ct

he soreness between my thighs was a delicious reminder of what had happened-how I'd taken control of my own destiny for on

recisely three seconds afte

e him. His eyes-normally a cool blue-had shifted to their wolf hazel, a clear sign of his rage. He gripped my chin roughly, tilti

s dug painfully into my jaw. Every single thing

dier than I expected. "I don't

llars missing from my safe. And look at you-covered in another man's scent, bruises on your nec

ling me like cattle?" I shot back, finding courage in my

litics," he sneered. "Alpha Moretti is offering you a posit

"For being handed over to a thirty-two-year-old monster? A ma

s worse than what you are now? A pathetic half-breed who can't even shift? Fath

. "At least my mother didn't abandon her mate and child," I his

when Enzo was just a child. She only returned with eight-year-old Enzo after learning my human moth

wled. "At least she came back. Yours just die

irth complications from carrying a hybrid baby had weakened her human body beyond recove

were different. You used to protect me, remember? You taught me how to

known. Before he became Alpha. Before the gambling and prostitutes a

you are," he said, but his voice held less co

rora poisoned y

little rebellion? You've just made things worse for yourself. What do you

antly. "I don't belon

the side and sending me sprawling across the coffee table. Glass

g in debt to Moretti? You think I enjoy having to hand over my own sister to settle it? This is you

aming down my face now. "Don't you dare blame a dy

eet. "Clean this mess up," he hissed. "Then stay in y

made me bleed countless times. But without my wolf, I was no match for an Alpha wer

ered, my voice shakin

hoved me toward the shattered remains o

sion as I worked, the cuts on my palms stinging. How had my life come to this? I was the daughter of

alking off to his study with a disgusted grunt. Only when I heard the door slam did

myself to my room, pulling the first-aid kit from under my bed where I kept it hidden. Enzo had "acc

heek, my bottom lip was split, and the light in my eyes-what little remained-seemed dimmer than ever. The bruises Leo h

g at the sting. "Happy birthday to me,

ce without looking at photographs. I missed her. I missed my father. I even missed

st werewolves shift for the first time. But my wolf never emerged. Another sign of my u

etter. If I involved my human relatives, Enzo wouldn't hesitate to hurt them. Besides

of my mother. A simple silver crescent moon pendant that had

mpty room. "I thought I was being so clever,

the stories about him-how his sexual appetites were violent, even by werewolf standards. How he'd been

d run tonight. Take what little money I had saved and just disappear. It wouldn