Chapter 2

Colette Davis POV:

I knew this artificial floral scent all too well—it was the limited-edition bottle my best friend, Bridie Bates, wore every single day.

I walked quietly past the entryway into the living room. A men’s suit jacket and red lace underwear lay tangled on the white rug.

The master bedroom door stood cracked open, and ragged breathing and the creak of a mattress spilled into the hall.

My heart seized. I forced myself toward the sliver of light.

Through the gap in the door, I saw two naked bodies writhing together on the king-sized bed I had helped pick out.

The man with his back to the door, driving his hips forward with a low grunt, was Bryson Cruz—the secondary Alpha heir to the minor Cruz Pack who had sworn just last week that he would make me his bride to elevate our families.

And pinned beneath him, arching her neck and wrapping her arms tight around his shoulders with a high-pitched moan, was my closest friend of five years, Bridie Bates.

My heart aches.Bryson and I had no completed mate marking, but we had exchanged verbal promises.

Betrayal was not just moral—it was physical pain. My knees buckled, and I caught myself against the doorframe.

I bit down hard on my lower lip until the metallic taste of fresh blood coated my tongue. Lifting my right leg, I drove the sole of my shoe straight into the bedroom door.

The wood slammed against the drywall with a deafening bang. On the bed, the two figures froze as if struck by lightning and whipped their heads toward the doorway.

Bridie let out a shrill shriek and scrambled to yank the silk duvet over her bare breasts, the blood draining from her face.

"Colette! How... how did you get in here?"

Bryson tumbled off the side of the mattress in a panic. He fumbled on the floor to grab a white bath towel and wrapped it around his waist, the flush of lust on his face twisting into red-faced fury.

"Don't you know how to knock before walking into someone's house?"

I stared at the two of them, my chest heaving as I forced down the bile rising in my throat.

"Knock? So the two of you could put your clothes back on and keep pretending to be human?"

As Bryson took in my mud-splattered coat and the swollen red print on my cheek, the anger in his eyes shifted into open disgust.

"Just look at yourself right now. You look like a drowned rat. What part of you looks like a woman fit to marry into an Alpha family?"

Hiding behind Bryson's bare shoulder, Bridie recovered from her shock. The corner of her mouth lifted in a smug, taunting smirk, but her tone of voice is so pitiful and weak.

"Colette, you really can't blame Bryson. He's a normal male with normal needs. Whatever you're too cold and defective to give him, I can provide."

Looking at the face of the woman I had trusted with all my secrets made my heart cramp.

"Bridie, are you really that desperate that you have to dig through someone else's trash for leftovers?"

Bridie's face twisted, her voice turning shrill.

"Stop acting so high and mighty! That half-dead mother of yours is a bottomless money pit! The only reason you dragged yourself here tonight is to beg Bryson for cash, isn't it?"

Bryson lifted his chin and rubbed the small black mole on the left corner of his jaw, a habit he always showed when he felt superior.

"Look, Colette. Seeing you is your own good fortune. As long as you learn to keep your mouth shut and turn a blind eye to Bridie and me, I might consider tossing that eighty thousand your way as charity."

He was actually using my mother's life as leverage to force me to swallow his betrayal.

A cold laugh escaped me. I stepped forward, snatched the half-full wineglass from the nightstand, and flung the dark liquid into his face.

Crimson wine dripped from his hair and ran down his nose. Bryson roared, lunging forward with his hand raised to strike me.

"You crazy bitch!"

I didn't flinch. I locked my ice-blue eyes onto his, letting a razor-thin sliver of my suppressed White Wolf dominance leak into the air.

"Touch me once. I dare you."

Bryson's raised hand froze mid-air. A flash of primal confusion crossed his face as his secondary Alpha instincts recoiled from the sudden chill in my gaze.

With a curl of my lip, I hurled the empty crystal wineglass onto the hardwood floor, sending sharp shards flying across their bare feet.

"Bryson Cruz, our engagement is dead. Just looking at you makes me want to throw up."

I shifted my gaze to Bridie, my voice flat and cold.

"A cheap whore and a stray dog. May the two of you rot together forever."

Without waiting for an answer, I turned on my heel and walked out of the suffocating apartment.

My mother's medical funds were gone, my father had disowned me, and my fiancé had betrayed me in the filthiest way possible. Every road in front of me was blocked.

Stepping into the empty elevator, I leaned my back against the cold steel wall and pressed both hands over my face, forcing my racing pulse to slow down.

I was the top trauma surgeon and Healer in the city hospital. I refused to watch my mother die in that sterile room.I must get the money before tomorrow afternoon.

A reckless and terrible idea gradually took shape in my mind.

I stood up, tightened my wet coat and walked towards the exit.