Chapter 2

Freya

My whole body went still as Alpha Adrian Wolfe looked at me from across the empty room. I had heard women at the diner describe him in low, dreamy voices for weeks. Now I understood why.

He was tall , the kind of tall that made a room feel smaller. His dark hair was slightly messy in a way that still looked sharp, and his gray eyes were steady and cold, like stone under winter water. He had the quiet confidence of someone who never needed to raise his voice to be heard.

Those eyes narrowed at me slowly.

“You seem to have given a false name at the door,” he said. His voice was even. Not angry , yet. “Who are you, exactly?”

I swallowed. I needed this to hold together just a little longer. Nadia needed time to get away. I tilted my chin slightly. “There must be some mistake. I’m Nadia Cole. I handed my invitation to the guard when I came in.”

He reached into the pocket of his jacket without looking away and pulled out his phone. He turned the screen toward me. On it was a photo of Nadia , red hair, green eyes, pale skin dotted with freckles.

I looked nothing like that.

My stomach sank.

“Everyone who registered for the Trial submitted a photo with their application,” he said, his voice flat. “So I will ask you again. Who are you?”

I held his gaze for one more second. Then I let it go.

There was no point in lying to an Alpha. Not with eyes like that, looking at me like he could already see every thought I had.

“My name is Freya Arden,” I said quietly. “Nadia is my best friend. Her family was forcing her to be here, but she already has a mate , someone she truly loves. She asked me to come in her place so she could leave before her parents noticed.”

He was quiet for a moment. “So she sent you in her place and left you to face an impersonation charge on your own.” He did not sound impressed. “Loyal friend.”

“She has helped me more than I can explain,” I said. “She needed me this time.”

“Do you want to be here?”

The question caught me off guard. I thought of the fifty thousand dollars. I thought of what it would mean , the debt, the freedom, the search I had put on hold for so long. “Yes,” I said. “I do.”

It was not the full truth. But it was not a full lie either.

He studied me in silence for a long moment. His eyes moved over my plain dress, my simple bun, my bare face. One dark eyebrow lifted just slightly.

Then he walked to the door and gestured to someone just outside the hallway. A woman in a maid’s uniform appeared.

“Please show Miss Freya Arden to the Trial dormitories,” he said.

The maid dipped her head and looked at me. I gave Alpha Adrian one last glance, but he had already turned to the window, his jaw tight and unreadable. Something about that look made my skin prickle.

I followed the maid without another word.

“Each participant has her own room,” the maid told me as we walked down a long corridor. “And her own private bathroom. Alpha Wolfe wanted all the women to feel at home here.”

She stopped in front of a door with the number eleven carved into a small brass plate. She handed me a key. “This is yours. Please take time to settle in.”

I thanked her and pushed open the door.

The room was nothing like my apartment back home. A tall four-poster bed sat in the center, covered in thick white pillows. A crystal chandelier hung above it. The closet was already stocked with clothes in my size. The bathroom had a soaking tub, a wide mirror, and soft towels stacked in a neat row.

I had not lived like this since I was a child, back in the Vane house.

The thought of that house made my chest feel tight. Made me think of Celeste , the fact that she was here too, just down some hallway, probably already charming every person in this building.

I needed air.

I found a set of glass doors near the far end of the dormitory hall and pushed them open. Outside was a wide garden, quiet and sweet-smelling, with rose bushes and tall climbing vines and stone paths that curved between flower beds.

I walked slowly, letting the cool air settle over me. I was so busy looking up at the vine-covered arch above me that I nearly tripped right over someone.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!”

I looked down. A little girl was sitting cross-legged at the base of a big tree, a notebook in her lap and a pencil tucked behind her ear. She had big brown eyes, a round little face full of freckles, and wild brown curls that stuck out in every direction.

She looked up at me and grinned like I had not almost stepped on her hand. “It’s okay! I was drawing that bush over there.” She pointed to a cluster of bright yellow roses nearby. “But something looks wrong and I can’t figure out what.”

I sat down beside her in the grass without thinking. She handed me the notebook, and I looked at her sketch carefully. It was actually very good for a child her age , the petals were soft, the leaves full and round.

“The stems,” I said, pointing gently. “They need thorns.”

Her eyes went wide like I had just given her a secret. “Oh! Yes! That’s it!” She grabbed her pencil and started drawing tiny sharp points all along the branches, tongue poking out the corner of her mouth as she worked.

It made me smile without meaning to.

“Do you live here?” I asked.

She nodded, still drawing. “My name is Lily. I come to the garden every day. It’s my favorite place.”

“Mine too, I think,” I said softly.

We sat together in the quiet for a little while. Then she looked up at me with a curious expression and asked, “Are you here to marry the Alpha?”

I laughed before I could stop myself. “I’m just here helping a friend,” I said. “Between you and me, I have no plans to marry anyone.”

Lily burst into giggles. “He thinks he’s so important because all those ladies like him. He would be so upset if he knew the prettiest one didn’t even care!”

My face went red. Before I could say a single word back, a sharp voice cut through the garden.

“There you are.”

I stood up fast. Celeste Vane came around the bend of the path, her blonde hair perfect, her blue eyes burning. She had recognized me.

“What in the world are you doing here, Freya?”

I kept my voice calm. “Same thing as you. Participating in the Trial.”

She let out a short, ugly laugh. “You? A waitress? Please.” She stepped closer, dropping her voice to something mean and quiet. “Mom and Dad had someone keeping an eye on you, you know. For over a year. So yes, I know exactly where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing.” Her smile went sharp. “And I know about the baby. The one you’ve been chasing like a ghost for seven years. Everyone thinks you lost your mind after she died, Freya. Maybe they’re right.”

The words hit me somewhere deep. Hot and sharp, like a blade finding the same old wound.

“She didn’t die,” I said, my voice low and tight. “She was taken.”

Celeste just shook her head slowly, like she pitied me. Then she turned to walk away.

“Hey!” Lily jumped to her feet, her little notebook dropping to the grass. “That was really mean! I’m going to tell my daddy you were mean to my new friend!”

Celeste spun around, eyes flashing. “Your daddy? Who do you think your daddy is, little girl? Go back to the kitchen where you belong.”

Lily didn’t flinch. “My daddy is the Alpha. And he’s going to be really, really angry.”

Celeste let out a sound of disbelief , then went to shove the child aside. I stepped between them fast and caught my stepsister’s arm before she could reach Lily.

She struggled. Even now, even without my wolf, I was stronger than her. I had always been.

“Don’t touch her,” I said quietly.

“Let go of me, you freak , “

“What is happening here?”

A voice , deep, sharp, and very still , came from just behind me. I looked over my shoulder.

Alpha Adrian Wolfe was standing on the garden path, watching us both.

And at his feet, Lily had just run to him, wrapping her arms around his legs.

“Daddy!” she cried.

My blood went cold.

Lily was not a maid’s daughter.

She was his.