Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

L ILA WINTER

Does the woman behind you know you are already in an arranged marriage with our Luna?

The words slam into me like a head-on collision. They echo in my ears like a cruel curse, wounding my wolf like a dog kicked to the curb.

The cold air welcomes me like I’m its long-lost daughter, but it does nothing to slow the burning ache in my chest that shatters me to pieces.

What hurts more than Elder Matthew’s words is the realization that Alaric just wrecked my chest with an invisible sledgehammer. Twice. That bastard hurt me twice.

The first time, I was naive and didn’t see it coming.

The second time? I didn’t see it coming either. But am I still naive?

I chuckle painfully, my shaking hands latching onto the cold balcony railing that overlooks the garden below. I try to focus on a tree beneath me so the hot tears won’t choke my throat and leave me a sobbing mess.

But even that fails.

Tears escape my eyes. One tear turns into three, and two minutes later, I’m full-on sobbing, cursing myself. I’m also cursing the bastard who stood there while everyone around us looked at me like I was nothing but a home wrecker. And I’m cursing my stupid, foolish heart.

Of course, Alaric Hells has a Luna out there waiting for him. What did I think? That I was special?

That just because he handed me his card, bought me clothes, and put a big damn stone around my neck, I was the only woman in his life?

Goddess, of course he has another woman and I’m the other woman.

Laughter and clinking glasses echo behind me. Everyone’s moved on with the party. I don’t know whether to be grateful or furious that I now have to go back in there and find an exit.

I wipe at my tears with the back of my hand. All I can think of is that I should never have kissed him. I should never have let myself get tangled up with him the moment I found out he was my boss.

I should never have come here.

“Having fun alone?” a voice cuts through my thoughts.

I sigh, hating how bad my night is turning out to be.

Leaning against the wall with two glasses of champagne and that same smug, arrogant smirk, Julian looks at me like he’s suddenly grown a heart.

“I’m not in the mood for—”

“I came here to apologize, peaches—I mean, Lila. Whatever happened the other day...fuck, I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m sorry for hurting you last week. And sorry for the, uh, cheating. Six years ago.”

He sounds genuine.

And yet his words feel like dust because, honestly? I don’t care.

I say nothing. I don’t want to. Not to him.

“Drink? How about we toast to forgiveness?”

I look at the champagne. Then at him. No amount of champagne would make me forgive this man, and maybe he gets it, because he still continues to speak.

“Come on, Lila. You look like you need it.”

I’m humiliated. Shattered. There’s a ballroom full of people who will chew me up the second I walk through that door.

I should have run when I heard Elder Matthew’s words, but my shattered heart couldn’t even tell the difference between an exit and an entrance when I fled from Alaric, so I wound up here.

So yeah, I take the glass from Julian.

I down the champagne in one go. The fizzy liquid tastes wrong. Like ash. Like betrayal and foolish hope.

“How could I have been so stupid?”

Julian takes a sip from his glass, ignoring my jabbering mess of emotions. His tone shifts.

“So, after my uncle went all caveman on me last week, I asked around, peaches.”

His voice is darker now. I don’t miss it.

“They told me you were his secretary. It pissed me off at first, but I let it go. Bosses get protective of their assistants all the time, right?”

He chuckles, but there’s no humor in it as he takes a step closer.

“But color me surprised tonight when Amanda was running her mouth about how Alaric’s been distracted by his little secretary. Thought she was just gossiping. Until you walked in with him, looking like the lead in some rom-com.”

I sense the danger and I try to avoid it.

“Julian, back off.”

“Did you fuck him, peaches? Is that why you’re crying? Because your Alpha’s engaged?”

There’s a mock in his tone and something else that feels too sadistic. I look behind him, and the party is on full blast, meaning no one is dumb enough to come to this side of the pack’s house.

“It’s none of your...business,” I slur. My tongue feels heavy.

“Do you love him?”

He takes another step.

“You think he wants you? You think he’s going to save you? Wake up, sweetheart. He’s got a Luna out there waiting for him to rescue her. You? You’re just the slut he calls when he wants to get his cock wet.”

He moves in again. I’m running out of space.

“Don’t be naive, peaches. I’m the one for you. I love you.”

“I hate you,” I whisper. “Don’t...you...don’t you get that? I hate you. I will never love you. And you’re insane, Julian—”

“Insane?” he tuts like a lunatic, rubbing his bottom lip with his thumb. “You haven’t seen insane, peaches. If I was insane, I’d have added poison to your drink. Instead, I just put a little something extra in there.”

His words hit me like a bomb. The glass slips from my hand and shatters at my feet, and then my stomach drops at the realization of what Julian is intending to do.

Dizziness crashes over me like a wave. I stumble, grabbing the railing for support.

No. No, no.

My vision blurs. My knees buckle.

“You bastard,” I whisper.

Julian steps forward, hands outstretched like he’s going to catch me. But I don’t want him near me.

I try to push him away, but my limbs won’t move.

Then…

Something like a snarl rips from the shadows.

By the time Julian turns toward the sound, vengeance and fury in the form of Alaric slams into him like a goddamn hailstorm.

I don’t know how I end up on the floor, curled in a corner, the cold from the tile leeching up my spine. Maybe I slid. Maybe I fell. Maybe I just couldn’t stand anymore.

All I know is, Alaric is on top of a barely conscious Julian, his fists raining down like judgment day.

“You fucking drugged her?” Alaric growls, then cracks another punch into Julian’s jaw that makes him cough up blood.

I stare, partly horrified, partly amazed, as the muscles in Alaric’s forearms tense with rage, every hit powered by fury.

Punch. Bone crunches and my stomach twists.

Punch. Blood spatters the floor in thick droplets.

Punch. He’s muttering something about me, something about how I’m off-limits, but I’m seeing two of him now, and everything’s going hazy.

Punch. He’s going to kill him. I can feel it. Alaric’s going to lose everything over a man who deserves it, but still.

I reach out blindly, my hand meeting only air.

I force my mouth open, my voice a fragile rasp. “Alaric? Stop.”

It’s barely louder than a whisper, but he hears me.

He stills.

His bloodied hands drop from Julian’s face. His chest rises and falls like he’s just run a marathon. Then his eyes find me, thunderous and full of something I can’t name, and they soften.

He’s next to me in an instant, gathering me into his arms like I’m breakable. Like I matter.

His scent wraps around me, woodsy, wild and safe, and I breathe it in like it’s the only thing keeping me alive.

If he hadn’t shown up, what would Julian have done to me? The part of me that still feels the raw pain of finding out Alaric has another woman refuses to succumb to him, but the other part? The one that’s tired and sick of this night and possibly too dizzy to tell what’s what latches onto him.

“I’ve got you, wild one,” he murmurs, his voice trembling with rage and laced with sincerity. “You’re safe. I’m here.”

The world around me blurs, but the aftermath of what Julian just did, and Alaric’s rage still pulse in my ears like a distant echo.

But it’s Alaric’s arms around me, strong and grounding, that drag me back into my body.

He carries me like I’m the only one who matters.

We don’t say a word as he guides us through the halls, past guests too stunned and too scared of Alaric’s blazing fury to meet our eyes.

He doesn’t stop until we’re behind the locked doors of his room, or what I’m assuming to be his room anyway, his scent wrapping around me like a blanket made of cedar and smoke and something that’s purely him.

Only after the door shuts does the silence stretch between us, so loud and uncomfortable.

“You okay?” he asks, his voice hoarse like it hurt letting those words out of his mouth.

I nod, even though I’m not.

My body feels like it’s made of glass and fire. I sit on the edge of his bed, suddenly so aware of every inch of myself, every inch of this grand room, and every heartbeat that races through me for reasons other than fear.

Like he can sense the turmoil inside of me, he crouches in front of me, hands braced on his knees. There’s blood on his knuckles. It takes a minute to remember we might have left Julian dying by the balcony.

But judging by the shadow in Alaric’s eyes, I don’t think he even gives a fuck if Julian is dead or not.

“I should’ve stopped him sooner,” he murmurs. “I should’ve protected you.”

I reach for his hand without thinking, cradling it in mine. His skin is warm and calloused, and the second our fingers touch, the Mate bond roars back to life.

It sparks across my skin like lightning and everything delicious.

He must feel it too, because his gaze sharpens, his jaw rippling like he’s trying to rein himself in.

But his control is slipping just like mine is, the space between us thinning by the minute.

“Don’t,” I whisper. “Don’t apologize. Just…just be here with me. Please.”

His eyes darken, but not with anger.

His hand tries to reach my cheek, but he pauses midway.

It’s not anger swirling in his eyes. No, this is hunger. Heat.

“You have no idea what you do to me,” he growls, his voice thick.

I do.

Because I feel the same way.

One minute, we are trying to stop the crackling bond pulling between us like tides to the shore, and the next minute, his lips crash onto mine, and it’s not soft.

It’s not sweet.

It’s raw, it’s frantic, a rough kiss that devours my air and replaces it with him.

He tastes like fury and desperation and something sweeter underneath that I can only call mine. Mine, all mine.

I gasp when he lifts me, laying me back onto the bed like I’m sacred, even though nothing about what we’re about to do is pure.

Nothing I'm thinking about doing to this man is pure, because Goddess forgive me, I have never wanted him like I want him right now.

“Tell me to stop,” he pants, mouth hovering above my collarbone. “If you need me to. I will. No matter how much I want you.”

I thread my fingers through his hair and arch into him, my core pulsing with need. “Don’t stop.”

Never stop.

And he doesn’t because the clothes come off in moments.

His clothes hit the floor, my dress, bra, and panties go next, until we eventually meet skin to skin. And Alaric Hells shows me how much he wants me.

It’s in the way he worships every inch of me with his hands and mouth. The way his lips linger on the curve of my hip like he’s branding me with something deeper than touch.

And the bond.

Goddess, the bond.

It’s humming through me like a song that only I know the lyrics to. Every brush of his fingers, every hitch in his breath pulls me closer to something terrifying, something teetering off the ledge of a cliff. I want to run from it, and yet I can’t stop falling into him.

“You’re shaking,” he murmurs, voice rough as he kisses my jaw.

“I’m scared,” I whisper.

He pauses, pulling back just enough to look me in the eye. His thumb strokes my cheek, so gently it makes me ache.

“So am I.”

That breaks me. Not because it's a weakness, but because it’s the truth.

I’m scared this might turn out to be like last time, when he called me a gold digger, but he’s scared of losing me, right?

I wrap my legs around him, guiding him closer to me. Guiding his cock where it belongs. Inside me.

“Alaric,” I breathe, and he shudders.

“I’ve got you, wild one,” he says, again, like it’s a promise. “You’re safe. With me.”

When he finally enters me, it’s not just physical. It’s electric. Beyond words. Our bodies lock like puzzle pieces, and the bond howls between us fiercely.

We move together like a storm, each touch feeding the fire.

I cry out when his lips find the hollow of my throat, and he whispers my name over and over like it’s holy.

“You feel like heaven,” he groans, his voice strangled.

I dig my nails into his back, trying to anchor myself because I don’t want him to ever leave me.

“Don’t stop,” I pant. “Don’t let go.”

He doesn’t.

His hands grip my hips, holding me like he doesn’t want me to slip through his fingers.

Our rhythm turns frenzied, each thrust pulling me closer to the edge, closer to my orgasm, and I want to fall.

I want to lose myself in this feeling, in him, because for the first time in forever, I don’t feel alone.

“Lila,” he says, like a prayer. “I need you to know…it was never just one night. Never just lust.”

Tears prick at my eyes again, but they’re not from pain.

I cup his face, forcing him to see me. “Then show me. Right here. Right now.”

And he does.

We fall together, tangled in sweat and breath and sounds that are in no way comprehensible.

The bond erupts between us as I fall over the edge, my climax slamming into me like a freight train. Alaric follows with a groan, collapsing against me, his body just like mine.

For a long time, we have to stop to catch our breath.

Then, he presses a kiss to my shoulder and whispers, “You are mine.”