3. Degraded

Caterina

The door opens behind me, and I see my parents filing into the room, then closing the door. I turn around to face them, my eyes red from crying, but I see no regret in their faces. My mother walks towards me and grabs my wrist hard.

“Don’t ruin this for your sister, Caterina,” She had the same bloodthirsty look in her eyes as my father did - beasts of the same blood. I wonder whose traits I inherited; it definitely was not theirs.

My father stepped closer. “Or we will force you to turn rogue and give you to a wolf-fighting colony as bait. Keep quiet, keep your distance and do not disgrace this pack any more than you have.” He spits out his venom, equally as scalding as Segios.

“You will have to tie me down to keep me quiet, father. This will be the last time this family abuses me, that I can promise you.” I say through gritted teeth while levelling my gaze at them. My father’s eyes widen at this, and he moves to hit me, but I hold up my arm to block him.

“Raise your hand to me again, and I will show you just how dangerous an abused wolf can be,” I say, walking towards him, and he actually takes a step backwards as I bare my fangs.

My mother pulls me back by my hair, and I twist my body around to look at her.

“Always a coward, aren’t you, mother?” I say in a sickly-sweet tone before rubbing the creases from my dress.

“Fine, I will indulge you this once, but after this sham of a wedding, I am leaving, and you won’t stop me,” I say with finality, staring at both my parents with such hostility that they were rendered speechless. They leave the room after this, and as the door closes, I feel tears run down my cheeks.

No matter how brave I act, this hurts me more than I can even explain.

I sigh, wipe my tears away, fix my makeup, and hide my puffy eyes well before walking out of the dressing room.

As soon as I stepped out, Carlotta’s eyes met mine, and she smiled that cunning, triumphant grin of hers. She runs towards me and pulls me by my arm.

“You’re my maid of honour! Walk ahead of me!” She exclaims, ridiculing me further, and I try to keep my growl at bay. She pushes me towards the door and places her veil over her face—my veil. My father’s eyes flash, his mind link telling me to ‘move!’ before taking Carlotta’s arm in his.

Funny how they use the link when it is to their benefit. Instead of warning me of what would happen, my mother kept quiet. They had this way of tuning me out of the mind link; this is probably why they acted too swiftly when the sex video played. They planned this, and it broke my heart even more.

I hear the whispers feel the glares behind me as I stand next to Carlotta - how the young wolf was so kind to her evil sister even after she tried to marry the Alpha.

Pariah, that’s what I am now.

But I don’t care; they could all go and jump off a cliff. I managed to hold back the rolling of my eyes throughout the ceremony, something I was proud of. But something tells me that Carlotta was not Sergio’s intended mate.

Yes, my sister might be pregnant, and they bonded, but she wasn’t the mate that the Moon Goddess chose for him. She was the one he decided to bond with and impregnate. I doubt Carlotta understood the importance of her union with Sergio if they genuinely were mates; she just wanted what I had.

The ceremony ended, and people wished my sister well, all the while whispering loudly about how a crazy, pitiful Omega I was.

I couldn’t take the degradation anymore, even with this newfound bravery. So I slipped out of the church and made my way to my car at the edge of the parking lot.

No one could force me to endure that; I was tough, not stupid. No one would be at the reception hall at my parents’ mansion, so I would take my time to get there.

But as I was about to get into my car, I felt as if someone was watching me. I quickly spun around, expecting my father to be standing there, but there was no one. A chill goes up my spine, and I shake it off before getting inside and starting the car. I’ve had enough weirdness for one day.

“Caterina!” Carlotta shouts at me when I eventually arrive at the mansion two hours later. She stomps over to me and flares her nostrils.

“I was expecting you to ride with us on the way here! How dare you leave without us!” I look at her with a raised eyebrow but give her a sickly sweet fake smile.

“So sorry, sister, but I am here now. Do you need anything? Why did I have to ask that? Because a grin spread on Carlotta’s face.

“Please, can you take these shoes off my feet? They are killing me and hurting my back.” She says, but that was just the start of it.

Throughout the evening, she degrades me further and orders me around like a slave while I watch her and Sergio’s display of love. Watch as they get congratulated while I get stares of disgust. I had to do as she asked for now, but after this, I would slit her throat before lifting a hand to her in kindness again.

How can my family hate me this much? What have I ever done but be loyal to them, even when they hurt me? I even agreed to marry Sergio Andretti, cold and ruthless mafia Capo and Alpha of the Onyx Myst Pack.

Knowing he never cared for me, I still would have married him because my father willed the union. He wanted the power that came with the Andretti name and would sell his own daughter to do it.

I sneak out to the bathroom when Carlotta is kept busy, but I hear my father call to me via the link behind me before I can get there. I can’t believe that I used to fear this man, but now I see him for what he truly was. Not only was he callous, but he was a beast in every sense of the word.

“I have scheduled a meeting tomorrow with a Lycan pack in Las Vegas - you are to be married to their Alpha.” He says, and I feel his words chill me to my bones and disgust coils into my stomach.

“Fenriz?” I ask in a voice barely above a whisper, and he nods as a grin spreads on his face before he leaves me to stand there alone and terrified. I needed to leave tonight before he could sell me off again!

Fenriz was the Alpha of the Vega pack - they’ve ruled Las Vegas since the strip was developed to what it was now, hence the name. It’s not that I would be marrying into a blue blood Lycan pack that terrified me. It is the fact that Fenriz had had three wives before and killed them all while in a rage. That man was to be my husband, and I would probably be dead by the end of the year.

I shake the fear and head to the bathroom, splashing my face with ice-cold water and willing myself to calm down. Then I composed myself and headed back into the room that held all my misery.

I entered the side of the room and hoped Carlotta would not notice that I had been gone, but something felt wrong.

As soon as I step into the room, I see the wolves of the Onyx Myst pack growling, their hackles raised, eyes flashing silver and their claws exposed. These were territorial growls, and I could see why: striding into the middle of the room was the most gorgeous man I have ever seen. His scent emanates the room, dark and musky.

It was the smell of a forest right after a rainstorm and felt oddly... familiar?

Broad shoulders and built like a tank, the black shirt he wore showed off the tattoos on his arms and the ones that sneaked into his neck. He had shoulder-length blonde hair, but when he smiles at Sergio, I notice the crest at his neck just below his ear. My eyes widen, and a hand flies to my mouth.

Why was he here?