CHAPTER TWO.

ANDREA.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, stepping back in confusion. I looked over to my father but his face was filled with apprehension and terror, and he couldn't say anything. All he did was stare as the two men walked towards me, looming dangerously.

"Adriana, wait." My father called, looking at me with eyes filled with pity. I shook my head and immediately started running towards the backdoor entrance of the ballroom.

Thankfully, the door was wide open. But the men were faster than I was. I was about to burst through the door when a hand grabbed my legs.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled, kicking and flailing my legs but the hands were as hard as steel.

"Shut up, you stupid cunt!" He yelled, giving my leg a hard tug. Without another word, I immediately kicked him in the face, causing him to yell in pain before releasing his grip on my leg. Taking my chance, I immediately started through the door and began to run towards the woods, anywhere I could find some shelter.

I turned back to see the second man standing beside the man I had just kicked, glaring at me, but he wasn't chasing me. I turned back and continued running. I did not stop until I had reached the outskirts of the Pack.

My lungs were burning and my breath came in fast gasps. The world outside was shrouded in darkness, just like my future. I sat on a tree trunk, still trying to wrap my head around what the fuck actually happened back there at the ball.

I couldn't believe everything had been thwarted in the blink of an eye and here I was, running and fighting for my life. That was also the moment that the words of the giant guard gradually began to register in my head.

"A replacement?" I wondered, shivering as a bolt of shock careened down my spine. That wasn't going to happen! I said to myself, and kept repeating it until it sounded like a mantra. I would rather die, escape the Pack than allow myself to get carted off like some horse.

I bent my face and began to cry profusely, wishing that this looming doom could be taken away from me.

"Adriana, if you can hear me, please come back." The voice rasped through the mindlink, startling me. It was my father, and the words were laced with the kind of urgency that I didn't like. I knew I needed to go very far away from this place if I was ever going to survive.

I quickly blocked off the mindlink, before jumping off the tree trunk. My red gown was already messy from the frantic run of escape and both heels were already missing as I had flung them off to run faster.

That's when I remembered Jackson, I needed to go see him, to go talk to him about everything and stay there until it was safe to return to the Packhousе. I sucked in air and began to make my way towards his place immediately, occasionally looking back to make sure I wasn't being followed but I was worried the men would find me easily because of the perfume I was wearing asides from my distinctive aura that could be picked instantly.

I managed to wipe my tears and trudge on. The Pack was already quiet like a graveyard and everybody was inside their house, locked up, scared, listening.

The Pack was like a scared animal that had smelt death in the air, but had no idea which way it would turn and run. Everybody was expectant to know what was going on.

When things like this happened, the whole thing would normally be attested to a coup, but I remembered I hadn't been this scared when the last coup happened. It was a year ago, and my father's guards had nipped the plan in the bud as soon as it began.

I could see guards ping from house to house, carrying torches in their hands as they searched for my sister, Karen. I waited until they had passed before hurrying towards Jackson's place.

He lived in an estate, but when I arrived there, the door was locked and there was no sign of life. I knocked on the door still, and got no response whatsoever. Then I remembered the cabin. The cabin was situated in a hidden clearing which was surrounded by trees deep in the woods.

Only the both of us knew about the cabin and we secretly snuck in there to make out anytime our feelings got the better of us. But what if he wasn't there? I thought the prospect of him being in danger was imminent. I turned and headed for the cabin immediately.

There wasn't a sound when I arrived, and my heart jumped at the possibility that I had come all this way for nothing. But as I got closer, I began to hear sounds. The laughter was followed by a whimper.

His intoxicating aura soon filled my nostrils as I approached, but he wasn't alone. There was someone in there with him. I wondered how he could have told someone else about our secret place.

A jolt of shock ran through me when I heard a feminine voice moaning. I stopped dead in my tracks, my head seemingly swelling as I walked closer and closer to the cabin. There was a little torchlight shining through so I was able to catch the sight of Jackson instantly.

The sight had my legs giving way under me. It felt as if time stopped. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, all I could do was stare at the one person I'd sacrificed everything for in the arms of another woman, lost in a moment of pure lust as he fucked her.

I took a step back, the tear slipping down my cheek in a frantic dribble.

"No..." I whispered, my voice hoarse.

"No... you wouldn't do this to me. J-Jackson wouldn't hurt me, Jackson wouldn't do this to me." I muttered, taking in the sight of him lewdly humping and pounding a random girl.

My knees suddenly felt so weak and without another word, I crashed on my behind, my teeth chattering. A sudden gust of cold, crispy breeze had blown and I was already shivering from the chills and goosebumps.

"What was that?" I heard Jackson say, sounding alarmed. "It was nothing..." the girl moaned. I saw her reach for his neck, trying to pull him close to her but he stopped her, pulling out of his legs before grabbing the torch, stark naked.

He immediately walked out of the cabin with the torch in his hand, his swollen cock dangling as if trying to mock me. He stopped in shock the moment he saw me. I didn't say a word, I only stared at him.

"A-Andrea..." He whispered, cowering in shame.

After some time, I found the voice to say something to him. But I was trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"You... lied to me." He was quick to retort, which hurt me even further.

"Andrea... I didn't know how to tell you that we weren't mates. I didn't want to hurt you, I wanted to be with you, Andrea. But the mate bond...I'm sorry." His jaw tightened, his face stony. "You let me give myself to you, you knew we weren't mates... You deceived me!" He cowered again, putting a hand across his face before walking back to the room.

"I trusted you with my heart Jackson," I said, but because of this I will never trust anybody again." The love I had dearly held on to these years had crumbled in the dust, just like that. I got up from the forest floor and staggered towards the small opening where I had entered from.

Once I was out of the clearing, I began to shed tears again. It was just unbearable for me. Every ounce of energy in my body seemed to have been sapped with the streak of events that had happened, just in a single evening.

After walking a few steps, I collapsed on the floor, drained of the will to move any further. I lay there until I heard something rustle in the woods. It was the Crescent Moon Guards.

"Is that her?" One of the men asked, sounding angry. There was a pause before another confirmed it. One of them came to where I was lying on the floor and picked me. The man peered down at me with angry, kind eyes as if he was ready to punch me in the face if I dared to retaliate.

I had lost every single energy to retaliate, and I had listlessly resigned myself to what else life wanted to throw at me, even if it was being 'a replacement'.