Chapter 10
At Arya Alvarez’s birthday party, the grand hall of the Silverfang Pack’s estate was filled with the city’s elite, their scents mingling in the air—rosemary, vanilla, and the sharp tang of alpha dominance. Miriam Meyer stood beside Arya, her deep blue gown flowing like water, her presence commanding attention as a Beta. Her scent, a mix of lavender and something sharper, wafted through the room, a reminder of her status. Kohen Rice, the Alpha, lingered on the edges of the celebration, his broad shoulders silhouetted against the night sky, his amber eyes distant, as if the festivities were beneath him.
The guests, a mix of alphas, betas, and even a few visiting gammas from neighboring packs, raised their glasses in unison. “Congratulations to Alpha Rice on your engagement to such a remarkable Beta,” they toasted, their voices carrying the weight of deference. The event wasn’t just Arya’s birthday—it was also Kohen’s engagement to Miriam, a union that solidified the Silverfang Pack’s alliances.
Kohen’s wolf, a shadowy presence in the back of his mind, growled faintly, but he silenced it with a swig of whiskey. The guests assumed he was overjoyed, celebrating with drink after drink. But when he stumbled, his hand gripping Miriam’s arm, he called out my name—Brooklyn—instead of hers.
The room froze. Miriam’s face crumpled, her scent spiking with distress. She fled, her heels clicking against the marble floor, leaving Kohen standing there, his expression unreadable. Scarlett, a beta from the Nightshade Pack, forwarded me a video of the incident later that evening, her message laced with pity. “I had no idea you had a history with Alpha Rice,” she said over the phone. “I kept talking about Miriam to you. It must have been really hard on you.”
I shook my head, brushing it off. By now, I knew Kohen never regarded me as his equal. Perhaps he felt some affection for me, but it was merely that—some. He was capable of aligning with Miriam for the sake of pack advantage and equally adept at using any means necessary to compel my compliance with his desires. He had elevated me to this position—once his mate, now an omega—and also possessed the ability to take it all back.
The next morning, my assets were frozen, and a significant portion of my shares in the pack’s ventures vanished overnight. I remembered the text message I received in the dead of night: “Return to me, and all this will be yours again.”
Intimidation and allure, tactics once used in the corporate world, were now wielded against me by the one who had once fought by my side. I chuckled quietly to myself, removed the SIM card from my phone, and threw it in the garbage. With the light behind me, I walked toward my next destination, leaving the Silverfang Pack—and Kohen—far behind.
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