Chapter 3

Elara Thorne POV:

The heavy oak door slammed against the wall, wood splinters flying across the carpet as Chace's chest heaved wildly. Behind him, his family guards hadn't even drawn their weapons yet.

Julian's fingers froze against my nape. He didn't turn around right away, but the Alpha aura pouring off him turned the air in the billiard room cold and still, as if the room itself had decided to hold its breath.

"Do you really think I won't draw blood in your territory, Vane?" Chace stared furiously at Julian's hand on my neck.

Julian slowly straightened up and stepped in front of me, blocking me from view. When he faced the door, his dark-gold wolf eyes held no heat at all—just a flat intent.

"You crashed my club and broke my door," Julian said, his voice dropping to a low, level cadence. "Waller, is your pack declaring war on Apex?"

Chace swallowed hard, his arrogance faltering for a second before his gaze locked back onto my dress peeking out from behind Julian's suit. "I don't want a war. I'm just taking back my woman."

Hiding behind Julian's broad back, I clutched the hem of his jacket and made my voice shake. "I'm not your woman..."

"Shut your mouth, Elara!" Chace roared, losing his mind completely as he pointed at me. "Dare to look him in the eye and tell him you didn't spend months kneeling at my feet like a dog as my submissive before I cut you loose six months ago?"

Those words sucked all the oxygen out of the room. Through the fabric of Julian's suit, I felt the muscles of his back turn to stone.

I immediately let go of his jacket and stumbled two steps back. I didn't even have to act; cold sweat drenched my spine, and my stomach twisted into a tight knot.

Julian turned his head slowly. Looking down at me from his towering height, the dark desire that had been in his eyes seconds ago was gone, replaced by bone-chilling disgust.

"Six months?" Julian let out a short, quiet laugh that felt like a slap across my face. "From a wolfless little thing who just swore she was clean?"

I parted my lips, reaching a trembling hand toward him. "No, Julian, listen to me, I only—"

"Don't say my name!"

He said it low, with the full weight of the Alpha's Command behind it—a genetic compulsion that forced any lower-ranked wolf within the pack to obey instantly. Even though my hidden White Wolf bloodline could resist it, I let my knees give out and collapsed onto the cold floor, gasping for air as if my lungs were being crushed.

Julian walked back to the billiard table, picked up a clean white towel, and wiped the fingers that had just touched the back of my neck.

"Take your secondhand trash and get out of my territory, Waller," Julian said, dropping the dirty towel onto the floor without sparing me another glance.

A flash of ugly triumph crossed Chace's face. He strode over and yanked me up by my upper arm, his grip tight enough to bruise the bone.

"You heard him, you little slut. You're nothing to him," Chace hissed into my ear.

As he dragged me roughly toward the shattered door, I kept my eyes fixed on Julian's rigid back. Right as Chace pulled me past the corner of the billiard table, a faint dark gleam caught the edge of my vision—a black obsidian cufflink carved with protective runes, which Julian had taken off and set down earlier.

Pretending my ankle twisted in my high heels, I pitched forward against the table edge. My free hand swept across the mahogany rail, snatching the heavy obsidian cufflink and clenching it tight inside my palm until the sharp edges bit into my skin.

Chace thought I was just trying to fight him off. Cursing under his breath, he yanked me out into the VIP hallway.

As we passed the lounge area, the high-ranking wolves who had seen Julian carry me away burst into loud laughter and jeering whistles.

"Look at that, the wolfless bed-warmer got thrown out like garbage!" one of the Omega women called out.

I kept my head down, letting my tangled hair hide my face. Beneath that curtain of hair, the corners of my mouth curled into a cold, razor-sharp smile. They saw a disgraced outcast; I felt the warm Alpha rune stone pressed against my palm.

Chace dragged me all the way down the back stairs and shoved me out the rear alley door into the freezing rain.

He wrenched open the rear door of a black modified SUV and threw me inside. I hit the leather seat hard, my elbow slamming into the opposite armrest until pain shot up my shoulder.

Climbing in right behind me, Chace slammed the door shut. "Drive!" he snarled at the chauffeur.

The central locks clicked down, sealing me inside the moving cage. Chace lunged across the seat and grabbed my chin in a bruising grip.

"Now," he breathed into my face, his eyes wide and unhinged in the passing streetlights, "you and I are going to settle the score for tonight."