Chapter 2

Evangeline POV:

Mildred Tucker, the chief enforcer of the Hopkins Pack, marched into my cabin, flanked by four hulking warriors.

Her beady eyes darted across the disheveled room before locking onto the bed. She froze for a fraction of a second when she saw the breathtakingly handsome, muscular man sleeping there instead of the ugly rogue she had hired.

But her Beta arrogance quickly overrode her confusion.

"Well, well," Mildred sneered, her cruel mouth twisting into a victorious grin. "The wolfless trash finally gave herself to the filthy rogue we arranged!"

She puffed out her chest, looking down her scarred nose at me. "Lady Hortense sent me to drag your ruined hide back to the estate. You are taking Lady Amanda's place in the mating alliance with that broken monster from Shadow Ridge!"

She pointed a thick finger at the bed. "Kill that alley mutt. Leave no witnesses!"

The four enforcers drew their silver-alloy blades, stepping forward with murderous intent.

My eyes turned colder than ice. I didn't retreat. I pulled a poisoned silver dagger from my boot and stepped directly into their path, shielding the bed.

"This is the man I slept with," I said, my voice dead and cold. "Who dares to touch him?"

Mildred let out a harsh, barking laugh. "You have no inner wolf, Evangeline! You are nothing! Break her legs!"

Two enforcers lunged at me. I ducked under the first blade, driving the hilt of my dagger brutally into his ribs, and kicked the second one's knee, shattering the joint with a sickening pop.

But before the other two could rush the bed, the atmospheric pressure in the room suddenly turned into lead.

The mysterious stranger hadn't even gotten out of bed. His glacial-blue eyes snapped open, gleaming with a terrifying, absolute lethality.

He didn't lift a single finger. He merely released a fraction of his Alpha's Command.

"Kneel."

The single word was spoken softly, but it carried the crushing weight of a collapsing mountain.

The charging enforcers froze mid-air. Their bones cracked audibly under the pure psychic pressure. They slammed onto the floorboards, coughing up blood, completely paralyzed by the sheer dominance of a true apex predator.

Dead silence fell over the bedroom.

Mildred stared at her elite guards twitching on the floor. The smug arrogance drained from her scarred face, replaced by raw, primal terror.

I walked over to her, planting the hard heel of my combat boot onto her trembling hand.

"Go back and tell Hortense," I whispered sweetly, my eyes burning with a dangerous light. "If she wants me to act as Amanda's substitute bride, she can crawl here and beg me herself."

Mildred scrambled out the ruined doorway, weeping in terror, leaving her paralyzed men behind.

I turned back to the room. The mysterious Alpha was sitting up, watching me with cold, evaluating intensity.

"You fight well for a supposed wolfless runt," he murmured, his deep voice carrying a rough morning rasp.

"And you wake up quite energetic for a man dying of silver rot," I shot back smoothly, crossing my arms.

A dangerous glint sparked in his eyes. He swung his long legs over the mattress and stood up, closing the distance between us with the silent grace of a predator. He stopped mere inches away, his calloused fingers reaching out to tilt my chin up.

"You used my body to survive your heat, tipped me with pocket change, and now you want to dismiss me?" he asked softly, a predatory smirk playing on his lips.

I didn't back down. I pressed the sharp tip of my poisoned dagger firmly against his taut abdominal muscle. "You nearly broke my waist last night. If anything, you owe me medical bills."

He let out a low rumble of amusement, completely ignoring the blade. "We will meet again, little stray."

Without waiting for my retort, he grabbed his dark shirt, shrugged it on, and vaulted effortlessly out the open window, vanishing into the morning mist.