Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Karis' POV

An embarrassment and disgrace. That was all I amounted to before my father. A bargaining chip that he didn't mind giving away, as though my life held no weight beyond what it could offer him.

I arrived at the front of a duplex apartment, standing there longer than I usually did, my feet rooted to the ground as hesitation crept in, wrapping tightly around my chest.

This was Dante's house, I thought. And Dante was my boyfriend. The only man in the pack who never failed to acknowledge me and my feelings. He was the only one who understood me. The only one who paused to care about how I was and how I always felt whenever my father chose to embarrass me before the pack, all so my sister wouldn't feel bad.

"Dante, can you marry me before next week?" I stood at his front door, rehearsing what I had come to discuss with him about, my lips moving soundlessly as I tried to steady my racing heart.

We've been dating since I was eighteen, after he'd watched how my father insulted me before the pack all because I didn't awaken my wolf.

My father was a beta of our pack as so were others from other packs. Only one alpha ruled over them all as the alpha king.

He had always hoped of being the alpha king one day and always blamed me for being a girl and ruining his plans. Dante never minded all these and had always loved me since we knew each other—or at least, that was what I believed.

"I'm sure if I tell him about the alliance my father is intending, that he will mark me as his mate and take me in to defy my father," I added to myself, clinging desperately to that hope.

After all, a mated she-wolf cannot be married off any longer, and the rogue King was not one who would accept a second chance mate.

"Are you really telling me that you love that omega and you want to spend your entire life with her, man? Have you thought this through? For someone from your background, being with someone like her is almost impossible," I heard a voice at the front door.

I paused, my hand hovering just inches away from the handle, unable to push the door open nor enter like I had intended to.

I could recognize the voice and its owner as I was well familiarized with Dante's friends. I was only waiting for him to defend me and for him to remind his friend not to say anything negative about me.

He had told me countless times how he always shunned people who did that. And I anticipated his defense, holding onto that belief like it was the last fragile piece of truth I had left.

"Come on. I come from a wealthy and influential family. Why would I bind myself to such a curse like Karis?" Dante's voice came, and in that instant, I felt my world tilting, my ears ringing loudly as though something inside me had shattered beyond repair.

No, that couldn't be him. I tried to tell myself, even though I knew it was. That was his voice. The same voice that once felt like comfort now sounded like something foreign and cruel.

"Karis is just one of the girls I'm playing. I heard a rumour that omega girls are always good in bed. Karis is a virgin Omega and I only want to try my chances with her. I want to be the first guy to taste her virgin cake," he added, his tone light and careless, as though he was speaking about something trivial.

As though I was meaningless.

And then he and his friend immediately burst into laughter.

The sound echoed loudly in my ears, each laugh cutting deeper until I could barely breathe.

In that moment, something inside me broke completely.

Not just my trust nor love, but the last part of me that still believed I was worth something to anyone at all.

I couldn't believe my ears nor what I had heard from him. The words echoed in my head, refusing to fade, repeating themselves like a cruel reminder that I had been nothing but a fool all along.

"I trust you man. I've always been confused why a well known player like you will suddenly settle for such a useless girl who stands no chance in your life!! Now I know better," his friend added, his tone filled with mockery, and once more, they continued to laugh.

I couldn't believe my ears, nor what I had heard Dante say.

We were almost completing our two-year anniversary and all this while, he had been with me because he wanted to sleep with me?

I couldn't believe it.

I thought of confronting him, of rushing inside the room and asking why he had deceived me all these while, demanding answers and the truth I deserved.

But I didn't get to decide when the door suddenly flew open and he walked out with his friend.

His gaze met mine and he looked at me in confusion, his brows furrowing slightly, before he turned towards his friend as if trying to understand how long I had been standing at the door for and how much I had heard.

I didn't waste any more of my time.

I stretched out my hand and slapped him.

A loud, resounding sound echoed through the space as my palm connected with his cheek, snapping his face to the side, the impact ringing through the silence that followed.

"Two years, Dante!" I snapped, my voice trembling with anger and pain.

"Two good years of my life! How dare you?" I added, the betrayal clawing at my chest as I recalled the reason why I had even come here in the first place.

To beg this jerk to marry me just so I wouldn't be given off for the marriage alliance my father was planning.

The thought alone made me feel even more pathetic.

I turned and began to rush out. There was no reason to confront him. It wasn't as if he was decent enough to even realize his mistake and apologize. Being from an influential family had always made him believe that he was untouchable, and that he was above everyone else.

"Fuck off, Karis! How dare you too! Don't you know who I am? How dare you slap me! I am a beta and from a wealthy family… you're just your father's unwanted daughter! Fuck off you foolish bitch! Slut!" He began to curse and insult behind me as I walked away, his voice loud and furious, laced with wounded pride rather than remorse.

“You should be grateful to me that I even forced myself to pretend to want you!"

Streaks of tears began to fall down my face, blurring my vision, but I wiped them off quickly before they could fall freely.

I wouldn't fall here, I told myself. Not when I knew what awaited me if I failed.

As I kept walking away, Dante's insults fading into the distance, I recalled an announcement I had read on my pack's notice board last week.

About Lunaris Academy, the one and best academy in the whole wolf kingdoms that tested the grit and strength of boys and determined who would become alphas or pack betas.

The only catch was that it was for boys only, and they were trained far away from the packs, stripped of comfort and forced to become strong or break trying.

As I thought about it, something shifted inside me.

A dangerous and desperate kind of resolve.

Perhaps it might not be a bad idea.

After all, I needed to get away from my father, from this pack and from everything that had ever made me feel small and worthless. And Lunaris Academy was far enough, harsh enough, hidden enough to cover me well.

I needed to be there.

Whether or not they admitted only boys.