Alpha King’s One Night Mate

CHAPTER 1

Aria Johnson had always known how to perform,

On set, she could cry on command. Smile on cue. Fall in love with someone she barely knew in a script and make the audience believe it was real.

But nothing in her career had prepared her for a scene she was about to witness in real life.

A scene with no script. No director. No cut.

Just betrayal.

She stood outside Jason Miller’s apartment door, her fingers trembling around her phone. The screen was still glowing, but she didn’t see the messages anymore. She only heard the sound from inside.

Laughter.

A woman’s laugh.

Soft. Confident. Familiar in the worst way.

Then Jason’s voice followed, low Intimate.

The same voice that once told her she was the only one.

Aria swallowed hard.

Something inside her already knew before she pushed the door.

But she still did. The door creaked open.

And her world ended quietly.

Jason Miller was on the bed.

Half-dressed.

A woman tangled in his arms like she belonged there more than Aria ever did.

For a second, Aria didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

Didn’t speak.

Her brain refused to process what her eyes were seeing.

This couldn’t be real.

Not Jason.

Not the man who held her after auditions.

Not the man who promised her forever.

“Aria—” Jason froze instantly, panic flashing across his face. “It’s not what it looks like.”

That sentence.

That exact sentence.

Like betrayal always came with the same lazy script.

The woman beside him didn’t even look ashamed. She only smiled, pulling the sheet higher as if she

was the winner of something.

“You should’ve knocked,” she said casually.

That was the moment something inside Aria cracked.

Not loudly, not dramatically. But completely.

Like glass breaking under pressure.

She didn’t scream and didn’t ask questions.

She didn’t beg for truth.

Because truth was already standing in front of her, half-dressed and unapologetic.

Aria stepped back slowly.

Jason moved again. “Aria, please—let me explain—”

But she already turned.

Because there was nothing left to hear.

---

She didn’t remember walking out of the apartment.

She only remembered the air outside hitting her face like reality itself was punishing her for trusting too much.

Her legs weakened.

She grabbed the wall, and then it came.

Heavy shap pain Unstoppable.

Three years.

Three years of loving Jason Miller.

Three years of ignoring warning signs.

Three years of choosing him over herself.

All were reduced to a stranger’s bed.

Her phone vibrated.

A message from him ,It’s not what you think. Please come back.

Aria laughed. A broken sound.

Even now, he thought she was so stupid enough to believe that.

She deleted the message and blocked the number.

And stood there until her breathing steadied.

Not because she was fine.

But because she had no choice.

---

That night, Aria didn’t go home. Home meant family questions.

Her mother’s soft concern and Her father’s disappointment.

Her rising career in the entertainment industry collapses under emotional weight.

She couldn’t face any of it.

So she called Sophia Carter, and told her what she witnessed with eyes about Jason's cheating.

“Get dressed,” her best friend said immediately after hearing her voice. “You’re not staying alone tonight.”

“I don’t want to go out,” Aria whispered.

“I didn’t ask.”

---

The rooftop party was full of light.

Music. Champagne. Cameras.

Entertainment elites everywhere actors, directors, and producers.

People who smiled professionally and lied beautifully.

Aria didn’t belong there tonight.

But she stayed anyway.

Because sitting alone would destroy her more.

She sat at the bar, staring at a glass of wine she didn’t drink.

Listening to the sound of music , Sophia excused herself to use the restroom.

“You look like someone stole your soul.”

A voice came beside her.

Deep, controlled, and unfamiliar.

Aria didn’t turn immediately.

“I didn’t ask for company,” she muttered.

“Good,” the voice replied. “I didn’t ask permission to sit.”

That made her pause.

Slowly, she turned.

And saw him.

Tall and Dangerously composed.

Dressed in black like he didn’t belong in a world of noise.

His presence didn’t demand attention.

It stole it.

Even without trying.

Aria frowned slightly. “Arrogant much?”

“Observant,” he replied.

A silence followed, Strangely calm.

Uncomfortable in a different way.

Not bad. Not good.

Just… "different.

For the first time that night, Aria almost smiled.

Almost.

And that was almost dangerous.

Because it meant she was still human enough to feel something.

She looked away quickly.

But he didn’t leave.

And somehow…

That was the beginning of everything she would never be able to escape.

Damien sitting beside her, something inside him stirred.

His wolf.

For centuries, the beast had remained silent whenever women approached him. No reaction. No interest.

But now it was restless.

Alert, Awake.

Damien frowned. What was happening?

Then, her scent reached him.

Vanilla Jasmine.

And something uniquely hers.

His wolf surged forward so violently that Damien nearly lost control.

“ Mate.” The word echoed through his mind.

His entire body froze.

No.

It couldn't be.

After hundreds of years, after endless disappointments and false hopes, fate couldn't possibly place his mate here.

In the middle of a rooftop party.

Heartbroken ,Human.

Yet the closer he looked at her, the stronger the pull became.

His wolf paced impatiently.

Mate. Mine.

Damien gripped the edge of the bar.

Every instinct screamed at him to pull her into his arms and never let her go.

But he forced himself to remain calm.

The woman sitting beside him had no idea who he was and judging from the sadness in her eyes, she was already carrying enough pain.

For now, he would watch learn and Wait. But one thing was certain.

Aria Johnson was his fated mate.

And Damien Blackwood had no intention of letting fate take her away.