Chapter 2

I was trapped between two clashing realities. Every cell in my body screamed for his touch, burning hot and completely overwhelmed by lust. I needed to be closer. I needed him.

But my mind was screaming a different story. Darius’s fingers were clamped hard around my throat, cutting off my airway. The terrifying truth settled in: the breathlessness crashing over me wasn’t just desire. I was literally running out of oxygen.

It took a slow, agonizing second to process what he had actually just said. I blinked, tilting my head to the side—not from confusion, but to release enough pressure on my throat to breathe. “Wait,” I wheezed. His grip loosened just enough for me to force out a full sentence. “How was that my fault?”

Darius ignored my question, his black eyes bore into mine as he spoke in a low, vicious growl. “I reject you.”

The words cut my muddled emotions to shreds, instantly sobering my mind. The hazy, romantic spell shattered.

I struggled against his grip, a sharp hiss releasing from my lips. “Let… me go.”

Instead, his grasp tightened as he drew me closer, letting out a derisive snort. His eyes flicked down, working their way up my body. It wasn’t the look you’d ever hope your supposed mate would give you; that stare was ridden with unadulterated hate. “The Goddess must have been on crack when she thought we were a match,” he sneered, his grip bruising my skin. “Nothing but a puny, pathetic little girl.”

A stab of pain edged through my heart, but the insult sparked a fire right through the ache. I snapped, “I’m no puny little girl.”

I jerked back with everything I had, managing to break free from his grasp. I wasn’t a fool, though. I knew he had let me go intentionally. If he really wanted to pin me there, I wouldn’t be free. Stumbling back a half-step, I shot him a venomous look, trying to seem unbothered as I planted my hands on my hips, even if my knees were a little shaky. “And yeah, the Goddess had to be high as a kite to try and match me with an oversized brute like you.”

Darius’s face turned from a furious crimson to an unflattering shade of purple. “Who the fuck are you?”

I huffed, creating a bit more distance between us. “Some puny girl, according to—”

I gasped as his hand shot out again, snatching my upper arm and dragging me right back into his chest. There was a lethal promise behind his eyes, and before he could even voice it, the panicked words slid from my lips. “It doesn’t matter!”

“The hell it doesn’t matter. You are the reason I just ate dirt!”

“It’s not my fault you got distracted by a wee little pink pompom!” However, we both knew damned well it wasn’t the pompom that sidetracked him. It was the mate bond.

“This isn’t a damn game.” His nostrils flared as he shook me, his absolute fury radiating off his skin. “You made me lose.”

I tried to remain calm as a wave of his alpha aura invaded the air around me. “How? I was simply doing what everyone else was doing in the heat of the moment. Cheering on the race.”

Cheering for you, you jackass. But this jackass had just lost his biggest fan.

“I didn’t make you lose the race,” I added, matching his glare. “You were the one admiring the view when you were supposed to be focusing on your transition.”

I knew I was stepping on some seriously massive toes here, but as my body traitorously kept trying to pull toward him, my mind was racing with defensive adrenaline. I had an insatiable need to tick him off. Maybe it was the fact that he had openly rejected me without even bothering to learn my name.

And yes, I was painfully aware of the hushed crowds of people around us, staring at the spectacle we were making. I tried to peek past Darius’s massive shoulder to see if Fat Tony was still around, hoping his gray suit would appear to bail me out. But the Savage was the size of a mountain, and the crowd was a solid wall.

“Who. Are. You?” he demanded, his voice dropping an octave.

My eyes flicked back to meet his cold stare. I scrambled, throwing out the first fake name that popped into my head. “Gelda Maines.”

There was no way in hell I was giving him my real name. If he didn’t kill me on the spot, someone else in this rival crowd would grab the chance to use an Alpha’s daughter as leverage.

Beside me, I heard a sharp intake of breath. I didn’t even have to look to know Loren and Lucas were panicking. This was exactly what they had been joking about, but the reality was unfolding in the worst way possible. We were caught out, openly prancing on enemy territory. If anyone found out who my father was, I’d likely be taken for ransom, and my cold, mutilated body would be discovered in a ditch somewhere after they robbed the Syndicate blind.

Darius reacted in a way I least expected. His head fell back, and a rumble of dark laughter erupted from his chest. A few people standing close enough to hear the exchange joined in. For a nanosecond, the suffocating tension in the air dissipated, and a slight relief formed in my chest.

Wait…He was just messing with me. Right?

“Gelda? Maines?” he snorted, cutting the laughter off instantly. His face turned dead serious, his fingers digging into my arm like steel bands. The relief evaporated. “You take me for a damned fool, do you?”

I swallowed hard, feigning innocence. “I have no idea what you’re on about.”

Darius tugged me hard against his chest, leaning down until I could feel his hot breath dance across my cheek. His lips brushed the shell of my ear as he whispered low enough for only me to hear. “I can smell the stench of a Black Syndicate dog from a mile away, girl.”

My chest constricted with pure panic. Every witty comeback died in my throat.

“I should throw you to the wolves for this little stunt,” he hissed.

“Please, don’t. I just—”

BOOM.

An explosion of sound rang out around us, echoing off the concrete walls. In pure reflex, I freaking leaped inward, ducking right under Darius’s arm for cover. It was a stupid, instinctive move—seeking protection from the guy who had just threatened to throw me to the wolves—but my body reacted before my brain could.

Dead silence followed for a fraction of a second. Darius’s other arm shot out defensively, surprisingly blocking me from whatever had created the noise, his entire muscular frame locking down tight.

Then all hell broke loose.

Screams and shouts erupted across the street. The crowd shattered, people scattering in droves, shoving each other to find an escape.

I spun to my right, looking for my cousins, just in time to see Loren and Lucas already sprinting at the back of the pack. Lucas was practically using his height to plow a path through the fleeing crowd, and Loren was right on his heels, her long nails clutching her purse. I lost sight of them within seconds as they blended into the stampede.

Darius released my arm, shoving me backward. “Get the hell out of here before you end up dead because of your own stupidity!”

My eyes wide and wild, I watched him turn full beast mode. He didn’t even wait to shift; his human fists rammed directly into the jaw of a giant brown wolf that had just lunged into the space where I’d been standing.

More thunder sounded—and I realized with a jolt that it wasn’t thunder at all. It was gunfire.

Men dressed in tactical navy gear from head to toe were moving into the street, firing into the crowds to drive them into a panic. Half of the attackers were in wolf form, distinguished by strange navy markings dyed or branded into their ears. It was a rival pack strike. I mean; it had to be. I recognized the symbols, but for the life of me, my panicked brain couldn’t place the name of the territory they belonged to.

I didn’t waste another second. I turned and made a mad dash in the opposite direction. I peered back for a split second, seeing the Savage’s massive silver wolf form exploding into motion, colliding brutally with three attackers at once. A vicious coil of anxiety twisted in my chest, and a traitorous urge tried to pull me back to help him.

Stupid mate bond. I had to violently remind myself that he had just rejected me. He was nothing to me, and he sure as hell wasn’t worth risking my life for.

I ran toward the parking lot where I’d seen the twins head. We had come together in my car, and I knew they didn’t have a ride. I took a leap of faith that they’d made it to the vehicle and were waiting out the crossfire.

But when I burst into the lot, a cry of pure disbelief escaped me.

The space was empty.

“They did not just leave me,” I whispered, staring at the gravel.

My car was completely gone. And that was when the horrifying realization hit me: I had given my keys to Loren earlier so she could keep them in her purse, since I didn’t have pockets.

My cousins. My flesh and blood had ditched me. With my car. In the middle of an active warzone on enemy territory.

My gaze swept frantically across the exit of the parking lot, praying that I was just overreacting and that Lucas was waiting around the corner where the Buggy wouldn’t get hit by a stray bullet. But there was nothing. Even past midnight, you couldn’t miss my neon orange Buggy. They were long gone.

My hands flew up, clutching either side of my head as the reality sank in. “Shit. Shit. Shit!”

I was still caught in the sheer shock of the betrayal when a hand clamped over my mouth from behind, and a strong arm wrapped firmly around my throat. The air swooshed out of my lungs as I was violently dragged backward, my feet scraping against the dirt as I was pulled behind the dark shadow of a run-down warehouse.

My heart threatened to claw its way out of my ribs. I kicked blindly, clawing at the fingers dug into my neck, but I couldn’t get any leverage.

“Finally,” a low, throaty voice chuckled in my ear. “Do you have any idea how bloody hard it is to get you alone?”

I immediately recognized the voice, and a sudden wave of relief washed over me. Regardless of how roughly he was handling me, I knew this man. I was safe.

“Dwane,” I choked out against his palm. “Thank the Goddess.”

Dwane, aka Snake Eyes—my father’s trusted right-hand man and the Syndicate’s other Beta—had come to find me. We were tucked behind the warehouse now, hidden from the main street where the gunfire was still echoing.

“You can… let me go now,” I wheezed, my chest aching for oxygen. “I’m sure… I can stand.”

Snake Eyes didn’t loosen his grip. Instead, the fingers around my throat constricted tighter, cutting off my remaining airway completely. He let out a low, mocking laugh. “You think I’m here to save you, little pup?”

The sheer menace in his tone turned my blood to ice.

“Dwane, this… isn’t funny,” I choked, tears blurring my vision as my lungs screamed for air. “I can’t… breathe.”

“Good,” he murmured, leaning closer until his breath hot-happed against my ear. “Then it means I’m doing my job correctly.”

“D… Dwane?” I gasped, my fingers frantically tearing at his wrists, but his grip was like iron. Why was he doing this? Why now? I wanted to scream the questions, but my mouth couldn’t form the words.

“Remember that lullaby I used to sing you when you were just a teeny little pup?” Dwane whispered, his voice vibrating with a sickening, calm malice.

He began to hum, the terrible familiarity of the tune sending a shudder through my failing body as he slowly choked the life out of me.

“Night-night, little puppy… Don’t sneak around at night… Or the big, black wolf will come for you and grab your flank… Drag you off into the woods underneath the willow root…”