Chapter 2

Matthew not only drove me home, but he escorted me into the cold and desolate mansion. He must be scared that I’d run away and put his life at risk if he didn’t make sure I went home as Kian wanted.

The house was cold and empty, nothing more than a prison. Here, I lived as an abandoned doll, forgotten and irrelevant while my so-called mate lived life as he pleased.

“No matter what, I’m going to divorce him,” I gritted my teeth. “I can’t continue to live like this.”

“Luna?” Matthew started in a subdued tone, “Pardon my curiosity, but why are you divorcing the Alpha? I thought you loved him.”

“Not anymore.” I pursed my lips. “He’s had enough of my love. Now, all that’s left is anger.” Anger and frustration at the jerk that I ended up with.

We mated two years ago because of pressure from his grandfather who was fond of me and in those two years, I watched myself wither away like an abandoned flower. It was time for me to leave before what little of my person was left died away. His grandfather died last year and now, there was no reason for us to be together.

I had to leave. For myself, for my sanity, I couldn’t continue here.

Mere seconds after we entered the house, the sound of cars pulling into the driveway made Matthew and I go out to check who had arrived.

“Luna Natalie, the Alpha sent us to guard you while he’s away.” A man I knew quite well stepped out of the first vehicle. After him, three others came out of the vehicle and another four from the vehicle behind them.

“You have got to be kidding.” I looked at the men decked out in uniforms while wondering whether it would be appropriate to laugh or to scream in this situation.

“I wish this was a joke,” one man muttered loud enough to be heard. “He pulled us from the borders just to babysit,” he grumbled.

All the other warriors shared the same sentiments as they all looked like they would devour me in seconds if I so much as said a word out of line.

“She must have done something stupid again,” another warrior muttered and the lot snickered to themselves.

“Enough!” Their leader barked. “Luna Natalie, the Alpha has concerns about your safety so we will surround the house. Yell if anything goes amiss.”

“Shouldn’t be long,” a warrior said and the others laughed.

Their commander, a well-known warrior of the pack, silenced them as he dished out orders. They dispersed to their new duty posts in the blink of an eye.

“Matthew, tell me this is a joke.” I turned to the Beta who looked away sheepishly. “Tell me your Alpha isn’t trying to imprison me!”

Border warriors surrounded the house. Their presence alone made the atmosphere heavy. I bit my fingers as I started to get anxious. Throughout my preparations to leave Kian, I never dreamt that he would resist.

Everyone knew that I loved Kian but I knew that, to him, my love was nothing more than a burden. He was supposed to be happy to divorce me. He was never supposed to try to shackle me down and basically imprison me.

“The Alpha –“ Matthew sighed as he scrubbed a palm down his face. “I’m surprised that you thought of leaving Kian so I can only imagine how much worse he’s feeling. Everyone knows you love him so how can you bring up a divorce out of nowhere?”

“I loved him. Loved. Past tense. If I were your sister, would you encourage me to continue to love a man as cruel as Kian? He’s an awful person. I can’t spend the rest of my life being stifled by him. I can’t – I refuse to waste my best years with that asshole.”

“Natalie.” Matthew looked me square in the eye. “I don’t know how else to break it to you but Kian will never let you go.”

But why?

He never failed to remind me every day that I was stupid, that I was not worthy to stand by his side and that I joined hands with his grandfather to ruin his life.

For six months, I meticulously prepared my exit plan and now – did he hate me so much that he wanted to hold on to me in this loveless union just to punish me?

“I have to leave Dark Howl,” I paced. “I have to leave this pack. I’m sick of it. The embarrassment, the mockery, the verbal and psychological abuse, I’ve had enough of all of it.”

“There’s nothing I can tell you,” Matthew said, “You seem to have made up your mind so all I can say is good luck.”

I didn’t know it then, but I would be needing a lot of luck. As much of it as I could get.

When Matthew left, I thought of how I got myself into this mess. It was true that Kian never wanted me as his mate but I loved him. Sensing my heart, his grandfather joined us together by force.

**

“What is a dirty rat doing in my grandfather’s mansion?” Those were the first words he ever spoke to me.

I was eleven years old and he was fourteen when we first met. Call it love at first sight, a childhood crush or plain stupidity, but the first day I met Kian, my heart picked up speed, my palms grew sweaty and fireworks exploded around me.

Even as a child, I knew that he was no ordinary person. He oozed of affluence, of power that even the adults around me did not possess. His haughty gaze, stiff shoulders and aloof expression made him seem unapproachable but in my childish eyes, he was the coolest, most beautiful person in the world from that moment on and I wanted to stay by his side forever.

For him, it must have been an uneventful day where he met a random girl but for me, it was the beginning of a disaster. The start of my misfortune in life.