Chapter 3

Ellie.

My eyes fluttered open, catching the ray of sunlight that infiltrated the room.

Strange…

My window was on the left side, not the right, and the position of the bed was off, but most especially, there was a throbbing pain at the back of my head, and unconscious awareness at the back of my mind that something was off.

I shut my eyes with a groan, turning to my other side, but paused when my groan echoed loudly, deeper than the actual sound. Then I felt it; a hot breath on my face.

My eyes shot open as I sprang to life, watching with confused wide eyes the body beside me—a male wolf—stare at me with identical confusion.

“What are—”

“Who are—”

We said at the same time. I blinked a few times, watching him in pure and utter confusion, with no recollection of why he was on the same bed as I was, with his naked chest on display.

I’d seen him before, cleaning Vito’s house. He was an omega just like me, but we never exchanged pleasantries or looks, yet I was in bed with him.

“Why are you naked?” He asked me, and dread spread throughout my body as I looked down at myself, and noticed there was no shirt on my chest, just the duvet covering my breast and the rest of my body. It was then I took the time to look around the room, and I lived I wasn’t in my house, in my parent's room where I was very sure I’d drifted into sleep the night before from crying.

“Tell me you’re not naked.” I pleaded, but one look down his body told me he was.

“What happened? Why am I here with you, and naked?” I asked him, tears welling up in my eyes.

“I could ask you the—” he started the the bedroom door was pushed open, and Vito walked in, with a slight smile that disappeared just as I saw it.

“Vito!” I called, but more wolves poured into the room; Nadia, Vito’s beta, Brad, and his mate, a few other wolves I recognized, and two other males I didn’t recognize. Out of the two faces I didn’t recognize, one of them gave a heavy look that sent a shiver down my spine. With brown eyes, dark brows, and thick lashes he stared down at me as though he was looking at a dirty servant, his mouth thinning with displeasure.

“Ellie, what is this?” Vito wailed, staring at me like I’d just betrayed him.

“Huh? I don’t know, I—”

“Ellie, how could you do this? How could you do such a thing to Alpha Vito?” Nadia emerged from the group, obvious sorrow in her eyes.

I shut my eyes for a moment, at the ridiculousness of the entire situation, hoping—no— wishing that when I opened my eyes everyone would disappear, and I’d wake up in my room like I was supposed to and head out for another day of torture while waiting eagerly for the Lycan King to arrive so I could ray to him all that Vito had done. Only when I opened my eyes, nothing changed.

“You are wicked! Ellie. How could you? Did you forget you were cursed and Alpha Vito took you in out of the goodness of his heart? He loved you and this is how you repay him?” Nadia cried. I could only fold my lips and watch in astonishment how Nadia could say all that when I’d been the one constantly abused and used by both of them.

I knew everything now. They wanted me to ‘betray’ Vito so that it’d be a good excuse for Vito to get rid of me.

Of course, it was just Vito’s way to do a thing like that. I could not believe I didn’t think he would finesse me in such a way.

I blanked out of the conversation they were having, only returning to reality when I heard the wolf who had been staring at me strangely say;

“Your mate will have to reject you,” his eyes darted to me, and an eerie realization hit me. He was no ordinary wolf, he was the Lycan King I’d been waiting on.

I had planned to escape and make sure Vito lost his position as Alpha, but if escaping him was on the table without revenge, who was I to not take it? Only an alive wolf could plan revenge. I pressed my lips with newfound motivation and a simple nod of my head.

“I accept. I will reject him. I, Ellie Fowler, hereby reject the Alpha of Crimson Pack, Vito Graham. From this moment onward, the bond between us is broken and he shall no longer be my mate.”

* * *

Archer.

My gaze darkened as I took in the view before me, strange emotions clouding my better judgment while I stood there, unable to take my eyes off the naked young wolf on the bed. A very faint, but pleasant scent emerged from her direction and into my nose, flowing through my entire body until it woke my wolf up.

“Is that…?” Ian, my wolf started, but I shut him down before he could finish asking the question, focusing my attention on the matter at hand.

There was no way the cheating wolf could be my mate. Not only did she have a mate, but she was completely oblivious to my presence, her attention on her supposed mate with teary eyes. If by any chance she was my mate, she would’ve picked up on my scent first, before anything else. A bonus was the fact she was an omega. And I would prefer not to have an omega as my mate.

“I cannot do this, Your Majesty. She has insulted me greatly with this act. I’m afraid I cannot continue.” Vito turned to me. The tone of his voice suggested tears, but his eyes were as dry as a desert.

As if just noticing my presence, the girl on the bed stared at me with wide eyes, her hands trembling on the duvet she used to cover her nakedness. So she didn’t even know who I was.

Interesting.

“Please, Your Majesty,” Vito inched closer to me, shaking his head.

“My heart cannot take this betrayal, because I cared for her more than everyone else. I catered to her needs and—” he cut off, turning his face to the other side.

“Please. I would rather stay without a mate than with a cheating mate, Your Highness.” Vito pleaded, pressing his hands together.

I raised a brow at him, shocked that an Apha would beg this much with his underlings present, but it showed he’d had enough and wanted out of the bond quickly to ease his pain.

“Your mate will have to reject you,” I told him, directing my eyes to the bed once more. That was one time more than I would’ve preferred.

“I accept. I will reject him.” Her voice was louder, her face void of every and any emotion. My blood ran hot with disgust toward her.

She’d been the one caught fornicating with a wolf that wasn’t her mate, and yet she was putting up a fight.

“Very well then.” I folded my hands and watched as she cleared her throat and rejected Vito.

Although immediately she finished speaking, the scent intensified; it was citrusy, with a pinch of cinnamon, or was it vanilla?

The female closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she shot them open, her eyes fell on me.

“That’s our mate!” Ian announced like I couldn’t tell myself. I cocked my head to the side, staring at her in disbelief. Was I this Omega's second chance mate? It couldn’t be, though the word “Mate” was at the tip of my tongue, begging to be uttered.

It had to be a joke! A fucking expensive joke that the goddess was trying to play on me. A search for my mate with my life on the line and what I got was a fucking omega with an issue with staying loyal?

“How dare you, a good-for-nothing slut, reject our alpha with that vile mouth of yours?” Vito’s beta charged toward the bed with his raised hand in her direction. For the first time in my life, I lost control of my body as I hurled the beta into the closest wall creating a dent in it, shocking everyone present, including myself.

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” More shocking words left my mouth.

Theo immediately dragged the unconscious wolf out, the others in the room also taking it as a cue to leave, including the naked male on the bed, leaving behind Vito, the omega, and myself in a silence so thick it rang loudly in my ears. So I turned to Vito, in an attempt to ignore the naked female on the bed.

“We need to talk.”