Chapter 2 Sold Off By My Mate

• Layla's pov
• The jail was cold and it was yesterday but it felt like a lifetime. My hands were shaking. I just sat there on that hard bench, knees hugged to my chest. The whole place smelled like rust and wet rock. A dripping sound somewhere. The walls were just grey. My heart was just pounding in my ears. I had woken up here and the last thing I remembered was being dragged away by those guards.
• How did everything go so wrong?
• Just a few days ago, I was smiling at something stupid, Drake showed me and then I'm at my cousin's wedding. I was in this plain black dress, walking around with trays. People were laughing, dancing. Drake—my mate, the man I loved—was marrying someone else. My cousin. Sofia. My own blood. And now, I’m here in jail. For something I don't even understand.
• They said I poisoned his grandfather, said I was jealous. That I wanted to ruin the wedding.
• But it wasn't true. None of it.
• I just put my head in my hands and the tears started. Couldn’t even cry loud. The guards outside were laughing about something. Like my pain was a damn joke. I felt so, so alone.
• Then, footsteps. Heavy ones. Coming closer. I sat up fast, trying to scrub the tears off my face.
• And Drake walked in.
• Standing there in his suit, so sharp and tall and cold. His face was a total blank. And his eyes, his golden eyes, they had no warmth left. He wasn't looking at me with love. He was looking at me like I was a complete stranger.
• “How could you?”
• I shook my head. “Please…”
• My voice was a wreck. “Please, just hear me out. You have to hear my side.”
• He raised his palm up. “You disgust me.”
• His eyes flickered. That was it but he was still quiet.
• I didn’t—”
• “Stop,” he said. His voice was completely flat.
• I froze.
• He looked away. His jaw got all tight.
• His head snapped back to me, eyes narrowed. But not with worry. Not with love. His voice, God, it was even colder.
• “That doesn’t matter anymore,” he said.
• I think my mouth fell open.
• “I married Sofia,” he went on. “That’s my choice now. You... you mean nothing.”
• A pain, so sharp, went right through me. “I mean nothing?”
• “You lied. You embarrassed my family.”
• “I didn't!” I cried. “Drake, I didn't lie! You know me. I wouldn't do this. Someone framed me—”
• “I don’t care.”
• Those words.They hit me so hard and made me dizzy. “I'm here to make it official.”
• “I don't understand.” I stammered.
• “To reject you as my mate and to sever whatever stupid bond the moon goddess used to hold us together.”
• My mouth fell open. “You don’t mean that.”
• “I do.”
• Tears were just pouring down my face then.
• I tried to reach him through the bars.
• “Please, I’m carrying your child—”
• He took a step back away from me.
• A woman in red and a black cloak swaying behind her.
• Aunt Clarissa.
• She smiled. “What a dramatic scene,” she said, her eyes on me. “Tears? How boring.”
• My fists clenched. “What do you want?”
• She totally ignored me and turned to Drake. “The Rogue Alpha is here,” she said, calm as anything. “He’s asked for her.”
• Drake frowned. “He is early.”
• Clarissa’s grin just got wider. “Del Morino. The infamous Rogue Alpha. He’s here. And he wants her.”
• Drake’s whole face changed. He was tense, all over and then relief came on him a little.
• “What do you mean he wants her?” he practically growled.
• Clarissa let out this light little laugh. “He says she’s his bride.”
• My heart stopped. Bride?
• “I’m not—”
• “Oh, but you are,” Clarissa purred, walking right up to the cell. “You see, dear, while you were so busy chasing your precious Drake, someone else was watching you. Very closely.”
• I just shook my head. “No... I don’t even know him.”
• She clicked her tongue. “You don’t need to know him. All that matters is he wants you. And unlike some people—” she shot a look at Drake, “—he knows your worth.”
• Drake’s fists were white-knuckled. “I don’t want her,” he snapped. “She can go.”
• And my heart just shattered all over again.
• “Very well,” Clarissa said with this wicked smile. She motioned to the guards. “Release her. She belongs to someone else now.”
• They unlocked my cell, pulled the door open.
• I didn't move. My legs wouldn't work. My heart was just... numb.
• Clarissa stepped aside. Waved a hand. “Go on, girl. Your new Alpha awaits.”
• I looked at Drake. One last time. I wanted him to stop it. To change his mind. To do *something*. But he turned his back on me.
• That was it, then.
• No love.
• No goodbye.
• Just… silence.
• Then I saw him.
• A tall man, by a black jeep. Broad shoulders. Black hair and an eye patch that still made him look dangerous and alluring.
• Del Morino.
• The Rogue Alpha.
• He looked right at me. Sharp, grey eyes. No smile. No words. But something in the air just shifted.
• Power and danger.
• And something else. I don't know what.
• Clarissa put her hand on my back. “Be a good girl, now. He doesn’t like weak women.”
• I turned to her, my eyes burning. “Then it’s a good thing I’m done being weak.”
• She actually looked surprised.
• Without another word, I walked toward the Rogue Alpha.
• When I reached him, he opened the car door. I paused and looked up at him.
• “You don’t know me,” I said.
• He leaned down a little. His voice was deep. “I know enough. And I’ll protect what’s mine.”
• I stared at him. So confused. “Why me?”
• His eyes scanned my face. “Because you were thrown away. And I don’t like waste.”
• Whatever that means, I don't care, I just have to get away from this nasty people.
• The door closed. I looked back at the jail. At the man I once loved. The man who just let me go.
• He didn't come after me.
• He didn't fight for me.
• But this other guy, this stranger… he did.
• And maybe, just maybe that was enough. For now.