Chapter 2
It’s raining.
I’d taken an Uber into the city to see Dr.
Henley and I walked all the way back to
the city limits.
“Miss, do you need a ride?” It’s an elderly couple. They pulled to the side of the
road in their Chevy Malibu. They look
concerned.
I’m concerned.
But what difference does a bit of rain
make?
A second car pulls up. It’s a big SUV. I
recognize the license plate.
“You’re both very kind,” I tell them. “It’s
okay. My friend is here.”
“Friend” is a word I’d use lightly.
James is Aaron’s beta.
He’s a big, brooding wolf who doesn’t particularly like me.
That’s probably because Aaron was supposed to marry his sister, Jessica.
I’m pretty sure Aaron is still in love with
her. That he would already be mated to
her if he wasn’t stuck with me. They’re
together all the time. She dotes on him
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Chapter 2
it’s not because he’s respecting my position as luna, or because he’s respecting my privacy…it’s because he doesn’t give a sh*t.
3/9
In the past, when we were stuck together,
I’d prattle on and ask questions, forcing
him to converse with me because I knew
he didn’t want to. Today, I stare out the
window and don’t say a word.
Not even when he keeps glancing at me.
“Dr. Henley, is it curable…if I’m hospitalized?”
“There are treatments that might buy
you a few extra months…”
A few extra months.
Tears stream down my face. In my
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reflection in the window, they just blend
with the raindrops splattering the glass.
I’m going to die. There is no hope for me.
Upon returning to the packlands, we veer off the main highway onto a long
stretch of private road that’s maintained
and patrolled by Aaron’s guards. They
pause the SUV at the gate only to wave James through.
The security is intended to keep humans
out.
And to keep me in.
disappointment because I know he
doesn’t care about me, but this man’s
indifference… when I’ve known him for
nearly half my life…
It hurts.
I get out of the car and stare up at the
massive house. It’s four stories of stone
with a tiled roof. A massive, glamorous
estate that I’d thought so beautiful the
first time I saw it.
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“What the he ll is wrong with your phone,
Leah?”
It’s Aaron.
He storms outside and down the stairs.
He stalks toward me and my feet back
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up instinctively. This Alpha is too big. Too
strong. Too merciless when he wants to
be.
“Where the f**k did you go?”
A day ago, I would’ve cowered beneath
his rage. But now…
“What does it matter?” I ask quietly.
He straightens like I’ve slapped him.
Aaron has come to know my many moods-stubborn, argumentative, quiet-but this defeated tone isn’t typical for me. I’ve had to fight. For everything
here. Few people here have shown me
kindness.
from here. Sitting in a chair beside the
window or the fireplace, depending on
the time of year.
I spend most of my time here too. I eye
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up all the many rows and rows of books
on the floor to ceiling shelves.
Books I’ll never get the time to read.
I sniffle.
Again, Aaron looks shocked.
I refuse to cry for this man. For any of
them.
As a terrified, broken, thirteen-year-old girl taken into this enemy land, I did not
cry. I am Leah Arboreaux, and I honor
Yelling and fighting.
Being ignored-or ravished.
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He crowds me until my back is against
the wall. His hands slam on either side of
my head, caging me in. I crane my head back to hold his gaze.
His scent wraps around me-rich and
subtle and all but beckoning me near
because for whatever reason this man
smells irresistible to me.
He growls and comes closer.
His chest against mine.
His hips rolling into me.
To go up on my toes, seek out his sexy
mo uth, and let him take me under as he’s
done a thousand times before.
Because this man might hate me… but
he still wants me.
