Daniel’s POV
I sat back in my chair, swirling the whiskey in my glass, anticipation coiling in my gut. Any minute now, Chanel would walk into the engagement ceremony, oblivious to what was waiting for her. The moment I had been waiting for—the perfect humiliation.
The rogues had attacked earlier, but strangely, no one had been hurt. My warriors had reported nothing stolen, nothing destroyed. It didn’t make sense. Why attack if they weren’t going to do any real damage? My friends—bastards that they were—told me to ignore it.
“They just wanted to stir up some trouble,” one of them said lazily, taking a sip of his beer. “Don’t let it ruin the real show.”
“The real show,” I muttered under my breath, casting a glance at the large screen waiting behind the main stage. The slideshow of Chanel’s nude photos was already prepared. She had no idea what was coming.
“She actually thought you were going to announce her as your mate,” one of my friends scoffed, shaking his head. “What an idiot.”
“She’s a fool,” another added, laughing. “Her perfect little fantasy is about to come crashing down.”
“I say we release the slideshow now,” a third chimed in, tapping his fingers impatiently against his beer bottle. “Come on, Daniel. We’re all waiting. Let’s see her face when the whole pack watches her little secret.”
“Yeah,” another sneered. “It’s going to be the best entertainment of the night.”
“Daniel?” One of them clapped a hand on my shoulder, bringing me back. “Come on, let’s start it already. Release the slideshow.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I swallowed hard, pushing down the unease. Instead, I forced out a chuckle. “Not yet,” I said. “I want more footage to make her humiliation last longer.”
Before they could protest, the lights in the venue flickered and went out. Confused murmurs spread across the room. Then the screen lit up.
I frowned. This wasn’t part of the plan.
Then the screen displayed Chanel in her engagement gown—pristine white fabric hugging her form, making her look every bit the bride she was meant to be. She was breathtaking, but her expression was anything but soft. Her face was set in cold fury, her eyes burning with anger, and the backdrop behind her was in my office. Realization slammed into me. She had recorded this using my own damn phone.
“Well, Daniel, everything’s over between us. This is the end of me being your freaking practice mate. I’m dumping you now. Good luck to you and to Miranda. You two deserve each other.”
The room fell into stunned silence. My heart pounded violently against my ribs. What the hell?
I barely registered my friends’ reactions. Their jaws hung open, their faces draining of color. The pack members erupted into whispers.
“Did she just say ‘practice mate’?”
“She and Alpha Daniel were together?”
“How could we not know about this?”
I clenched my fists as my gaze darted toward Chanel’s parents. Their faces twisted in shock and confusion. I could practically hear their unspoken accusations. How could I have used their daughter like this? The humiliation I had planned for Chanel was suddenly my own.
Then, I turned to Miranda.
She stood frozen, her hands curled into fists, her entire body trembling with rage. Her face was an ugly shade of red, not with embarrassment but with fury. She glared daggers at me, demanding an explanation without uttering a single word. A sharp pulse pressed against my mind as she was trying to mind-link me. But I ignored it.
Instead, I grabbed my phone, fingers flying as I dialed Chanel’s number, but it didn't ring. It was like I was listening to a vacuum.
I tried again, and now it was thrown straight to voicemail.
No. No, no, no!
I pulled up our previous messages and pressed her contact name. My blood turned to ice when I saw the notification.
Blocked.
“What the hell?” I hissed under my breath. “Pick up the damn phone, Chanel.”
She was out of reach. She was gone!
Then, as if the universe wanted to drive the knife deeper, a notification popped up on my phone. The chime echoed through the room, followed by a collective gasp from the pack members. More notifications flooded in—everyone was receiving the same message.
Breaking News: Deathfang Alpha, Rios Cleverland, and Chanel Prim are about to get married now.
The words blurred before my eyes. My chest constricted, and something inside me snapped.
Chanel was marrying Alpha Kios?
The whiskey glass in my grip shattered, the shards embedding into my palm, but I barely felt the pain. A red haze clouded my vision as the room seemed to spin. My friends flinched back when I slammed my fist onto the table.
"This is a f*cking joke, right?" I snarled, glaring at everyone. "Tell me this is some sick prank!!"
"Daniel, calm down—" one of them started, but I was already moving.
"Back the hell off!" I kicked my chair back. My pulse roared in my ears as I lunged for the large screen, ready to rip it from the wall, as if destroying it would erase the words glaring back at me.
Strong arms grabbed me, trying to hold me back. "Daniel, stop! It's not worth it!"
I twisted violently, throwing them off me. "Not worth it? She was supposed to suffer! She was supposed to regret leaving me!"
My breath came hard and fast. My fingers twitched with the need to destroy something. How dare she?
And then, beneath my fury, guilt crept in. Had I pushed her straight into Kios’s arms?
No. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Chanel belonged to me!
