Chapter 3

Avia Cooley POV:

The next morning, just as I closed my laptop and slid it back under the floorboards, the rotting wooden door of my shed was kicked open with a violent bang.

I turned around, my face like frost. Freddy swaggered into the narrow room, a purple bruise swelling on his cheek and a disgusting leer in his eyes.

"You had quite a temper last night, Avia," Freddy sneered, kicking the door shut behind him.

My right hand slipped quietly toward the hidden pouch at my waist, my fingertips brushing the cold metal of my mythic silver needles.

"Get out," I said.

"Stop playing hard to get," Freddy growled, taking two heavy steps toward me and leaking his foul Alpha pheromones. "You might be a useless wolfless freak, but your face and body are top-tier. Let me put my Marking bite on your neck right now, and I might forgive what happened last night."

In our world, once a male werewolf sinks his canines into a female's neck to leave a permanent Marking scar, his ownership is absolute.

He reached out his thick hand to grab my chin.

I tilted my head away in disgust, caught his wrist in a vice grip, and twisted it backward with a sharp jerk.

A loud crack of dislocating bone filled the room.

Freddy let out a bloodcurdling scream and dropped to one knee on the floorboards. I looked down at him coldly.

"Touch me again, and I'll cripple both of your arms," I said.

Rapid footsteps pounded outside the courtyard. A second later, Jeremiah and Enid rushed in, flanked by two burly Beta guards.

Seeing Freddy kneeling on the floor clutching his twisted wrist, Enid shrieked and scrambled over to help him up. She spun around and pointed a trembling finger at my face.

"Have you gone insane?" Enid screamed. "How dare you lay a hand on Young Master Freddy!"

Jeremiah's face was as dark as iron. "Get on your knees and apologize to him right now! Otherwise, I'll enforce Pack law and have you whipped!"

I let go of Freddy's wrist, pulled a tissue from the bedside table, and wiped my fingers one by one.

"Pack law?" I asked, tossing the dirty tissue onto the floor. "Which Pack law says I have to let a cheating piece of trash break into my bedroom and force a Marking on me?"

Freddy cradled his swollen wrist, his teeth grinding together. "Jeremiah! Is this how the Cooley Pack raises its women? Either she bows her head and completes the mating ceremony with me today, or the Costa Pack pulls every cent of our investment before noon!"

The word "investment" made Jeremiah's eyes turn bloodshot. He glared at me with pure greed and ruthlessness.

"Did you hear that, Avia?" Jeremiah roared. "Whether you want this mating or not, you are going through with it today! Guards, hold her down!"

The two heavy-set Beta guards stepped forward, reaching out to pin my shoulders.

A cold killing intent flashed through my eyes. Just as I prepared to paralyze their nerve centers, I stopped myself, took a slow breath, and reached into my jeans pocket.

"You want me to mate with him?" I pulled out the folded document stamped with the Registry's iron seal and slapped it hard onto the peeling wooden table. "Too late."

Jeremiah frowned and snatched up the paper. The moment he saw the official red ink and the embossed wolf-head seal, his pupils shrank to pinpricks.

"A Blood Pact?" Jeremiah's voice cracked as his hand shook. "You... you legally registered a marriage with someone else?"

Enid ripped the certificate from his hand, her face draining of all color. "Kingsley Rose? Who the hell is that? Some nameless bottom-feeder from the slums? You secretly sold yourself to a stray dog behind our backs?"

Freddy kicked over a wooden chair in a fit of rage. "Avia! You'd rather spread your legs for a broke nobody than be my Luna?"

"A gutter rat who can't keep his pants zipped isn't even worthy of carrying a nobody's shoes," I said, looking at Freddy like he was dead meat.

Jeremiah trembled from head to toe, waving the certificate in the air. "You think grabbing a random decoy on the street will get you out of my control? Dream on!"

"Under Imperial Pack Law, my Blood Pact is registered with the High Council," I said calmly. "Any attempt to force a mated woman into another bond is a direct declaration of war against her husband's Alpha authority."

Freddy's face twisted until it was almost deformed. He pointed his good hand at my nose. "Fine! Very good! Let's see if that penniless trash you married can keep his head attached to his neck!"

He stormed out of the shed, nursing his broken wrist. Jeremiah clutched his chest, gasping for air as he glared at me. "You ruined our pack's business, you jinx!"

"Your business has nothing to do with me," I said, snatching my marriage certificate back and folding it neatly.

Enid crossed her arms, her lips curling into a venomous smile. "Don't celebrate too soon, you little wretch. Tomorrow night is Danae's welcome banquet. Let's see if your beggar husband even has the guts to show his face here!"