Chapter 2

ARABELLA

I couldn’t move. All of a sudden I feel like I have disappeared from their world. I became a bystander who doesn’t dare to interfere.

I watched Stephanie stare at my husband. The smile that she lost earlier when she saw Adrian’s hand resting on my waist finally came back. Adrian wasn’t moving. He was just standing there but I saw happiness glisten in his eyes. I saw how his gaze landed on Stephanie’s belly which hasn’t had a bump yet.

He already claimed her and he didn’t even tell me. I wonder what Stephanie thinks of me as I continue to hold onto Adrian’s promises. She was probably calling me a fool in her head.

Before they could notice my presence I made my way out of the crowd. I heard the other guests calling my name but I just smiled at them and continued walking.

I couldn’t breathe. I feel like I was being suffocated.

I made my way inside the mansion desperate to be far from everyone. I couldn’t face them. I feel dumb for being a wife who turned a blind eye when her husband was already cheating on her.

I shouldn’t have let him manipulate me.

I climbed the stairs wanting to reach my room so badly but before I could reach the last step someone grabbed my arm.

I turned around only to see the woman I despise the most.

“I am not in the mood to talk to you, Stephanie,” I firmly uttered trying to sound calm even though my blood was already boiling.

She gave me an apologetic smile but I couldn’t bring myself to believe that she was sorry for what she did. “I just want to surprise Alpha Adrian, Luna Arabella. I thought telling him that I was pregnant was the greatest gift I could give him,”

“And you have to announce that in front of the pack? In front of everyone? Knowing damn well that he was married. I am his wife, Stephanie. You made me a fool in front of everyone. What would you feel if you were in my place? What would you feel if your husband’s mate announced in front of the whole pack that she was carrying your husband’s child?”

She was silent but after a few seconds of silence, I saw a smile slowly crawling on her lips. “I don’t know,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I would probably leave or maybe just kill myself and vanish into thin air,”

I looked at her in disbelief. The woman who couldn’t look me in the eyes before was glaring at me while uttering cruel words I wasn’t expecting to hear.

“I shouldn’t have let you set foot in our territory. I should have pushed you away when Adrian brought you here. I shouldn’t have let you live with us,”

Her smile grew wider. She took another step standing on the same step as mine. “Yeah. You shouldn’t have done that,” she closed the gap between us. She then cupped my face letting her claws dig into my skin. “You shouldn’t have let me have a glimpse of your perfect life. You have everything, Arabella. A perfect husband. A pack that respected you. I have been dreaming of having that kind of life and now I am close to having it,”

My forehead creased completely confused about whatever she was planning.

“What are you trying to do?” I asked, fear evident in my tone.

She leaned in and whispered the words that shocked my core. “I will make everyone hate you, Arabella. I will take everything that you have,”

She looked me straight in the eyes. Before words could come out from my mouth her shout echoed in every corner of the mansion as she intentionally let her feet slip. She lost her balance and before I could hold her hand she rolled down the stairs while I stood frozen in place.

The pack members started to flock in along with other guests but my gaze was fixated on Adrian who came running to Stephanie.

Blood was dripping on her forehead and her green satin dress was stained with red.

I felt my knees wobble so I gripped the handrail tightly to keep my balance.

In my periphery, I can feel them staring at me while murmuring to each other.

“Did she push her?”

“She got mad when she heard that her husband got his mate pregnant,”

“That’s not enough reason to hurt Stephanie,”

“I never thought Luna Arabella was capable of hurting someone,”

“She’s a monster,”

“Why did she push a pregnant woman off the stairs?”

“She should be punished,”

“Alpha Adrian should throw her out of the pack. How dare she try to kill Alpha Adrian’s heir?”

I feel like a thousand pairs of eyes are watching me. Their voices got clearer as seconds passed by as if I was being surrounded by them when in fact I was still standing on the highest step of the stairs while they were flocking below.

“Ready my car!” Adrian shouted which made everyone fall silent.

Murmurs stopped and the whole place became deafening. None dared to move or even make a sound.

All eyes were on Adrian who was now gently lifting Stephanie’s unconscious body from the cold floor.

Before taking a step he turned to Kael, his Beta.

“Locked Arabella in her room. Make sure she couldn’t escape,” he ordered his voice cold and firm. When his blazing red eyes turned to me I felt like I was being shot with sharp daggers. “I never thought your jealousy would come this far, Arabella. I can no longer recognize the woman that I married. If you think you can get away from this you are mistaken. If something bad happens to Stephanie and our child my claws will dig into your neck. I will kill you myself, Arabella,”