When the Billionaire Alpha Grovels

Brea Chase POV:

Stepping out of the dented taxi, I stared up at the towering iron gates of the Silvercrest Pack castle, a cold knot twisting in my stomach.

Luxury cars rolled steadily up the circular drive, unloading high-ranking guests in tailored suits and shimmering silk gowns. As I stood on the pavement gripping my worn suitcase, the chatter around me faltered.

Dozens of eyes flicked toward me, filled with recognition, thinly veiled disgust, and malice, followed by sharp whispers behind gloved hands.

My pulse hammered against my ribs, unease crawling over my skin like ice water. I hadn't set foot on Silvercrest soil in eight years.

Eight years since that nightmare at the pack banquet when someone spiked my drink with wolfsbane, dragged my paralyzed body into an abandoned room, and filmed my humiliation behind a glowing red light. By morning, maliciously edited footage had spread across the territory, and no one, not even my own father, listened to my cries of innocence.

Overnight, I was branded the pack's shameless whore, stripped of my standing, and cast out into the human world.

I had sworn I would never return. I never would have, not until my father froze my university transcripts and held my late mother's research manuscripts hostage to force me back for my stepsister Jessi's wedding.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I forced myself up the grand staircase until my worn black heels clicked to a halt before the entrance. Two burly Beta guards immediately slammed their riot batons together, blocking the gilded doors.

One guard stared at the faded pink scars peeking from my coat cuff and smirked. "Well, if it isn't Brea Chase, the infamous pack slut from eight years ago. It's a big wedding day. Try not to strip in the hallways again."

Cold sweat prickled the back of my neck, the old phantom stench of chemicals and wolfsbane rising in my throat, but I dug my nails into my palms and kept my voice flat. "Step aside. Gamma Alvia issued my summons himself. Can you afford the punishment if I'm late?"

Fear flickered in the Beta's eyes at my father's title. He pulled his baton back, though as the heavy metal doors swung open, he deliberately rammed his shoulder into mine, sending my suitcase crashing onto the white marble floor.

Inside the grand foyer, crystal chandeliers blazed over hundreds of elite guests, and their laughter died the second my muted Omega scent hit the air.

A wave of disgusted gasps and venomous whispers rippled through the noble circle. Several women in silk gowns pinched their noses and took a theatrical step back, their voices deliberately loud enough to carry across the marble floor.

"Look who crawled back. Brea Chase. Hasn't she got any shame showing her face after that disgusting video eight years ago?"

"Oh, stop it. We already forgave her for that little mistake. Everyone deserves a second chance, even a girl with a past like hers."

Low chuckles and mocking sneers echoed around me, their eyes peeling away my dignity.

My biological father, Gamma Alvia Spencer, descended the spiral staircase in a crisp black dress uniform, his hawk-like eyes radiating pure disgust. "Since you're back, get into the side hall and stop embarrassing this family."

I lifted my chin and met his cold stare. "Sign the release on my university transcripts, and I won't breathe a word."

Alvia's face darkened, and he slammed his whiskey glass onto a passing waiter's tray with a sharp crack. "I brought you back so the Board of Elders sees the Spencer family doesn't harbor fugitives! Shut your mouth and stand in the corner!"

My stepmother, Genevieve, glided out from the inner lounge wearing giant South Sea pearls, patting Alvia's arm with an expression of tender, long-suffering benevolence. "Oh, Alvia, please, don't be so harsh with her on such a blessed day. We all know Brea made terrible mistakes in her youth, but she was young and weak-willed. As her mother, I've already prayed to the Moon Goddess to cleanse her sins."

She reached out a manicured hand to smooth my lapel, leaning in with a venomous whisper wrapped in honey. "We're being so gracious letting a disgraced girl back into polite society, sweetie. Don't be ungrateful."

Beside her, my stepsister Jessi approached in a diamond-encrusted wedding gown, the light brown beauty mark under her right eye gleaming as she looked down at me with feigned pity. "Eight years, little sister, and you're still carrying that bitter chip on your shoulder? Look at you, still wearing threadbare human rags. Don't worry, I begged Daddy not to ban you."

I stared at the sapphire necklace resting against her collarbone, the only heirloom my late mother had left me. "Save your fake charity. After the ceremony, give me back my mother's research manuscripts."

Jessi let out a delicate, tinkling laugh, tilting her head. "Manuscripts? Brea, be realistic. An Omega who disgraced the pack can't even get a decent mate, let alone do real research. If you behave today and play the repentant sister, I might even toss you a few of my old designer dresses so you look presentable for once."

Approving murmurs rose from the guests praising Jessi's boundless grace toward a fallen sister, just as a tall Beta in a charcoal suit, Beckham Rowland, Vice President of the pack's corporate empire, hurried down the corridor whispering urgently to several Elders.

Twelve deep church bells tolled through the estate, and the master of ceremonies pushed open the carved doors to the main ballroom as pipe organ music poured out.

Jessi hooked her arm through mine, sinking her sharp fake nails deep into the flesh of my inner elbow as she pulled me close, her breath warm and sweet against my ear. "Come sit in the very front row, sister. You're going to love my groom. He's an absolute dream."

I wrenched my arm free, my elbow throbbing, and followed the bridal procession into a hall thick with white lilies and the crushing pheromone pressure of elite wolves. While Alvia walked Jessi toward the altar amid flashing cameras, I shrank into the shadow of a corner pillar, gripping the hem of my coat and praying for this farce to end.

At the altar, the officiating Elder raised his hands. "Now, let the groom enter to receive the Moon Goddess's sacred vow!"

The side door swung open, and a tall man in a tailored white tuxedo stepped into the golden light.

The air in my lungs turned to shards of ice.

Julian Beaumont.

It was him. The beast from eight years ago. The very monster who had drugged me, dragged me into that dark room, and laughed in my ear while pressing record, obliterating my entire life.

He was Jessi's groom?

I had assumed she was marrying some wealthy heir from an allied territory, never in my darkest nightmares imagining that the man who had orchestrated my ruin was standing there, adored by the pack, treated as royalty, about to take my sister's hand at the sacred altar.

Julian's gaze swept lazily across the pews and locked dead onto mine. The sickening, predatory curve of his lips parted, his eyes gleaming with the exact same depraved amusement from that night.

The room violently tilted. Memories of locked iron doors, tearing hands, and his mocking whispers slammed into my skull like a freight train. My knees buckled, my back smashed against the cold marble pillar, and my throat closed in a suffocating panic attack.

I had to get out. Right now. Screw the university transcripts. Screw my mother's manuscripts. Nothing in this cursed territory was worth staying in the same room as that monster for another second.

Unable to draw a single breath, I spun around, shoved blindly past the startled ushers, and bolted for the heavy brass side doors.

Brea Chase POV:

I pushed open the heavy brass side door and stepped out of the ballroom into the dim VIP corridor, shutting the wedding music and Julian's sickening stare behind the oak panels.

My chest heaved as I stared at the closed door, fighting to draw oxygen into my burning lungs. Instictively, I took a shaky step backward to put more distance between myself and the hall, my heel catching on the thick rug.

Before I could catch my balance, my back slammed hard into a wall of solid muscle. The intoxicating scent of cedarwood and storm-washed pine instantly flooded my senses.

An electric shock exploded where we touched, tearing through my nerves as a large, calloused hand clamped around my waist, spinning me around and pinning me flush against a burning chest.

I gasped and looked up into chiseled features and ice-gray eyes belonging to Duke Garrison-the supreme Alpha of Silvercrest and billionaire CEO of the Obsidian Lotus Hotel Group.

My blood ignited. Inside my mind, my inner wolf, Nova, woke from an eight-year slumber with a deafening scream: *Mate!*

Under my palms, Duke's heart hammered violently against his ribs. His ice-gray irises bled into molten amber gold, his fingers digging bruisingly into my waist as a raw, shocked breath tore from his throat. "Damn it... how could it be *you*?"

Horror slammed into me like ice water. The ruthless Alpha who had believed every lie and watched me get cast out eight years ago was my fated mate.

Four black-suited Gamma bodyguards froze behind him, staring in shock as their untouchable leader held a disheveled Omega against his chest.

At the end of the hall, a door swung open and Bianca Atkinson-the eldest daughter of the Atkinson family and the chosen girlfriend who had stood by Duke's side for the past eight years-stepped out in a white couture gown, her gentle smile twisting into venom the second she saw us. "Duke! What are you doing?"

I shoved violently against his chest. "Let go of me! Take your hands off me, Duke Garrison!"

Bianca rushed forward in her heels, grabbing Duke's sleeve with a sharp, panicked glare at me. "Duke, that's Brea Chase! The disgraced slut from that video eight years ago! The Elders and IPO investors are right behind those doors-if anyone sees you touching her, Silvercrest will become a laughingstock!"

Her words hit Duke like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing the gold in his eyes.

He didn't hesitate. With a look of pure revulsion, he shoved me off him so hard I stumbled backward, slamming my shoulder against the wall.

"Stay away from me with your filthy hands," Duke said, his voice lethal and freezing as he straightened his cuffs as if wiping off dirt. "I won't have my name tainted by a pack disgrace."

Pain lanced through my bruised shoulder, igniting eight years of suppressed fury. I bit my lip until I tasted blood to silence Nova's whimpering, lifted my chin, and laughed straight in his face.

"You think I want to touch you?" I spat, my voice ringing loud in the silent corridor. "Keep your rabid mutt on a leash, Alpha-and wash off her cheap perfume. You stink!"

The Gamma guards gasped in dead silence. Duke's jaw clenched violently, a dark, murderous glint flashing in his gray eyes just as the main ballroom doors flew open.

Alvia and several white-haired Elders rushed out, drawn by the commotion. Seeing me glaring down the Alpha, my father's face turned purple with rage. He charged forward and raised his hand to slap me across the face. "Wretched girl! How dare you insult the Alpha!"

Crack.

Before his palm could land, Duke's hand shot out, catching Alvia's wrist in an iron grip.

"Touch her in front of me, and I'll break your arm," Duke warned, his voice dropping to a chilling, dangerous low before he flung my father's hand away.

Duke swept a cold, commanding gaze over the stunned Elders. "Clear this hallway. Bring the entire Board of Elders to the council chamber. Now."

Brea Chase POV:

Two Gamma guards shoved me onto the raised marble platform in the center of the council chamber, slamming the walnut doors shut behind us.

Under the harsh chandeliers, the carved Moon Goddess totem gleamed beneath my feet as the Board of Elders glared down from their high-backed chairs. Five paces away, Duke stood with his jacket unbuttoned, his chest heaving as his cedar scent battered my senses.

At the front of the benches, Bianca dabbed her red eyes with a lace handkerchief, clutching her diamond necklace like a wronged saint.

"This is an outrage!" a silver-haired Elder barked, slamming his palm on the table. "The future Luna of the Garrison family cannot be a disgraced exile! If word leaks, the Obsidian Lotus Group's IPO will crash before the bell even rings!"

"Throw her in the dungeons or banish her again!" another Elder sneered, looking down at me like a stray dog. "A stained Omega like her isn't worthy of breathing the same air as our Alpha!"

Cold sweat soaked my back. I stared at their furious faces, feeling like I had walked into an absurd nightmare. I had only come back for one day-to keep my father from freezing my university transcripts and to retrieve my late mother's research manuscripts. I never expected to see Julian at the altar, and I certainly never planned on colliding with the pack's supreme Alpha in a hallway. All I wanted was to grab my mother's legacy and disappear.

Instead, I was standing on trial like a criminal.

Duke raised a hand, silencing the room instantly, and fixed me with an ice-cold stare. "Even the Moon Goddess makes mistakes. I will never accept a stained woman as my mate, nor let her step foot into the Garrison family."

Before he could speak, Bianca stepped forward, tears brimming in her eyes as she touched his arm. "Duke, please, don't do this for me... Even though Brea ruined her reputation eight years ago, the Goddess still chose her. If rejecting her hurts your standing, I would rather leave Silvercrest myself..."

Her sweet act worked like poison. Disgust flashed across Duke's face as he looked from her to me.

He drew a deep breath, unleashing his Alpha aura to sever our bond. "I, Duke Garrison, reject you-"

A razor-sharp claw tore straight into my chest. I gasped, clutching my coat over my heart as sweat beaded on my forehead. Inside my mind, Nova let out an agonizing howl, as if half our soul were being ripped apart.

"Shut your damn mouth, you brat!" a thunderous roar erupted from the back of the hall as a steel-tipped cane smashed a side table to splinters.

The side door flew open, and the retired Alpha leader, Winston Garrison, strode in, his veteran aura making every Elder shrink back in their seats.

Cut off mid-vow, Duke grunted as the broken ritual slammed back into his chest, draining the color from his face.

Winston marched up to his son and jabbed his ebony cane toward Duke's nose. "Who the hell do you think you are? A fated mate bond blessed by the Moon Goddess isn't something an arrogant punk like you can throw away!"

Duke squared his shoulders, his jaw tight. "Father, you know her past! If I marry her, Silvercrest will be a laughingstock, and our stock price will tank at tomorrow's opening bell!"

"Bullshit!" Winston swung his cane, shattering a teacup on the console. "What makes our pack a laughingstock is a coward who betrays a sacred bond! I won't let you ruin what your mother and I built!"

Bianca hurried forward with tears streaming down her face. "Uncle Winston, please calm down. Duke is only thinking of the pack's future, and the Elders have supported me by his side for years-"

"The Elders know nothing about sacred bloodlines!" Winston snapped, his gaze slicing across Bianca's face. "An outsider has no right to speak here! Step back!"

Struck by the old Alpha's dominance, Bianca stumbled back two steps, biting her cheek as her face turned chalk-white.

Winston turned back to Duke, his voice lethal. "Hear me, Duke Garrison. Either you marry your fated mate as the sole Luna of Silvercrest, or you hand over the Alpha signet ring, resign as CEO of Obsidian Lotus right now, and get out of this territory as a Rogue!"

Gasps echoed across the chamber as Duke's fists clenched white at his sides, his empire held hostage over an unwanted Omega.

Listening to them trade me like toxic cargo, a bitter laugh escaped my lips. Every eye in the chamber snapped toward me.

"Save your threats, Alpha Winston," I said, lifting my chin as my gaze swept the stunned Elders before locking onto Duke. "I don't accept this either. Your precious Alpha shoved me into the wall in the hallway not ten minutes ago, and I wouldn't take a blind, arrogant man like him even if you begged me. **I came here for my mother's things, not a husband.** Keep your mark and your Luna crown-just let me leave."

Dead silence fell over the room. A dark glint flashed in Duke's gray eyes at being rejected by the very Omega he despised, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

Alvia leaped up from his seat, his face purple with rage, shooting me a vicious glare that reminded me my university records and mother's manuscripts were still locked in his study. "Shut up, you ungrateful beast! You have no say here!"

Duke whipped his head toward me, his voice low and tight. "You heard her, Father. Even she doesn't want it. Are you still going to force this farce?"

"Neither of you gets a vote!" Winston barked as the side door opened again and the former Luna, Eleanor Garrison, glided in wearing a deep violet gown.

Ignoring Bianca completely, Eleanor walked straight toward the platform, her sharp eyes pausing on my bloodless lips and the faint pink scars peeking from my cuffs. She signaled her attendants immediately. "Take Miss Chase to the upstairs lounge and call a doctor to treat the old scars on her wrists."

A sudden warmth pierced my chest at the unexpected kindness-the first anyone in this pack had shown me in eight years.

Then the broken ritual burned in my chest. The Alpha pressure crushed my lungs. Days of exhaustion finally caught up to me, and my knees gave out.

My vision went black. As I fell, I dimly saw Duke's tall frame lunge across the five-pace gap-faster than his guards, faster than thought-catching me against his chest amid the shocked gasps of Bianca and the Elders before darkness swallowed me whole.