Chapter 2

Elena's POV

The woman's voice was too familiar. I stood frozen, convinced I must have misheard.

But there she was, bent over Ethan's desk, her dark hair spilling across scattered textbooks as Ethan gripped her hips with both hands, driving into her with savage intensity. His eyes were half-closed in pleasure, oblivious to my presence.

"Tell me," she panted between thrusts, "who would you choose? Me or Elena?"

I held my breath, my heart hammering against my ribs as I waited for his answer.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ethan growled, "You, of course." His fingers dug deeper into her flesh. "Elena's just a low-grade human. You at least have half-wolf blood." He gave a particularly hard thrust that made her moan. "Besides, all she knows is studying. Too proper, too boring. Not wild enough."

Something inside me shattered. My knees nearly buckled as his words sliced through me like silver blades.

The woman must have heard my sharp intake of breath because she suddenly turned her head, her eyes widening with mock surprise when they locked with mine.

Olivia. My roommate. The girl who borrowed my notes, who cried on my shoulder after failed exams, who I'd stayed up with countless nights helping with assignments.

A cruel smile spread across her flushed face. "Look," she purred, not bothering to cover herself. "The pathetic human is watching. Does it turn you on, Elena? Seeing what a real woman looks like when she's being fucked properly?"

How long? my mind screamed. How many nights did they laugh at me while I slept just feet away? Rage surged through me, hot and electric. Betrayal, heartbreak, and humiliation collided in my chest, threatening to explode. But outwardly, I remained eerily calm, which seemed to unnerve them both.

Ethan finally noticed me and jerked away from Olivia, fumbling for his jeans. "Elena, fuck—I can explain—"

"Explain what?" Olivia cut him off,  "That you finally found someone worthy of your cock? Someone who understands what a real wolf needs?" She laughed, the sound like glass breaking inside my skull. "Face it, Elena. You were just a placeholder until he found someone better."

Olivia's half-wolf heritage made her immensely popular among the male students at Shadow Peak Academy. But she was also the enemy of nearly every girl on campus—manipulative, status-obsessed, only interested in befriending those with supernatural blood.

And Ethan, my Ethan—a werewolf, albeit low-ranking in the White Moon Clan—had sworn it didn't matter that I was human. He'd told me I had a special scent, something unique that drew him to me. He'd promised he would reject his predestined mate during the next mating moon, that he would stay with me forever.

All fucking lies.

"I think we need to talk," Ethan said, his voice suddenly gentle as he approached me with his hands raised like I was some wild animal that might bolt.

"Yes, we should talk," Olivia agreed with exaggerated sympathy. "Let's go to the Silver Fang Bar. We can sort this all out there."

My stomach twisted. The Silver Fang—our first date spot, where Ethan had held my hand under the table and whispered that I was different from all other humans. She knew exactly what she was doing, grinding salt directly into the wound.

"I don't want to go there," I said, finding my voice at last. It came out steadier than I expected.

"The Silver Fang is perfect. "Olivia interrupted, draping herself over him possessively. "She'll need something strong. Poor little Elena." She reached out to touch my cheek, and I jerked back. "Look at her, Ethan. She's trembling like prey."

I wanted to refuse, to walk away with whatever dignity I had left. But Ethan was already nodding, completely under Olivia's spell, and some masochistic part of me needed to hear exactly how thoroughly I'd been deceived.

The Silver Fang was crowded, smoky, and loud. The moment we walked in, several heads turned. Wolves could smell emotional distress, Ethan had once told me. I must have reeked of it.

Whistles and knowing looks followed us to a corner booth. Where once I had walked beside Ethan, now Olivia clung to his arm, her head high, satisfaction radiating from her every pore.

"Bout time you ditched the human trash, Rhodes!" someone called out.

"Smartest move you ever made, man! Upgrade from bicycle to Porsche!" added another, followed by crude laughter.

Olivia tilted her chin triumphantly, not a hint of guilt in her expression. "See, Elena? Everyone knows humans make worthless girlfriends. You're just so... inadequate." She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a stage whisper. "If you ever want to be someone's girlfriend again, you should learn to suck cock properly. "

My hands clenched into fists under the table.

"Ethan just loves the way I fuck him," she continued, "The way I let him mount me from behind. Do you even know what that is, Elena? Or are you too busy with your little human books to understand what a wolf's cock can do?"

My vision tunneled, blood roaring in my ears. Don't break. Don't give them the satisfaction.

She described, in excruciating detail, how she pleasured him in ways I never could, how he howled her name when he came, how they'd fucked in my bed when I was at the library, how they'd laughed at my pathetic attempts to satisfy him.

Something snapped inside me. I grabbed the nearest drink and hurled its contents directly into Olivia's perfect face.

She shrieked,  "You fucking human cunt!"

Before I could blink, she lunged across the table. We collided in a tangle of limbs, her supernatural strength nearly overwhelming me as she raked her nails down my cheek, drawing blood.

"I'm going to rip your goddamn throat out!" she snarled. "You're nothing! You hear me? NOTHING! "

I managed to grab a handful of her hair and yanked hard enough to make her scream.

"Twenty on the half-breed tearing her apart!"

"Rip her fucking heart out, Liv!"

"Show the human bitch her place!"

Ethan finally intervened, prying Olivia away and positioning himself protectively in front of her. "Elena, what the fuck? When did you get so violent? This isn't like you!"

I laughed,  "Learning from you, apparently. I never expected you to be such a worthless piece of shit, getting hard for this backstabbing slut while telling me you loved me."

Olivia smirked, wiping blood from her cheek where I'd managed to scratch her. "Poor Elena. Did you really think he could love something like you? A weak, ordinary human? You were just convenient. Available. Easy to manipulate."

"You said I was special," I said to Ethan, my voice deadly quiet. "You said my scent was different from other humans."

He at least had the decency to look uncomfortable. "I... it was. But you're still human. And Olivia is..."

"Better," she finished for him, rubbing against him possessively. "Stronger. Wilder. Everything you could never be."

I stared at them both, memorizing this moment of complete betrayal. "You wanted him? Congratulations. You won."

Her eyes narrowed. "No. You should be begging me. On your knees, crying, pleading for forgiveness for even daring to have him in the first place. For thinking you were worthy of touching him."

She wanted to see me broken, reduced to tears and desperation. But something inside me refused to give her that satisfaction, even as my heart was being crushed to dust.

"Congratulations on your new possession," I said coolly. "A pathetic, lying sack of shit I just threw in the garbage. You dug him out. He's all yours now."