Chapter 3: Behind Closed Doors

Sonnet

The heavy, gold-trimmed doors of the cathedral’s private bridal suite shut with a definitive, echoing click.

The lock turned automatically, sealing out the chaotic whispers of my terrified pack, the frantic apologies of my stepfather, and the entire outside world.

Instantly, the suffocating, dominant aura that King Salvador had weaponized in the chapel vanished, replacing the icy room with a thick, heavy silence.

I stood frozen in the center of the luxurious room, my fingers gripping the cheap, itchy lace of my wedding dress until my knuckles turned white.

My heart was hammering so hard I thought I would pass out.

The adrenaline that had fueled my reckless sprint through the hallways was completely gone, leaving behind a cold, hollow dread.

I had done it. I had escaped the dungeons. I had escaped a lifetime of abuse.

But as I looked at the towering giant taking off his tailored suit jacket, reality crashed down on me.

I hadn't just found a savior. I had legally, physically, and spiritually bound myself to the most feared Lycan King on the continent.

Salvador tossed his jacket onto a velvet armchair, revealing the dangerous silhouette of his massive shoulders and the broad expanse of his chest beneath his black button-down shirt.

He didn't look like a man who had just gotten married. He looked like a predator who had successfully cornered his prey.

"You can stop trembling, little Omega," he said, his deep, gravelly baritone cutting through the quiet room. He didn't turn to look at me.

Instead, he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, his movements slow, deliberate, and entirely unbothered.

"The wolves outside cannot reach you anymore. You are safe."

"Why did you do it?"

The question left my throat before I could stop it. My voice sounded small, fragile, and utterly pathetic compared to his commanding presence..

Salvador paused. He slowly turned around, leaning his massive frame against the edge of a mahogany desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

Those piercing, grey eyes locked onto mine, stripping away every layer of defense I thought I had.

Up close, without the glowing gold of his wolf, he looked even more brooding, his sharp jawline set in a hard, unreadable expression.

"You asked me to," he replied smoothly, a faint, dangerous tilt at the corner of his lips.

"If I recall correctly, you threw yourself into my arms, smashed your lips against mine, and begged me to save you. You even promised you would do anything I wanted."

My face burned with a sudden, fierce heat.

"I was desperate! My fiancé stood me up to humiliate me, and my stepfather was going to throw me into the pack dungeons to starve. I thought... I thought you were just a wealthy guest. A high-ranking Beta, maybe. I didn't know you were the King!"

"Does my title change the terms of your desperate deal?" Salvador stepped away from the desk, walking toward me with slow, predatory strides.

With every step he took, the air in the room seemed to thin. I wanted to step backward, but my legs felt like lead.

My Omega instincts were screaming at me to submit, to drop to my knees and bow my head, but the strange, fiery spark inside my chest refused to let me look away from him.

He stopped just inches away from me. He was so tall that I had to tilt my head all the way back just to meet his gaze.

The intoxicating scent of his cologne and that wolf scent rolled off him in waves, making my head spin.

"An hour ago, you were a nameless, discarded Omega facing a slow death in a dark hole," Salvador murmured, his voice dropping into a low, hypnotic rumble.

He reached out, a single, heavily calloused finger lifting my chin up so I couldn't escape his stare.

"Now, you are the Queen of the Midnight Realm. Your family will crawl on their knees if you command it. Your pack will bow to you. I gave you ultimate protection. What do you think that costs, Sonnet?"

A shiver raced down my spine at the sound of my name on his lips.

"I... I told you I would do anything. If you want an annulment, we can fake a divorce in a few weeks. I can work as a maid in your castle. I can clean, I can cook, I can—"

"I don't need a maid, little Omega,"

Salvador interrupted, his grip on my chin tightening just a fraction, his thumb brushing against my lower lip—the exact spot he had claimed so fiercely at the altar.

"And I don't do divorces. A Lycan King marries once. Our laws do not recognize annulments."

Panic flared in my chest.

"Then why did you say yes?! You don't even know me! You are a King, you could have any beautiful, powerful Alpha or Beta female in the world to be your Luna! Why would you shackle yourself to a broken, weak Omega from a rival territory? It makes no sense!"

Salvador ’s eyes darkened, the stormy grey suddenly swirling with a dangerous, familiar golden light.

The temperature in the room dropped instantly, and the low, primal rumble started deep within his chest again.

"You think this was an accident?" Salvador whispered, his face tilting down until his breath fanned across my cheek.

"You think you just happened to run into me in that hallway?"

"Wasn't it?" I gasped, my heart beating so hard I was certain he could hear it.

"I was putting up with a tedious diplomatic meeting when a scent cut through the entire cathedral," Salvador said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, possessive growl.

He leaned in closer, his nose brushing against the sensitive skin of my neck, right over my pulse point.

I let out a soft gasp as a jolt of pure electricity shattered my thoughts.

"A scent of something sweet and alluring..A scent I have spent ten years searching the continent for."

My breath hitched. No. It couldn't be.

Salvador pulled back just enough to look into my wide, terrified eyes.

The dark, brooding expression on his face completely melted away, replaced by a raw, terrifying hunger that made my knees tremble.

"The moment your lips touched mine in that hallway, my inner wolf nearly tore through my skin to claim you,"

Salvador growled, his hand moving from my chin to wrap securely around the back of my neck, pulling me flush against his hard chest. "You are not a substitute bride, Ava. And you are not a fake wife."

He leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispered the truth that changed my life forever.

"You are my fated mate. And now that you have legally walked down that aisle and signed your name next to mine... I am never, ever letting you go."

Before I could even process the shocking revelation, a violent, deafening crash shattered the silence of the room.

The heavy bridal suite doors splintered open, bowing inward under a massive force.

"Sonnet!" an angry, arrogant voice roared from the hallway.

I gasped, spinning around within Salvador ’s solid embrace. Standing in the ruined doorway, breathing heavily with a pack of guards behind him, was Alpha Thomas—my runaway fiancé.

His expensive wedding suit was disheveled, and his face was twisted in a mixture of rage, shock, and sudden, desperate regret.

"Get your hands off my bride!" Thomas snarled, completely oblivious to the lethal aura radiating from the man holding me.