Chapter 2: Stripped of Dignity

⋅ ⋅ ⚘ALEXIA'S POINT OF VIEW⚘ ⋅ ⋅

It had been a week since I last set eyes on Drake. After the heartbreaking way I’d left his office—after he’d made it brutally clear just how insignificant I was to him—I couldn’t stand the sight of him.

But I wasn’t going to let his words crush me. I was going to prove to him that I wasn’t the weak, helpless woman he thought I was.

I buried myself in my work at the pack infirmary, letting the endless stream of patients and medicinal herbs keep me grounded.

It was the only thing holding me together.

“Are you really going tonight?” Kaia asked softly.

I looked up from the desk in my small office, where I was busy organizing patient files and sorting through fresh bundles of marigold. I didn’t need to ask what she meant.

Tonight was Drake and Lena’s engagement party—an event that was supposed to have been my wedding day.

“I’m a pack member, Kaia,” I replied, keeping my face completely blank as I filed the last document away. “I have to show my face.”

Kaia gave me a sad, sympathetic look, but she didn’t push.

And that was exactly what I did. I stepped into the grand hall of the pack house, staying far away from the center. I kept to myself, sipping wine in a quiet corner and avoiding the rowdy crowd.

But my peace didn’t last long.

A sharp tap of high heels echoed against the floor, and Lena sauntered over, a tall glass of champagne balanced between her fingers.

“You must be Alexia,” she said, her voice dripping with insincerity.

“I am,” I said, keeping my posture straight and my tone icy.

She tilted her head, her emerald eyes raking over me with disdain. “You know... I’ve always been able to spot a thief the second I see one.”

My eyebrows pulled together. “Careful with your accusations, Lena. Calling me a thief doesn’t make it true.”

“That dress you’re wearing is mine,” Lena said, her voice suddenly sweet enough to fool anyone who didn’t know better. “Drake had it made as a gift for me.”

She glanced around the room, making sure the nearby pack members were listening before turning her attention back to me.

“I suppose you thought no one would notice.” Her lips curved into a faint smile. “But stealing from your future Luna isn’t exactly a good way to earn the pack’s respect.”

A few whispers rose from the surrounding crowd.

I clenched my jaw. She was twisting the situation deliberately, making it seem as though I had stolen the dress.

“I didn’t steal anything,” I said firmly. “This dress was handmade by my late mother.”

I refused to lower my head simply because I was an omega standing before the woman everyone had already accepted as their future Luna.

Lena let out a mocking laugh. Then she turned toward the watching pack members, her expression suddenly shifting into one of wounded innocence.

“I tried to handle this privately,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “But she refuses to return what belongs to me.”

Whispers swept through the hall.

My fingers curled into fists.

She wasn’t just accusing me anymore. She was making sure everyone believed her.

Not wanting to give her an audience, I turned on my heel to walk away.

“Guards, seize her!” Lena demanded.

Before I could move, two guards stepped into my path and grabbed my arms. I thrust forward, desperately trying to break their grip, digging my heels into the floor and refusing to make this easy for them. But the tension snapped the side seam of my dress with a sharp rip. They dragged me back until I was standing right in front of her.

“Remove the dress,” Lena ordered, her eyes flashing with cruelty.

The guards hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances. Even they seemed reluctant to carry out her order, their eyes briefly flickering toward the watching crowd as if they knew exactly how far she was asking them to go.

For one fleeting second, I thought they might refuse.

Then Lena’s expression hardened.

“Right fucking now! Didn’t you hear me?!” she snarled.

“Please, don’t!” I shrieked, panic clawing at my chest as tears of frustration burned my eyes.

Not like this.

I had already lost Drake. I had already endured the humiliation of watching him choose another woman. I couldn’t let them take the last shred of dignity I had left and tear it apart in front of the entire pack.

I fought harder, twisting desperately against the guards’ grip.

One of the guards reached for the shoulder strap of my dress, tearing the delicate fabric downward as I thrashed wildly against them. Lena watched the spectacle with a triumphant, wicked smile, taking a slow sip of her champagne.

They were just about to tear it open completely, exposing me to the whispering crowd, when a deep, commanding voice boomed across the hall, cutting through the air like a blade.

“Stop.”

The guards froze, dropping their hands and backing away as if they had been burned.

Trembling, I wrapped my arms tightly around my chest, trying to cover my exposed skin.

Before I could even look to see who had spoken, a tall man moved between the crowd and me.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me firmly against him, his body completely shielding me from the pack’s prying eyes.

My breath caught.

I didn’t know who he was.

But judging by the sudden silence that fell over the hall, everyone else did.