Chapter 3

The crowd started chanting for them to sing again.

I watched them walk up to the stage hand-in-hand, lost in thought.

What bothered me the most was how Vanessa knew I wasn't an orphan.

I had never told anyone. Not even Brian.

I pulled out my phone and sent a Snapchat message to my father.

[Dad, look up a girl named Vanessa Lane. She's in the Ironclaw Pack.]

On stage, Brian dropped to one knee, singing Bruno Mars's "Marry You" to Vanessa with fake adoration.

I felt a pang of emptiness. When did this man, who once seemed so bright and heroic, become so pathetic?

I had met Brian shortly after running away from home.

To escape the political marriage my father arranged with Sam Collins, I had slipped out of the Silvermoon territory under the cover of night.

I was young and naive. I thought I could survive on my own.

But I underestimated the dangers of the neutral zones.

On my third night, I was surrounded by a pack of feral rogue wolves in the middle of nowhere.

Their glowing green eyes closed in on me through the dark, low growls vibrating in their chests.

I fought with everything I had, but I was outnumbered. I was covered in deep gashes, the scent of my blood driving them into a frenzy.

Just when I thought I was going to die, a dark shadow crashed into the pack.

It was Brian.

He had shifted into his half-wolf form, tearing open the throat of the nearest rogue and kicking another ten feet away. He stood in front of me, covered in blood, refusing to take a single step back.

The rogues were finally intimidated by his sheer brutality and dragged their dead away into the shadows.

He turned around. Under the moonlight, I saw his face. Young, handsome, covered in blood, but wearing a tired, gentle smile.

"You're safe now."

He brought me back to his pack's town and got me medical help.

When I woke up, he was sleeping by my bedside, his head resting near my hand.

At that moment, I thought he was my savior sent from heaven.

I lied and told him I was an orphan with nowhere to go.

He didn't doubt me. He took me in, found me a place to live, and showed me around.

Back then, he was my hero.

On the grassy hills behind the town, he confessed his love to me, promising he would only ever love me.

But once we moved closer to the pack's inner circle, Brian forgot his promises.

During our dates, he would leave the movie theater at the climax just because Vanessa called.

When he got drunk, he would mumble, "Let me drink for Vanessa, don't pressure her."

His family dinners never included me, but Vanessa was always guest of honor.

I suddenly felt completely disgusted by it all. I grabbed my purse to leave when my phone buzzed.

It was a text from my dad.

[Got her. Vanessa Lane, Ironclaw Pack.]

[She is currently sleeping with at least six different men. One of them is someone you know—Alpha Marcus Harrison.]

[Last month, she got sent to the hospital because of some rough play with those guys and caught an STD. Alpha Harrison begged me for hush money. He was trying to close a business deal with the Silvermoon Pack and didn't want a scandal to ruin it. I paid the bill for him.]

I stared at the screen, my breathing turning shallow.

So that was it.

Alpha Harrison’s hush money had come from my father.

No wonder Alpha Harrison had looked so nervous earlier. He was terrified I would expose his dirty secrets and ruin his business.

As for Vanessa, she had no idea who she was playing with.

She had just gotten lucky, leeching off a few rich Alphas.

Now she had her sights set on Brian, the heir of the Ironclaw Pack.

And I was the obstacle she needed to clear.

She had somehow found out I wasn't an orphan and decided to use it as a weapon.

The cheating and sugar baby rumors were entirely made up.

After all, lies are free. As long as she could ruin my reputation, she won.

My phone buzzed again.

[Do you need me to send the Silvermoon warriors?]

I replied:

[No. I’ll handle this myself.]

I locked my phone, a cold smile playing on my lips.

Vanessa was completely done for.