Chapter 5

I'd just turned when Drake lunged. "Aria!"

He dropped the mask, clamped my wrist, and yanked the meteoric-iron chain off my neck. "This junk doesn't suit you!"

He clasped Isabella's moonstone amulet around my neck. "Wear this! This is the taste you should have!"

I slapped him hard. "Give it back to me!"

Damien hated anyone touching the things he gave me. Last time, someone knocked off the bracelet Damien gave me, and he used Coalition privileges to have the guy banished from his pack.

Drake touched his cheek, stunned for a moment, then smiled as if I'd really hurt him.

The next second, he walked to the sacred spring by the temple gate and lifted my chain high. "You care this much about a piece of scrap metal?"

He tossed it into the water, and it sank straight to the bottom.

Instinct kicked in. I moved to dive after it.

He grabbed my arm in a tight grip, his eyes flashing with a storm of anger and hurt. "You'd jump into the sacred spring for a cheap trinket? Have you lost your mind?"

His eyes narrowed, and his voice dropped to a warning growl. "Unless it means something. Did some werewolf give it to you?"

Isabella raised her voice for the crowd. "Oh my God! Aria has an affair!"

Curious eyes turned as people drifted closer.

"Ms. Bennett has been marked?"

"She betrayed Alpha Drake?"

"What a show!"

Drake grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his bloodshot eyes. "Who is he? Some alpha from a backwater pack? Or a beta from a training camp?

"Or..." he said, voice dropping into a sneer, "some old alpha who needs a young woman to prove he's still got it?"

Just then, my maid, Mabel Brown, finally fished out the chain. "Luna, if the Alpha King knows..."

I shot her a look.

Mabel swallowed. "I mean... He'll be upset."

I hadn't told Damien I was coming. He always worried someone would hurt me. If he found out, he'd send the guards to tear this place apart.

I glanced at Drake. "Relax. If anything happens, Alpha Drake can hold it up."

Drake snatched the wet chain from Mabel and held it to his face. "D.C.?"

He jerked his head up, humiliation curdling into rage. "That's the werewolf you're hung up on? His initials are that basic?"

In his mind, anyone interested in me had to be from some no-name pack.

"Who is he? Some beta from the Stanley pack down in Southridge? A rogue from Westridge? Or..." He leaned in, voice dripping with jealousy, "Some pretty boy who gets by on his face?"

I let a small smile tug at my lips. "He's my fated mate. He's my love!"

"Fated mate?" he sneered. "Your fated mate is me! Whoever he is, I'll get rid of him! He's just a freeloading pretty boy? I'll challenge him with one hand!"

"Big talk, Alpha Drake," I said with a mocking smile. "Will you dare to say it to his face?"

He bared his teeth. "Why wouldn't I dare? He's just a coward hiding behind a woman!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Great. I'll be watching."

His chest rose and fell sharply. He stepped closer and asked, "You... You let him mark you?"

I nodded. "Of course. We already have a pup."

Drake staggered back. His eyes went bloodshot, voice shaking. "You... You... I asked you to wait for me! Just three years! And you couldn't wait?"

Pain and confusion scraped in his throat. "I always think of you. I thought you understood me."

Isabella rushed to steady him. "Honey, maybe Aria was forced by her family..."

"Shut up!" He shoved her aside and stared at me. "You did this because you know I love you. You know I can't really let you go, so you think you can grind my heart under your heel?"

He let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. "I'm an alpha. Women from every pack throw themselves at me, and somehow, I fell for you. From the day we met, I never stopped loving you. It's been 19 years!"

He dragged in a breath like he'd made a decision. "Fine. I marked Isabella for the Coalition. That's my fault. But you slept with someone else just to get back at me. Now, we're even."

He lifted a hand as if to touch my face, then dropped it.

"Tomorrow, I'll send over some... essentials. You know what I mean. Think about it. Next Friday, I'm still coming to get you. But..."

He paused, eyes flashing with hurt. "You can't move in openly anymore. We'll keep it discreet. You'll stay in the maids' wing as punishment. Once you admit you were wrong, I'll bring you back as my mistress."