Chapter 3

I dropped the phrase, turned on my heel, and walked away.

My father, Marcus, had mentioned that Kane's father nearly wept with joy upon hearing the Lycan King was open to an arranged marriage. He couldn't stop thanking us for the honor.

What would happen if he found out his arrogant son had single-handedly shredded that agreement?

But that wasn't my problem anymore. I was done wasting my time with these fools.

"Stop right there!"

Briar lunged at me, her nails digging deep into my arm.

"You steal my ring, humiliate me in front of Kane, and think you can just waltz out of here? In your dreams!"

She raised her hand high, aiming a vicious slap at my face.

I caught her wrist mid-air and shoved her backward. Briar stumbled and crashed hard onto the floor.

Instantly, tears pooled in her eyes. "Kane! She hit me! Are you just going to let her bully me?!"

A suffocating, violent Alpha aura swept through the room.

Kane strode forward, scooped Briar off the floor, and wrapped his arms around her possessively. "Anyone who dares hurt Briar won't leave this territory alive."

He flicked his wrist. His warriors closed in on me.

I planted a brutal kick into the chest of the first bastard who lunged at me. But there were too many of them.

Pain exploded. I was forced to my knees, my arms violently twisted behind my back. Humiliated, I was pinned to the ground right in front of Kane's boots.

Kane glanced down at me, his eyes full of contempt. Then he turned to Briar, his tone sickeningly indulgent. "Take your revenge however you want. I've got your back."

A cruel glint flashed in Briar's eyes.

She marched up to me and stomped her heel hard on my exposed hand. The point ground into my finger bones. I gasped but clamped my jaw shut, refusing to scream.

Briar stared down at the moonstone silver ring on my finger with a twisted smirk. "It's a waste for this ring to be on your hand. Since you love it so much, I'll do you a favor—leave the finger behind."

She yanked a knife from a nearby warrior's belt.

When the cold steel pressed against my skin, sheer panic finally broke my composure.

"Stop! Don't touch me!" I thrashed wildly. "I can give you something else! Necklaces, crowns worth ten times more! Just don't!"

Briar ignored my pleading. She crouched down, tapping the blade against my sweat-drenched cheek. "But I want this one right now."

The blade came down.

A sickening crack of bone echoed. Blood sprayed across the floor. The chunk of my ring finger bearing the moonstone was brutally chopped off.

A scream ripped from my throat. My body spasmed uncontrollably, cold sweat drenching my back.

"If your mother were still alive..." I threw my head back, glaring at Kane with bloodshot eyes. "If she knew how you treated the mate she chose for you, she would regret everything! You are going to pay for this!"

Kane's face twisted into furious rage.

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this," he spat. "Your father only wanted the Bloodmoon's military power. That's why he used this cheap arranged-marriage bullshit. Did you honestly think I’d accept leeches who sell their own daughters?"

Briar cackled. "Hear that? Your father raised you to be a bargaining chip! Your whole family is trash, so they raised a cheap slut like you!"

They could torture me. They could chop off my fingers. But nobody was allowed to insult my father like that!

Capitalizing on the split second the warriors loosened their grip, I erupted with feral strength. I threw off my restraints and lunged at Briar like a starving wolf.

I didn't use my hands. I opened my mouth and clamped my teeth violently down on her left ear.

My teeth punctured the fragile cartilage. Scalding hot blood flooded my mouth, heavy with a metallic taste. Pulling with every ounce of my strength, I viciously yanked backward!

The sound of tearing flesh exploded alongside Briar's agonizing shriek. I ripped half her ear clean off. She scrambled back, frantically clutching the side of her face as blood gushed through her fingers.

The pain and terror completely broke her mind.

"You psycho! You bitch!" she screamed hysterically. She turned to the warriors and roared, "Hold her down! Strip her naked!"

She locked eyes with Kane. "Let your men 'entertain' her! I want her to never forget today."

Kane didn't say a word. Silence meant consent.

The warriors didn't hesitate. With predatory grins, they lunged at me.

"Get off me!" I fought and thrashed furiously, but under their absolute physical domination, it was useless.

My clothes were violently torn. Just then, the phone in my pocket started to ring.

Snatching the phone, Briar glanced at the caller ID. A vicious smile crept over her lips. "Your useless daddy is calling? Perfect. Let him listen to his precious daughter screaming."

She hit speakerphone. My father's voice radiated from the speaker.

"Selena? Did you get the ring?"

Hearing his voice, tears instantly stung my eyes.

"Dad!! Help me!! They cut off my finger! They are trying to assault me!!!"

Briar scoffed. She crouched and sneered into the microphone. "So you're this bitch's dad? Your daughter bit my ear off. No need to thank me, I'm just having my boys teach her how to be an obedient slut for you."

When my father spoke again, his voice was a low, rumbling thunder. "I don't care who you are. Let my daughter go. Immediately. Otherwise, I will make you and your entire pack pay a price you cannot afford."

Briar laughed out loud. "Threatening me? Bring it on. I'd like to see you try."

She hung up, tossed the phone away, and spat an order at the warriors. "Keep going. Don't stop."

A far more brutal tearing of fabric ensued.

I curled my body into a tight ball. Humiliation and despair hit me hard. I wasn't afraid of being broken; I was only terrified of bringing shame to the Nightshade name.

Just as my clothes were shredded away, leaving me in nothing but my underwear—

The glass doors of the jewelry store violently exploded.

Shards rained down like shrapnel. The shockwave blasted the nearest warriors onto the ground.

A hundred fully armed, elite guards flooded in like a tidal wave, instantly barricading the store.

All noise instantly evaporated.

My father strode through the shattered entryway.

His cold gaze swept over the wreckage of the store. Finally, it locked onto me—curled up on the floor, covered in blood, my clothes ripped to shreds.

In that split second, the temperature in the room plummeted to absolute zero.

He lifted his head. Swirling inside his eyes was a storm of murderous rage.

"Who dared touch my daughter?"