Why Go for Second Best?

An icy gleam flashed in Cole's eyes, and his face darkened as he stalked toward me. He gave me a merciless shove. While struggling to regain my footing, I accidentally pulled off my necklace, which was adorned with a wolf fang pendant inlaid with sapphire.

I hurriedly picked up the necklace and dusted it off, then gingerly cradled it in my palms. My mother once told me it was my father's greatest wish to witness my marriage. The wolf fang was the only part of his remains that had not been damaged or destroyed when he died on the battlefield.

I couldn't believe Cole nearly crushed the wolf fang before my wedding started. I was still fuming when I heard Camilla point out dejectedly, "Leah, I know you don't want Cole to marry me, but how could you bring your father's remains here? Are you trying to curse us?

"Why else would you have done this if not to bring bad luck on my and Cole's baby? You'll only make Cole hate you more. Get that filthy thing out of my sight right now! It's bad enough you killed my father, but to bring such an accursed thing to my big day—"

"Don't touch me!" I roared, pushing Camilla away. But not a moment later, I felt Cole land a kick on my back, sending me toppling to the ground. The necklace I'd so carefully picked up fell out of my grip.

Cole helped Camilla up, his eyes shining with a gentle indulgence I'd never seen before. The next second, he stomped on my necklace and eyed me imperiously as if I were a pest. "How dare you lay hands on Camilla, Leah? Don't you know she's pregnant with my child?

"And for you to show up at my wedding with your father's remains… I ought to teach you a lesson for being so arrogant!"

He stomped on my necklace repeatedly.

"Cole, stop! I won't have you insult my father!" I stretched out my hand to shield the trinket from further damage, but Cole stomped on the back of my hand. I felt the wolf fang pierce through my palm, and the pain was enough to blind me.

Cole kicked my injured hand away and picked up the half-destroyed necklace. He hurled it at the wall, and I watched as my father's wolf fang shattered into pieces.

My claws unsheathed from my fingertips immediately as a growl formed in the back of my throat. "You'll pay for insulting my father! I was tortured while I was kept in the dungeon for three years, but I heard some very interesting stories, too…"

With a lunge, I gripped one of Cole's friends by the neck and pinned him to the ground. "Greyson, you knew territory was a sensitive topic among packs, yet you used it to cause strain among them and demanded military back-up. But in truth, you were hoping to secure your position through war and gain resources for yourself, right?"

Before Greyson could reply, I punched another one of Cole's friends in the gut. "Lucas, you tried to manipulate the conflict in the Council of Elders to your advantage and spread rumors of certain packs allying themselves with bounty hunters. But you were secretly trying to stir up unrest so you could paint yourself as the next democratic representative, weren't you?"

I threw Lucas toward another person. They collided together like pendulums. "Theodore, you forced low-ranking werewolves to work for you and handed those who rebelled against you to bounty hunters. Your greed is worse than any human trap I've come across!"

Within moments, Cole's friends were left groaning and grunting on the ground. He was the only one standing, seemingly frozen.

"And you, Cole," I ground out murderously, my gaze steely and unforgiving. "You kept going on about how much you respect your Uncle Fenryr and that you won't have me besmirching his good name. But in reality, you were hoping you could use your friends as pawns to usurp the Alpha King so you could take the throne for yourself. Am I right?"

My sharp claws were aimed at Cole's throat. "You guys always talk smack about me and how I'm the shame of werewolf nobility, yet you lot are the black sheep of Lunholm. Cole, you don't deserve to be a member of the royal family!"