Mated to My Intended's Enemy novel Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Chapter 3 Runaway

Victoria

I was still smiling from my night with Leo as I slipped back into the mansion, dawn just breaking across the pack house. The soreness between my thighs was a delicious reminder of what had happened—how I’d taken control of my own destiny for once. I’d done it. I’d given away what Enzo had been planning to sell. For once in my miserable life, I’d made my own choice.

My victorious mood lasted precisely three seconds after entering the living room.

"You worthless little bitch! You thief!" Enzo’s voice thundered through the house as he grabbed my arm, spinning me around to face him. His eyes—normally a cool blue—had shifted to their wolf hazel, a clear sign of his rage. He gripped my chin roughly, tilting my face to examine the marks on my neck. "What the hell have you done? How am I supposed to negotiate with Alpha Moretti now?"

I couldn’t suppress my smile, even as his fingers dug painfully into my jaw. Every single thing that made Enzo unhappy was a small victory for me.

"Let me go," I said, voice steadier than I expected. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

He shoved me against the wall, his hand moving to my throat. "Don’t play dumb. Five thousand dollars missing from my safe. And look at you—covered in another man’s scent, bruises on your neck." He leaned closer, inhaling deeply. "You reek of sex. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?"

"Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that you were selling me like cattle?" I shot back, finding courage in my anger. "Trading me to settle your pathetic gambling debts?"

Enzo’s eyes widened slightly. "You don’t understand pack politics," he sneered. "Alpha Moretti is offering you a position most she-wolves would kill for. You should be grateful—"

"Grateful?" I laughed, the sound bitter even to my own ears. "For being handed over to a thirty-two-year-old monster? A man known for breaking his partners during sex? I’d rather die."

His lips curled into a cruel smile. "You think being Luna to a powerful Alpha is worse than what you are now? A pathetic half-breed who can’t even shift? Father may have bonded with your human mother, but that doesn’t change what you are."

The mention of my parents sent a spike of pain through my heart. "At least my mother didn’t abandon her mate and child," I hissed. "Unlike darling Aurora, who ran away when things got tough."

It was a low blow, and I knew it. Aurora, Enzo’s mother, had betrayed our father and left the pack when Enzo was just a child. She only returned with eight-year-old Enzo after learning my human mother had died giving birth to me. By then, Father was devastated by grief, barely functioning as Alpha.

"Don’t you dare speak of my mother," Enzo growled. "At least she came back. Yours just died and left you as a burden for everyone else."

The words stung more than they should have. I knew my mother hadn’t chosen to die—childbirth complications from carrying a hybrid baby had weakened her human body beyond recovery. She’d held on until I was three, growing weaker each day, before finally succumbing.

"You weren’t always like this," I said quietly. "Before Father died, you were different. You used to protect me, remember? You taught me how to ride a bike. You threatened to beat up the kids who called me half-breed."

Something flickered in Enzo’s eyes—a shadow of the brother I’d once known. Before he became Alpha. Before the gambling and prostitutes and drugs had eaten away at whatever moral compass he once possessed.

"That was before I understood what a liability you are," he said, but his voice held less conviction. "Before I understood pack hierarchy."

"Before Luna Aurora poisoned you against me."

His expression hardened again. "Enough! You think you’re so smart with your little rebellion? You’ve just made things worse for yourself. What do you think Moretti will do when he discovers you’ve given away what he paid for?"

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