Chapter 2

Seraphina's POV

Scarlett pulls out her phone and calls someone, her voice turning sickly sweet. "Babe, where are you? Some crazy hick chick just jumped me at Tears of the Stars. Grabbed the necklace I wanted and had the nerve to say your name like she knows you. Get over here now."

She hangs up and turns to me, eyes full of poison.

"You're dead, bitch," she hisses through her teeth.

Less than ten minutes later, tires screech outside the store.

Three black armored SUVs pull up hard at the curb. The doors fly open and a dozen wolf bodyguards in black suits, all muscle, pour out and seal off every exit.

An Alpha's pressure rolls through the room. Weak, almost laughable to me, but enough to drain the color from the clerk's face and get everyone else looking at the floor.

A young man walks in surrounded by bodyguards, tailored silver-gray suit, hair styled to perfection.

He's handsome enough, I'll give him that. Explains why the family picked him for me. But there's an arrogance under all that polish, the kind that comes from too much money and too much power, and it undercuts everything good-looking about him.

This is Derek. Son of the Black Ridge Pack's Alpha.

"Baby!" The second Scarlett spots him, she switches on the waterworks and throws herself into his arms.

"What happened? Who's stupid enough to mess with you on my turf?" Derek wraps an arm around her waist, scanning the room like he's looking for someone to hit.

The clerk, shaking so hard she can barely get the words out, points at me. "Derek, it was her. She went after Scarlett's necklace and mouthed off at you too."

Derek's eyes finally land on me.

He clocks my beat-up clothes first, and something like disgust flickers across his face.

Then he frowns, like he's trying to place something. A second later his whole expression drops.

"You... you're Seraphina?"

His father must have told him who I was at some point, but he never wanted this life, never wanted this marriage his family arranged. He always walked out before anyone finished explaining. So he'd always pictured me as some plain Omega nobody from the Royal Pack, and walking in looking like this just confirms it for him.

I don't say yes. I don't say no. I just stand there, face blank.

"Ha. So it really is you." Derek reads my calm as fear, like I'm too stunned by his presence to speak, and lets out a laugh. "My father's been in my ear for weeks about what an incredible match this is, how I'd better treat you right. And this is what I get? Some nobody who can't even dress herself?"

Scarlett blinks at that, then breaks into laughter, meaner than before. "Oh my god, you're the desperate fiancée who's been chasing after Derek? I thought you'd be somebody. Turns out you're a beggar who can't afford a decent outfit. Take a good look in the mirror, sweetheart. You really think you're good enough for him?"

Derek pats Scarlett's back to calm her down, then turns back to me.

"Seraphina, I don't care what game you and your family played to fool my father. But since you're standing right here, let's get this over with. I'm the future king of the Black Ridge Pack. I'm not marrying a waste of space."

He points at Scarlett, loud enough for the whole room to hear. "I love her. She's the only one who deserves to stand next to me. As for you..."

He lets go of Scarlett and steps toward me, his voice dropping to something cold. "You insulted her, and you're causing a scene on my territory. So here's what's going to happen. You've got two options."

"One, you get on your knees right now and apologize to Scarlett until she's satisfied. Then you get out of Black Ridge City and never show your face again."

"Two, I break both your legs and have you thrown out like garbage."

Around us, people suck in a breath, shooting me looks dripping with pity.

In their eyes, crossing Derek in this city is basically a death sentence.

I look at this man standing in front of me, so sure he holds my life in his hands, and all I feel is how ridiculous this is.

This is the great catch my family kept promising me? The one who was supposed to take care of me for life?

"Derek, so what you're saying is you're calling off the engagement?" My voice doesn't waver.

"Calling it off? You don't even get to use that word." Derek looks like I've just insulted him personally, his voice rising to a shout. "I'm the one dumping you. Now get on your knees for Scarlett. Or I swear, this time next year, they'll be visiting your grave."