CHAPTER 1: ISADORA

Growing up, I never liked my birthday.

My father was always too drunk to deal with me because it brought along reminders of my mother’s death. He never failed to tell me how he wished that I’d died instead of he, and it didn’t help that I looked like her.

I’d heard stories of my mother even before I knew how to walk. She was the fierce Beta female with fiery red hair and sharp green eyes. She had the heart of a warrior and everyone loved her.

I always knew I’d never compare to the memory of her, so I never tried.

This year, however, I was excited.

Three months ago, I’d gone into the woods after an argument with my father.

I saw him.

He had his back to me, but I instantly recognized him because no one else had that exact shade of soft blond hair. His name was Ethan, and he was the Alpha’s son. I’d spent most of my time in school watching him. It was kind of hard not to.

I didn’t mean to bother him, I’d planned to leave without interrupting, but I’d stepped on a twig. He looked so surprised to see me, and I expected some anger, but instead, he smiled and asked me to sit with him.

It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Ethan and I met in the same spot almost every day. He was good to me, he saw me in a way that my own father did not. We’d feed the birds, and lie down under the stars together. I was gone for so long each day, and my father never noticed.

We kept our relationship a secret.

Ethan said it was because I was still a teenager. He wanted to wait until I was twenty before making things official. I knew he was the one for me. The mate bond hadn’t clicked for us yet, but I was sure it would at some point, and even if it never did, he would be my chosen.

I was going to give him everything tonight. I’d been holding on for the mate bond, much to his disappointment but I wanted to do this for him.

I’d dressed in the most revealing lingerie I owned. I bought it last week specifically for this reason. I pulled a simple sundress over it and headed out to the woods to meet him.

He was already waiting when I got there and his smile grew as soon as he noticed me. “Isadora, you look gorgeous, darling.” He placed a harsh kiss on my lips, tugging me close to him. “Look at you. The things I want to do to you. If only you’d let me.”

My heart was pounding in my chest. It was now or never.

I slid down the straps of my dress. “You can do them.”

He stilled. “What?”

I let the dress pool at my feet and his mouth fell open. “You can do them to me.”

It took all my willpower to not hide myself from his watchful gaze. The lingerie was a light shade of pink and did nothing to hide my body. The lace bra was so sheer that you could see my nipples, and the panties were barely a piece of scrap fabric. When I bought it, I thought it looked sexy, but now, I wasn’t so sure.

“Do you like it?” I asked hesitantly. “I got it for you.”

“Fuck, I love it darling. Come closer.”

I stepped closer to him and he smiled as he trailed his fingers down my arms. He gestured for me to turn around, and with flaming red cheeks, I did as he asked. The back was just as scandalous as the front was.

Ethan’s arms wrapped around me from behind, his lips brushing against my skin. I shivered, half out of fear and half out of excitement.

“Will it hurt?” I asked. “I heard some girls say that it hurts.”

“I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

I’d like to believe he tried to be gentle, but the truth was, the pain was blinding. I felt sore everywhere, but at least Ethan seemed to have fun. He stood to his feet, pulling his pants on as quickly as he could. He’d barely undressed during the entire thing but I lay completely nude.

I tried to hide my disappointment at it being over so quickly. I thought he’d stay and hold me for a while.

“Ethan?” I asked and he hummed. “Can you stay with me for a while?” Before he could respond, I heard a laugh. I stilled, grabbing my dress to shield my body. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” he snapped, but his answer was clipped and short, and he seemed a bit upset. “Get dressed.”

“There’s someone out there.”

“There is no one out there. Get fucking dressed, now.”

He’d never raised his voice to me like that. Gone was the sweet and gentle Ethan that I knew, the man in front of me was all rough edges and harsh.

“Ethan?”

“Oh for goddess sake, she is a whiny child,” a voice drawled and I watched in horror as a boy walked out of the woods. “Couldn’t you have picked someone better, Ethan?”

It took me a second to recognize the boy in question. I’d seen him around school before. Everyone knew he was trouble. If there was a mean prank, chances were that Terrence had a hand in it. His lips were always pulled into a cruel smirk, the same one he was sporting right now.

I’d never seen him around Ethan before, I didn’t know they were friends.

I clutched my dress tighter against my body. “You need to leave.”

He waved me off. “There’s no need to hide from me, darling, I’ve already seen all I need to. Who knew that the Beta’s daughter was such a slut?”

My cheeks turned a bright shade of red and I turned to Ethan, hoping he’d at least defend me, but he didn’t. Instead, he rolled his eyes in what seemed to be bored.

“You weren’t supposed to come out,” he hissed. “The deal was that you’d watch and fucking leave.”

My mouth dropped open in shock. “You knew he was here? The whole time?’ Ethan shrugged. “How could you? I thought we- you-”

“Surely you can’t be that stupid,” Ethan snorted. “You were practically throwing yourself at me. I didn’t think you’d mind a little audience.”

“That is not true. You were the one who asked me to have sex with you. You’ve been asking for months.”

Terrence laughed. “If it makes you feel any better, you’re not the first girl I’ve seen. I’m sure you’ll find that you have a lot of friends.”

I didn’t know what to say in response. Even if I did, my mouth wouldn’t have moved.

Terrence and Ethan laughed between themselves, whispering as if I wasn’t there. When Terrence brought out his phone to show something to Ethan, that was when my entire world came crashing down, because I could hear the audio, and it was me.

I rushed to my feet, my eyes brimming with tears, and I ran.

I could barely see where I was going between my tears and me trying to pull on my dress.

How could I have been so stupid to think that he loved me?

If that video were to get out, dad would kill me.

I pushed my legs to go faster, not caring where I was going when I tripped. I wasn’t sure if it was a root or a stray branch, but my leg got caught in it and I went tumbling down fast. I tried to grab onto something, tried to find my footing, but I just kept rolling down until suddenly, I was floating in mid-air.

I hadn’t realized just how close I was to a cliff’s end, but as the wind rushed through my ears and I stared at the rocky terrain that was quickly approaching, I couldn’t help but feel relief. At least that video would never see the light of day again.

I closed my eyes and embraced the darkness.