Chapter 1

Tessa

I am standing at the doorway to George's room, carrying with me a mop and a bucket. He is the Alpha's first son and also my sister's fated mate.

Well, step-sister.

She is the only one in my family who treats me like family, the only one in the whole Golden Moon Pack who even treats me like I'm worth something.

Thanks to her, I was able to secure a cleaning job in the Alpha's lodge. There was nothing else I could do since my father, the richest man in the pack, refused to send me to school simply because I was born without his birthmark. To him, the absence of that mark is proof enough that I don’t belong to him.

He called me a bastard the moment I was born, made the world believe that my mother was a whore and promised to push me away from his house the moment I turned eighteen.

Jasmine, my sister, had promised to take me with her after her wedding and mating ceremony. She said she would convince George and the Alpha to let me live in the Alpha's lodge with her and when she becomes Luna, she would give me a better job.

It's a beautiful dream but I can’t let the only person who has ever shown kindness to me end up with a beast like George.

I walk into the room, finding it empty. Of course, he is never here. And whenever he returns, it’s always with a different girl, never my sister. He seems to choose them according to his mood, as if each one is just another plaything.

It's not like he wants me to know about it, but I mostly bump into them on my way out. One time, when I was still scrubbing his bathroom, he came in with one of his…. I don't even know what to call them.

“Are you really going to marry Jasmine?” The lady asked.

The moment they walked in, I stopped scrubbing. But when I heard the question, I made sure I made no further sound.

“She is my fated mate..” he replied.

“Then reject her; that way, you could choose your mate.”

“I should reject the daughter of the richest man in the pack,” he scoffed and chuckled. “My father calls this union perfect, I must go on it with….. She is just going to be there, I don't give a damn about her. And once I become Alpha, I will get rid of her.”

“Rid of her,” she repeated.

Tears welled up in my eyes; I knew how much my sister was in love with him. She would have done anything for him. The fact that she had even lost her virginity to such a scumbag was frustrating me.

I gritted my teeth, feeling the urge to come there and at least hit him on that face of his. But I didn't. Instead, I went home afterwards and told Jasmine everything, hoping she would believe me.

“Are you really going to believe your bastard sister?” Rose, her best friend, voiced out.

Of course, I didn't narrate the incident before Rose, but she had walked in when Jasmine was crying in my arms. Rose did her best to make Jasmine believe that I was merely jealous of her and didn't want her to end up with the next Alpha of the pack; she even added that I wanted the Alpha for myself.

“You mean the Alpha's driver?” That's what Rose voiced out when I reminded her that I had my own fated mate.

The curtain moves in oscillation, bringing me back from my thoughts.

I set the bucket and mop down by the bed, my hands shaking a little. I reach into the pocket of my apron and pull out the small camera. Yeah, I have to prove my point to Jasmine.

I set it on the table near the door, angling it just enough to catch the whole room, especially the bed. He always comes around this time.

All I have to do is clean fast and switch on the camera. Within a while, I am done. The room is exactly what you'd expect for the son of an Alpha, spacious and elegant. But I've been cleaning most of my life, so fast still means efficiency.

I switch on the camera but the moment I do, I hear footsteps approaching. It's definitely his. I pick up my utensils, ready to leave. The door opens and my heart skips a bit.

He is surprisingly alone, he glares at me as he walks in.

“Bastard,” he calls, staring at his already-made bed.

I ignore him and try to move out but he draws me back. He shuts his door and pushes me in. I grip the mop handle tighter as if it could somehow protect me from whatever that's to come.

His presence alone is suffocating. Huge, broad-shouldered, with grey eyes that pierce and a smirk that makes my skin crawl.

“Bastard,” he spits again.

My phone rings, jolting me upright. I reach for the pocket of my apron, but he slips his hand in first and chuckles the moment he sees the caller. He flings the phone aside, not letting me see who is calling. Then he drags me closer to him, wrapping his hands around my waist.

My feet tremble and my heart pounds faster. I feel something bony and hard from his waist pressing against just below my belly button. The mop falls off my hands instantly.

He leans in, his cheek brushing against mine. “I want to know how a bastard tastes,” he whispers in my ear.

“Get the bloody moon away from me!” I snap, shoving him off and stepping back a foot.

His eyes narrow. In a heartbeat, he grabs my hand and yanks me forward, his stormy grey eyes glaring at me like I’ve just triggered something in him.

George is a dangerous beast, everyone knows it. But the plan is to prove to my sister that the man she loves doesn’t give a damn about her and not to get entangled. Yet, here I am, caught in the middle. I need to figure out a way to escape from this, I refuse to be one of his prey.

“Let me go… please,” I choke out, my voice barely above a whisper.

There is a moment of silence as he stares into my eyes. He smiles, his grip getting tighter.

“Please,” I repeat.

I feel disgusted, and I want to hit him, but I don't want trouble. I can only hope he lets me go after my pleading.

He leans in, his face close to mine. Too close that I won't be able to move without my face brushing his.

He then lets go and smiles. I took a breath of relief, believing it would soon be over.

“Take off your clothes!!” He commands.

“What!! Hell no!!” I bark.

“Something tells me that what's beneath those clothes is beyond my imagination… so take it off!”

“I am Jasmine's sister!!!”

He smiles and dips his hands into the pocket of his cargo pants, bringing out some dollar notes.

“I can say you stole from me,” he says, dipping the notes into my apron pocket, with a smirk on his face. “And you could be flogged to death!”