The Alpha's Torment

DOMINIC

I was going to hell, and my stepdaughter-to-be was the reason why.

Watching Raven stand in the center of my warehouse, blood on her lips and defiance in her eyes, I felt the mate bond pulse through me like a second heartbeat. Wrong. This was all kinds of wrong. I'd married her mother to protect her, to keep her safe from exactly this, from me, from what we were, from a bond that should never have existed.

But the Moon didn't give a damn about morality.

"I don't understand what you want from me." Raven's voice pulled me back, and I forced myself to focus on training instead of the way her tank top clung to her curves, the way her pulse jumped in her throat every time I got close.

"I want you to survive." I circled her slowly, keeping distance between us because close meant trouble. "The blood moon amplifies everything, pain, pleasure, rage, desire. If you shift without control, your wolf will take over completely. You'll be feral. Dangerous."

"You keep saying that like I'm going to turn into a monster."

"You are a monster." I stopped in front of her, close enough to smell the fear and adrenaline rolling off her skin. "We all are. The difference is, some of us have learned to control the beast. Others become it."

Her chin lifted, and I felt pride mix with the unwanted desire. She had a spine, this girl, more than Diana ever had.

"Then teach me control instead of trying to scare me."

"Fear is control." I moved closer, testing her, testing myself. "When you shift, your wolf will want to run, to hunt, to dominate. The only thing that'll stop her is knowing what's at stake. Knowing who you could hurt if you lose yourself."

I reached out, my hand hovering near her face but not touching. The bond screamed at me to close the distance, to mark her, to claim what was mine. My wolf raged against my control, desperate for its mate.

She's forbidden, I reminded myself for the thousandth time. She's your stepdaughter. Diana's daughter. Untouchable.

"Show me," she whispered, and the sound of her voice made my control slip another notch. "Show me what I'm becoming."

Worst idea in the world. Best idea in the world. I was already damned anyway.

I shifted, letting my wolf surge forward, not the full transformation, just enough to show her. My bones realigned with cracks that would have made a human scream, but I'd long since learned to swallow the pain. My face elongated, jaw reshaping to accommodate fangs. Claws extended from my fingertips, and fur rippled across my skin in patches of black and silver.

Raven stumbled back, eyes wide, but she didn't scream. Didn't run. She just stared at me with something like wonder mixing with the fear.

"This is what you'll become." My voice came out layered with the wolf's growl. "But your first shift won't be controlled like this. It'll be chaos. Agony. You'll want to tear apart anything that moves, including yourself."

I shifted back, the transformation smoother in reverse. When I was human again, she was still staring at me like she'd never seen me before.

"That was..." She trailed off, searching for words. "Beautiful."

Not the response I expected. "Beautiful?"

"Terrifying," she amended quickly. "But also beautiful. You're so in control. So... powerful." She took a tentative step closer. "Will I be like that? That strong?"

"Stronger." The word came out before I could stop it. "Your bloodline is ancient, Raven. Your father was an Alpha. Your mother carries old magic in her veins even if she's human. You're not just a wolf, you're something more. Something the packs will either worship or destroy."

Her face paled. "What does that mean?"

It meant I should have killed her the moment I realized what she was. Would have, if the mate bond hadn't slammed into place the second I met her. If some twisted part of me didn't recognize her as mine even when she was absolutely, completely forbidden.

"It means you're valuable." I forced the words past the wolf's snarl. "And in our world, valuable things get taken. Traded. Used."

"Is that why my mom made the deal with you?" Her voice sharpened. "To keep me from being traded?"

"Yes." At least this truth I could give her. "Diana came to me six months ago, terrified. She said the Silverfang Pack had found you, that they were planning to claim you during your first shift. She begged me to protect you."

"And in exchange, you get a wife." Bitterness dripped from every word. "Seems like a good deal for you."

"I didn't want a wife." The confession escaped before I could cage it. "I wanted—" You. I wanted you. I've wanted you since the moment I saw your picture, since before I knew what you were, what we were. "I wanted to help an old friend. Diana and I have history, she saved my life once, I owed her."

Not entirely a lie. Not entirely the truth either.

Raven moved closer, and my wolf perked up, alert and hungry. "What kind of history?"

"The kind that doesn't matter anymore." I stepped back, maintaining distance. "What matters is keeping you alive through your first shift. After that, you'll be strong enough to defend yourself. Strong enough that even the Silverfangs will think twice about coming for you."

"And then what?" She followed me, closing the gap I'd created. "I just live with you and Mom and your pack, pretending everything's normal? Pretending I didn't become a monster?"

"You learn to live with what you are." I caught her wrist when she reached for me, her skin burning against mine. The bond flared hot and demanding, and I saw her pupils dilate, her breath catch. She felt it too. Maybe didn't understand it, but felt it. "You find your place in the pack. You survive."

"Is that what you do?" Her eyes searched mine. "Just survive?"

"I protect what's mine." The possessive edge in my voice made her shiver, and I hated how much I liked that reaction. "And right now, whether you accept it or not, you're mine to protect."

"I'm not yours." But her pulse jumped against my fingers, betraying her.

"Not yet." I released her wrist and stepped back, putting the warehouse between us. "But in two days, when the blood moon rises and you shift for the first time, your wolf will choose her Alpha. And she'll choose me, Raven. Because the bond's already there. Has been since the moment we met."

Her face went white. "What bond?"

Fuck. I'd said too much. Revealed too much. But maybe she needed to know. Maybe it was crueler to keep her in the dark about the one thing that would define both our lives from this point forward.

"The mate bond." I forced myself to meet her eyes. "You're my fated mate. And in two days, when you shift, there won't be any denying it. Not for you. Not for me. Not for anyone."

The warehouse went silent except for our breathing, harsh and uneven.

"But you're marrying my mother," she whispered.

"I know."

"That's…..that's impossible. That's—"

"Wrong." I finished for her. "Forbidden. Unforgivable. I know all of it, Raven. Doesn't change what you are to me.”