Chapter 2

“Exchange… my mate?” My eyes widened with shock as I stared at my father.

“Don’t you agree?” Father squinted his eyes and continued, “Chloe, you’re the eldest child in our family, don’t be selfish! You need to put the pack’s reputation first! Got it?”

I could not believe that the only time my father willingly acknowledged my identity as his eldest daughter was because he wanted to take my mate away from me.

I felt cold, like fell into endless abyss, more bleak dark! I turned to look at Vanessa, who was calm and kept smiling. It was clear that she had expected this.

It turned out that this was the revenge she had planned for me. She would take away my only hope in this world—Alan.

Alan was all I had!

If he was taken away from me, I would truly be left with nothing.

I bit my lip hard and tried my best to suppress the anger. I would not give Alan up anyhow.

I had to stick up for myself this time!

“Father…” I clenched my fists and screwed up enough courage to say, “I’m willing to sacrifice everything for the pack, but please don’t take Alan from me. You know how much I love him. I can’t be without him.”

It was the first time I had rejected any request from my father since I turned 14. He seemed a little taken aback, but he was not in a rage as I had expected.

He frowned as if he was considering my words over in his mind.

A glimmer of hope rose in my heart.

‘Perhaps he does care about me.’ I was imbued with full expectation.

“Forget it, sweetheart. You don’t have to force Chloe…” Lisa suddenly sighed aloud, “Vanessa can put up with getting looked down upon by the other royals. We can’t force Chloe to give up on her love…”

As she spoke, she looked over at Vanessa, who kept her head down, hiding his features, seemingly aggrieved.

“Well... if they mock our next Alpha, I would fight them to the death,” Lisa continued.

Upon hearing that, the way my father looked at me change drastically. Lisa’s “kind words” meant to work in my favor had planted a seed in his mind.

Lisa had indirectly implied to my father that all I cared about was my love and I did not care about the pack’s honor.

My father was a domineering but conscientious Alpha. What he cared about the most was our pack. If anyone tried to do anything to affect the pack’s interests, he would not let them off easy even if they were his relatives.

Lisa’s words would make him more insistent on getting me to exchange mates with Vanessa.

As expected, my father said sternly, “Chloe, I’m not negotiating with you. I am merely informing you!”

“Father, please...please don’t take my mate away!”

“How did such as you dare to against me? For someone with a weak wolf like yourself, what could you possibly contribute to the pack other than sacrificing your mate?” My father interrupted my pleading, and yelled impatiently. “You have three days to break your mate bond with Alan. Don’t let me down, Chloe!” He demanded without hesitation, ignoring my desperate pleas.

He strode out of the study, Lisa followed closely behind him.

I fell to the ground dejectedly, overwhelming bitterness welling in my heart.

Once my father made his decision, it was impossible to sway him. If I refused him, he would definitely force me to obey his order with his Alpha wolf.

Did it mean I had to let Alan go?

No...I couldn’t!

It wasn’t possible! Alan...Alan would help me!

Even if the whole world went against me, I was sure Alan would still be my side. He loved me too much to do that. I was certain that he would defy my father for me.

Alan was the pack’s most distinguished Sentinel. His words held weight. Alan would definitely be able to persuade my father. Anyway, I had to find him first. I could not sit around and do nothing like a useless coward.

“Wanna seek Alan’s help?”

As I got myself off the ground and sprinted to the door, Vanessa’s voice came into my ears.

I paused and turned around to look at her.

She got up from the sofa, stood there with her hands crossed. Her lips were curled into a mocking smile.

“You can’t possibly believe that Alan truly loves you, right?” she asked with a sneer.

I held my breath and clenched my fists as a chill ran up my spine.

“What do you mean?” I asked, staring at her.

“Wonder the truth?” She shrugged, an easy smile blooming on her face. “Aah! Alan is really good in bed. I really enjoy it.”

The blood in my body run cold in an instant. What the hell was she talking about?

Was she trying to tell me that Alan had cheated on me?

With her?

Was this just another trick she was pulling to provoke me?

“You’re lying!” I glared at Vanessa.

“You don’t believe me?” Vanessa raised her eyebrows at me, then walked up to me in her high heels.

“Well, fine. Stop by my room later tonight. Everything will come to light soon enough! Poor guy, let’s see if that your confident tone will still be intact at that time.”

“Wh-What? Are you trying to kill me?” I questioned her, trembling in every limb.

“Do you think that your life is really in your hands?” Vanessa clenched my chin, forcing me to meet her eyes. Her sharp nails dug into my skin painfully.

“I still need your blood to treat my disease. You won’t die so easily.” She lowered her head, inched closer to my ear, and whispered, “You can’t even decide on your own life or death. Oh...how pathetic.”

With that, she let go of my chin and walked away with a chuckle.

I leaned heavily against the door, my entire body was frozen in petrification. I felt oppressed by worry.

It did not seem like Vanessa was lying. I could not help but wonder if Alan had cheated on me.

Thinking of his gaze in the banquet, I was quick to dispel that thought.

I remembered the exact moment he realized that I was his mate. There was the most sincere smile on his face, and he had been nothing but kind to me all these years… How could all that be fake?

He loved me!

I had to believe in Alan. 

Vanessa was lying and tried to ruin the affection between Alan and me. I consoled myself by that and smacked my face several times to get myself together.

I could not believe that I had allowed Vanessa’s nonsense to get to me.

‘I must be going crazy!’

I knew the danger of indulging such speculations so I refocused my attention on something else.

I started to think of making dinner for the entire pack.

Lisa had said that I could not simply spend my days as a freeloader. So I was forced to take a series of boring jobs.

It was fortunate that I loved cooking. It was an activity that allowed me to temporarily forget all my worries.

I cut some vegetables for my famous spaghetti. Once that was done, I started cleaning the steaks. To ensure that they tasted great, I had to first marinate them in some red wine for 15 minutes.

While waiting for the steaks to finish marinating, I had already calmed down and tried to connect with Alan via the mind link.

I wanted to know what he was doing, even though I was sure that everything Vanessa said had been nonsense.

But I panicked again because he wasn’t responding to me.

My hands trembled slightly and Vanessa’s words were still ringing in my ears. The sharp blade of the kitchen knife slid over my finger, making me suck in a deep breath. I hurriedly put my injured finger under the running water, my mind jumbled up in a mess.

‘Why won’t Alan answer me? Where is he now...Could Vanessa be telling me the truth?’

In spite of my outward calm I was very shake.

‘No, that cannot be. He must be busy with something else. He’s a Sentinel. Perhaps he is out patrolling. Yes, that must be the case…’

I tried to convince myself.

I retracted my hand and continued to slice up some tomatoes, placing them onto a plate once I was done.

“Chill out, Chloe. You have to trust Alan.” I kept telling myself.

Suddenly, a buzzing sound filled my mind.

Vanessa was mind-linking me!

“Oh! Alan! That feels so good…”

I stiffened all of a sudden. The plate in my hand fell onto the floor with a loud clang, breaking into pieces. The sliced tomatoes were scattered everywhere.

“Oh my God! What the hell are you doing, you idiot!” the maid-in-charge yelled. I did not hear her loud cursing, as my mind had gone blank.

“Move out of the way!” The maid pushed me aside, causing me to stagger backward. The broken glass pierced through the soles of my shoes and those of my feet as well. The sharp pain I felt broke me out of my reverie.

I left the kitchen in a panic. Ignoring the pain, I hurriedly ran upstairs.

The link had been cut off. But Vanessa’s voice still echoed in my ears like thunder, causing me to fret out of my mind.

I clenched my fist and dug my nails into my flesh. I was trying to convince myself not to think, but my heart was beating so fast that I couldn't calm down!

As I got closer to Vanessa’s room, I felt my legs grow heavy. Every step forward took a huge toll on me.

Upon reaching the door, I could clearly hear Vanessa’s soft moans accompanied by a man’s loud groans.

The sensual sounds coming from inside made me tremble all over.

The door of the room was left ajar, as if it was inviting outsiders to peek into it. I could even make out the warm orange glow of the light inside.

My heart palpitated in my chest. I held my breath and pushed the door open with trembling hands…

The room was filled with a thick musk of sweat and perfume.

A glimpse of two naked bodies entangled with each other on the bed came to my sight.

Both of Vanessa’s arms were hooked around the man’s neck, and her legs were wrapped around his waist as she writhed.

The man had short blond hair and a slender figure, seemed quite familiar...

Undoubtedly, the man was… Alan!

I was dumbfounded at the scene and covered my mouth in shock.

I stood there with a lump in my throat and tried to fight back tears.

When he turned his face a little and I could see his lustful expression in the dim light, a tear traced a path down my cheek.