VIOLET SWAN.

꘎♡━━━━━━━♡꘎

Definitely, last night is one I’d rather never remember in my entire life. When I get home, the smell of bacon makes my mouth water.

“Ezra,” I call out, expecting a response, but there’s only silence. I enter the kitchen and find him sitting there, waiting for me with a very serious expression. “I thought you weren’t here,” I say automatically. Seeing what’s coming next, I take a seat across from my father, bracing myself for his words. *Just don’t tell him who you were with,* I think to myself, considering what I should say.

“I get a call from your brother, Violet,” he begins. “He’s worried because you didn’t come home.” I stay quiet and let him continue. “You know perfectly well that I don’t like you being out there alone. You said…”

“I already know what I said, Dad!” I snap, getting up from the table angrily. I don’t need him reminding me. “I’m not a child anymore, and I can take care of myself!” I look away, fed up with his overprotectiveness.

I understand that my father wants to protect me, but sometimes his way of doing it suffocates me. He needs to realize I’m grown up now.

“Don’t talk to me like that, young lady!” His voice is angry. “Where were you all damn night?” My father’s tone is demanding, growing louder with every word.

“I was at a friend’s house!” I say, tired of being treated like a child. My father has this absurd idea that I could be Aarón’s mate, and that’s why he’s so protective of me.

It doesn’t make any sense. In this town where we live, I’m completely ignored by all the wolves because I’m a half-breed, so he should know I’m not in any danger, especially not with someone like him. Besides, I can defend myself perfectly well.

“You know I only worry about you, Violet,” his voice softens slightly, less commanding and tinged with concern. “You’re my little girl and also the future moon of the pack…”

“Enough with that nonsense, Dad!” I really don’t want to be rude to him—after all, it’s not his fault; he just sees things differently than I do. “You know Aarón already rejected me,” I remind him. “And you know better than anyone that no one here wants me to be the alpha’s mate,” I say, exasperated.

Without another word, I head straight to my room. As soon as I step inside, I slam the door shut behind me and lock it. I wish the ground would swallow me whole and never spit me back out in Grayville! This town consumes me. I throw myself onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

“I won’t fall into your traps again. You’ll never humiliate me again, Connor,” I curl up on the bed. No matter how much I pretend his rejection doesn’t hurt, this armor I’ve built is nothing but a damn lie. His words are like those massive fangs sinking into your skin, piercing your flesh and tearing it apart slowly and painfully.

I close my eyes for a moment when my phone starts ringing. I’d better answer—if I don’t, Lanny, my overly dramatic friend, will never stop pestering me.

“Lanny,” I answer, trying hard not to sound like I’ve been crying my stupid eyes out all night.

“You’re the envy of this town!” she squeals immediately, her enthusiasm almost deafening my poor ear.

“What do you mean?” I ask, confused. My eccentric friend responds right away.

“I mean you’re famous, Violet,” she says again. “Everyone knows Aarón and you left an ultra-fancy restaurant together last night. They saw you leave, and now people are saying the future leader of the pack has found his moon.”

I feel everything inside me churn. I bite my lower lip at her words. No, this can’t be true. What my friend is saying must be far from reality. Aarón would cut off his own arm before admitting I’m his mate. He’s an arrogant alpha, and it’s obvious I’m nothing but a nuisance to him.

“Hello? Violet, are you still there? Did you hear what I just said, friend?”

“Uh, y-yeah, I’m here,” I mumble, snapping back to this absurd reality. “Lanny, listen, I’m not going to work today, so please make something up, anything, say I’m not feeling well,” I plead with my friend.

Bad luck follows me everywhere. Not only are these rumors completely false, but to my misfortune, I work as a secretary at one of Alpha Connor Construction’s offices. Honestly, everything in this damn town belongs to the Connor family.

“About that, I wanted to talk to you, Vi,” my friend says in a playful tone, accompanied by a mischievous giggle that crushes any hope of this ending well—or of me getting a day off. “Turns out you’re no longer just a secretary.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, utterly confused. “Now I really don’t understand anything.”

“Well, apparently you’re Aarón’s new executive assistant,” she says, and my eyes widen in shock.

I almost drop the phone. I can’t believe my bad luck keeps getting worse. I’m stunned beyond belief. No, now I’ll have to see his damn face even more often. This has to be some sick joke.

“The universe definitely hates me,” I mutter, exasperated by my disgusting luck.

“I’ll take your silence as surprise and excitement,” I hear her say on the other end of the line. “Alright, I won’t keep you any longer so you’re not late,” she laughs. “Your new boss must be waiting for you.” She ends the call with another mischievous laugh, leaving me completely speechless.

I sigh, utterly defeated. Reluctantly, I get up from the bed, unmotivated. Surely this promotion is just another one of Aarón’s schemes to bother me, control me, and ensure no one else gets close to me. If that’s what he wants, I’ll make him regret his actions and choke on his hurtful words. I’ll even make him regret rejecting me.

I’ll start planning my revenge. I’m done with this game. Now we can both play together.

꘎♡━━♡꘎

AARÓN CONNOR.

꘎♡━━━━━━━♡꘎

When I wake up, the first thing I notice is that Violet isn’t by my side. Her scent lingers in the room, but her presence is gone. *Damn it, she disobeys me again!* I don’t have time for this nonsense, so I get up frustrated and head straight to the bathroom for a quick shower. I have a lot to do today, and little time to deal with these childish antics.

No matter how long I stay in the shower, her scent clings to every part of me. After about fifteen minutes under the water, I step out, get dressed, and head to the terrace where my mother and younger sister are enjoying a delicious breakfast. With them is a third woman—blonde, fair-skinned though slightly tanned, with large, striking gray eyes.

"Here’s my cub," Mom greets me as I approach.

"Good morning, Mother," I kiss her. "Same to you, Kate." I glance at the other woman, giving her only a nod. I don’t know her, and I’m not interested. Besides, I’ve never seen her before.

"Son, come here," Mom calls, but I keep my distance. "Look, I want to introduce you to Sasha Woolsey. She’s the one I told you about." My eyes narrow as I look at the elegant woman who seems unable to take her gray eyes off me.

"Kate, come here. I need to talk to you," I call my sister, brushing off my mother’s introduction. Honestly, I don’t care.

"Aarón!" the unknown woman scolds. "Aren’t you even going to greet me?"

I take a deep breath, restraining myself from pouncing on her and tearing her throat out.

"Hello, Miss Woolsey," I say curtly, then turn back to my mother. "We’ll talk later. I’m too busy right now."

I leave the terrace, leaving my mother visibly upset by my rude behavior toward that strange woman. Kate finally gets up and says goodbye to Mom.

"Well, Mother, you heard the eldest brother," she kisses Mom. "He needs me, so I have to go." She looks at the woman, who suddenly seems embarrassed. "I hope to see you again, Miss. It was nice meeting you," she says, then approaches me, leaving Mom and her guest alone.

I walk out of their line of sight, and when my dark-haired sister catches up to me, I see she looks annoyed.

"What’s wrong?" I ask.

"Thanks for saving me, brother," she says sarcastically. "Mom and that woman wouldn’t stop talking about trivial, superficial things I don’t understand and find completely annoying."

"I thought you were enjoying yourself there," I tease her and head straight to my office.

My workplace is here at home, fortunately the house is big enough that nothing interferes with my work. When I enter, I see my sister stays outside, knocking on the door, waiting for my permission to come in.

"You can come in, little fool," I say, sitting behind my desk. My beautiful sister, with her sleek black hair like the night, clears her throat to get my attention, which she already has.

"I see you’re not in a good mood, little brother," she says with a mocking laugh.

"No, honestly, I’m not in a good mood."

"Tell me something," she begins. "Is your bad mood because of a certain omega with brown hair?" This girl misses nothing.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I feign ignorance.

"If that’s the case, don’t blame me. I just did what you asked," she defends herself, as if I’d accuse her, crossing her arms.

Kate doesn’t understand my attitude. The truth is, the hypocrisy of my family never ceases to amaze me. I ask her to move Violet to a new position at work so I can keep her close and keep an eye on the girl. My rejection of my wolf solely because she’s an omega and a half-breed makes my sister think it’s senseless, saying it’s unfair to be unhappy just to please a bunch of old wolves. Being the alpha of Red Moon isn’t about doing what I want, and I have to learn that the hard way.

"What did you think of the blonde Mom brought?" she comments, sitting across from me when I say nothing.

I growl, exasperated that Mom keeps pushing the same thing.

"I’m not interested in finding a mate," I snap, making it clear.

"Well, that’s not what our mother thinks, dear Aarón," she smirks. "It’s been a year since you took over for Dad, and you know what that means."

"I know perfectly well."

"You’re a leader, and every leader needs his moon," she hides a smile, and I already know where this is going. "Although, clearly, you already have your own moon. I just…”

"Don’t you dare finish that damn sentence, Kate!" I slam my fist on the desk, angry. "You of all people know my mate is a fucking mistake. That shouldn’t have happened, and I can’t choose a half-breed as my moon. If I do, I’ll become the laughingstock of everyone else."

I feel like I could break anything. I’m sick of all this.

"I really don’t recognize you anymore, brother," she says sweetly. "Before, none of this would have mattered to you. When I agreed to make her your secretary, I thought you’d change your mind."

"Kate…"

"But you know you’re only hurting the girl with your rejection."

"Kate, you know damn well there are rules here, and they’re followed."

"I know, but…"

"You also know the pack’s moon must be a strong woman. A hybrid omega? The council won’t accept something like that." I pause, trying not to choke on my own anger. "But, unfortunately for her and me, Violet is my mate, and I can’t let anyone else have her. She’s my she-wolf, and whether I like it or not, no one touches what’s fucking mine."

I clench my fists until my knuckles turn white from the force.

"Do you realize how much of an asshole you just sounded like?" she asks sarcastically, narrowing her eyes as if she wants to punch me for my attitude.

"You used to be different," she comments.

"I’m the worst, I know that," I fake a smile. "But there’s nothing I can do about it. This is who I am, end of story." She rolls her eyes. "I don’t care if I’m an asshole, Kate. If you don’t like it, we should change the subject."

"Whatever you want," she says unenthusiastically but clearly annoyed.

"I need to gather the council. Too many lone wolves are coming to Grayville, and tensions are high with outsiders."

"Anything else?" she asks, bored.

"No, that’s all," I gesture for her to leave. "You can go now." I hand her a folder, which she reluctantly takes before leaving my office.

Once I’m alone, I run my hands through my hair, frustrated with all of this. I feel like ripping some of it out. My sister is right—I’m a fucking idiot with Violet. She doesn’t deserve any of this, but the worst part is that I can’t leave her alone. First, because whether for better or worse, she’s my she-wolf—only mine. And second, because absolutely no one will touch her as long as I live. She’s my cupcake, and I want her close—to protect her from all possible dangers as the mate of an alpha like me. Violet is in grave danger.