Chapter 4 Two Weeks

Tessa's POV

"Darling, if Bianca marries Jasper, that money's nothing," Gloria cooed.

She clutched Marcus's arm, voice syrupy and sharp as lacquer. She always had that way of sounding like someone else's kindness borrowed and put on display.

Marcus gritted his teeth, then nodded as if a decision had been made for him. "Fine. I'll need two weeks to raise it."

Two weeks. Perfect. I turned away from them both, the practiced smile slipping as soon as my back was turned.

My wolf Julia needs two weeks to regain full strength, I thought. Two weeks, Jasper... and we're done.

Walking out into the sunlight felt like stepping between worlds. The air was sharp, the day too ordinary for the storm I'd set spinning. I kept my breath steady. If they wanted to play chess with fates and fortunes, I'd bring my own pieces.

That night I met Zoe at our usual spot, the bar that smelled of lemon oil and varnish, where the music kept people occupied and the smoke made them confess things they'd never admit sober.

Zoe's face lit the moment she saw me. She was the kind of friend who made me feel less like a hear-broken she-wolf and more like the one trying to survive.

"You're really marrying King Alaric?" she asked, stunned. "Everyone says he's dangerous. You could end up ruined."

I gave her a calm smile. "I've got my mother's inheritance now. If he's a monster... I can walk away." The words felt foreign and fierce in my mouth. Freedom tastes like metal and cold coin, brutal but real.

She slammed a hand on the table. "Jasper's such an asshole."

I let a bitter smile crease my lips. "He doesn't love me. I'll reject him in two weeks at his Alpha ceremony." I straightened, pretending I'd moved on. "Enough about him. I'm buying us something good."

I rose, heading to the bar. `

"Two martinis," I told the bartender.

Behind me Bianca's sugary voice chimed in like a bell you only hear when you don't want to. "Jasper, I want a martini too."

I turned. Bianca lounged on Jasper's arm, her smile polished, her fingers worrying the edge of a diamond I knew had just been gifted. Jasper's profile was all cold angles and contained charm; he looked perfectly at ease in the orbit she'd made for him.

Bianca stepped forward, honeyed. "What a coincidence, Tessa. Here for drinks too?"

The bartender set two martinis on the counter and then paused, looking at the two of us. "Sorry, last two," he said, voice small in the thick air.

Bianca's eyes went wide, all fake innocence. "Tessa, can I have yours? I just turned legal. Never had a drink before."

Liar. At fifteen you were already sneaking Dad's whiskey, and when he caught you, you didn't just lie—you threw me under the bus, swore I was the one corrupting you. Daddy's perfect little angel, my ass.

My hands curled into fists before my head could stop them. "Save the act," I said, voice flat as ice. "I'm not playing along with your good-girl routine." I dropped two crisp hundreds on the counter.

Jasper slid ten hundred-dollar bills across the bar with the casual contempt of someone paying for a favor they always expect. "Two martinis," he said coldly.

The bartender hesitated, then shrugged and took the money. "Sorry, Tessa. You know Jasper's the future Alpha."

Bianca clung to Jasper's arm, all adoration and soft laughter. "You always spoil me, Jasper." She touched the diamond at her throat as if proving the truth of every soft sentence. 

"Yesterday you even gifted me this ten-thousand-dollar diamond necklace. I'm so lucky."

"Anything to make you happy." He gave Bianca a gentle smile and didn't even spare me a glance.

Right. You'll spend every cent on her, I thought, and the world narrowed to the small hot ache that lived beneath my sternum.

For three years I'd worked on this pack like a woman laying brick after brick, for him it was a platform to stand on, to lean on, to claim. He hadn't even remembered my birthday.

I breathed in and out until the rage settled into something colder and more useful. I reached for my checkbook. The bartender looked up, interested in the sudden twist.

"One hundred thousand dollars," I told him, "For every bottle in this bar." I met Jasper's eyes directly, feeling the heat of his stare like a challenge.

Silence fell like snow. Conversations thinned. Zoe's jaw dropped. Even the bartender's hand trembled over the bottles.

Then—because this was the part where I wanted the world to know I wasn't a trembling girl to be scolded or bargained with—I turned and lay down ten-thousand-dollar check on the counter. "Now... I'll take my martini."

Jasper's face changed. The casual arrogance folded into furious, flatly controlled anger. "Are you going to go against me, Tessa?"