“You’ve lost your mind,” Cassian spat.
“What respectable man would ever marry a weak little Omega like you?”
He crossed the room in three strides and snatched the marriage certificate from Isla’s hand.
His eyes barely glanced at the name before he let out a bark of laughter and tossed it back at her.
“Alpha Logan Vale?” He shook his head, sneering.
“If you’re going to forge a marriage certificate, at least be smart about it.
A man like that—the most powerful Alpha in the world—marry trash like you?
Don’t make me laugh.”
“I’m not—”
Before Isla could finish, Melinda was already upon her.
The slap came fast and hard, cracking across Isla’s cheek and snapping her head to the side.
“How dare you spread lies about an Alpha like Logan Vale?” Melinda’s voice was shrill with outrage.
“Haven’t you ruined this family enough?”
“That’s right,” Hilda chimed in, stepping closer.
Her lip curled as she looked Isla up and down.
“Take a good look in the mirror.
You couldn’t even keep Coel interested.”
“You have the nerve to talk to me about Coel now?” Isla’s eyes flashed.
“Why don’t you tell Dad the real reason I rejected him?”
Hilda’s face went pale.
She stammered, “Th-that’s your own fault.
Coel is an Alpha.
What’s wrong with him wanting another woman?
Besides—I have more right to be his Luna than you do.”
“Luna?” Isla let out a sharp laugh.
“You actually think he’ll marry you?
Don’t forget—you’re just an Omega too.
He and I at least had a mate bond once.
You?
You’re just a warm body in his bed.”
“You—!”
“Enough!” Cassian Spencer’s roar cut through the room like a blade.
“I don’t care what petty nonsense is going on between you two.
The fact remains—you’ve offended Alpha Coel, Isla.
And now you’re going to pay for it.”
He pointed a thick finger at her face.
“I’m calling Alpha Reid.
He can send his men to collect you tonight.”
“You won’t lay a hand on me!” Isla spun and bolted for the door.
But Cassian was faster.
“Grab her!” he bellowed.
The household guards moved in—three, four of them, massive men who towered over her.
Isla’s wolf surged beneath her skin, claws itching to come out.
She could take them.
Maybe not all at once, but she had to fight.
She lunged for the first guard, aiming for his throat—
Then a fist drove into her stomach.
Not hard enough to break bone.
Hard enough to make her double over.
Hard enough to make her remember.
The baby.
Her hands flew to her belly instinctively, curling around the small swell that was just beginning to form.
She couldn’t fight.
Not like this.
Not when every blow she took might land on the child she’d already decided to keep.
The hesitation cost her.
An arm locked around her neck from behind.
Another caught her wrist.
Within seconds, she was pinned—her arms wrenched behind her back, her cheek pressed against the cold floor.
“Let me go!” she snarled, struggling against the grip.
But without her wolf fully unleashed, against four grown men, she had no chance.
“Take her to the storage room,” Cassian said coldly.
He didn’t even look at her.
“And lock the door.
She’s not going anywhere until Alpha Reid’s men arrive.”
“Dad, please—” Isla tried one last time.
Cassian finally turned.
His eyes were empty.
“You should have thought about that before you ruined everything.”
The guards dragged her away.
The storage room was small, dark, and cold.
The door slammed shut behind her.
A lock clicked into place.
Isla sat on the dirty floor, her back against the wall, her hands pressed protectively over her belly.
Her cheek still stung from Melinda’s slap.
Her wrists were raw from the guards’ grip.
And somewhere in the main house, she could hear her father’s voice, already on the phone.
Making arrangements.
Selling her.
Again.
Isla closed her eyes and reached for her phone, only to remember the guards had taken it.
She couldn’t even contact Alpha Logan.
He wasn’t supposed to come for her for another three days.
But she didn’t even know if she would last that long.
The Spencer family gave her no food.
Not even a drop of water.
As if they intended to starve her into submission.
Hour after hour, a sharp cramp twisted low in her belly.
Isla tensed, pressing her hand gently over the swell.
“Please, little one,” she whispered.
“Hold on with me.
Your father will feel us.
He’ll come for us.”
She said it like a prayer.
But deep down, even she wasn’t sure anymore.
Around eight-thirty that night, the storage room door finally creaked open.
Hilda stood in the doorway, smirking at Isla’s weakened state.
“Well, well,” Hilda drawled.
“Look at you.
So pathetic.” She stepped closer, brushing dust off her own sleeve with exaggerated care.
“Father was kind enough to let me bring you proper clothes for your wedding to Alpha Reid.
Honestly, I’d rather watch you rot in here.”
Isla spat at her feet.
“Don’t act so proud, Hilda,” she said, her voice hoarse but steady.
“One day, he’ll sell you off too.
How much warmth do you really think a father has, when he can trade his own blood for a deal?”
Hilda’s smirk faltered for just a second.
Then she tossed her hair and laughed.
“Father knows who truly matters to him.
And it’s not you.”
She ordered the servants to take Isla for washing.
Isla saw her chance and bit down hard on a maid’s arm.
But she hadn’t eaten all day.
Too weak.
Too slow.
They caught her again within seconds.
Melinda took charge after that.
Isla was washed, dressed in something far too revealing, and then injected with a slow-burning heat inducer.
“Just to make sure you don’t displease Alpha Reid,” Melinda said coolly, watching Isla’s head droop.
As Isla was half-carried toward the front door, her mind screamed past the fog of the drug.
Not like this.
I won’t let them.
She lunged for a vase, smashed it against the wall, and pressed a sharp shard against her own throat.
“One more step,” she rasped, “and your bride price goes to zero.”
Alpha Reid’s Beta stepped forward, his face dark with irritation.
“You ungrateful little—” He raised his hand to strike her.
Cassian’s arm never came down.
The front door exploded inward.
The Spencer family had never seen Alpha Logan before.
But they all felt him the moment he entered—the weight of his presence, the raw dominance rolling off him in waves.
“What is the meaning of this?” Cassian Spencer blustered.
“Who do you think you are, breaking into my home—”
Logan didn’t even glance at him.
His eyes were fixed on Isla—bruised, barely standing, a shard of glass still in her hand.
His wolf surged beneath his skin.
“I’m here,” he said, his voice low and absolute, “to take my wife.”
He stepped forward, every inch the Alpha.
“Isla Spencer.
She belongs to me.”