The Billionaire Heiress's Revenge: Rejecting Her Cheating Mate

The Blood Ruby

Elena POV:

My twenty-first birthday party was a diplomatic hostage situation.

The ballroom was suffocating. Every high-ranking wolf in the state was here, watching the heiress with the limp.

I stood near the champagne fountain, leaning on my cane.

"Smile," my father hissed. "The Southern Alpha is watching."

I plastered a fake smile on my face.

Then, the courier arrived. A human in a grey uniform, carrying a small box wrapped in black velvet. He walked straight to me.

"Miss Elena Barron?"

"Yes."

"Priority One."

He handed it to me and left.

I held the box. It felt warm. Midnight pricked her ears up.

Power, she whispered.

I pulled the ribbon. Inside sat a single gemstone.

A Pigeon Blood Ruby, the size of a quail egg, uncut and raw. In wolf culture, giving an uncut red gem symbolizes the donor's heart—blood and raw instinct.

There was a card.

“Red looks better on you than tears. - H”

Hunter.

My breath hitched. He had accepted the alliance.

"Oh, how quaint," a sickly sweet voice drifted over my shoulder.

I snapped the box shut. Eve stood there, wearing a shimmering dress cut too low.

"Who sent you a rock, Elena? A secret admirer? Or did you buy it yourself to feel less lonely?"

"Go away, Eve."

She stepped closer, invading my space. "Damien is with the Elders. He's telling them about your mental instability. About how the injury has made you... unfit."

"He is a liar."

"Is he?" She pulled out her phone. "He loves me, Elena. He worships me. Do you want to see?"

She shoved the screen in my face.

A video. Grainy, but clear audio. Damien, growling.

“You are the only one, Eve. She smells like ink and dust. You smell like life.”

"He calls me his Queen when he's inside me," Eve hissed. "He's not just mine, Elena. They all are. Kenneth, Leo... they all know how to treat a real woman."

My stomach lurched. Disgust. Pure, biological revulsion.

"You are pathetic," I said. "You collect them like toys because you have no wolf of your own."

Her smile vanished.

"I may not have a wolf," she spat. "But I have your life. And tonight, I'm going to take the last thing you have left: your dignity."

She walked toward the DJ booth.

"Wait," I said. "What are you doing?"

Eve signaled the tech guy—one of the adopted brothers.

The music stopped.