The way everything changes so quickly, like I never existed as Alpha’s daughter, is shocking. In a week, all my privileges have been stripped away. Even things I didn’t realize were a privilege.
Like clothes.
A private bathroom.
Even my name.
“Hey!”
Yeah, that’s my new name.
1
“Hey! You!”
Stopping mid-step, I turn, only to find myself wanting to be swallowed whole. Seriously, a sinkhole opening up right beneath me would be heaven right now.
It’s Rafe’s mate.
The sight of her approaching sends a jolt through my system, my heart lurching painfully in my chest. She’s even more stunning up close, her long black hair cascading over her shoulders like a silken waterfall, those piercing green eyes pure poison as they watch me.
“Remember me?” Her voice drips with honeyed venom.
She’s not alone. A few she-wolves follow along behind her. Some are faces I recognize; part of the pack. The others are strangers.
“I…” My voice catches in my throat, barely a whisper. “Yes.”
My pride is nonexistent these days. It’s nothing to lower my gaze to the ground in front of her. It doesn’t tear me up inside at all.
Who am I kidding? It’s shredding me apart.
“Good. I’d hate to think I made such a small impression.”
She circles me, and I can feel her gaze raking over my body. I’m no longer dressed in my clothes; clothes that fit. Instead, I’m in an oversized t-shirt with holes in the hem and jeans that are only held up thanks to a cloth belt. Everything Alpha ever gave me was taken away.
1
“My, my. How the mighty have fallen.” She tuts, shaking her head in mock sympathy. “Your alpha’s little pet has been reduced to this. A fake daughter, trying to weasel her way into the pack under his good graces.”
The way she’s twisted facts around make me want to snap back, to defend myself, but what’s the point? I’m nothing now. No one is on my side here.
“What do you want?” Keeping my voice level and calm is the only win I’m going to get today.
She stops in front of me, tilting her head to the side. “Want? Oh, darling. I already have everything I want.” Her smile widens, revealing perfect white teeth. “Rafe, the pack, the future. It’s all mine now. Haven’t you heard?”
Yes, actually. It’s all the wolves can talk about; the successful mateship of our pack to the neighboring Forest Springs Pack. I even know her name now.
Ellie. Her dad’s the Alpha of Forest Springs.
Her real dad. Biological. Wolf and all. Not like me. I’m just Rafe’s castaway, the abandoned adopted daughter of his Alpha.
The casual way she claims it all, as if it’s her birthright, makes my blood boil. But there’s nothing I can do. She’s won, and we both know it.
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