Chapter 2

Alessia's POV:

The scent was suffocating.

Alpha pheromones are powerful; they transmit messages of authority, protection, and possession.

Another woman reeking of my husband's scent, sitting in my home, was nothing short of a declaration of war.

Valentina looked up, a piece of bacon still in her mouth. She smiled.

"Good morning, Luna," she said breezily. "I hope you don't mind. I didn't have any clean clothes, and Santino insisted."

"Get up," I said. My voice was low and trembling, carrying a tone I hadn't used since I left my father's palace.

Valentina blinked, putting on an innocent act. "Excuse me?"

"Get out of my seat," I commanded, "and take off my husband's shirt."

"Alessia!"

Santino strode into the dining room. He took one look at the scene before him-me standing there radiating fury, and Valentina with her lips trembling-and he instantly made his choice.

He stepped between us, shielding her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he growled at me. "She is a pregnant woman."

"She is wearing your clothes, Santino," my voice shook with rage. "She is sitting in the Luna's chair. Do you have a single shred of respect left for our marriage?"

"It's just a damn shirt!" Santino roared. "You're making a huge deal out of nothing. Valentina needs comfort. She needs the scent of the Pack Alpha to feel safe."

"She needs her Alpha's scent?" My smile was drenched in sarcasm. "Or does she just want the Alpha himself?"

Santino fell suddenly silent, seemingly afraid to answer my question.

"My stomach!" Valentina cried out suddenly.

She doubled over, clutching her belly. "Oh, the baby..."

Santino was at her side in an instant, his face etched with panic. "Valentina! Take deep breaths. You're going to be okay."

He glared back at me. "Look at what you've done! If she loses this pup, it's entirely your fault!"

"She's fine," I said coldly.

Without the suppressants, my senses were sharpening. I could hear her heartbeat; it was steady. She wasn't in real pain; she was acting.

If I could sense it, Santino certainly could too.

But he didn't.

Because he trusted Valentina, not me.

"Enough!" Santino roared.

He unleashed his Alpha Command. The weight of it slammed into me, meant to force me to my knees. "I command you to apologize to her!"

I stood perfectly still.

The heavy pressure weighed down on my shoulders, trying to crush me. An ordinary wolf would have been flattened. An ordinary Luna would have submitted long ago.

But I remained standing, my knees refusing to buckle.

Santino's eyes widened in confusion. He pushed the Alpha Command even harder, but I just stared back at him.

"I will not apologize to a homewrecker," I stated firmly.

"You..." Santino stammered. He turned around and helped Valentina to her feet. "Come on, Valentina. You won't be subjected to this treatment anymore."

"From now on, you're going to help me manage the pack's finances. You need something to do, and Alessia is clearly too mentally unstable right now to handle the books."

I was stunned.

The pack's finances? That was my responsibility. I had used my personal wealth to pay off the pack's debts. I had single-handedly established their trade routes.

Now, with a single word, Santino was dismissing all of that, taking it away, and handing it to a rogue.

"You're giving my duties to her?" I asked softly, staring at him with utter seriousness.

"I am making her a part of this pack," Santino declared. "This is her den now too."

This is her den.

Those words echoed in my mind. A den is a wolf's safe haven, shared only with family. By calling it her den, he was essentially inviting her into our marriage.

He looked at me with disdain. "Maybe if you learned to be a little softer and more considerate like her, you wouldn't just be a title, Alessia. Sometimes I forget you're even a wolf."

That insult stung.

He thought I was weak because I chose to be gentle.

He thought I was powerless because I hid my strength just to protect his fragile ego.

I looked at the man I had married three years ago. I searched for the charismatic, ambitious man who had promised to build a future with me. He was gone. All that was left was a fool.

I reached for my left hand.

"What are you doing?" Santino asked, frowning.

I gripped the silver ring on my finger. It was the Luna's ring, passed down through generations in the Silver Creek Pack, a symbol of eternal loyalty.

I pulled it off.

It hit the hardwood floor with a clink, rolling until it came to a stop right at Valentina's feet.

"If you want her so badly," I said, my tone completely devoid of emotion, "then you can have her. Give her the ring too. It's worthless to me now."

"Alessia!" Santino took a step forward, a flash of fury in his eyes. "Stop this nonsense! Pick it up. You are not allowed to leave me. You are my mate!"

I reminded him. "As of right now, I no longer recognize you as my Alpha."

I turned and walked out of the dining room.

"If you walk out that door," Santino roared behind me, "don't even think about coming back! Without my protection, you are nothing! You're just a weak female with no family!"

I didn't look back, just grabbed my keys from the console table in the hallway.

He was right about one thing.

I was indeed leaving.

But he was dead wrong about everything else. He had absolutely no idea what kind of family I came from.

He was about to find out what happens when you wake a sleeping wolf.