Claimed By The Winter Alpha

Shattered

~Snow~

"Jackson?" I forced a smile that felt like it might crack my face. "What's going on? Why is Bianca here?"

He moved toward Bianca with slow, deliberate steps until he was standing beside her, shoulder to shoulder like they belonged together.

I felt like I had been stabbed in the chest. My gaze drifted from them both and my mind kept whispering that something was wrong. But I fought the instinct and clung to reason.

"Someone please tell me what's happening," I demanded.

Bianca's lips curled into a smile that sent cold ripples down my spine.. It was the kind of smile that said she had been patiently waiting for this moment.

"You really don't see it, do you?" She tilted her head and studied me with cold eyes like I was a fascinating specimen she had just discovered. "God, Snow. For someone as smart as you are, you're incredibly stupid."

Her words pierced deep into my heart, but I forced myself to stay calm and think. I stared at them, desperate for Jackson to speak, desperate for any of them to tell me this was a terrible joke or a prank.

"Did you really think someone would pay that much money just for your architectural designs?" Bianca continued mockingly. She stepped closer, her heels clicking against the marble floor as she circled me. "Half a million just for a lodge design? Please. You're good, Snow, I'll give you that—but not that good."

My fingers suddenly went numb. The phone slipped from my hand and clattered onto the marble floor as the realization hit.

"You…" The word scraped out of my throat. "You're the client?”

"We are the client," Bianca corrected, walking back to Jackson's side. He just stood there silently, like she had cast a spell on him to speak only when she wanted him to.

Bianca walked her fingers up Jackson's arm in a playful and seductive manner that made bile rise in my throat. "Jackson and I. We've been planning this for months now."

I suddenly felt like the room was spinning. I grabbed the edge of a nearby chair to steady myself from falling as her words sank into my head.

What exactly had they been planning?

"Planning what?" I whispered.

Jackson scoffed but didn't say a word. For the first time since I'd known him, he wouldn't meet my eyes. Whatever he was planning with Bianca, he acted like his mind was already made up.

"Oh come on," Bianca laughed cruelly. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be. You're smart. I'm sure you can figure it out."

That was the last thing I wanted at that moment—to figure it out. All I wanted was to rewind and go back to the morning when I was about to board the plane. If only I had known there wasn't any mysterious client.

"How long?" I asked, staring intently at them.

Bianca's smile widened. "How long have Jackson and I been together?" She pretended to think, tapping one manicured finger against her chin.

Then she leaned toward him and asked in a sugar-sweet voice, staring at his lips, "How long, baby?"

"How long?" He asked, still with his eyes on me. Then, a smirk appeared on his lips. He turned to face her and tilted her jaw slightly. He stared at her lips seductively and finally, his lips claimed hers in a heated kiss right in my presence.

My stomach heaved. I spun away, squeezing my eyes shut, but I could still hear it. The soft sound of their lips. The intimate way she sighed into his mouth.

I pressed my fist against my sternum, trying to hold myself together, trying not to vomit right there on the pristine marble floor.

When I finally heard them break apart, Bianca's voice came light and satisfied. "About a year. Twelve beautiful months."

When they finally pulled apart, she said, "About a year. Twelve sweet months.”

I opened my eyes as the number echoed in my head, bouncing off the walls of my skull. They had been together for twelve months which meant Jackson started cheating on me a month after we became serious.

How had I not seen the signs all this while?

"That's not possible," I said, shaking my head, refusing to believe. "Jackson and I… we… we are…"

"Engaged?" She completed the sentence for me. "Yes, I know. I was there when he proposed, remember? I even helped you pick out your dress for the engagement party. It was so sweet, really. Watching you gush over your perfect werewolf fiancé while he was texting me under the table."

Hot tears stung my eyes. Never had I imagined she would betray me the way she did.

"Why?" My voice was barely a breath

"Because I was tired of watching you get everything!" Bianca's composure cracked as her voice rose. "The talent, the praise, Dad's approval, the company—it was always you. Snow the genius. Perfect Snow."

She stepped forward toward me and I instinctively backed away, eyes locked on hers. She wasn't the Bianca I knew anymore. This version of her held anger and resentment. I could see it in her eyes.

"I'm the oldest," she hissed. "The company should have been mine by right. But no, Dad said you had the 'passion,' the 'natural talent.' Like I didn't work twice as hard as you ever did."

"You have shares," I said weakly. "You're still part of—"

"Shares?" She laughed bitterly. "I don't want scraps, Snow. I want what should have been mine from the beginning. Everything."

The word hung in the air like a threat.

"So you..." I swallowed hard. "You seduced my fiancé to hurt me?"

"Seduced?" Bianca's anger melted back into cold satisfaction. "Oh, sweetheart. Jackson came to me. He's a rogue wolf with ambitions your little human life could never satisfy. He needs funding for his rebellion, and I needed..." She gestured vaguely. "Let's just say our interests aligned beautifully."

My gaze snapped to Jackson. I searched his face desperately for any trace of the man who'd held me during thunderstorms, who'd learned to cook my favorite meals, who'd promised me forever.

"Was any of it real?" My voice broke.

Something flickered across his face. Regret? Annoyance? I couldn't tell anymore.

"You're a good person, Snow," he said finally, his tone flat. "But good doesn't win wars. I need resources to take down the Alpha King. Your family's wealth could help, but..." He shrugged. "Bianca made a better offer."

"A better offer." I repeated the words numbly.

"Your inheritance," Bianca said, examining her nails. "When you die, everything transfers to me as next of kin. The company, the assets, the real estate portfolio, the trust funds. Jackson gets half to fund his little revolution. Everyone wins."

The word 'die' echoed in my skull.

"You're going to kill me." I tried to sound strong, but my voice trembled.

"Kill is such an ugly word." Bianca wrinkled her nose. "We prefer 'tragic accident.' You came to the resort, went exploring despite storm warnings, got lost in the blizzard. So terribly sad."

My heart slammed against my ribs. "You don't have to do this. Jackson, please—if you need money, we can work something out—"

"Work something out?" He cut me off with a harsh laugh. "What, get married? Let you slowly suffocate my ambitions with your human dreams? White picket fence, two kids, Sunday dinners?" He shook his head. "I don't want that life, Snow. I never did."

Each word was a knife between my ribs.

"I'll make it quick," he said, almost gently. "That's more mercy than most rogues would show."

He stepped toward me. I heard the sickening crack of bones as his fingers began to shift, claws sliding out where nails had been.

At that moment, my instincts screamed one thing: RUN.

I looked around, searching for a possible escape route. The front door was only twenty feet away. If I ran, I'd make it.

But before I could even take a step, Bianca pulled out a pistol from her coat and the loud shot almost made me deaf.

White-hot pain exploded in my left arm. I gasped, stumbling, my hand flying to the wound. When I pulled it away, my palm was slick with blood.

"Damn it," Bianca muttered, staring at the pistol in her hand. "I was aiming for your chest."

The world tilted. I pressed my good hand against the wound, feeling warmth pulse between my fingers.

Bianca pulled the trigger again. But the gun only had a bullet.

"Seriously?" She stared at the gun with disgust. "One bullet?"

I didn't wait to hear more. Adrenaline flooded my system, drowning out the pain. I turned and ran.

Behind me, Jackson's snarl ripped through the air, followed by the horrific sound of bones breaking and reforming. He was shifting fully now.

I burst through the back exit into freezing mountain air. The cold hit my wound like a blade, but I didn't stop. Snow was falling heavily now, the wind howling around me. A blizzard was coming.

I plunged into the forest, my boots sinking into fresh powder. Each step sent jolts of agony up my arm. Blood dripped into the snow, leaving a trail I knew he'd follow.

My lungs burned. My vision swam. The trees blurred together.

Keep moving. Don't stop. Don't stop.

But my body had limits. My legs wobbled. The numbness spreading from my wound wasn't just cold anymore.

I stumbled forward and suddenly there was nothing beneath my feet but air.

I caught myself at the last second, collapsing at the edge of a cliff. Below, darkness and jagged rocks disappeared into shadow.

My arm had gone numb. I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. When I tried to push myself up, my hand slipped in my own blood.

The moon hung huge and bright overhead, indifferent to my suffering.

Suddenly, I heard a howl split the air. Worst of all, it was getting closer and I knew Jackson had found me. The last thing I saw before I everything went dark was a massive white wolf staring directly at me.