I was almost out of control. The room spun in the corners of my vision, my wolf pushing closer to the surface, begging to take over. My hands curled into fists, my breathing fast and sharp.
"Still got that runt temper, huh?" one of them laughed, leaning back in his chair like this was all some kind of game.
I stopped just short of him, my chest rising and falling hard. My fists clenched tighter. "Say that again."
"Runt," another sneered. "You think you're scary now? You were the weakest wolf in the pack. Always holding Elliot back. Everyone knew it. No wonder he left you."
They didn't know me anymore. They didn't know how many hours I trained after everyone went home, or how many times I collapsed behind the training center because I wouldn't let myself stay weak. I forced my wolf to grow, to fight, to survive. I wasn't that weakling anymore.
I lunged. My fist collided with the first guy's jaw, snapping his head sideways. The others shouted, stumbling to their feet, but I was already on the next, kicking his knee out from under him. He grunted and fell hard. For a second, it felt good. This was justice.
"Jasmine, stop!" Mindie's voice cracked as she tried to stop me. She was still bleeding, barely able to stand. "You're going to get us both fired!"
"I don't care!" I shouted.
"That's obvious," said a low voice behind me.
A hand gripped my arm from behind. I turned. It was Elliot. His eyes burned with fury, but there was a sense of smugness underneath that didn't look right.
He leaned in. "Throwing punches in a club? You've become a street mutt biting anyone that crosses you. You disappoint me." He looked at me from head to toe and shook his head.
My breath hitched. "Shut up asshole! Let go of me." He didn't. Instead he tightened his grip on my arm, causing me to wince.
"You're wasting your time with jobs like this," he said, voice calm now, almost soft, like he was trying to be reasonable. "Is this the best you could do? You don't belong here, Jasmine."
"I'll go where I can earn a living," I snapped.
"I gave you a way out," he said smoothly. "You just didn't take it."
My wolf growled low in my chest. "You mean to become your dirty little secret while you parade around with the Lycan Princess?" I hissed.
Elliot smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Who else would want you? You think too highly of yourself, Jasmine. You would be dead without me."
"I'd rather die than crawl back to you."
His smile slipped, and I could see the temper flaring just under the surface. "You always loved playing the victim."
I yanked my arm from his grip. "You, out of all people, don't get to insult me."
My chest heaved as I stared at Elliot, still burning with rage. But as the noise and shouts from the crowd faded into the background, something ugly clicked in my head.
His friends didn't just happen to be here. Not in this pack's most exclusive club. Not on a night where I'd just started working.
I looked at him. The smugness in his eyes, the arrogance in his posture. It told me everything I needed to know.
"You sent them here, didn't you?" I said, my voice shaking with rage.
Elliot's expression flickered for the briefest second. Then he smiled. That slow practiced smile I used to mistake for charm.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said smoothly. "My friends go where they want. You just happened to show up."
"Bullshit." I stepped closer. "You sent them to harass me. You wanted to humiliate me!" The realization made me furious.
Elliot didn't even flinch at my accusation. Instead, he merely smirked at me. But all of a sudden, his eyes darted lower, and his smug demeanor vanished. His smirk was replaced with a terrifying scowl, and his eyes darkened with something raw and ugly.
"What the hell is that?" he snapped, his voice dropping.
I realized he must have seen the hickey on my collarbone. The hickey Gareth had left on me on that fateful night we met. I instinctively lifted my hand to cover the mark, but it was too late. He grabbed my arm forcefully.
"Who the fuck did you let touch you, Jasmine?" he growled. "Who did you spread your legs for?"
"That's none of your business," I said coldly. "Let me go."
He scowled. "Like hell I will! You're my fated mate. I don't care who touched you—I'll kill him."
I pulled my arm out of his grip. "You rejected me, remember? You picked status and power over me. You don't get to act jealous now."
"You were marked, Jasmine," he snapped. "That doesn't just go away because you decided to sleep around. Besides, I rejected you for your own good. You wouldn't have been able to handle being Luna with all your deficiencies. My decisions will give you and your family an easier life. Think about it."
Elliot continued, "Look at how you behave at the slightest hint of trouble. Dressing like that, clinging to powerful men, acting like you're in heat. You've made a mess of yourself. You would have disgraced me in public eventually."
I bristled with anger. "If you truly believe so, then stop clinging to me. You've rejected me, now act like it! If you ever come near me again, I'll scream. I'll have you arrested."
He sneered. "On what grounds? I am the man who is going to be Ashborne's future Alpha. No one will take your side."
I tilted my head, smiling coldly. "Are you sure about that?"
He raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I could tell your fiancée who I really am," I said softly. "Who you really are."
That wiped the smirk off his face.
I stepped in closer and whispered icily. "Does Isabella know you marked someone else before her? That you offered to buy me in secret, like a dirty little habit? I wonder what she'll say when she finds out what kind of man she's marrying."
His lips curled back in a snarl. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me."
He took a step toward me and grabbed me again.
Then the air changed.
A sudden stillness swept through the room, like someone had sucked all the oxygen out. The music stopped mid-beat, conversations died on parted lips, and glasses hung suspended in mid-air. Every sense sharpened as a powerful Alpha aura flooded the space—overwhelming the atmosphere. All around me, people froze. Heads turned at once, drawn instinctively toward the source.
Beside me, Elliot stiffened. His eyes widened, and his face drained of color as his wolf instinctively lowered itself in submission.
I didn't need to look to know who it was. That kind of presence belonged to only one man.
Still, I turned.
And there he was.
Gareth Laken. His eyes glowed silver under the club lights, focused on Elliot's hand on my arm.