CHAPTER 2

Tears blurred my vision as I staggered away from the table. Behind me, Julietta sniggered. No one said anything else as I left the house with tears running down my cheeks.

How could they do this? My own parents? Even though Cassian was next in line to be the alpha of his pack, no sane woman wanted to marry him. No one even hoped they were his fated mate.

He was a monster.

Ever since my Dad chose Julietta to be his heir instead of me, I knew exactly where I stood in the family. But I also thought that with Julietta as alpha, I could remain in the pack, or leave if I found my mate and he was from a different pack.

I was so happy that Axel was my mate. That meant I would be the Beta female. I didn't even care that I could be my sister's direct subordinate. All that mattered was that I would be my mate.

But now I was being sent off to die in the hands of a man who wasn't a man but a feral creature?

I didn't realize my legs had led me to the pack house until I was standing right in front of Axel's door.

I raised my hand to knock. I had to tell him. He would know what to do. We could leave the pack and...

"...I don't know, man." Axel was speaking to someone in the room with him. "It's just a letdown, you know?"

The other person gave a short laugh. "Yeah, but there's nothing you can do about it now, right? The Moon Goddess has chosen."

Axel sighed. "I can't believe she chose Iris for me. Can you believe it? I've spent my life knowing I'm going to end up with Julietta. Everyone knew that."

The other person laughed again. "Everyone falls in love at least once before they find their mate. That doesn't mean they're going to end up with their first love."

"I know...but Iris? I can't even imagine myself with her. She's just so boring and plain. Who would even look at her next to Julietta?"

"I know what you mean. Julietta is way more beautiful. It must be a letdown, going from a bombshell like Julietta, to someone like Iris."

"And that's not all," Axel muttered. "You know Julietta is Alpha Hugo's heir. I'm the next Beta. It makes sense that we'd end up together, you know?"

"Yeah, but isn't that weird? Iris is the older sibling, right? Shouldn't she be the heir instead of Julietta? And besides, Julietta doesn't have a wolf right? Maybe that's the reason she isn't your mate. I mean, she can't recognize her mate without a wolf."

Axel scoffed. "As if Iris is heir material. Her family probably recognizes her incompetence. And this is the person the Moon Goddess saddled me with. If I'd known this was waiting for me here, I wouldn't have returned to the pack. I don't even care that Julietta doesn't have a wolf. Who cares about that when she's so wonderful?"

My heart hurt. Slowly, I dropped my hand back to my side and stepped away from the door. Before I could walk away though, the door was yanked open from inside.

Axel stood there, staring at me. He was shirtless and his hair was disheveled as if he'd run his hands through it a million times. He only did that when he was worried or anxious. This time, it was because of me.

He saw the look of betrayal and hurt on my face, and the tears. His eyes widened.

"Did you hear all that?" He asked.

I nodded stiffly.

Axel sighed. "Iris, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I..." He sighed again. "I don't know why I said that. I just had a few drinks to loosen up, and then..."

He gave me a pleading look.

"You're drunk?" I asked hopefully. Maybe it wasn't him who said all those things. It was the alcohol talking.

Axel nodded. "It was just a couple of glasses. I didn't think it would affect me so much..."

"It's okay," I said quietly. "You didn't really mean what you said, did you?"

"Of course, I didn't."

"Alright." I nodded again, trying to reassure myself. "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" He asked.

I took a deep breath, trying not to let my nervousness show.

"I told my family about us."

Axel's reaction was immediate.

"You what?!"

I was taken aback. "Why? Shouldn't I have...?"

He ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. "Iris, I told you I needed some time to collect myself. Why did you go ahead to tell your family?!"

"B-but..."

"You know what? It's fine. Is this what you wanted to tell me?" He looked angry.

"No," I replied in a small voice.

"Then what is it?"

I looked down at my feet for a moment, trying to collect myself.

"Let's leave the pack," I told him.

"What?" Axel sounded incredulous.

I stepped forward a bit and tried to take his hand in mine. He stepped back out of my reach. I tried not to let that hurt as much as it did.

"Let's leave," I repeated. "Let's go somewhere else and start a new life there. We can—"

"Wait. Why would we do that? I have a life here. I'm supposed to be the Beta. And you want me to drop all that for you?"

"I'm your mate, Axel. We can be happy together. We don't need titles or—"

"I'll decide what I need or don't need after you tell me what's going on," he interrupted. "Why exactly do you want to leave the pack."

"My parents have arranged a marriage for me."

"What? With whom?"

"The Bloody Prince. Do you see why—"

"Wait. Slow down. The Bloody Prince? Cassian Stone? Are you serious?"

I nodded. He was finally getting the picture.

"My father asked me to reject you. He doesn't care about us. He just cares about the alliance between the packs. Please, Axel, we have to leave. I can't marry Cassian Stone, you know that. He'll kill me. And what about you? I found my mate. I can't leave you for someone else. I can't—"

Axel turned away from me, heading back into his room.

"Wait. Where are you going? We haven't finished talking!"

"Just leave me alone, Iris," Axel muttered. "This wouldn't have happened if I wasn't mated to you."

"What?" My voice was choked with pain.

"I said do what you want," he said in a louder voice, just as he slammed the door in my face. "I don't care."