Chapter 2

Eloise

My world, as I knew it, had just changed.

Alondra howled in pain in my mind, and I knew it was all over.

The life I had so carefully planned with Hall had been shattered in that moment.

My heart raced with rage, yet my body did not respond, sinking into such a deep state of paralysis that I did not know what to do. The shock was intense, terrifying, and incredibly devastating.

I swallowed hard, and a tear rolled down my cheek as I watched my mate kiss my stepsister passionately. Giselle looked happy and content, her brown hair and dark skin glowing with the pleasure she had achieved.

“We have to get back to the pack,” Hall said. “Eloise must be wondering where I am, and the bond block isn't permanent.”

“That fool is incapable of realizing anything,” Giselle said angrily, with a hatred that baffled me. “The spoiled brat has no idea what's going on, but once you marry her and manipulate her into taking over her damn, disgusting father's position as Alpha, I'll be able to get my revenge.”

Hall looked at her with annoyance.

“Keep your hatred under control. Whether you like me or not, Eloise is my mate,” Hall said sternly, and I felt like throwing up, but my body didn't react.

At that moment, I realized that the smell of sex was so intense that they hadn't smelled me yet, which was a sign that they had spent many hours in bed.

“She's just a fool who thinks she's a warrior,” Giselle said mockingly.

"Eloise is the key to all my plans, and once I have heirs with her, that's when you come into play. So you have to be patient, Giselle. Everything takes time, and right now we're just getting started with half of my plan for conquest. Once I get married and finally remove Alpha Marcus for incompetence, I will take over the Steel Fangs Pack without hesitation. No one will ask questions, and no one will say anything until after I settle into the position. So I ask for your prudence and cooperation."

Giselle clicked her tongue, and my jaw began to tremble.

“I don't care about that damn idiot, but I'll take great pleasure in destroying her,” Giselle said before kissing Hall and pressing her firm breasts against his chest. “I'll chain her up and then sell her as a damn slave. I'm going to enjoy watching her suffer.”

Hall smiled, and I felt physical pain as I realized that my mate was a sham.

Giselle got up and put on her panties.

“She's not yours to torture,” said my mate, and I wanted the earth to swallow me up. “She's mine, only mine, and I'll do whatever I want with her when I bind her to me. She won't be able to deny me anything.”

“Eloise is an idiot who preferred to wait until marriage to sleep with you,” Giselle said humorously and laughed loudly. "Only a prudish fool would make her mate wait for sex. She's a fool, but I thank her for that... Having you all to myself in bed is delicious, so much so that it's best we have one last wild round before we go back to seeing the perfect family."

Giselle approached Hall without hesitation, but he grabbed her by the neck violently and slammed her against the wall.

“I told you no,” Hall said violently, with a violence I had never seen on his face. “We're done for today, so take a shower, get changed, and make sure there's no trace of my scent on your skin. No one must realize we were together.”

Giselle laughed, as if Hall's attitude gave her pleasure, until she looked in my direction.

My stepsister opened her eyes in surprise and then screamed.

Her scream woke me up and woke up my she-wolf.

Alondra growled with rage and slipped into my skin to the point that I extended my claws and my fangs sprouted with more force.

They deserve to die, my beast snapped.

Hall turned and looked at me in confusion.

His beautiful face was shaken with surprise, and I growled loudly.

“Damn you, you filthy bastard,” I said angrily, and Hall put on a towel to cover his nakedness. “You'll pay dearly for this deception. I'll finish you off and tear you to pieces.”

I growled and entered the room.

Giselle looked at me fearfully and tried to rush out, but I didn't let her leave and slapped her so hard that my claws tore the skin on her cheeks. She screamed loudly, and just as I was about to hit her again, Hall held me back tightly.

I growled at him.

“You have to calm down, Eloise, you have to—”

I spat in their faces, and at that moment Giselle ran out, shouting something I ignored, and I pushed my mate away forcefully.

“Don't touch me with your filthy hands,” I said with revulsion. “You're the worst thing that could have happened to me... I believed everything you said, and you're just a damn lunatic.”

Hall stood up, and his eyes turned gold, a sign that his beast was at its limit.

“You don't understand; this doesn't mean anything, she—”

“I saw you, and I heard you!” I shouted furiously. “Don't insult my intelligence.”

Hall's posture changed completely. He looked at me with boredom and showed me his true face. Before, I never believed that the perfect, handsome, black-haired man who looked at me with eyes more beautiful than the ocean would ever look at me like that.

However, I realized that Hall was as rotten on the inside as he was beautiful on the outside. I felt liquid anger running through my veins.

Alondra growled, furious at having fallen for his lies.

“I'm not going to deny anything,” Hall said shamelessly. “At this point, you're not going to believe anything I say. So yes, I pretended with you... I pretended so well that not only did you believe me, but you agreed to marry me to honor the sacred bond we have.”

“I agreed to the marriage only because you lied to me,” I said with tears in my eyes and my heart racing. “I see now that you're not the sweet, loving gentleman you showed me for three damn years. If I had known your true self, I would never have gone near you. You're despicable and pathetic.”

The word upset Hall; I knew it because his body tensed up.

“Are you calling me pathetic?” Hall asked harshly, then smiled maliciously. "Look in the mirror, Eloise. You're the attempt at something, but you're nothing more than a fool who believed everything, who thinks in fairy tales, who believes in romance, who believes that by trying to be a warrior she will be the Beta of her foolish and useless brother... Wake up, idiot! Life is more than dreams. Life is a struggle, and the one who deserves it wins. Your father didn't deserve to be an Alpha, much less your foolish brother. The Steel Fangs Pack deserves a true Alpha, someone who will lead them to glory, not foolish imbeciles who don't know what to do with such a powerful pack."

I realized that he really believed all his nonsense.

I'm going to kill him, Alondra said.

“You'll never get this pack!” I yelled and spun around quickly before punching him hard in the face. “Over my dead body!”

Hall growled and touched his lip, then looked at the drop of blood that had formed on his lip after my punch, and his eyes turned completely gold before he punched me back hard.

I was stunned for a moment before growling and lunging at him.

I began hitting him hard and scratching him with my claws all over. He tried to get me off him, but it wasn't until a pair of arms picked me up and carried me away that he was able to get rid of me.

“Let me go!” I shouted and watched as Giselle approached with three guards.

They all looked to Hall for an order, and I realized that they followed him without question. At that moment, I realized that some of the pack guards were already in cahoots with Hall.

I was surprised.

“What do we do with her?” asked the guard who was carrying me, and I growled.

At that moment, Giselle handed Hall some handcuffs, and he quickly put them on me.

I looked at the moonstone handcuffs, and my powers immediately fell dormant, as did my beast. I felt my strength diminish and was surprised.

“What the hell...?”

“If you hadn't come and had continued with your day, I wouldn't have had to do this to you, Eloise,” Hall said. “I am forced to make rash decisions for the good of all. You won't understand now, but you will in time if you don't want your brother to die.”

I felt fear and looked at Hall in horror.

“You can't kill Emmett; no one will let you do it. He's the heir,” I said hurriedly and looked at the guards. “You owe allegiance to my father and the pack!”

The guards ignored me, and Giselle laughed with pleasure.

“No one owes your father anything but hatred,” Giselle said. “And you'll find that out in time.”

“Shut up, you ungrateful bitch,” I said sharply.

Giselle growled and was about to approach me, but Hall stopped her.

“It's not worth it,” Hall said, and Giselle growled.

“That damn idiot destroyed my face; of course it's worth it to hit her back,” Giselle snapped angrily.

“No,” Hall ordered sharply, and she stormed off, ranting angrily, then he looked at the guards. "Take her to the dungeon, keep her away from everyone, and move forward with the plan. We have to take the herd before the guests arrive."

“They won't let you do it,” I said briskly and felt a prick in my neck.

“You have no idea how easy it is for me to turn things to my advantage,” Hall said with an amused smile. “Sweet dreams, princess.”

He sneered, and I felt my body grow heavy.

The guards carried me out of the house, then put a damn gag in my mouth.

Suddenly, I fell unconscious, oblivious to the chaos that erupted in the pack.