Chapter 3

Sabrina's POV

I didn't even wait for Melinda to finish her venomous little speech. I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her right into the pool with me.

A massive wall of water erupted from the surface.

Panic instantly erupted among the guests. "Oh my god! Someone fell in! Someone fell into the pool!"

Freezing water violently flooded my nose and lungs. The moment I hit the water, my limbs began to spasm uncontrollably.

Hearing the commotion, Zander didn't hesitate for a single second. He dove straight into the deep end, slicing through the water like a torpedo.

Through the stinging, bubbly blur of the pool, I forced my eyes open. I watched helplessly as his massive, towering frame shot right past me, zeroing in on Melinda with absolute precision.

He grabbed her by the waist, wrapping her tightly in his protective embrace, and hauled her up onto the deck.

And just like that, I was left drowning in the bone-chilling water, watching my fated mate completely abandon me for another she-wolf.

As my body slowly sank toward the bottom of the pool, my heart plunged right into a bottomless abyss with it.

Eventually, the Ironspike pack's werewolf guards fished me out of the water like a piece of discarded trash.

By the time I was dragged onto the concrete, violently shivering, Zander had already stripped off his black shirt to wrap it around his terrified Melinda. He was already striding back toward the packhouse with her in his arms to change.

From start to finish, he didn't look back at me. Not even once.

"Sabrina! Are you out of your damn mind?! Why did you drag Melinda into the pool?"

"Don't even try to deny it! The werewolf guards saw exactly what happened—you pulled her in! You're nothing but a parasite living off our pack's charity. Who gave you the nerve to bully anyone here?"

"Open your eyes and look around! This is Ironspike! You've been leeching off our pack for years. You're nothing but a mutt left behind by a runaway she-wolf. How do you have the audacity to act like you own the place?!"

Wilda's face was twisted in a vicious scowl. Surrounded by the daughters of a few gammas, she loomed over my dripping, pathetic form, barking out the most vile insults imaginable.

I sat slumped on the freezing grass. My brain flashed with waves of blinding static, a combination of oxygen deprivation and my worsening disease.

Lizzie let out a hollow, numb whimper in the back of my mind.

"You're all worked up..."

I reached up, slowly brushing the dripping wet hair from my forehead. My cold, dead eyes locked onto Wilda's snobby face like a venomous snake preparing to strike. "...is it because I dragged her into the water, and didn't drag you in with her?"

"Since you're so desperate to keep her company, allow me to help you out."

Before anyone could even process what was happening—while they still thought I was just a helpless punching bag—

I launched myself off the ground, pouring every last ounce of my remaining strength into a brutal, well-aimed kick that sent an off-guard Wilda flying straight into the deepest part of the pool!

"Ahhh—!"

My insane, self-destructive move left the entire crowd completely stunned.

After a fleeting moment of dead silence, an overwhelming, suffocating wave of accusations and disgust erupted from the onlookers.

"Oh my god, what kind of low-born animal is she? So barbaric!"

"This is too much! That's Wilda from an alpha family! How dare she..."

"Melinda bent over backwards to organize her birthday, and instead of being grateful, she pushes her into the pool? What an ungrateful bitch!"

"I'd always heard the she-wolf taken in by the Ironspikes was arrogant. Seeing it for myself today, it's obvious she has the dirty, vile blood of a rogue running through her veins!"

"Let's just leave. This is disgusting. If it wasn't out of respect for Alpha Zander, no one would have shown up to this trash's birthday party anyway..."

The crowd of disgusted guests slowly began to disperse.

Wilda flailed around for a long time before the guards finally hauled her out. She was hacking and coughing up pool water.

She was absolutely livid. Sitting on the deck completely soaked, she pointed a shaking finger at me and screamed, "Sabrina! You're nothing but an unwanted, pathetic freak! Your heart is so utterly rotten that even the Moon Goddess cursed you! You'll never find a happy ending! You're going to die alone in the filthiest gutter you can find!"

I abruptly stopped in my tracks.

Behind me, Wilda violently flinched. She instinctively scrambled backward, terrified that I was going to lunge and rip her throat out.

But I just stood there, letting the pool water drip off my clothes and pool onto the expensive marble flooring.

I looked at her, and a small, empty smile tugged at the corner of my lips. "You're actually entirely right about that."

Wilda froze, completely stunned.

Moving like a soulless puppet, I slowly walked over to the extravagant, abandoned cake stand.

With fingers stained in blood and chlorine, I shakily picked up a tiny strawberry cupcake, turned around, and walked into the completely deserted packhouse lobby.

It didn't take long before the heavy, steady thud of tactical boots echoed down the hall, growing closer and closer.

I knew it was Zander.

I could pick his footsteps out of a crowd of a thousand werewolves in a heartbeat. Because while those other nine hundred and ninety-nine simply walked on the dirt, every step he took stomped directly on my fragile heart.

He had changed into a dark grey shirt. His icy glare slashed across my soaked body like a razor-sharp blade.

I asked him in a voice so quiet it was barely a whisper, "Back there in the pool... why did you save Melinda first?"

"She doesn't know how to swim," he replied. His voice was hard, completely devoid of any warmth.

"And I do?" I slowly lifted my head and met his gaze.

That single question was the spark that ignited a massive powder keg.

Zander's fury violently exploded. His eyes flashed into the bloodthirsty, glowing gaze of his wolf, and his terrifying alpha pressure slammed down onto me like an avalanche.