Chapter 1
Seraphina's POV
I just get back from three months of hell on the northern border, dust still on my jacket, when Grandpa's calls start blowing up my phone.
"Seraphina! You need to swing by Black Ridge City and meet your fiancé!"
The old betrothal, arranged before I was even born. The guy is Derek, son of the Black Ridge Pack's Alpha.
I couldn't care less about the engagement, but I owe the elders that much respect.
So I send my unit back to base and head into the city alone, figuring I'll grab a gift and get this over with.
I find a necklace I like at Tears of the Stars, the fanciest jewelry store in town. The sales clerk looks at me like I'm trash. "That necklace runs eight million dollars. You break it, you'll be washing dishes for the rest of your life and still not pay it off."
I'm reaching for my black card when a wall of perfume hits me.
A woman dripping in jewelry storms in with a pack of bodyguards, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "What kind of gutter wolf is this? Keep talking and I'll have someone skin you and turn you into a rug. That necklace is mine. I'm Derek's girl."
I actually laugh, I'm that pissed off. Call up my dear fiancé right there on the spot.
"Derek. Your girl just told me she's going to skin me and make me into a rug."
Hearing the clerk's comment, I just shrug it off.
Fair enough, really. I'm still in a beat-up coat, and I've spent half the afternoon wandering a store full of high-end gowns before picking out a low-key sapphire piece called Ocean's Eye.
To keep the peace, I'm already reaching for my black card when I hear the click of heels coming across the floor, sharp and full of attitude.
"I want that necklace. Wrap it up."
A woman walks in surrounded by bodyguards, wearing a wine-red dress cut down to there, hair done up in big loose curls, sunglasses on, chin tilted up like she owns the place. New money written all over her.
The moment the clerk spots her, that cold face melts into the fakest smile I've ever seen. She practically runs out from behind the counter, bowing so low she nearly hits the floor. "Oh my gosh, Scarlett! What brings you in today? Honestly, that necklace is lucky you're even looking at it."
Scarlett slides off her sunglasses, tosses them to a bodyguard without looking, glances at the necklace, then finally notices me standing there.
She gets one look at my dusty clothes and claps a hand over her nose like I tracked in garbage.
"What kind of security do you people run here? You just let anybody wander in off the street?" Her voice cuts through the whole store. "It reeks of broke in here. Somebody get her out."
The clerk spins toward me, all traces of politeness gone. "You heard her. Get lost. You're stinking up the place."
I stand there watching the two of them make fools of themselves, so furious it comes out as a laugh.
Back home, everybody bows when they see me coming. And here I am getting talked down to by some woman covered in cheap perfume?
"There's a thing called first come, first served." I look at her, dead calm. "I saw that necklace first."
"First come, first served?" Scarlett acts like that's the funniest thing she's ever heard, cracking up, and her bodyguards laugh right along with her.
She gets right up in my face, eyes full of venom. "In this city, I make the rules. You have any idea who I am? I'm Derek's girl. You know Derek, right? Future Alpha of the whole pack. His family owns half this city."
She jabs a finger practically into my nose, diamond ring flashing. "Some hick wolf like you thinks she can steal from me? Say the word and I'll have your hide turned into a rug."
People around us start whispering.
"Man, she's done for. You do not mess with Scarlett."
"Right, Derek's wrapped around her finger. She's basically the next Luna already."
Listening to them, I feel my amusement sharpen into something colder.
Derek. The guy my family shoved at me, supposedly some talented Alpha's son. I came here today planning to buy him a gift, walk in, shake hands, be done with it.
Instead, before I even meet my fiancé, I run into the rabid dog he keeps on the side.
"Derek?" A cold smile pulls at my mouth. "I was actually going to call him, ask what the rules are around here. Guess that won't be necessary now."
"Call Derek?" Scarlett looks at me like I've said something insane, doubling over laughing until she nearly cries. "You? Some beggar off the street has Derek's number? Who do you even think you are?"
