Chapter 1"Stop being so dramatic, Tamsin. You're FINE."
My fated mate said as I just escaped kidnappers.
My brother slapped me for the first time—for HER.
They made me their punching bag. Their shame. Their NOTHING.
Fine? FINE?
Okay. Let me show you what "fine" looks like.
I walked out with the most dangerous Alpha in the territory—the one they FEARED.
Their pack? MINE now.
Their fortune? ABSORBED.
Their dignity? DESTROYED.
Now I'm the one they beg to.
And I don't do mercy.
By the time I dragged myself back to the Greyfang packhouse, I was soaked to the bone.
I heard them before I saw them—laughter, music blasting, like nothing had happened.
Like I hadn't just nearly died.
Then I looked through the window.
Lachlan Holloway, my own brother—Alpha of the Greyfang Pack—holding up a drink.
Dante Locke, my mate, grinning at something.
And right there between them was my stepsister, Natalia Sinclair, wearing some fancy dress that probably cost a fortune.
I looked down at myself. Covered in mud. Shirt torn. Still dripping river water.
A bitter laugh bubbled up in my throat.
They all turned toward the door.
"Tamsin?" Natalia's voice was sickeningly sweet. She covered her nose. "Oh my God, what happened to you?"
I wanted to say something, but she just kept going.
"Wait—didn't you say you were being kidnapped or something?" She tilted her head, eyes wide with fake concern. "Did you really just jump in the river for attention?"
That innocent little act made me want to scream.
Lachlan's expression hardened. "Seriously, Tam? We're doing this again?"
"Again?" My voice cracked. "I called you. I called YOU!"
"Yeah, and we told you to cut the crap," Dante snapped. "We were at Natalia's birthday party, and you pull some kidnapping stunt. What'd you expect us to do?"
Natalia stepped forward, reaching for my hand. "Tam, we were worried. We really were. But you have to understand how it looked."
I jerked back instinctively.
She stumbled—or pretended to. Her hand hit the table. The cake went flying and crashed on the floor.
"You pushed me." Natalia's eyes filled with tears. "Tamsin, I know you're upset, but how could you ruin my cake? Do you really hate me that much?"
"I didn't—"
The slap came out of nowhere.
My head whipped to the side. I tasted blood.
"Enough!" Lachlan's voice was ice-cold. "Can't you just leave her alone? For once?"
I touched my face. My fingers came back bloody. My brother had never hit me before.
Not once in twenty-three years.
Not when I crashed his car.
Not when I accidentally destroyed his vintage record collection. Not ever.
But for Natalia...
"Lach..."
Something flashed in his eyes. But it was gone fast.
Dante walked past him and crouched next to Natalia. "You okay?" His hand on her shoulder.
The same hands that used to hold me.
"Tamsin, you need to apologize," Dante said without looking at me. "Now."
I stared at him. "Apologize?"
"You heard me." He finally looked up, and his eyes were empty. "Get on your knees and say sorry. Maybe we'll let it go."
The room tilted.
This was Dante. My Dante. Who knew everything about me. Who promised me forever two years ago.
And he wanted me to kneel.
"I didn't do anything wrong."
"You faked a kidnapping, then you wrecked Natalia's cake—" Dante's voice was flat. "Honestly? I wish you really had been kidnapped. At least we'd get some peace."
The words hit like a punch.
Lachlan grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward. His foot hooked behind my knee and I went down hard.
Natalia smiled down at me.
Something inside me shattered.
I twisted free and stood up. My knee throbbed, but I didn't care. I was already heading for the door.
"Tamsin Holloway!" Lachlan's voice boomed. "You walk out that door, don't bother coming back!"
I stopped. Turned around.
Looked at my brother—at the stranger in front of me.
"Don't worry," I said quietly. "I won't."
This wasn't my home anymore.
Maybe it never was.
"Let her go," Dante said, waving me off like I was nothing. "She'll come crawling back in a couple days when nobody gives a shit about her little meltdown."
"Yeah." Lachlan dropped his hand. "She always does."
I made it to the end of the driveway before my legs gave out.
I woke up to blinding lights and that sharp hospital smell.
"Easy." Briar Sutton, the pack healer, helped me sit up. "You passed out. Dehydration, exhaustion, mild hypothermia. Fun times."
She was trying to joke. I didn't smile.
"Where are..." I stopped. "Never mind."
Briar's face softened. "Your brother and Dante didn't come, if that's what you're asking."
Six months ago, I was in this same bed with food poisoning. Lachlan canceled everything to stay with me. Dante didn't leave my side for two days.
The whole pack talked about how lucky I was.
But now, that devotion was history.
"Tam..." Briar started.
"I'm fine." I wasn't. "When can I leave?"
"Tomorrow morning. You need to rest."
I nodded, watching the IV drip.
I kept drifting in and out, dreams mixing with memories.
Natalia moving into our house when I was seventeen. How Lachlan promised to protect me from her. How Dante joked about scaring her off.
But somewhere along the way, everything changed.
She became the one who needed protecting.
And I became the villain.
"Stop being so selfish," Lachlan told me last month when I cried about being left out of dinner. "You've had everything. Natalia only has us."
Chapter 2
I woke up to my hospital room door slamming open so hard it hit the wall.
Dante stormed in like he owned the place. His face was stone cold, no emotion at all. He walked right up to my bed, blocking out the light.
"Get up, Tamsin. Stop faking." His voice had that Alpha edge that made my body want to obey even though my brain screamed hell no.
Before I could say a word, he grabbed my arm and hauled me off the bed.
The IV was still in my hand. Pain shot through my arm as the needle pulled against my skin.
My wolf whined in my head but I pushed her down.
I needed to focus.
Blood started dripping from the back of my hand where the IV was tearing at the skin.
Dante didn't even look at it. His dark eyes stared right through me like I was nothing.
"Natalia's in the hospital because of your little stunt yesterday," he said flatly. "Healer says she needs to stay overnight for observation."
"This is your mess, Tamsin. You're gonna clean it up."
I stared at him. Almost laughed out loud.
Natalia's performance was so goddamn fake, but everyone bought it anyway.
My wolf growled low in my chest.
"No." My voice cracked. "I'm not doing it. She needs a babysitter? Hire a nurse. Why the hell does it have to be me?"
I couldn't wrap my head around it.
We used to love each other. Now he looked at me like I was a piece of trash on the sidewalk.
Dante's jaw clenched.
Without warning, he ripped the IV straight out of my hand and started dragging me toward the door. His grip crushed my wrist like a vise. I yanked back, trying to break free, but he was way too strong.
"That's not how our pack raised you," he muttered, not even looking at me. "You're coming with me. End of story."
The noise brought people into the hallway.
Briar rushed over with Ryder Wolfe, one of the Greyfang Pack Deltas.
"Beta Dante, this is a hospital," Briar said, trying to sound calm. "Let go of Miss Tamsin right now or I'm calling the enforcers."
I could hear the fear under her words though.
Dante let out an annoyed breath. His aura pressed down on everyone like a weight.
Then Lachlan showed up with a bunch of bodyguards behind him. He looked just as intimidating as Dante, all sharp angles and cold authority.
"My sister's not stable right now," Lachlan announced to everyone. "She shouldn't be here."
The bodyguards moved in and grabbed me.
I fought back, kicking and trying to twist away, but it was useless. They were all strong male werewolves. I didn't stand a chance.
The people watching didn't know what to do. The security guards just stood there.
The Holloway family had too much power in this territory. Nobody wanted to lose their job by getting involved.
Everyone started backing away, leaving me alone with them.
Lachlan grabbed my face, his fingers digging into my jaw so hard I thought he might break it.
He leaned in close. "See that, Tam? Nobody's coming to save you." His smile was cruel. "So here's what's going to happen. Either you do what we say, or I'll have you locked up in a psych ward. And trust me, you won't be getting out."
The threat wasn't empty.
He could do it. He had the connections.
My wolf whimpered.
I felt everything inside me just... give up.
"Fine," I said quietly. "I'll do it."
The low whine from my wolf was the only thing keeping me from completely breaking apart.
Chapter 3
They shoved me into Natalia's hospital room like I was a piece of furniture.
She was sitting up in bed, looking perfectly fine. Her eyes practically lit up when she saw me, but her voice came out all sweet and innocent.
"Oh no, I feel so bad making my sister take care of me. You're not upset with me, are you?"
I didn't say anything.
My whole body hurt from earlier but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me in pain.
Lachlan grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. His aura pressed down on me like a weight.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Tamsin? Natalia's talking to you. Answer her." He jerked my head harder. "You should be grateful she's even letting you make this up to her."
I almost laughed.
They dragged my half-dead ass here to play nurse and now I was supposed to say thank you?
"Don't bother," Dante cut in. His Beta presence filled the room as he stepped closer, looking down at me. "You know how Tamsin is. She could barely talk as a kid and now she's playing mute."
That one hit different.
When I was little, I had a stutter. Bad enough that the other kids called me names. Made my life hell.
Back then? Lachlan and Dante were my shield. They swore no one would ever hurt me like that again.
Now they're the ones twisting the blade.
Natalia covered her mouth, giggling. "Wait, she actually had a stutter? That's fucking hilarious."
Dante looked at her with this soft expression I used to think was only for me. "Yeah, she could barely get through a sentence. It was pathetic."
"I've got videos," Lachlan added, still gripping my hair. "I'll show you once you're out of here."
I knew exactly what video he meant.
My eighth birthday.
Dante bribed me with his family's heirloom bracelet to say on camera: "Tamsin loves Dante. Tamsin wants to be Dante's mate when she grows up."
Even those few words had been a struggle, I'd cried trying to get the words out.
Lachlan had actually gotten pissed at Dante for pushing me too hard. After that, Dante swore he'd never show anyone that video. Said it was just for him, something special.
Guess that meant nothing now.
The bracelet was still wrapped around my wrist, warm against my skin.
I watched Natalia drape herself all over Dante and lifted trembling fingers to unclasp it.
Dante's eyes flickered. "What are you doing, Tamsin?"
I kept my face blank even though my chest felt like it was caving in.
"You said this was for the person you loved most." My voice came out steady somehow. "I'm giving it back. Give it to whoever that actually is now."
Natalia's face lit up instantly, but Dante just stood there, hand half-raised like he didn't know what to do with it.
Natalia fake-pouted and tugged on his sleeve. That snapped him back to reality.
"I'll buy Natalia something new," he said coldly. "We don't want your garbage. It's already contaminated anyway."
Even though I'd stopped expecting anything from them a long time ago, that still hurt.
Natalia pouted even harder now, cranking up the drama. "So what—am I just some trash can to you, Tamsin? Only good enough for your hand-me-downs?"
Her whining seemed to set Dante off. His hand shot out and wrapped around my throat. His Beta strength made it feel like my neck was going to snap.
"You're fucking disgusting," he snarled.
I clawed at his hand, couldn't breathe, black spots dancing in my vision. Then he just threw me aside like trash.
I crashed into the table.
Pain exploded through my ribs. All I could do was curl up tight and fight not to scream.
For a second, Dante looked almost panicked. But Lachlan stepped in.
"She's faking it," he said flatly. "When are you gonna see through her act?"
"Get up, Tamsin." Lachlan's voice was ice-cold. "You've got three seconds, or I'm throwing you out. You're embarrassing yourself."
I couldn't get up. My body wouldn't move.
"Still being difficult?" He looked at the guards by the door. "Get her out of here. Put her in the hallway and make sure she doesn't run off. If she does, you're all fired."
The guards grabbed me under the arms and hauled me up.
My wolf stirred weakly in my head but she was as broken as I was.
As they dragged me out, I could hear Natalia's laughter trailing behind me.
But deep down—underneath all the pain and humiliation—I knew one thing for sure.
I was gonna survive this.
And when I did? I was gone for good.
