Chapter 2 – Ava’s POV

Silence crashed over the room like a tidal wave, drowning out all sound as all eyes turned toward Dylan. I saw the panic in his eyes, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. The realization of what he’d just confessed was sinking in, and it took everything I had not to let a smug smile slip onto my face.

He wanted to speak, to take it all back, but before he could utter a word, Alpha Grayson’s voice sliced through the tension: “Another woman is pregnant with your pup?”

Dylan’s lips moved without sound. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Crystal. The confident smirk she’d worn moments ago was gone, replaced with sheer terror. She was trying to fade into the background, to disappear, but it was too late for that.

The replay of the video that had shocked me suddenly hit me, and it felt like I was watching it again. Dylan’s hand tangled in her hair as he moved inside her, their bodies colliding repeatedly. Crystal’s eyes were locked on the camera as if she knew it was there, her lips parted in pleasure, while he continued his betrayal right in my matrimonial bed.

“You knew.”

The words jerked me back to the present, my gaze snapping to Alpha Grayson. His eyes, once cold and indifferent, now held a sliver of curiosity. He wasn’t asking a question; he already knew the answer. I nodded, a slow, deliberate motion that felt like it took an eternity.

Dylan’s voice cut through the silence, harsh and desperate: “For how long?”

Alpha Grayson’s gaze darted to him, a warning clear in his eyes. “If you speak again, it will be your last act.”

He turned his attention back to me, his eyes tracing the outline of my figure with unsettling interest, lingering in a way that made my skin burn. “How did you find out?”

Why was it suddenly so hot in here?

I drew in a shaky breath, the words heavy in my chest as I began to recount the nightmare of the last few weeks. “I first noticed his scent on her about a month ago. I didn’t think much of it at first. I just figured they’d been in close quarters. But then, I started seeing bruises on her neck, and I should have recognized the marks as similar to my own.”

I let out a sigh, wiping away the tears I didn’t realize were falling down my cheeks. “I really thought he was hurting her too, but then her attitude changed. She started acting like she was better than me, like she had something over me. I suspected something, but I couldn’t catch them in the act.”

My gaze flickered to Crystal, and I held her terrified gaze. “A week ago, I set my phone to record and left it in the corner of the bedroom. That’s when I finally saw them together—what they did in our bed.”

My voice broke as I finished, my gaze returning to Dylan, locking onto him. His face was flushed, a deep, furious red, and I forced myself to keep speaking. “We both wear bruises, but while mine are marks of his anger, hers represent his betrayal.”

Alpha Grayson’s gaze slid from my face to Dylan’s. “There are many things I find trivial, but a man hitting a woman is not one of them.”

Dylan opened his mouth to explain, but before he could get a word out, Alpha Grayson’s tone dropped to something glacial. The air around us seemed to thicken with his power, an aura so suffocating that it made my knees weak. “Do not ever try to speak when I’m speaking.”

Dylan shrank back, and I could see the fear creeping into his eyes.

“The alliance is dissolved,” Alpha Grayson announced, his voice cutting through the room like a knife.

Dylan’s entire body stilled. The words left his lips in a stutter: “The papers—they’ve been signed. You can’t do that.”

Alpha Grayson’s eyes narrowed, his gaze deadly. “Say another word in my direction, and I’ll show you why I’m the Alpha of all Alphas.”

I could feel myself trembling, my body reacting to the sheer force of his presence. Then his eyes slid to me, pinning me in place with an intensity that stole the breath from my lungs. His expression was unreadable, cold and calculating, as if he were deciding my fate right then and there.

“And as of this moment,” he continued, his voice carrying the weight of a final judgment, “your relationship with Dylan is over. You are free.”

For a moment, I couldn’t process what he was saying. The words hung in the air, almost surreal. Dylan, who had been silently seething, suddenly snapped. “You can’t do that!” he yelled, his voice cracking with desperation.

I didn’t get the chance to react before a man in a suit—someone I hadn’t even noticed—was on Dylan, twisting his arm behind his back with a brutal force that made me wince. The sickening sound of bone cracking filled the room. Dylan was forced to his knees, his face twisted in pain.

He struggled, but it was useless. The man held him firm, and then Crystal finally broke from her stunned silence, screaming Dylan’s name as she rushed toward him.

Alpha Grayson’s head snapped toward her; a single look froze her in place. She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide with terror. His attention shifted back to Dylan, who was panting heavily, his face a mask of pain and rage.

“I’m not one for unnecessary bloodshed,” Alpha Grayson said, his voice calm, “but I could easily make an exception.”

Dylan’s eyes were filled with hate when they settled on me. Even while he struggled and despite the warning, he spat, “You think you’ve won, but you are nothing but a fool, and you are banished—”

The temperature in the room plummeted so suddenly that it felt like the air had turned to ice. My breath caught in my throat as I noticed Alpha Grayson’s eyes turning pitch black. I took an instinctive step back, fear prickling along my spine as his gaze settled on Dylan.

“I dare you to finish that statement,” His voice was dangerously soft, each word laced with a threat that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“A… Alpha…” Dylan’s voice faltered, the arrogance draining from his face.

“Get out. All of you,” Alpha Grayson commanded, his voice a low growl that rippled through the room with a power that left no room for argument.

In seconds, the room emptied. I barely registered the men leaving Dylan, Crystal rushing to his side, helping him stumble to his feet before they both vanished like smoke.

Move, Ava.

The thought echoed in my mind, but my body refused to obey. I was rooted to the spot, my heart hammering in my chest. Then his voice cut through the silence again, sharp and precise.

“Stay.”

I froze, my pulse quickening as the realization dawned—I was alone with the most powerful man in our world. His eyes, still black as night, bore into me, and I felt a heat rising beneath my skin, a mixture of fear and something else I couldn’t quite name.

Chapter 2 (Continued)

“When did it start?” His voice broke the silence, the question loaded with more than just curiosity. I instantly knew what he was asking: When did Dylan start hurting me?

The words trembled out of my lips on autopilot. “A month after he marked me.”

Another wave of silence followed. He kept staring at me, a sharp, assessing look as if he were trying to piece together the full picture. “Did you plan for this to happen?”

The question hung in the air, heavy with implication. I shook my head, the truth slipping out before I could think it through. “Dylan refused to let me divorce him. He said he wouldn’t allow me to ruin his reputation. The idea of exposing him had been brewing for days, and I knew how much he valued his pride, which is why I called him impotent.”

I sucked in a deep breath before continuing. “I didn’t know what he would say, but I knew whatever it was, it would be enough for the pack to know that he is a cheating and lying bastard.”

Alpha Grayson didn’t say anything. He just stared. Then, as if the whole situation suddenly bored him, he turned his back on me, walking away without a second glance.

The moment he stepped away, it felt like I could finally breathe again, the oppressive weight of his aura lifting off my chest, followed by a settling realization. I couldn’t stay here anymore. I was now homeless.

In my desperate need to escape Dylan, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. He was right. I had nowhere to go. My parents, ever the perfectionists, would never take me back after this disgrace. I had no money of my own. Dylan had made sure of that, reducing me to nothing more than a trophy Luna.

Now, I was truly alone.

I stared at the ground, just as panic started to creep in, making my hands shake. What was I going to do?

“Why are you still standing there?”

His silky voice drawled, yanking me out of my spiraling thoughts. I snapped my head toward Alpha Grayson, blinking in confusion, not sure if I’d heard him right. “What?”

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, so small that I might have missed it if I wasn’t staring directly at him. There was something deadly in that smile, something that made my heart race for entirely different reasons.

“You are coming with me,” he declared, his voice steady and commanding. “From this moment, you are under my protection, and you are an official member of my pack.”