Chapter 2

"Still talking back!"

Lila stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face.

My ears rang instantly.

"Get her changed! Alpha Alaric will be here any minute!"

She smiled viciously as she tore off my jacket and forced me into a black nightgown with barely any fabric.

"You really look like a cheap whore." Lila patted my face with satisfaction.

I lay against the cold marble surface, enduring the ultimate humiliation, but my fingers slowly clenched into fists.

They'd stripped the Sunridge Pack Alpha's own daughter naked and sent her to her father's bed.

I would settle this account with interest.

Caleb and Lila dragged me out of the room toward the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

A dozen black-suited guards lined both sides of the corridor—all Sunridge Pack enforcers.

The man leading them strode forward, tall and broad with a faint scar on his face.

I squinted and recognized him—Rowan.

Three years ago, he was just an outer guard who needed advance clearance to enter my home.

Now he'd become Sunridge Pack's head of security in Chicago.

Caleb and Lila's arrogance instantly evaporated. They bent nearly double, faces full of flattering smiles:

"Rowan, we've brought the girl for you."

Rowan glanced down at them with eyes like ice-dipped blades, finally settling coldly on me.

"You know Alpha Alaric's rules? Anyone sent here must be completely clean, no ulterior motives."

Caleb nodded frantically. "Yes, yes! Absolutely clean, absolutely obedient!"

Rowan snorted coldly, looking me up and down:

"Alpha Alaric is in a foul mood tonight. He needs something to take his mind off things. If you don't serve him well, you two will share the consequences."

Caleb shuddered and shoved me forward.

"Are you mute? Answer Rowan!"

I steadied myself and laughed coldly. "You're all really asking for death."

Caleb flew into a rage and raised his hand to slap me again.

I dodged. His slap met air and he nearly lost his balance.

Rowan watched this farce coldly, his gaze pausing on my face with a flash of confusion.

He felt like he'd seen this face before but couldn't remember where.

"You've got nerve," he said slowly. "Other women would be weak in the knees hearing about consequences."

He scanned me again, his tone playful: "Alpha Alaric's temper is running hot tonight. He needs someone with a hard spine to grind down. Your fearless attitude might just be what he likes. If you can make Alpha Alaric happy, there'll be rewards for you all."

Caleb's eyes lit up at these words.

Thinking my half-dead appearance had actually impressed them, he grew bolder, grabbing my hair and forcing my head back.

"Look, Rowan! This face, this body—guaranteed to satisfy Alpha Alaric!"

His eyes darted, and he lowered his voice to build connections:

"Rowan, if I may ask—why is Alpha Alaric in a bad mood tonight? Give us a hint so we know what we're dealing with."

Before he finished, Rowan's eyes sharpened, looking at him like a corpse.

"Alpha Alaric's private affairs are something a minor branch character like you can ask about?"

Caleb's face turned liver-colored as he apologized repeatedly:

"Yes, yes, it's my fault! I talked too much!"

To cover his fear, he took all his anger out on me, kicking me hard in the stomach.

"Bitch! Get in there and serve him! Once you're inside, even if you have to wag your tail like a dog, you'd better make Alpha Alaric comfortable!"

The kick sent me stumbling forward, my abdomen churning with pain.

I supported myself against the cold doorframe and slowly straightened.

Caleb just asked why Alaric was in a bad mood?

I laughed silently to myself.

Probably because his dead wife's anniversary was approaching and his only daughter had been missing for three years. Who wouldn't be in a bad mood?

And to cheer him up, they were sending in his own daughter as a gift.

Alaric—I really want to see your expression when that door opens.

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