Chapter 3

Julieta Simon POV:

After a silent drive down the highway, the Maybach pulled up and stopped in front of the grand stone steps of the Blackstone Pack Manor. The night wind carried the damp smell of the surrounding forest, cooling my hot face a little as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

I got out quickly and opened the back door. Bowman was leaning against the leather seat, the alcohol making his gray eyes look hazy.

"Alpha, we're here," I said softly, reaching out to support his arm, only for him to slap my hand away by instinct.

"Don't touch me." He let out a low growl and stepped out of the car, but his foot caught on the curb from the liquor, and his heavy body pitched forward.

I gasped and forgot his warning, opening my arms to catch his weight before he could hit the stone steps.

The heavy crash twisted my ankle. I lost my balance completely, and he knocked me down onto the cold grass in front of the manor.

I landed flat on my back with his broad, solid chest pressed tight against mine. Through our thin clothes, his burning body heat soaked straight into my skin.

My heart hammered against my ribs. The sharp cedarwood scent from his neck filled my nose with every breath, making my head spin.

His cheek brushed against my ear, and his heavy breathing hit the curve of my neck, sending a wave of shivers down my spine.

I put my hands against his hard chest to push him off, but I felt a sudden, violent change in his body—The Physical Surge.

Every muscle in his frame locked like iron, his heartbeat raced wildly against my palms, and I could feel the dangerous physical arousal of his body reacting to mine.

When a werewolf touches their fated mate, their blood boils and their body reacts with an unstoppable physical surge. My hidden inner wolf nearly howled with joy inside my head.

"You..." I widened my eyes in shock, staring at his face inches away, thinking he finally felt the secret mate-bond between us too.

Instead, the haze in his eyes vanished, replaced by cold disgust. He pushed himself up and rolled off me as if I carried a deadly disease.

"How pathetic." Standing tall, he looked down at me sprawled on the grass, a cruel sneer curling his lip.

"Using a cheap trick like faking a fall just to climb into my bed?" He straightened his messy suit jacket, his voice dripping with contempt.

I froze on the ground as if my blood had turned to ice. That tiny bit of hope in my chest was crushed to dust.

"I didn't fake it! You tripped on your own!" I scrambled up from the grass with red eyes, slapping the dirt off my skirt as my voice shook.

"Enough, Julieta," he cut me off coldly. "Your weak Omega instincts are nothing more than an annoying bother to me."

"Don't flatter yourself thinking your body does anything to me. That was just an Alpha's natural physical disgust toward a low-ranking female." He lied without blinking.

I knew it was a lie because that electric spark was never disgust, yet my public label as a weak Omega left me no pride to argue back.

"If I didn't have to keep my grandfather happy, do you think you'd even be allowed inside this manor?" He turned around and strode toward the grand front doors.

I stood alone on the lawn as the night wind blew through my thin clothes. Watching his cold back, a tear finally rolled down my cheek.

Only my best friend Chloe knew that I endured this hostile contract marriage not because I wanted the wealth of a Luna.

It was because the sacred White Wolf sealed inside me had claimed Bowman as my one and only mate the very first night I saw him.

I took a deep breath, wiped my face dry, and limped after him on my sore ankle so the manor servants wouldn't see anything wrong.

When I pushed open the front door, warm light spilled out and the old butler bowed politely. "Welcome home, Alpha, Luna."

Bowman ignored the butler completely and walked straight up the stairs toward his second-floor study without giving me a single glance.

Standing in the bright, grand hall, I felt like an unwanted outsider. Suddenly, a sharp ache throbbed inside my head—someone was knocking hard against my Mind-Link barrier.