Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: The Surprise

Ilyana's POV

“Hold on, baby,” I muttered, bouncng the small bundle in my arms. “Daddy’s gonna be here any second.”

My daughter babbled a string of spit-bubble nonsens in response with her tiny fists grabbing at my shirt.

I pressed a kiss to her head, breathing in that baby scent. It was the only thing I could smell clearly anyway. Being an omega meant my wolf senses were garbage. A regular werewolf could probably sniff out their mate from three miles away but me? I couldn’t smell shit unless it was shoved right under my nose..!

Which was why I had to rely on my actual eyes to find Boyce.

I shifted the baby to my hip and adjusted the small vanilla cake box balancing on my wrist. Boyce thought I was stuck at the diner pulling a double shift. He had no idea I was standing at the edge of the Blackridge Pack barracks waiting for the transport buses to roll in.

Today was the day. My boyfriend had officially graduatd. He was going to be an elite Royal Guard for the Alpha King himself. It was a deal.. a ticket out of the leaking-roof slum we’d been living in and I was so damn proud of him I could burst.

The engine of the transport bus groaned as it pulled into the dirt lot and dust kicked up, coating my sneakers as the doors hissed open. A flood of guards pourd out, all shoulders and buzzcuts. They had just come back from the initiation at the palace and they were riding high.

I scannng the crowd, bouncing on the balls of my feet as I waited until the last guy stepped off the bus, laughing with his buddy. There was no Boyce.

I frowned.

“Hey,” I called out, stepping into the path of a guy wiping sweat from his forehead. “Excuse me. You seen Boyce? Tall guy, dark hair, resting face?”

The guy paused, looking me up and down then let out a mockng laugh. “Boyce? Yeah, I’ve seen him. He didn’t take this bus. We rode back on the first one.”

“Oh. Where is he?”

The guy smirked with a gleam in his eyes as he pointng a thumb over his shoulder.

“Probably back at the north barracks. Go check behind the old armory.” He walked off, chuckling to his friend and shaking his head like I was the punchline to a joke I didn’t hear.

Asshole.

I tightened my grip on my kid and the cake. “Come on, peanut,” I whispered. “Let’s go scare the shit out of your dad.”

I hurried toward the north barracks with a smile plasterd on my face. The barracks were quiet with most of the guys heading toward the mess hall to celebrate. I roundd the corner of the armory building, ready to yell out a surprise but..

I froze with a gasp caught in my throat, chokng me because against the brick wall, two people were.. fucking!

The woman had her back to the wall with her legs wrapped tight around his waist with her skirt bunched up around her hips and the guy had her pinned, grunting as he thrust aggressively into her.

I immediately spun around with my cheeks burning with embarrassment. “Holy shit, sorry,” I stammered, covering the baby’s eyes out of reflex.

But something stopped me in my tracks.. something that made my garbage omega senses prickle with dread.

I did a double take, glancing over my shoulder.

The man’s shirt was unbuttoned, hanging off his shoulders and right there.. on the back of his neck was a black raven tattoo.. one I knew too well.

'Boyce...'

My stomach plummetd into my shoes.

“Boyce?” My voice cracked, barely a whisper.

They scrambld in a flurry of limbs. Boyce yanked himself out of her with his dick flashing in the daylight before he hauled up his pants while the woman dropped her legs, stumbling as she shoved her skirt down and patted her hair.

She turned around with her face flushed and swollen from kissing and I felt all the blood drain from my face while my knees actually wobbled.

“Sara?!”

It was my step-sister. My own fucking step-sister..!

Tears instantly flooded my vision, blurring the scene in front of me. The cardboard cake box slipped from my tremblng wrist and hit the dirt with a muffled splat with frosting oozing out of the crushed cardboard.

The sudden noise startlng the baby and she started to wail as I almost dropped her, stumbling backward and clutching her tight to my chest like a shield.

Sara didn’t say a single word.. she just gave me a flat look, smoothed down her shirt and walked right past me with her heels clicking on the pavement as she disappeared around the corner.

Boyce didn’t follow her. He finished buckling his belt and glared at me with not a single ounce of guilt on his face.. just irritation.

“What the hell are you doing here, Ilyana?” he snapped, stepping forward. “You said you weren’t coming.”

“I wasn’t coming?” I gasped weakly with the betrayal ripping out of my throat. “That’s what you have to say? How long, Boyce? How long have you been screwing my sister?”

He let out a sigh, rolling his eyes like I was a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Keep the water works away. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“I’m embarrassing myself?!” I sobbed, stepping back as he stepped closer.

My chest was heavng and I could barely breathe. The pain in my chest was so sharp I thought my heart was tearng in half.

“You’re fucking her against a wall on your graduation day! While I’m holding your daughter!”

“Don’t use the kid to guilt trip me,” he sneerd with his face twisting into rage. “You got pregnant on purpose, Ilyana. You knew I was going up in the ranks so you tried to trap me.”

“Trap you? Are you out of your mind?”

“Look at yourself,” he spat, gesturing at me with disgust. “You’re a weak little omega, you can barely shift and you can barely smell. I am an elite Royal Guard now. I serve the Alpha King and I need a mate who is strong. Someone who actually has power. Sara is a strong wolf. She’s everything you’re not. I’m taking her in front of the pack tomorrow to officially mate her.”

I stared at him, paralyzd by the cruelty of his words. “You’re… you’re mating her? What about us? What about your daughter?”

Boyce crossed his arms. “I’m not completely heartless. Because of the kid, you can stay. You can be my mistress.. my concubine. You’ll be taken care of.”

A concubine...? He wanted me to be his dirty little secret while he paraded my sister around as his mate.

A strangled sob escaped from me and before I even realized I was moving, my free hand shot out.

'Smack..'

My palm collidd with his cheek. It was a weak slap.. the strike of a weak omega and it didn’t even leave a red mark.. it barely turned his head.

Boyce just slowly looked back at me with his eyes flashing with a golden light. “Don’t ever do that again.”

I didn’t wait for him to retaliat. I turned and bolted.

I ran, clutching my crying baby to my chest with my tears blinding me as I burst out from behind the armory into the main thoroughfare. People were turning their heads, drawn by the cry of the baby but I ignored them with my breath coming in gasps.

Suddenly the world tilted as a wave of dizziness crashed over me and dark spots danced in the corners of my vision.

My foot caught on the edge of the pavement and my weak legs just gave out completely.. I was going down!

I twisted my body mid-air to protect the baby, bracng for the concrete but the concrete never came.

Two massive arms wrapped around my waist, catching me before I hit the ground. The sudden grip was firm, radiating a heat that instantly sank into my shivering skin.

Usually my omega nose couldn’t pick up a damn thing but the scent pouring off this man was so potent it practically punched the air out of my lungs.

“Whoa there,” a deep voice rumbled right next to my ear with the sound vibrating through my entire chest sending a bizarre electric shock straight down my spine.

I blinked furiously, trying to clear the black spots as I shoved weakly at the solid chest I was pressed against though it felt like trying to move a literal boulder.

“Get off me,” I slurred with my tongue feeling heavy and useless. “I’m… I’m fine. I don’t need fucking help.”

I managed to stand on my own two feet for exactly one second before the dizziness washed over me again.

I collapsed backward but he was already there. He caught me again, pulling me against his hard chest.

I tilted my head back and managed to catch a dizzying glimpse of piercing intense eyes staring down at me narrowed with a fierce and unmistakable concern as a sudden and inexplicable gravity began pulling my weak wolf toward his massive aura.

“I’ve got you,” he muttered, easily scooping my dead weight and my baby into his arms like we weighed nothing. “Just hold on.”

The world spun violently amd I felt my eyes roll back in my head and the last thing registering being the steady thud of his heart against my cheek as the darkness swallowed me whole...