynn’s tone was sweet as honey.

“Ignore her. She’s been spoiled since childhood.”

“But—”

“She’ll be marrying into the Bloodmoon Pack soon. This will be your and your mother’s home from now on.”

My hands stilled for a moment before I smiled. Cold. Sharper than a blade.

Within minutes, I’d booked a flight. End of the month.

Bloodmoon Pack.

Where a cursed Alpha prince waited to claim me… or kill me.

That gave me two weeks. Fifteen days until I either stood at the Bloodmoon altar—or disappeared overseas and left this toxic place behind forever.

By the time I dragged my luggage downstairs, no one even tried to stop me.

I headed straight for the city’s most luxurious hotel and swiped for the presidential suite.

For the first time that night, my throat tightened. My phone buzzed.

A message from Richard lit the screen.

[What kind of tantrum are you throwing now? Why didn’t you come to Moonstone today?]

I stared at it until the words blurred.

For a year, he’d forced me into Moonstone, under the excuse of “disciplining” me. He always said I was spoiled, unfocused, incompetent. A girl who needed to be reshaped—or she’d ruin herself.

He never saw that I bent myself into pieces just to survive him.

But I wasn’t bending anymore.

Fifteen days from now, I could be a ghost of Bloodmoon… or I could be gone forever.

When I returned to the hotel after grabbing bags of essentials, I froze. My luggage was stacked neatly in the lobby.

“What’s going on?” My voice was ice.

The receptionist winced. “Miss Ann… we tried charging your card. It declined. Policy requires—”

My phone buzzed.

A message from my father.

[Since you want to cut ties, don’t spend my money anymore. All your accounts are frozen.]

My chest tightened. I stared at the glowing screen until my eyes burned, then typed two words back.

[Fine by me.]

Dragging my luggage across the streets, I tried not to crumble. My suitcase was stuffed with wedding dresses and gifts meant for a home that would never be mine. None of it I could sell.

Borrow money? Never. I’d sleep on the street before I begged those wolves waiting to laugh at me.

I’d worked beside Richard for years, never taking a salary. I’d lived on his card, or my father’s. Every profit went straight into the two packs.

I’d thought I didn’t need money.

I knew better.

By midnight, I dropped my suitcase beside a park bench. I was about to lay my head down when footsteps staggered closer.

A drunk wolf. His eyes were glassy, his grin wide.

“Hey, pretty girl. All alone?”

“Go away.”

“Don’t be like that. Come keep me company…”

His hand brushed my shoulder.

The next second—

“Ahhh!”

His scream split the night.

Richard.

He appeared like a shadow, twisting the man’s wrist until bones cracked. His eyes were black with fury.

Before I could react, he yanked me—and my suitcase—into his car.

“Let me go!” I thrashed against him, rage and shame clawing up my throat.

His hand clamped around my wrist, unrelenting. His Alpha aura crashed over me, heavily and suffocating.

“What the hell are you doing, Ann?” His voice was sharp steel. “Homeless—and you don’t come to me?”

For one fleeting moment, his anger looked like concern, and something traitorous in my chest softened.

But then I remembered the words I’d written in my diary. God will keep giving you the same test until you choose differently.

I wasn’t going to make excuses for him this time.

Not for a rescue. Not for a scrap of attention.

I yanked at his grip, my voice trembling with fury. “Let. Me. Go.”