Chapter 1

Violet

“What would you like to have today, Miss Violet?” the waitress asked me with a polite smile.

For fifteen minutes, I stared at Nate across from me, counting how many times his phone lit up instead of his eyes meeting mine.

Alpha Nate was the alpha of Night Howl Pack and the man I was going to be married to soon. 

I waited for him to get off the phone. To look at me.

We were seated at the fanciest restaurant of Ashville and I had made the reservations weeks in advance in a desperate attempt to rekindle our relationship. 

I had taken an effort to dress up, curl my hair but all of it had gone unnoticed. The restaurant lighting made the sequins on my dress glimmer faintly, and I caught my reflection in the mirrored panel beside us.

I looked… hopeful. Too hopeful.

“I will wait until he is free,” I said. 

“Of course,” The waitress nodded and turned to cater to the other customers.

I twiddled with my fork as I looked around. A few tables across from me, a guy proposed to his girlfriend in a round of cheers. I looked away, blinking back the sting in my eyes.

My gaze drifted absently, scanning faces, until movement caught my eye near the corner booth.

The waitress from earlier was talking to a customer.

No, talking was putting it mildly. She was smiling radiantly. Tucking hair behind her ear like she had suddenly forgotten how hands worked. 

Her voice was low, but her expression did all the talking. She was flustered and trying very hard but failing to act casual.

Curious, my eyes drifted to the customer she was talking to, a stranger seated alone.

Her cheeks flushed pink and her eyes widened followed by the kind of laughter someone gives when they don’t know what else to do with all the attention suddenly pointed at them.

The man in the corner remained still, relaxed in his seat. 

His posture didn’t scream arrogance, just quiet confidence. Like someone used to being watched… and never needing to return the energy.

Whatever he said next made her freeze for a heartbeat—then, in her rush to nod and respond, her elbow grazed the tray.

The water glass tipped.

“Ah. Oh gosh, sorry!” she gasped, scrambling to catch it. She didn’t, and the cold water splashed across the table, some of it hitting the man’s suit jacket.

Mortified, she fumbled for tissues, leaning forward to dab at his chest but he had already done it himself.

The tiniest flicker of disappointment crossed her face that made a faint smile tug at my lips. Cute. Endearing. Everything my own night wasn’t.

Then, unfortunately, he looked up.

His gaze collided with mine, sharp and unhurried. He didn’t look surprised to catch me staring. 

And my breath stalled for a moment as the waitress hurried toward the kitchen, cheeks burning.

Nate chose that exact moment to look up from his phone, followed my line of sight, and stiffened. His jaw tensed, and he muttered under his breath, clearly believing the stranger couldn’t hear.

“You’re staring at him? Of all people?” Nate sneered. 

I jerked slightly. “I…I wasn’t.”

His words were light, but something underneath was unmistakably… sharp. He felt territorial.

And jealous of a man I’d never spoken to.

“That arrogant son of a bitch thinks the world owes him an apology just for existing. A sweet girl like you has no business asking anything about him.”

I hadn’t asked anything but for one absurd second, my chest warmed at the words sweet girl. But the next instant my hopes took a nosedive upon seeing Nate get up from his seat and shout in a giddy voice.

“I have been waiting for you since morning!” 

Nate ran towards the entrance and hugged the girl who had just walked in. She was Nicole, the girl he had worshipped long before I came along.

She was wearing a red dress that left little to imagination, and Nate didn't waste a second pulling her into a hug.

No wonder he’d been glued to his phone all morning.

He escorted her toward me, hand resting at the small of her back, his smile easy and bright in a way I hadn’t seen in months. Not directed at me even once.

“Violet, you remember Nicole, right? She just got back today. Isn’t that amazing?”

Amazing was not the word I had in mind.

I nodded stiffly. “Hi.”

Nicole offered the barest smile and immediately turned her attention back to Nate, her hand brushing his chest as if it belonged there.

I forced myself to tear my gaze off Nate and his perfect little reunion with Nicole, but the ache sat heavy in my chest.

He kept leaning closer to her, laughing at something she whispered, completely forgetting I existed.

“When will you realize that he is not good for us? Ditch him,” my wolf, Rain, whispered in my head. She was a silent witness to my loneliness and pain but lately she had started to voice out her opinions pretty strongly.

She had been nagging me to leave him for ages but my heart didn’t agree to break a relationship so easily.

Annoyed, I got up from my seat to say something, but suddenly somebody screamed.

“Rogue attack!”

Rogue attack in broad daylight? 

Chaos erupted as rogues stormed in through the entryway, upending tables and throwing away innocent hotel staff that attempted to fight back.

Snarls and screams echoed through the air while my hand instinctively reached for Nate’s only to grab empty air.

Because he had already started running away with Nicole toward the nearest door, shielding her with his body. He didn’t even glance at me.

I stood frozen, numb with shock.

Something went flying past me and I heard a deep, commanding voice, “Get down!” 

Before I could react, I was knocked aside and a glass table crashed on the exact spot I had been standing.

I felt strong arms and the scent of bourbon wrap around my body as I was pushed behind a wall. 

I looked up at my savior as he pushed my hair aside, briefly checking for injuries.

“Stay here!” The tattooed stranger spoke in a rich, velvety voice. The same man who had been enjoying his drink alone.

By the time I could open my mouth, he had already slipped out of my temporary hiding spot and ran straight at the attackers as I took a peek around.

I placed my hands on my ears to drown out the noise and stayed behind the wall, too terrified to move.

Meanwhile, he launched himself on the group, flipping tables into barriers, striking with fists and feet too fast for my eyes to follow.

Blood splattered everywhere, mixing with the red roses and painting the floor crimson.

In a mixture of fascination and horror, I saw him lunge at the last rogue who attempted to flee and dragged him back by the collar like a mutt on a tight leash.

In the midst of it all, his eyes flickered back to me for a brief second and widened.

I wanted to thank him, but my throat had gone dry. Thankfully, sirens started blaring outside, and paramedics rushed in.

I saw him stop one of the nurses and point in my direction, give me a brief nod, and leave the place with the rogue.

“Miss, you are bleeding.” I heard the nurse say as she gently helped me come out of my hiding spot.

“Thank God you are okay,” I heard Nate sigh in relief as he came running toward me, Nicole hot on his heels.

“You are hurt. Let us get you to the hospital,” Nate added in a concerned voice, his eyes flicking to my left shoulder with worry.

Three hours later, as I sat in the pack hospital after the doctor bandaged my arm, Nate asked.

“Are you feeling better now?”

I rejoiced at those simple words.

That was the softest he had spoken to me in months, the longest his gaze had lingered on me.

“I wouldn't be injured in the first place if you hadn’t picked your childhood friend over me.” I couldn’t stop myself from stating the obvious.

But he only shrugged it away.

“You have been trained in combat since childhood, remember? But Nicole? She can’t even hurt a fly.”

I felt giddy that he complimented me and also took a dig at Nicole in the same breath.

“What if the rogue had attacked me?” I wondered aloud, hoping to hear more comforting words from him.

He was about to answer me when his phone buzzed, and I saw the caller’s name.

Nicole.

Oh goddess, why her again?

He received the call immediately, and I strained my ears to hear their conversation.

“I want to discuss something, Nate. Please can you come and meet me?” 

I thought Nate would politely decline, but he had walked out of the hospital already.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Rain, my wolf, asked when we heard the unmistakable sound of his car engine sputtering to life.

“It was just a scratch, Rain,” I answered, but we both knew that was not the pain she was referring to.