Chapter 2
He raised his hand and called over a warrior.
“One hundred slaps. I want her so humiliated she won’t dare show her face in public again.”
Before I could even react, the first slap landed.
Then the second. The third…
My tears fell uncontrollably, but it was like my face had gone numb. I couldn’t feel a thing.
Ijust stood there, dazed, watching Carter blow gently on Daphne’s ankle with such tender care.
Daphne looked at me smugly, mouthing the numbers in sync with each strike as the warrior gave the slap.
“Ninety… ninety–one… ninety–two…”
When it hit ninety–nine, she spoke in that saccharine voice of hers.
“Alpha, maybe that’s enough? Bianca’s face is already swollen like a balloon. She probably won’t even be able to get into the award ceremony.”
Carter waved the warrior to stop and shot me a cold warning.
“Be good. Once we break the mate bond, you can do whatever you want.‘
I was practically dragged into Carter’s car.
I begged him to let me make a phone call.
“If I don’t explain my absence, they’ll think I’m insulting the royals. I’ll be blacklisted for life and I’ll never be eligible for this award again.”
He knew what it meant to me. Winning this award had been my mother’s final wish, something I’d spent eight years fighting for. But when his eyes met mine, red and swollen from crying, his expression remained detached and heartless.
“In your eyes, some vain little award matters more than a child’s life?”
“Bianca, when did you become so shallow?”
I stared at him, stunned, and gave him a bitter smile.
“Fine. I’ll give it up.”
No one saw the way my fists clenched so tightly that my nails dug into my palms and drew blood.
Whatever I lost I’d make sure he repaid it with everything he had.
I wiped the blood from my hand. We had already broken the mate bond. I told my wolf to hold in her cries, to endure the pain in silence.
All that remained was for us to sign the bond–breaking deal, and the dissolution would be official.
Carter seemed to be in a good mood afterward. Noticing my swollen, bruised cheek, he lowered his voice.
“Does it still hurt?”
I ignored him and went straight to the pack doctor to have my wounds treated.
By the time I returned, it was already night.
I tried unlocking the door to the pack house three times, but the key didn’t work.
The next moment, the door swung open from the inside. Chapter 2
TV
Daphne stood there in a barely–there nightgown.
“Bianca,” she said sweetly, “I’m pregnant. Carter was worried I’d get depressed, so he insisted on bringing me back to the pack house. He won’t leave my side, not even for a second.”
“I told him it was unfair to you, but he said as long as I’m not suffering, it doesn’t matter.”
“What can I do? He’s just too kind to me.”
Our pack house sat in Montrose Gardens, and it bore my last name. It was also where Carter and I had marked each other.
