Shattered Crown

Chapter 2

"You're insane."

The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. Dante Mortelli—the most dangerous Alpha in the underground—just proposed to me while I'm bleeding and broken in the mud.

"Perhaps." He doesn't look offended. If anything, he seems amused. "But that doesn't change my offer."

"You don't even know me."

"I know enough." He pulls out an expensive phone, scrolling through something. "Selene Rivers. Twenty-three. Orphaned at seven when your parents died defending the Shadow Ridge pack. Raised in the pack orphanage. Top of your class in university—business major, graduated summa c*m laude. Worked three jobs to pay for it yourself."

My stomach clenches. "How do you—"

"I make it my business to know everything that happens in Maddox Blackwood's territory." His eyes gleam in the darkness. "We have... conflicting interests."

"You want to use me to get to him."

"Yes."

At least he's honest. Most men would dress it up, pretend there's something noble in their intentions.

"What makes you think marrying me would even affect him? He just publicly humiliated me. He doesn't care—"

"Oh, he cares." Dante shows me his phone screen. It's a photo from earlier tonight—before the rejection. Maddox is staring at me across the ballroom, and the look on his face... "A man doesn't look at a woman like that unless he cares. He rejected you because of pressure. Because Victoria Sterling's family threatened to withdraw their support if he didn't choose their daughter."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I have eyes and ears everywhere, little wolf. Maddox Blackwood just sold his soul for power. The question is—do you want to make him regret it?"

Yes. The answer burns through me with surprising intensity. Yes, I want him to regret it. I want him to look at me and know what he threw away.

"Even if I agreed, no one would believe it. You and me—it's absurd."

"Is it?" He steps closer, and my traitorous body responds to his proximity, to the raw power rolling off him in waves. "The rejected Luna, broken and betrayed, rescued by the dangerous Alpha who sees her worth? People love a good redemption story."

"This is crazy. I don't—I can't just marry a stranger."

"You were ready to die five minutes ago. This seems like a better alternative."

Luna stirs inside me, interested despite her pain. There's something about him, something that calls to the darkest parts of us.

"What exactly would this arrangement entail?"

"Simple. You become my wife, my Luna. In public, we're madly in love. A whirlwind romance born from tragedy. Behind closed doors, we stay out of each other's way. One year. Long enough to destroy the Sterling-Blackwood alliance and for you to establish yourself as something more than his rejected mate."

"And after a year?"

"You're free to go. Divorce, generous settlement, new life wherever you want."

It sounds too good to be true. "What's the catch?"

"You play the part perfectly. No mistakes. No running back to him if he changes his mind. You're mine completely for that year."

Mine. The word shouldn't affect me, but it does.

"I need time to think—"

"No." His voice cuts through my hesitation. "Decide now. In ten minutes, my car will be here. You can get in and change your life, or you can stay here in the mud and let the rejection slowly kill you."

"That's not a choice, that's manipulation."

"Everything in life is manipulation, little wolf. The only question is whether you're the one in control or not."

A car's headlights cut through the trees. A Bentley, black and gleaming despite the rain.

"He's getting married next month," I whisper.

"We'll be married next week."

"That's impossible. The paperwork alone—"

"I'm a Mortelli. Nothing is impossible." He opens the car door. "Choose, Selene. Die as his rejected mate, or live as my Luna."

I think about tomorrow. Waking up alone, poisoned by rejection, watching social media explode with wedding plans for Maddox and Victoria. Watching him give her everything he promised me.

"What about your pack? They won't accept me."

"My pack does what I tell them." No hesitation. No doubt. "You'll be protected, respected, feared. Everything you weren't in Shadow Ridge."

"I don't want to be feared."

"Yes, you do. You just don't know it yet."

The rejection poison burns hotter, making me gasp. My body is already beginning to shut down. Luna whimpers, growing weaker by the minute.

"If I say yes—"

"When you say yes," he corrects.

"I won't be your real wife. Not... physically."

Something dark and hungry flashes in his eyes. "That's negotiable."

"It's not."

"Everything is negotiable, little wolf. But fine. I won't touch you unless you ask me to."

"I won't."

His smile is knowing, predatory. "We'll see."

I should be terrified. This man is everything dangerous in our world—crime lord, killer, ruler of shadows. But what terrifies me more is going back to being nothing. To dying slowly while Maddox lives happily with his perfect bride.

"One year," I say.

"One year."

"And you'll make him pay?"

"I'll destroy him so thoroughly, he'll wish he'd kept you."

"How?"

"Leave that to me. Your job is simple—be my perfect Luna. Let the world see that Selene Rivers didn't need Maddox Blackwood. That you traded up."

Traded up. From the golden prince to the dark king.

I take his hand and let him pull me to my feet. The contact sends electricity through my skin, nothing like the mate bond but something else. Something darker.

"Yes," I breathe.

"Yes?"

"I'll marry you."

His thumb brushes across my knuckles, and I shiver. "Smart girl."

He guides me to the car, and I slide onto leather seats that probably cost more than I've made in my lifetime. He follows, and suddenly the spacious interior feels too small.

"Where are we going?"

"My penthouse. Downtown. You'll stay there tonight."

"I can't—I have nothing. He was right, I literally have nothing."

"You have me now." The possession in his voice should frighten me. Instead, it makes me feel something I haven't felt since the rejection—safe. "Everything you need will be provided."

The driver pulls away, and I watch the Shadow Ridge territory disappear into darkness. Everything I've ever known, gone.

"Second thoughts?" Dante asks.

"No." And surprisingly, I mean it. "Just wondering what I've gotten myself into."

"Something far more dangerous than you imagine." He pulls out his phone, already typing. "But also more rewarding. Maddox Blackwood has no idea what he's lost. But he will."

"How can you be so sure?"

He looks at me then, those amber eyes burning with something I can't name. "Because in one week, when the photos surface of our wedding, when he sees you in white standing beside me, when he realizes you're wearing my mark and carrying my name—he's going to understand exactly what he threw away."

"You sound very confident."

"I am." He goes back to his phone. "Lorenzo, have the penthouse prepared. My fiancée will be staying there... Yes, you heard correctly... One week... Make it spectacular."

Fiancée. The word sounds impossible.

"What about your girlfriend? Or wife? Surely someone like you—"

"There's no one."

"Why?"

He's quiet for so long I think he won't answer. Then, "I've been waiting."

"For what?"

His eyes meet mine in the darkness. "For someone interesting enough to hold my attention."

"And you think that's me? A rejected nobody?"

"You're not nobody. You're the woman who's going to help me destroy the Blackwood empire."

The car glides through the city, rain streaming down the windows. I should be terrified. Should be running. Instead, I lean back into the leather seats and close my eyes.

"He's going to come after you," I say. "When he finds out. Maddox doesn't like losing."

"Good. I'm counting on it."

"This is all some elaborate game to you."

"No, little wolf. This is war. And you just became my greatest weapon."

The car stops outside a towering glass building. Dante exits first, offering me his hand. I take it, stepping into my new life.

"Welcome to your new home, Mrs. Mortelli."

"I'm not Mrs. Mortelli yet."

His smile is pure sin. "Details."