Chapter 3

The first time around,

I ignored everyone's warnings and fought Seraphina for the griffin anyway.

As the Alpha's daughter, my strength and status were far above hers.

So in the end, she couldn't take it from me.

But because of that, the whole pack started seeing me as selfish and overbearing.

Like I was some bully who got off on pushing her own sister down.

And little by little, everyone started keeping their distance from me.

As for the griffin I fought so hard to win,

he turned out to be nothing but an ungrateful beast.

When he shifted into human form, he took the name Icarus.

I hadn't even gotten a word out before he was already hitting me.

"Why didn't you let that girl take me? Do you know how much I despise you?

People like you are the ones I hate most—born-alpha brats who think bloodline gives them the right to do whatever they want"

He hit me again and again.

My head spun. I went down hard, scrambling just to stay conscious.

He only stopped when he could see I was close to dying.

Even then, he looked annoyed he'd had to bother.

The next morning, I was ready to send him straight back to the ritual altar.

A spirit beast like that? I had no business trying to manage him.

But then I watched him fight.

He easily defeated every spirit beast bonded to our generation.

Every single one.

And just like that, I changed my mind.

A spirit beast that powerful was too rare to give up.

And I was ambitious.

I wanted to use him to secure my future as Alpha.

So every time he came at me, I gritted my teeth and took it.

And the more I poured into him, the faster he grew stronger.

That didn't scare me — it thrilled me.

It made me feel like everything I wanted was finally within reach.

But the stronger he became, the more openly he looked down on me.

Every time he knocked me down and stood over me,

he'd spit on the ground in contempt.

"If it weren't for your bloodline giving me access to the finest moon essence

and the best energy cores in this pack, I'd be sick just touching you."

He was right.

In the entire pack, I was the only one who could give him the highest-grade resources.

He despised me, but he still needed me.

So I kept telling myself it didn't matter.

Given enough time, he would come around.

And when that day came, the two of us together would be unbeatable among our generation.