Chapter 2

I sat weakly on the couch, no longer having any desire to defend myself.

But to everyone else, my silence looked more like guilt. The looks directed at me became even more contemptuous.

"What relationship do you have with Alpha Ian? Why did you stop talking?"

"What else is there to say? It's been three years since our graduation. If they really had something going on, how could none of us know?"

"She's just an ugly and delusional mixed-blood she-wolf. Did she really think an Alpha would choose her?"

Suppressed laughter and mocking whispers spread around me.

My eyes burned, and the heat rushed rapidly to my face.

I looked at Ian again. Even if he didn't want to reveal our mate bond, surely he wouldn't just sit there while his mate was being openly insulted?

But to my disappointment, he only met my eyes for a brief second before guiltily looking away.

At that moment, the mate mark on my ring finger burned with piercing pain, as if it were being scorched.

Sherry suddenly walked over to me, holding a glass of blood wine. Her scent was soft and delicate, but her eyes shone with undisguised triumph.

"Nadine, I know you've had inappropriate thoughts about Ian. But we are fated for each other. Ian and I will probably form a mate bond very soon. I hope you'll know your place and stop coveting something that doesn't belong to you."

She raised her glass and lightly clinked it against mine. "I'll drink first."

Then, she tilted her head back and drained the blood wine in one gulp. I sat there motionless, like an empty husk that had lost its soul.

Soon, Ian began making rounds to toast everyone.

When he stopped in front of me, he silently looked at me for a long while. Using the motion of clinking glasses as cover, he leaned down slightly. He lowered his voice to whisper in my ear, his tone carrying the commanding pressure unique to an Alpha.

"Nadine, be sensible. Don't embarrass her," he ordered.

I jerked my head up, but he had already looked away and turned back toward Sherry.

The two of them exchanged a conversation in soft voices. Whatever was said seemed amusing, because Ian's eyes curved faintly as he smiled.

I hadn't seen him smile like that for a very long time.

Soon, amid the crowd's loud teasing, they were pushed until their bodies were pressed against each other's.

"Go on! Kiss!"

"You must make up for the long-overdue marking ceremony!"

The cheering grew increasingly unrestrained. I closed my eyes. My chest hurt as though it were being torn apart.

Zed staggered over drunkenly. Perhaps he felt a trace of pity for me since he knew the truth.

He said, "Nadine, don't overthink it. They're... just trying to make up for the regrets of the past. You're the one he formed a mate bond with. It's only a little kiss. It won't affect anything."

He tried to defend Ian, but the feeble and powerless excuse he made sounded unconvincing even to himself.

The violent pain from my mark told me that Ian had already given his heart away. I downed glass after glass of blood wine, trying to numb the ripping pain with alcohol.

Amid the crowd's pushing and shoving, Sherry suddenly cried out and fell into Ian's arms. The two of them held each other tightly, their scents intertwining. Sherry's lips brushed the corner of Ian's mouth slightly, leaving behind her unique scent and mark.

At last, I could no longer hold back. I smashed the wineglass in my hand.

The sharp sound of shattering glass instantly drew everyone's attention. Ian seemed to snap back to his senses and quickly released Sherry.

I walked straight across the broken glass toward him.

Staring directly into his eyes, I asked word by word, "Ian, are you really not going to tell everyone what kind of relationship we share?"

The moment the words fell, the entire room went deathly silent.

Ian's muscles suddenly tensed, and faint traces of his wolf started radiating from him. He stared at me for a long time, as though weighing something.

Finally, he turned toward the crowd stiffly and spoke in a cold and rigid voice. "Indeed. I once formed a brief mate bond with Nadine."

He paused for a moment, his tone growing even colder. "But that's all in the past. We've already dissolved the bond."

Those words tore through my chest like claws.

My head snapped up at him, and I was unable to believe what I had just heard.