His Unwanted Omega's Defiant Second Chance

Isabela POV:

The heavy oak door of the private VIP lounge slammed shut with the force of an artillery blast.

Greg didn't wait for the latch to click. His massive, calloused hand clamped around the collar of my dress, shoving me toward the mahogany desk in the center of the room.

"Have you completely lost your goddamned mind?!" he bellowed, his vocal cords vibrating with an Alpha's unchecked fury.

The air in the room was poisoned with ozone and the stench of his raging beast. Outside, hundreds of elite guests were whispering about the Schneider bloodline, picking apart the scandal like vultures over fresh carrion.

On the velvet chaise, Cathie slumped like a broken doll, pressing a lace handkerchief to her eyes. "My reputation... twenty years of grooming this family's name, ruined in thirty seconds by an ungrateful, un-shiftable street rat!"

I straightened the twisted neckline of my dress, my spine rigid. I didn't tremble. I didn't weep. I stood in the dead center of the carpet, letting his Alpha aura wash over me like a tepid breeze.

"Ungrateful?" I asked, my voice smooth, chillingly devoid of emotion. "You raised me like a stray dog in your servant quarters, Cathie. Did you honestly expect me to lick your boots forever?"

"Shut your mouth!" Greg lunged forward, his brown eyes bleeding amber as his inner wolf strained against the surface. "We took you into the Alpha residence! We fed you! We clothed you while your own blood was unknown trash!"

"You clothed me in Cori's cast-offs," I countered, taking half a step toward him. "When she received couture for her seventeenth birthday, I was scrubbing the packhouse kennels with lye because you didn't want the Alpha Council to see an unshifted daughter."

Cathie's face turned from pale to an ugly, mottled crimson. "We hid you to protect you! You couldn't survive one week in a pack that values strength!"

"You hid me because you were ashamed! You treated me like a parasite while parading your golden child to secure political alliances!"

The words struck the room like physical blows.

Greg's fist came up, his arm trembling with the urge to snap my jaw. "You insolent little bitch—"

"Go ahead," I whispered, lifting my chin, offering the pale column of my throat to his strike. "Strike me, Greg. Strike me in front of the Reynolds heir. Show the world what kind of coward hides behind his Alpha title while bleeding his eldest daughter dry!"

Greg's hand stopped mid-air. For the first time in my existence, I saw pure, unadulterated terror flicker behind his eyes.

Before he could swing, the double doors burst open.

"Father, stop!"

Cori fell to her knees beside the door, tears cascading down her porcelain cheeks in artistic, agonizing perfection. Behind her loomed Caden, his jaw clamped shut, his shoulders tense with violence.

"Don't hurt her, Father," Cori sobbed, throwing her arms around Greg's legs. "She's just hurting... she's sick. It's my fault. I shouldn't have been born so blessed. Take it out on me!"

Greg's rage melted instantly into sick, nauseating paternal tenderness. He pulled Cori up against his broad chest, smoothing her hair. "Look at what she does, sweet girl. You are an angel, and she is a demon sent to torment us."

From behind them, Caden stepped forward. He bypassed the weeping family, his tall shadow swallowing me whole.

His eyes were full of lethal, absolute disgust.

"You're a disgusting, deformed parasite, Isabela," Caden sneered, reaching into his tailored pocket and pulling out the Schneider family crest signet ring. "You think you had an engagement contract with me? I wouldn't mate you if you were the last breathing female on this continent."