Alpha’s Mistress

Chapter 2

Elara’s POV

I woke before dawn. The pack house was silent, the kind of heavy silence that pressed against your chest and reminded you that you were the only one awake because you had to be. The floorboards creaked under my bare feet as I padded toward the kitchen. When I glanced at the clock, it glared back at me: 4:40 a.m. Of course. My body was trained like a servant’s, rising earlier than anyone else to make sure food was waiting when they bothered to roll out of bed.

The kitchen was cold, the marble counter biting against my palms as I laid out the eggs. Today was supposed to be special. Dante’s birthday. I hated how I remembered the date, hated how the thought made my stomach twist. But here I was anyway, whisk in hand, cracking eggs, setting bacon on the skillet, stacking a ridiculous twenty-five chocolate pancakes in the center of the table. I slathered whipped cream on top, showered it with sprinkles, and wanted to gag at how cheerful it looked.

Lysandra’s voice curled in my head. ‘Why are you doing this for him? He doesn’t deserve it.’

“Because,” I muttered under my breath, “it’s the only way they let me exist.”

The oven timer dinged and I flinched. As I set down the last plate, I heard the sharp click of heels across the tiles. I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. Selene.

“Well, if it isn’t the Knightsfall maid,” she purred, her voice all sugar and venom. “Up before dawn, slaving away again. What would we ever do without you?”

I kept my eyes on the pan, jaw tight. Responding never ended well.

She strolled closer, plucked a pancake from the stack, and turned it over like it offended her. “Sprinkles? Really? What is this, a child’s birthday? You actually think Dante will notice this pathetic attempt? Newsflash, Elara, he doesn’t even see you. To him, you’re dirt. Lower than dirt. At least dirt grows something. You? You’re just… nothing.”

Lysandra snarled inside me. Rip her throat out.

I bit down on my tongue until I tasted blood. Out loud, I said softly, “Breakfast is served.”

Selene smirked. “Pathetic and obedient. At least you know your place.” She leaned in close, her perfume sickly sweet. “Stay there. Because that’s all you’ll ever be.”

I didn’t reply. Instead, I wiped my hands, slid past her, and slipped out of the house before she could sling another insult. My lungs only loosened once the cool morning air hit my face.

The walk to school was quiet, the sharp bite of autumn air cooling my skin. At least there, I could almost pretend I was invisible.

By the time I reached the gates, the halls buzzed with human chatter. They laughed, shoved each other, lived simple lives without ever realizing wolves walked among them. I kept my head down, heading for my locker.

But of course, someone blocked my way. A human girl with too much perfume and a skirt so short it barely existed leaned against the metal. Her lip curled. “Well, if it isn’t the invisible girl. Still pretending you don’t exist? Or do you just like playing pathetic?”

I tightened my grip on my bag. “Move.”

She gasped, mock-offended. “Oh, she speaks! Careful, Elara, or someone might actually notice you.”

I brushed past her, ignoring her laugh. My pulse quickened for a different reason. He was coming. I felt it. The pull. My mate. Dante.

By the time I sat in class, my heart thudded so hard I thought everyone could hear it. The teacher droned about math, her voice fading into background noise, when the door slammed open.

Every head turned.

There he was. Dante. The future Alpha. My mate. My ruin.

He filled the doorway with an easy arrogance, shoulders broad, eyes sharp, Selene glued to his arm like she belonged there. His gaze swept the room once, twice—and then locked on me.

The air shifted instantly. Sparks ignited, fire coursed through my veins. Lysandra howled in my mind.

Mine. Ours.

I dropped my eyes, hands trembling, trying to hide it.

“Dante,” Selene cooed, tugging his arm, “why are you staring at her? That worthless nobody? She doesn’t belong here. She doesn’t belong anywhere.”

Whispers rippled through the classroom. Heat rose in my cheeks. Dante ignored Selene and strode forward. Each step brought him closer, until his shadow fell over me.

“You,” he said, voice low, commanding. “Come with me.”

My throat tightened. “Y-yes… Alpha.”

His hand closed around my arm. Sparks exploded at the contact, searing through me. Selene’s shriek followed us as he dragged me out. “Dante! What are you doing? She’s nothing! Don’t you dare—”

The door shut on her voice. My heart pounded as he pulled me through the empty hall, out the back doors, and into the forest’s edge.

When we were deep enough, he shoved me against a tree. His eyes blazed, but not with desire. With fury.

“You are no mate of mine,” he spat. “Do you understand? You’re weak. Pathetic. You think you could ever be Luna? Never. You’re a burden I refuse to carry.”

Lysandra whimpered, her pain a raw echo of my own. Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

“Say it,” he demanded, jaw tight. “Say you understand.”

My voice was barely a whisper. “I understand… Alpha.”

He sneered. “Good. Then hear me now. I, Dante, future Alpha of the Knightsfall Pack, reject you, Elara, as my mate and as future Luna.”

The bond tore like glass shattering inside me. Agony ripped through my chest, burning and hollowing me out all at once. I gasped but forced myself to stay upright.

He waited for me to beg, to collapse. When I didn’t, his frown deepened.

I lifted my head, met his blazing eyes, and whispered, steady and cold, “You’ll regret this. One day, Dante, you’ll choke on these words.”

For the first time, shock flickered in his gaze. He hadn’t expected defiance. Not from me.

I turned and walked away, each step heavy with pain but filled with a new kind of resolve.

Back at the pack house, I went straight to my tiny room. My hands shook as I tore a page from my notebook and pressed the pen down hard enough to rip the paper.

Dear Knightsfall Pack,

I’m not sorry for leaving. Not even a little. You’ve used me, abused me, treated me like dirt, and I let you because I had to. But no more. To my oh-so-dear mate, Dante, future Alpha, congratulations on rejecting the best thing you’ll ever have. You’ll regret it. I promise you that.

Sincerely,

Elara.

I left the note on my pillow, stuffed my few belongings into a worn bag, and slipped out.

At the border, I stopped. The weight of the bond pressed down on me, suffocating. Lysandra’s voice was sharp in my head. Go. He rejected us. We’re free.

“I know,” I whispered. “We’re never coming back.”

I stepped across. The bond snapped. Pain shredded through me, stealing my breath, tearing a cry from my throat.

I staggered forward, and the change overtook me. Bones cracked, muscles stretched, fur rippled across my skin. I shifted into my wolf form for the first time outside the pack.

Black fur shimmered under the moonlight, eyes glowing crimson. Rare. Powerful. Terrifying. Nothing like the pure white wolves they worshipped.

I padded forward, the earth trembling under my paws, the night swallowing me whole. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t pretending.

I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t theirs.