Chapter 3

Chapter 3

She couldn’t go back to her parents' house like this. Her father might sympathize with her, but stepmother would throw a celebration, not even because her daughter had returned, but because Ana was miserable.

Everyone in the pack knew that her stepmother and her step-sister hated her, but no one cared. Only Jake had.

3 years ago, Jake wasn’t the alpha, he was just the alpha's second son from his second wife.

His older brother Kane was meant to become alpha, not him. So when Katie found out that she was Jake’s fated mate, she was disappointed.

She was the prettiest girl in the pack and she had wanted to marry an alpha, not an alpha's younger brother.

She had hoped to seduce Jake’s older brother but unfortunately for her, everyone knew that Kane was an arrogant, ruthless psychopath and troublemaker who never paid attention to anyone but himself.

Katie became desperate for a better man so she immediately rejected Jake and ran away to be with another wealthy old Alpha from another pack.

This broke Jake's heart, but he continued visiting Katie’s home with the hope that she would come back to him. And that was where he met Ana.

Ana was still being locked away from the public by her stepmother but Jake immediately liked her and rescued her from her cruel step-mother.

It was also during this time that Kane— Jake's older brother suddenly disappeared. No one was close enough to know why, but rumours soon spread that his heartlessness had become so much that his father had temporarily sent him away for the protection of the pack.

But everyone expected him to still come back soon and it made them very worried because Kane was a cruel man.

Luckily for Ana, she and Jake started dating a few months later and married soon after.

But then her father-in-law, the Alpha suddenly died and since Kane was nowhere to be seen, he was assumed to be dead and Jake was appointed Alpha.

Ana had expected to live happily ever after with her beloved husband, but now she had come to realize that fate only had pain and suffering in store for her. It seemed she was never meant to be loved or happy.

“I just want the pain to stop.” Ana sobbed to herself. She needed to find a hidden place, away from the gossiping mouths of the pack to mourn and forget her sorrows. And she knew only one place to get that.

Ana quickly made her way to a bar at the far end of the pack’s border, where no one would recognize her.

She disguised herself with a hat pulled low over her eyes, as she slipped into the bar.

She ordered the strongest drink she could find and began to gulp it down.

Suddenly all the hairs in the back of her neck stood up as if they were warning her of something dangerous behind her.

She slowly turned round and was surprised to see a pair of dark eyes staring at her with an intense frown from across the room.

At first, she tried to ignore him, but she couldn't shake off a weird sense of unease at the tall, dark figure watching her from across the room.

She picked up her drink and moved to another side of the bar that was shielded from his intense gaze.

She returned her focus to her drink, hoping to drown out the pain of her husband’s betrayal.

But her newfound peace was short-lived, as a much older drunk man approached her, offering to buy her a drink in exchange for a lap dance.

“No thanks! I’m not that type of girl!” Ana refused, but the man persisted.

“C’mon baby girl, just one lap dance, don’t be stingy.” He said before roughly grabbing her arm and yanking her close.

“Let go!” Ana yelled but the man yanked her even closer.

Ana was just about to knee him in the crotch but the man suddenly froze and released his on her.

Ana blinked up in confusion only to see a tall man with dark eyes standing behind the drunk man.

This was the same tall man who was staring at her from across the bar.

His tall muscular body and dark eyes were looming over her drunk harasser like the Angel of death.

“She said leave!” He growled and his deep voice made Ana’s body tingle in a way that she had never experienced before.

“Uh-yes- Yes sir! I’m so sorry ma’am!” The old man screeched before suddenly running away in fear.

The look of sheer fear and horror on the man’s face surprised Ana. This tall stranger hadn’t even said anything scary. He didn’t threaten the man. He just looked at him and the old man ran away! Why?!

“Umm… Thank you," Ana murmured.

“You’re welcome.” The man replied in that deliciously deep voice of his.

She then noticed the tall man studying her with a steady gaze, his expression looked a little hungry and Ana started to feel her cheeks turn red under his eyes.

“What’s your name sweetheart?” He suddenly asked and Ana blushed harder at that Nick name.

She was about to answer but then remembered that she couldn’t dare reveal her true identity as the Luna of the pack. It would just attract gossip and nasty rumours.

"Sarah," she offered, giving him a fake name that would not be traced back to her.

But unfortunately for Ana, the tall man seemed to see through her lies, as his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Oh c’mon sweetheart, you know and I know that’s not your real name," he observed with a confident smirk.

Ana felt a flush of embarrassment heated her cheeks, but she refused to back down. "It's the only name you need to know," she insisted stubbornly.

The tall man chuckled softly, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Fair enough," he conceded, his lips quirking into a crooked smile.

Sensing an opportunity to escape from her own turmoil, Ana found herself drawn to the mysterious stranger. Her curiosity overrode her all her body’s warning signals to stay away from this man.

"And What's your name?" she asked him.

The tall man hesitated for a moment, he looked completely shocked as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

He was weighing his options, before finally offering a mischievous smile. "I'm Lucas," he replied, his voice warm and inviting.

Ana immediately knew that he was playing her game back at her. He did not look like a Lucas.

“Lucas isn’t your real name, is it?” She guessed.

“You keep your secrets, and I’ll keep mine sweetheart.” He drawled.