The Velvet lie

Davina

The air in Crimson Arch always tasted of lavender and expensive bourbon and wet earth, mostly of sweats and cum. It was a heavy scent that usually made me want to gag every time I stepped in.

Every time I cover my face with the black silky mask, I tear away my skin and become someone else. I wasn’t Davina, I was a soul used to settled debts I knew nothing about, rejected by my mate and loving a life no one must know about.

I was Vina, a ghost that shouldn’t exist.

I adjusted the lace of my corset, my hands trembling slightly. Just like every other Friday and Saturday, the ritual continues. My father, Levi, Alpha of the Shadow Fang pack would drop me off two blocks away, his eyes never meeting mine. “Don’t come back until the envelope is full, Davina. You don’t want our family crumbling now, do you? Your brother needs all the help he can get to carry on my legacy.”

He never looked at me when I was dressed like this. He was in denial. Perhaps if he didn’t look, he wouldn’t have to admit he was selling his daughter to keep his failures hidden.

“Room 402, Vina,” Silas, the floor manager grunted as I passed. “Very high-tier client. Keep the mask on and keep the light low. He paid the premium for absolute discretion.”

I shivered a little and nodded, my throat tight. I took the stairs and sighed heavily in front of the room.

I pushed the door open, it was nearly dark, only lit by the amber glow of a single lamp in the corner. A man stood by the window with his back to me. From his silhouette, his shoulders were broad, wore a suit at the expense of my father’s. Even from the doorway, I could feel the power rolling off him in waves. It was enchanting…it was…Alpha.

My wolf, which has been dormant and depressed since the rejection, suddenly stirred. She let out a low confused whine.

“You’re late,” he said. He was commanding. His voice was deep, it Vu heated my chest. I felt a sudden jolt of electricity zip down my spine.

That voice sounded…familiar…he sounded just like his father.

“My apologies, sir,” I whispered with my head low. I walked towards the bed, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped monster. “How would you like to begin?”

He turned slowly, he was masked, too, a heavy matte black leather piece that covered the top half of his face. He was dressed like he was going to a masked ball. I could feel his eyes peeling back my skin even as they were hidden in the shadows of the leather. All I could see was his sharp and beautiful jawline.

“Come here,” he commanded.

I remained obedient. But as I walked closer to him, a strange scent hit me. It wasn’t the club’s perfume. Cedar wood, rain-drenched earth and something dangerously metallic. It was intoxicating.

For the first time, the cold voice my mate/bond used to be felt…warm.

He didn’t wait for me to get to him: in two long strides, he crossed the distance and gripped my waist. His hands were large. I let out a soft gasp, my head falling back.

“You’re shaking,” he murmured, his thumb brushing the sensitive skin just above my hip.

“I’m…it’s just the cold,” I lied.

“Liar,” he whispered. He leaned down till his lips brushed against the shape of my ear. “You’re reacting to me. I can smell your arousal over the fear. It’s sweet. Like Jasmine after a storm.”

He was…different. There was no desperate hunger or fumbling that felt transactional. He moves with grace, taking his time to explore my body as if he were looking for something he’d lost. When he finally pushed me back onto the silk sheets, I forgot about my father and the debt. I forgot about Rafe. I forgot about the girl who cried herself to sleep every night in a room of rejection.

He sank into me, went gently till I could accommodate his size. He handled me with care, like he was scared u would break. He was utterly possessive. His breath hitched in a way that felt almost…desperate.

For the first time, I didn’t fake an orgasm. I fell back in the tangled sheets, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I expected him to dress up immediately, and leave a stack of bills on the dresser like the rest.

Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed with his back to me, his chest heaving. He reached into his jacked pocked and pulled out a thick envelope and placed it on the nightstand. Next to it, he laid a heavy, gold-embossed card.

“Double the rate,” he said, still catching his breath.

“Sir?” I sat up, clutching the sheet to my chest.

“I don't want you on the tour again,” he said over his shoulder. “I’m paying for your exclusivity. From this moment on, you have no other clients. If I find out another man has touched you, I won’t just stop paying, I’ll make your life a living hell.”

I blinked hard. “I…I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to understand,” he snapped, though there was no heart in it. Only a strange, vibrating tension. “You are mine, Viba. Until I say otherwise.”

He stood and walked towards the door, but he paused with his hand on the brass handle. He reached to adjust his cuff links but they fell, clattering onto the hard room floor. He didn’t seem to notice and disappeared into the hallway.

I scrambled off the bed and picked it up. It was a heavy silver cufflink shaped like a howling wolf circling a crescent moon. My breath hitched. It was the sigil of the Northern Alpha Cou cum. Only the highest-ranking Alphas in the country were permitted to wear it.

I looked at the door, then at the silver wolf in my hand. My new client wasn’t just some rich businessman with a kink. He was a pillar of our society. A man who likely sat at the same table as my father…whom I have probably met.

If he ever finds out who was behind my mask, the daughter of an Alpha who is meant to be pure and perfect in every way…he would be more than disappointed.

I tucked the cufflink into my hidden pocket. I have to find a way to get out of here.

But as I looked at the envelope full of money I was very well aware that my father could afford it, I still didn’t understand it, what kind of debt…that needed my humiliation and not the money. I knew, I was already caught in my father’s web.