Chapter 2

Aria:

“Let me go.” I muttered, trying to pry away from the guards who held me by my shoulders.

“You should have thought better than to challenge the Alpha.” One of the maids, who was escorting us, muttered to me as she walked ahead of me.

They dragged me to his chambers like a prisoner.

The door slammed shut behind me, the lock sliding with a heavy click that sounded final.

For a moment, the silence pressed on my chest, and I looked around for a way out of this place.

Then I heard him.

Alpha Dominic Salvatore, standing by the window, his back to me. The moonlight caught the edges of his frame, broad shoulders, tense posture, veins flexing down his arms.

“You should have knelt,” he said, voice sharp as the blade at his hip. “Even the idea of you speaking back the way you did should have gotten you killed.”

“Then why didn’t it?” I asked, testing him. “I wouldn’t have minded. I would have been free of all this.”

He turned, and I wished I hadn’t spoken. The look in his eyes wasn’t anger, it was hunger restrained by sheer will. His jaw ticked as he took a step toward me.

“The bond doesn’t lie,” he said. “I smelled it on you. Felt it. And I chose to give you a second thought. I doubt that a slave should be questioning that.”

“You already have a Luna,” I snapped. “Or did the Moon forget to tell you that? Again, I am no slave.”

Something dark flickered across his face. “She’s chosen. Not fated. A pure blood.”

“So I’m what? A mistake?” I snapped. “Or am I an inconvenience to your pleasure. Regardless, you can find pleasure elsewhere.”

He stopped just in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat coming off his body. “You’re a complication, a tempting one,” he murmured. “But one I’m going to fix.”

Before I could react, his hand shot out, gripping the back of my neck. Not painfully, but with a dominance that stole my breath. His eyes locked on mine, unblinking, daring me to look away. My heart raced against my chest, and despite myself, heat coursed through my veins.

“You want to play strong?” His voice dropped low, velvet over steel. “Let’s see how long that lasts when I test the bond.”

I shoved at his chest, but he didn’t move. The air between us burned. I could feel his restraint slipping, the pull between us deepening until my knees went weak.

“Don’t touch me.”

He smiled, slow and dangerous. “You think I want to?”

His thumb brushed along my pulse before he released me, stepping back like he needed distance just to breathe.

“This,” he said, gesturing between us, “doesn’t exist. I will not be bound to a girl who was sold to me like a slave.”

My voice shook, but I forced the words out. “Then reject me. It is going to spare you the ‘complication’ as you chose to call it.”

The silence that followed was lethal.

He didn’t move. Didn’t blink. His breathing turned rough, every inhale through his nose sharp enough to cut air.

“I won’t,” he admitted finally, low and furious. “Not yet. Maybe in time, but for now, I will not.”

“Why not?”

His jaw flexed. “Because I want to know why the hell my wolf wants you. And I will be sure to crack that armor of yours until YOU admit that you want me. Only then will I reject you.”

“I am not going to want you. If that is what you are looking for, then I will suggest that you find it elsewhere.” I said, making him chuckle. “I would rather I die.”

“I will find out why you.” He said, casually. “Because there are others, who are a lot better. So, why you?”

His question made me bite the inside of my mouth, but I chose to stay quiet as I held my head high.

He took another step closer, crowding me against the wall until his breath fanned my cheek. “And until I figure that out…” His fingers traced down my arm, light as a warning. “…you’ll stay right here. Where I can watch you.”

I glared up at him, refusing to show how much his nearness rattled me. “You can watch all you want. Doesn’t mean I’ll ever kneel, crawl, or even think about listening to a word that you say.”

His smirk returned, darker this time. “We’ll see.”

He turned to leave, but stopped at the door. “Oh, and Aria?”

I met his gaze.

“If my Luna sees you again, don’t speak. Don’t even breathe. You’re nothing to her, you’re nothing compared to who she is… and you are most definitely nothing to me…”