THE PUSH

SALOME

Ten o'clock at night came and went, and the room remained dead silent. Alpha Williams still hadn't returned home.

Sitting alone on the edge of the large bed, staring at the empty doorway, a cold clarity finally settled over my heart. Miriam was right. He didn't love me. He didn't care that I was hurt, and he didn't care that he had left me in the hands of a woman who hated my guts.

I need to stop thinking about the sex, I told myself, biting my lip as a sharp sting of tears tried to form in my eyes. It was true—the intimacy we shared was the best feeling I had ever experienced in my life. The way he held me, the way his hands explored every inch of my body, and the raw passion that shook the room made me feel complete. But I needed to let it go. I had to stop letting a few hours of physical pleasure blind me to the reality of my pain. It was time to focus on my own life and protect what was left of my heart.

I thought about my old life. Back when I was a simple maid scrubbing floors in this palace, I had friends. The other servants were kind, honest people. Maybe I should just spend my time mixing with the maids down in the quarters. Maybe I truly belonged down there with them, rather than sitting high up on a fake throne in this golden cage. They had good hearts, and they would actually treat me with genuine love and respect.

With those comforting thoughts warming my chest, I pulled the heavy duvet over my shoulders and closed my eyes, completely damning my husband and his toxic ex-wife to hell. I didn't care anymore.

Barely an hour into my sleep, the soft click of the bedroom door woke me up.

I opened my eyes to the dim light of the bedside lamp. Alpha Williams stepped into the room, holding a massive, breathtaking bouquet of fresh red roses in his arms. He looked utterly exhausted, his shirt unbuttoned at the neck, his hair messy, and deep dark circles under his eyes.

The moment his eyes landed on me sitting up in bed, he didn't even walk to his side of the room. He dropped down on his knees right near the doorway, his hands clutching the flowers, his face filled with pure, raw remorse.

"Salome... please, my Luna, forgive me," his deep voice trembled, echoing softly across the quiet room.

I stared at him, my heart doing a strange, painful flip at the sight of the mighty Alpha kneeling before me. "Williams? What are you doing?"

"I am asking for your forgiveness," he said, slowly rising to his feet and walking over to the bed, setting the roses down on the nightstand. He sat on the edge of the mattress, taking my cold hands into his warm, large palms. "I am so sorry for leaving you today, Salome. I swear to you, I only left because I truly believed you were in good hands with Miriam. I thought she was taking care of your injuries."

Oh, dear Goddess, I thought, a bitter chill running through me. Miriam is a complete devil. She had played him so effortlessly, making him believe she was an angel of mercy while she was tormenting me behind closed doors.

"And second," Williams continued hastily, his eyes pleading with mine, "the pack elders called an emergency meeting late this afternoon. Shuttling between hockey league contracts and heavy pack duties has been completely overwhelming. I haven't had a single second to catch my breath."

He paused, his brow furrowing in confusion. "I tried calling you a dozen times today to check on you, but your phone kept going straight to voicemail. Why was your phone switched off?"

I blinked, taken aback. I reached over to the nightstand, picked up my phone, and pressed the power button. The screen stayed pitch black. It was completely powered down.

My stomach turned. I had never turned my phone off. Miriam must have sneaked into my room while I was sleeping or stepped near my bedside at the facility and turned it off herself, just so Williams couldn't reach me, making me feel completely abandoned.

Seeing the genuine distress and exhaustion in his eyes, hearing his honest explanation, the icy barrier around my heart began to melt. A soft, small smile crept onto my lips.

"I... I didn't know it was off," I whispered softly. "I forgive you, Williams."

A massive sigh of relief escaped his chest. Without losing another second, Williams leaned forward and captured my lips in a deep, passionate kiss. The scent of pine and rich cologne wrapped around me, instantly melting every last bit of my defenses.

He pulled back, his eyes dark with a sudden, intense hunger. His large hand slid beneath my nightgown, moving directly up my thighs to where I was already swelling with heat.

"You are so beautiful, Salome," he growled softly against my neck.

His warm fingers parted my lower lips, sliding gently into my wet core. He began with one finger, stroking the sensitive inner walls with a rhythmic, maddening pace.

"Ahhh... Williams..." I moaned out softly, my fingers instinctively reaching out to grab the silk bedsheet beneath me and the front of his soft shirt.

He slid a second finger inside, then a third, and then all four fingers, stretching me, working my wet pussy with an unbelievable expertise that made my hips buck off the mattress. The sensation was so intense, so sweet, that my head rolled back against the pillows.

Gasping for air, Williams suddenly shifted his weight, throwing me back onto the plush bed. He pushed my nightgown all the way up to my waist, parted my legs wide, and buried his face directly between my thighs.

The heat of his tongue hitting my swollen clitoris sent a sharp lightning bolt of pure pleasure shooting straight up my spine. He licked and flicked his tongue inside my wet opening, tasting me deeply, worshipping my body with a raw, dominant passion that usually made me completely lose my mind.

I was enjoying it—I was right on the edge of flying into complete ecstasy.

“Do you know how many nights Williams fucked me from behind when we were married?”

The voice echoed in my head like a sudden, deafening gunshot.

“Do you know how he used to spend entire nights playing with my vagina, fingers sliding inside me till morning?”

Miriam’s cruel, mocking words began to play on a terrifying loop inside my mind. Every phrase she had whispered in that dark room came rushing back with vivid, sickening force.

“He did the exact same thing to me... shower... kitchen... every corner of the house...”

The sudden image of Williams kneeling between Miriam's legs, giving her this exact same touch, licking her with the exact same passion, hit my chest like a heavy iron weight. The sweet pleasure instantly vanished, replaced by a wave of cold, suffocating disgust. The joy in me died off immediately. I wasn't special to him. This was just a routine he had practiced and perfected on another woman for years.

"No!" I gasped out, my breath catching painfully in my throat.

"Salome?" Williams murmured, his head popping up, looking up at me with confused, dark eyes.

"Get off me!" I panicked, my body tensing up completely.

Using all the strength in my arms, I shoved hard against his broad shoulders, pushing Alpha Williams completely away from me.

Williams stumbled backward onto the mattress, looking utterly shocked and bewildered, his wet lips parted as he stared at me. "Salome... what's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

I pulled my gown down frantically, clutching the fabric tightly against my chest, my breathing ragged as tears of frustration and bitter hurt finally spilled over my cheeks.

"Just leave me alone, Williams," I sobbed out, turning my back to him and curling into a tight ball on the far edge of the bed. "Just leave me alone."