Breaking you in

*Content Warning: Physical violence is depicted in this chapter and may be triggering for some readers. *

I reeled back as if I’d been struck. My legs became wobbly and I could feel the room begin to spin. I stumbled back but Ethan held me tight. This was news. This was the news. It didn’t make any sense, none of it, and my mind ran a mile a minute as I tried to fit the pieces together that just didn’t fit. He wasn’t an heir, he was a bastard. I knew everything there was to know about him, or at least I thought I did. I’d always known he was a bastard because of his hair. I’ve known since the first time I met him that day long ago.

The day when he dropped the bag of potatoes and I looked down my nose at the handsome boy who scrambled for the spuds that had fallen and rolled out. As a young girl, it didn’t matter because he was my friend, my only friend. As a young woman, his parentage didn’t mean anything because I loved him.

When Ethan said I would see a familiar face at the alpha’s