Chapter 2

Setting: Starfall Pack

Melody Reese

My trembling hands were cuffed on the steel dance pole, which was fixed in the middle of the room. I could feel alpha Nathan behind me, approaching in slow, almost calculated steps—like a predator. Then I heard it—the loud crack of the whip he held in his hand as he lashed it in the air. I had heard the sound multiple times, and yet I still flinched in reflex every time.

"Something wrong, Melody? Don't tell me you're afraid of the whip now..." He finally broke the tense silence with his malicious voice, which had an undertone of mockery. I could hear the slow, dragging beat of my heart as he leaned over, his warm breath fanning my exposed neck. My hair was tied neatly in a bun as an order from him. He hated it when the strands got in his way, and when they did, he would pull them and leave my scalp burning.

"Look at you, trembling like a leaf, yet you disobeyed me by talking to that sorry alpha." He trailed his hand along my neck before moving along