Chapter 3

I lay in the bathtub, closed my eyes, and tried to connect with the voice again. At first, there was only silence. But slowly, a warmth started to spread in my chest. My wolf was responding.

*You need to get stronger,* my wolf, Shadow, spoke in my mind. *Or they will kill you.*

Just then, my phone rang.

I was confused. Who would call me at this hour?

It was an unknown number, but I recognized the pattern. It was Wendy.

I hesitated before picking up.

"Clara, you really think you're something, don't you? You ruined the wedding, ran away, and now you're probably whoring yourself out to some other Alpha!"

Wendy’s screeching voice echoed through the speaker.

I leaned against the edge of the tub, sounding bored. "What do you want, Wendy?"

My indifferent tone set her off.

"What do I want? Harold and Helen are furious! The pack is falling apart, and you're out there living your best life!"

"So? Did you call just to scream at me?"

"Clara, don't forget you have Miller blood in your veins! You ruined our pack, so you have to fix this!"

"Fix it? How? Go back and marry Victor for you?" I scoffed. "Wendy, you were the one crying and begging not to marry a cripple. Now you're blaming me?"

When the marriage alliance was first made, it was meant for Wendy, the precious daughter of the pack.

But she threw a tantrum because Victor was paralyzed. That was when Harold and Helen decided to sacrifice me.

They promised they would give my biological mother’s estate to me if I complied.

I did it for my mother.

But a week before the wedding, I found out my mother had been dead for years. And that was when Shadow finally woke up inside me.

Nobody in the Silver Creek Pack cared about me.

They only cared if I showed up at the altar on time.

From that moment on, I was dead to them.

"You... you’re lying!" Wendy stammered, flustered. "I didn't marry him because... because I already have a mate! Unlike you, you cheap, shameless slut!"

She got louder and louder.

"Clara, I'm warning you. You better crawl back to Alpha Victor and beg for his forgiveness, or I will make sure you have nowhere to hide in this world!"

"Oh, really?" I smirked. "I’d love to see you try."

I hung up and blocked her number.

Talking to her was a waste of breath.

By the next morning, my name was all over the werewolf forums on Instagram.

*Silver Creek Bastard Rejects Iron Crest Alpha at the Altar.*

*The Ungrateful Clara Miller.*

*Silver Creek Pack on the Verge of Collapse.*

I clicked on the posts. The comments were brutal.

Everyone called me a gold-digger who ran away because Victor was disabled.

Then, an "anonymous source" leaked photos of a girl who looked like me hook up with different wolves at a club.

I knew instantly it was Wendy in those photos.

She was desperate enough to leak her own scandalous photos just to ruin my reputation.

The comment section was filled with hate.

"She should be rogue-hunted!"

"Poor Alpha Victor, getting played by a bitch like her."

"Silver Creek is cursed to have a daughter like her."

Looking at the comments, I didn't get angry. I actually found it funny.

These wolves were so easy to manipulate.

Thankfully, I was out of the pack territory. They couldn't find me here.