Chapter Two

Selina's POV

I pick up the document that belongs to me, turn around, and walk out without giving them a second glance. "A whore and a bastard. You two deserve each other. Hope it lasts forever."

Outside the house, the cold air hits my face and I take a deep breath.

It hurts, but mostly what I feel is relief.

Back home, I tell my parents and my brother everything that happened. Nobody blames me. If anything, they back me up completely.

"Good riddance to trash like that!" My brother shakes his fist, furious.

"Selina, you didn't deserve any of this." My mother pulls me into a hug, aching for me. "As long as we're together, we can make it work anywhere."

To get away from Derek's family for good, we decide to leave the city and settle down at Moonhaven Pack, out on the coast.

It's out of the way, but the scenery is beautiful and the people are down to earth. Best of all, there's no Derek and none of his mess.

We pack up that same night and drive out to Moonhaven Pack in an old pickup truck.

The pack territory turns out even quieter than I pictured. The salt air brushes my face, and the sound of waves against the rocks makes it feel like every old worry is getting washed away.

We rent a small house in town with a yard. It's nothing fancy, but we keep it spotless.

To make ends meet, I get a job at a bakery in town, and my brother starts working the docks, hauling cargo. Things are tight, but without Derek's family hanging over us, all of us finally feel like we can breathe.

The peace doesn't last long, though.

A few days later, I get home from work one evening and find a black SUV parked outside the yard. A few rough-looking wolves are crowding around my brother, shoving him around.

"Well, look who it is. The woman Derek's been telling us about, the one who doesn't know a good deal when she sees one." The one in front, hair dyed a garish yellow, gives a low whistle when he spots me. "Not bad looking. Too bad you're a dead-end. Can't even give a man a pup."

My stomach drops. Derek actually sent people all the way out here.

"What do you want?" I push forward and put myself between them and my brother.

"What do we want? Derek's got a deal for you. Go back, apologize to Paige, admit you're broken and can't give him kids, and he says he'll be generous enough to take you back as his mate." Yellow-hair grins like he's won something already. "Otherwise, your whole family's done in this town. You won't last a week."

I'm shaking, that's how angry I am. Derek, that shameless bastard, actually thinks he can humiliate me like this.

Right as I get ready to fight all of them at once, a low, rough voice cuts through from somewhere close by.

"You're causing trouble on my land. Anybody ask you if that's all right?"

I turn and see a huge man walking toward us, tall and packed with muscle.

He's wearing a plain black tank top, his arms bare, thick with muscle, a few ugly scars cutting across them. His hair is a mess of black, and under it his eyes are sharp enough to cut. Just standing there, he gives off a pressure you can feel.

Yellow-hair's face changes the second he sees him. He starts stammering. "Ga... Gareth, we're just handling something for Derek..."

"Get lost." Gareth doesn't even look at him. His voice is flat and cold.

They scramble like they've been given a pardon, tripping over each other to get back in the car and drive off.

I look up at this man built like an iron tower, a little unsure of myself. "Thank you, Gareth."

Gareth turns and looks at me, his eyes so deep I can't tell what he's thinking. He goes quiet for a second, then asks, out of nowhere, "You're the one who just moved in? Selina?"

I nod.

"Heard you cut the bond with your ex." He doesn't waste time getting to the point.

I bite my lip, a little embarrassed, but I own it anyway. "Yeah."

"I need a wife. Someone to look after my two kids." Gareth's voice stays even, no emotion in it. "Marry me, and I'll protect your whole family."

I freeze. I did not see that coming.

"Gareth, are you... are you messing with me?"

"I don't joke." He looks straight into my eyes, dead serious. "I know your situation. I don't care whether you can have kids or not. My two are good kids, they just need somebody to look after them. In exchange, I'll protect you and your family. Nobody's going to mess with you again."