Chapter 1- Cold Death

ELARA

"Hello Elara," said the low, quiet voice in my ear. 

It was funny how just a couple of words reminded me of how much  I loved him. 

"Hey babe," I said, pressing the phone against my ear. "I'm at the hotel. Where do I go?"

"There's an elevator somewhere to your right," he said. I looked and saw it. "Take it up to the sixth floor, room 204. I've got quite the birthday surprise for you, baby."

I started to ask him what. The line went dead.

 I hurried to the elevator, ignoring the blonde receptionist who had gotten up from her desk, ready to assist me.

"I know where I'm going," I called over my shoulder. 

Alone in the elevator whisking me up to the sixth floor, I found myself nervously twisting the hem of my dress and forced myself to stop. 

The questions buzzing around in my head started up again; Why had Allan told me to come here?

He was not a flower and hearts kind of guy. Birthday surprises and gifts weren't his thing. Allan was marrying me just for my position as the only legitimate daughter of the Alpha. I knew that.

It was a truth I hated to admit even to myself. 

I took in a deep, shaky breath as the elevator doors slid open. My hand caressed my stomach. Today, I was going to tell him about the baby. It would be my own surprise. Allan wasn't cruel enough to reject our child. 

Loud music coming from room 204 filtered through the corridor. Already, a party was going on in there. As I  opened the door, the smell hit me. A mixture of booze and cigarettes. 

My stomach churned. I bit down on my lip, struggling to hold on to my lunch. I took a lungful of the clean air outside, stepped in and shut the door behind me. 

Through the haze of cigarette smoke, I saw Allan. His laughing brown eyes met mine. Only now there weren't laughing or kind. There was an expression in them I didn't like. 

The music stopped. Now the silence in the room was so heavy it felt like it could be cut with a knife. 

"Hii, Allan," I said, forcing a smile. 

I had expected him to smile, maybe hug me or do something, anything, not just stand there watching me. 

"Oh look," said a familiar voice with a mocking tilt to it. "The dumb bitch finally showed up."

 I whirled around, found myself looking at my step brother, Pete. 

Allan laughed. Pete joined in. 

I quickly scanned the room. Maybe there was someone else he was referring to as a 'dumb bitch' but just the three of us were here. 

"You're right, she's always been dumb," Allan said with a chuckle. "Dumb and clueless. Unable to see what is right in front of her. Good thing you're not like her, Pete. At least your own part of the gene pool is not... contaminated like hers is.

I froze. Trying to figure out what the hell was going on started giving me a tension headache.

Then I got it. Feeling almost weak with relief, I laughed. 

"Allan, silly," I said. "This is some kind of birthday prank, right? But what-"

Allan cut in. He waved his arms around the room in a sweeping gesture. "Do you see any cameras, Elara? Do you see anyone laughing?"

"Except at your stupidity of course," Pete chipped in. 

"But- but I don't understand," I stammered. "It's my birthday. You called me here and said-"

"Ah yes. The surprise. How could I forget? Well, here he is." Allan's gaze flickered to my brother. 

I blinked. "Pete? What has he got to with anything? What is he even doing here?"

Allan's answer literally rocked me back on my heels. He walked up to Pete, ran a finger slowly and sensuously across my brother's bottom lip. Pete's tongue darted out, licked the pad of my fiance's thumb. 

I blinked, rubbed my eyes and wondered if hallucinations were also part of pregnancy symptoms. 

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Allan turned back to me and said, "I felt it was high time you knew about me and Pete. We've been in love with each other for about a year now." His lips peeled back from his teeth into sudden snarl of fury. "You can't imagine how I've tortured myself all this time, forcing myself to be with you when I wanted nothing more than to be with my mate."

Pete? His mate?

In my pack, and even in others, I had never heard of males being mated to each other. It was unnatural, a taboo. 

It suddenly hurt to breathe. I didn't want to believe this. I couldn't. 

How could Allan have gotten me pregnant while screwing my step brother on the side?

"How? Why?" were the only words I could force out through lips that felt numb. 

Allan's arrogant brows rose. He had draped an arm loosely around Pete's shoulders. "You'll have to speak up, Elara. I can't hear you."

I took a deep breath as my eyes filled with tears. 

"Allan, I'm pregnant," I said. No change in his expression. "We are supposed to get married tomorrow, for fuck's sake!"

"Oh. There will certainly be a wedding. Not with you, but with the love of my life."

"Darling," Pete crooned, his blue eyes lighting up. 

He glued his lips to Allan's I could see his tongue thrusting into Allan's mouth, sucking on it, tasting it. Allan moaned, pulled him closer. 

I forced down the bile that rose to the throat at the revolting scene I was being forced to watch. I shut my eyes, forced myself to breathe deeply. 

'You can do this, Elara,' I said to myself. 'You're the Alpha's daughter. You can't show weakness."

My eyes flew open. 

 Glaring at Pete, in a voice that shook with anger, I said, "You're a fool if you think father will allow you marry this betraying bastard!"

Throwing back his head, Pete laughed. "And you're a bigger fool if you think we haven't considered that." He glanced at his Rolex. "In fact, my mother is taking care of that as we speak."

He strolled over to the window and pushed it open. 

I felt something inside me snap. 

"You'll pay for this," I yelled.  

With a scream of fury, I ran at Pete, my hands raised.

Pete grabbed my arms, pinned them behind my back. He shook me so hard my teeth rattled, then let go. 

"You can't even fight to save you life," he sneered. "You're wolfless, weak, pathetic. Leave now, Elara else you'll get hurt."

Allan pushed me against the wall. 

"Look at her," he taunted. "She can't even fight to save her life."

Screaming curses, I hooked my fingers into claws. I wanted to claw hurt them, to hurt them. I slashed at Allan, ploughed a furrow in his cheek. 

Pete's slap sent me staggering back against the window. Allan gave me a violent push. I felt myself tip backwards. It took a split second before I realized I was out the window. My hands scrambled for purchase on the window sill. They slipped. 

And then I was falling, falling six stories down, my mouth open in a silent, horrified scream. 

In that instant, my life flashed before my eyes. My life, my whole existence was a short, sad tale and my only crime was falling for the wrong man. 

'SAVE ME!' I screamed on the inside. 

But the moon goddess didn't. The ground got closer with dizzying speed. With a sickening thud, I hit the cold hard floor. My heart gave one last exhausted thump. 

And then I died.