Chapter 2

Eliana POV:

The next morning, I felt brittle. One wrong move and I'd shatter. I needed to end this. I needed to sever the hope before it killed me.

I marched up the grand staircase to the Alpha floor. This was restricted territory, but as the unspoken future Luna, the guards let me pass, though their eyes held pity I didn't want.

I didn't knock on Jax's door. I pushed it open.

The smell hit me first.

It wasn't just the storm and pine of Jax. It was the cloying vanilla of Catalina. It hung thick in the air, smelling like sex and betrayal.

My stomach turned.

Jax was sitting on the edge of his massive bed, shirtless. Catalina was there, too. She was wearing his football jersey-the one with "Little" on the back. It hung to her knees.

She smirked when she saw me.

"Eliana," Jax said, standing up. He didn't look guilty. He looked annoyed. "You don't barge into an Alpha's room."

"And you don't parade your mistress in front of your mate," I shot back. My voice was steady, surprising even me.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small velvet box. Inside was a Moonstone necklace. It wasn't an engagement ring, but in our pack tradition, it was a promise. A promise of a future mating.

I threw it on the mahogany desk. It landed with a dull thud.

"I don't want it," I said.

Jax's eyes darkened. His pupils dilated, swallowing the iris. The Alpha in him didn't like rejection.

"Pick it up," he growled. The Alpha Aura hit the room like a sudden drop in air pressure.

My knees trembled. My instinct screamed at me to bare my neck, to submit. But the anger in my blood was stronger.

"No," I said through gritted teeth.

I turned to leave.

"Wait!" Catalina chirped. She hopped off the bed and ran to the doorway, blocking my exit. "You're just jealous, Ellie. Jax needs a woman who knows how to please him, not a prude."

"Move, Catalina," I warned.

She laughed and shoved me. "Make me."

We were at the top of the stairs. The landing was narrow. I tried to step around her, but she lunged again, her claws slightly extended.

It happened in slow motion.

She pushed hard against my chest. My heel caught on the edge of the carpet. I tipped backward.

My arms flailed, grasping at empty air.

I fell.

My body tumbled down the hardwood steps. One. Two. Three. I hit the landing hard, my left leg twisting at a sickening angle beneath me. A wet snap echoed in the hallway.

White-hot agony blinded me. It wasn't just a break. It was my knee. My dancer's knee.

I lay at the bottom of the stairs, gasping, white spots dancing in my vision.

Jax appeared at the top of the stairs. He looked down at me, then at Catalina, who was faking a gasp of horror.

"She attacked me, Jax! I had to defend myself!" Catalina lied, her voice trembling perfectly.

Jax descended the stairs slowly. He didn't run to me. He didn't check my leg.

He stood over me, his shadow blocking the light.

"You attacked a guest in my home?" he asked, his voice cold.

"She pushed me..." I gasped, tears streaming down my face from the pain. "Jax, my knee... I can't move it."

"Stop lying," he snapped. "Catalina is half your size."

He leaned down, his face inches from mine. I thought he was going to help me up.

"Get out," he commanded.

He used the Voice. The Alpha's Command.

It hit my brain like a sledgehammer. My body, despite the broken bone, tried to obey. I dragged myself across the floor, sobbing as the shattered pieces of my knee ground together.

"Jax, please," I whimpered. "It hurts."

"Go to the hospital," he said, turning his back on me to comfort Catalina. "And don't expect me to pay for it. You brought this on yourself."

I dragged myself out the front door, leaving a trail of tears on the polished floor.

At the pack hospital, the doctor wanted to use the healing accelerator-a device that uses Alpha energy to speed up bone knitting.

"No," I said, gripping the bedsheets.

"But Miss Carter, it will heal in hours," the doctor argued.

"Let it heal naturally," I whispered. "I want to remember this pain. Every single second of it."

I checked my phone while the nurse cast my leg. A notification popped up. Catalina had posted a photo on Instagram. It was her in Jax's jersey, sitting on his lap.

Caption: My Alpha protects me.

That was it. The last thread snapped.