Chapter 2

•MALLORY•

“Let me go!” I screamed as my stepmother dragged my left wrist and hauled me outside my bedroom door.

I was naked, yet she didn’t care and wanted to report me to my father.

“Leave me alone!” I bit her hand hard and she flinched, letting go of me, and I ran back into my bedroom to get dressed.

“Mallory! Mallory!” She banged on my door and I knew I would be reported.

It was 1 a.m., and I stared at the door before pulling it open after I finished putting on my clothes. I donned a red dress that fell past my knees.

However, as I unlocked the door, my father, Alpha Bruce Adonis, stood there and smacked me across the face.

“Mallory, what were you doing in here in your room? And why does this place smell like sex? Who was he?” Dad strode into my room, walked up to my bed, and snatched up the bedsheet, sniffing it angrily.

“Tell me, Mallory! Who did you mate with?” my father demanded. He glared at me with disappointment.

“Dad, I wasn’t mating with anyone,” I lied, lowering my gaze, and my father marched up to me and grabbed my left arm.

“Mallory, I already promised your mother that I would protect you, and yet you couldn’t wait to find your real mate and you foolishly slept with someone. Speak now! If I find out from the cameras who you slept with, you both will be banished!” my father threatened as his blue eyes narrowed at me.

I didn’t want Ace Lennox to be banished. He was the pack’s future Alpha since my father had no son. Ace was highly skilled in combat and fought fiercely. He had defeated several packs that wanted to destroy ours.

I looked away from my father’s face, hesitating to tell him who I had slept with.

“Speak now, or forever remain silent!” my father warned, clad in a black garment.

My stepsister Sonia came in, dressed in a white nightdress that shimmered, as she always made sure to purchase the best quality clothing.

“Dad, Ace and I did it,” I announced, and my father’s eyes widened in shock before he glared at me.

“You are lying on Ace. Why can’t I detect his scent here? Has it gotten to the point where you have to lie about Ace Lennox?” my father growled, and I lowered my head.

“Ace is the one who came here to meet me, Dad,” I told him, and he yelled at me.

“Shut up! I am going to ask you for the last time: who did you mate with?” my father demanded, refusing to believe me.

“It was Ace Lennox. He was here. He left through the window,” I said, and my father went to the window and looked out.

“Ace cannot fly from this window. We're on the third floor. You refuse to tell me who the man you slept with was. As much as you don’t have any scent, Ace has the scent of pinewood, and you think I don’t know what my pack members smell like, let alone the future Alpha of my pack,” Dad stated angrily, and Sonia cried.

“Mallory is lying, Father. Let us call Ace and ask him. She wants to force him to become her mate just because she sees us together,” Sonia said, sobbing, and I stared at her.

Even though she was taller than me and believed she would become the next Luna, I was her older sister.

“I am not lying. Ace was here and he slept with me. Maybe he used a scent suppressant,” I said, and my stepmother came into the room and smacked me hard across my left cheek.

“Shut up! I cannot continue to stand and watch you slander the pack’s future. Alpha Bruce, Mallory needs to be punished so she can learn her lesson. Maybe because she knows Sonia is bound to become the future Luna and marry Ace, she wants to destroy their future together,” Luna Lily stated as she looked at my father’s face.

“Alpha, if you cannot punish Mallory, allow me to punish her, as she is worthless and of no value in this pack,” Luna Lily added, while my father stood there silently.

“Guards! Take Mallory downstairs, and Sonia, call Ace. He needs to answer to Mallory’s accusations before I decide on her punishment,” my father declared as he walked away from the room in anger.

“I am not lying. Ace and I are true mates! You all have to believe me!” I cried as my stepmother ordered the guards to drag me out of my room, and I was taken downstairs to the first floor.

The guards forced me to kneel while my father waited for Ace’s arrival.

A few minutes later, Ace came in, and it looked like he had taken a bath. His brown hair was wet and he wore a yellow shirt and black shorts. He was very tall, and he glanced from me to my parents.

“Greetings, Alpha Bruce. You sent for me,” Ace said, bowing before my father, who was standing at the Alpha’s chair.

“Yes, Ace Lennox. I need you to tell me the truth before I decide on your punishment with my daughter. You should know that lying to your Alpha warrants banishment. I hope you are aware,” my father declared, staring at Ace angrily.

“Yes, Alpha,” Ace replied with a bow of his head, avoiding my eyes. His parents rushed into the hall to find out what was happening.