The Alpha’s First Taste

Kael’s POV

The girl stood frozen against the door like a deer caught in headlights.

Her scent hit me first — soft skin, faint soap from the shower, and underneath it all, something sweet and electric that made my wolf slam against the cage I kept him in. My blood roared in my ears. The mate bond snapped so hard I felt it in my bones, a golden chain wrapping around my soul and yanking tight.

Mate.

The word echoed in my head like a gunshot.

I had come here tonight for one reason: to forget. To lose myself in a warm body for a few hours and pretend the beast inside me wasn’t slowly tearing me apart. I had paid an obscene amount for the untouched girl they promised. No complications. No strings. Just release.

Instead, the Moon Goddess had handed me my destruction wrapped in trembling lace.

She was beautiful in a way that hurt to look at. Long dark hair still damp from the shower, falling in messy waves over her shoulders. Hazel eyes wide with terror and something else — defiance, maybe. A spark I hadn’t seen in a long time. Her body was all soft curves and untouched skin, barely covered by that scrap of black lace that left nothing to the imagination. The way her chest rose and fell with each panicked breath made my cock twitch painfully against my zipper.

But it was the mark on her inner wrist that nearly brought me to my knees.

The crescent scar glowed faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat. The same mark I had seen in my nightmares for years. The mark of the ancient darkness that had slaughtered my parents and half my pack when I was a boy. The mark of the monster I had sworn to hunt down and destroy.

And now it lived in her.

My fated mate.

I took one step forward. She pressed harder against the door, as if she could disappear through it. Smart girl.

“Get your clothes off,” I said, keeping my voice low and controlled even though my wolf was howling to claim her right there on the floor.

Her lips parted in shock. Those full, soft lips I suddenly wanted wrapped around me. Fuck.

“I said,” I repeated, taking another slow step, “get your clothes off. Turn around. Hands and knees on the bed. Face the headboard. Ass toward me.”

She didn’t move. Her breathing came faster, shallow. I could smell her fear… and something sweeter underneath it. Arousal. The bond was already working on her too. Her body knew what her mind was fighting.

I stopped a few feet away. Close enough that she had to tilt her head back to look at me. Close enough that I could see the rapid flutter of her pulse in her throat.

“I won’t repeat myself again, little one.”

Her hands trembled as they moved to the thin straps of the lace bodysuit. She hesitated. I watched every micro-expression cross her face — fear, anger, a flash of something hot and confused. The bond was pulling at her just as hard as it was pulling at me.

When the lace finally slid down her body and pooled at her feet, I nearly lost control.

Perfect. Untouched. Mine.

Her skin was flushed pink. Nipples already tight from the cool air and the weight of my stare. The curve of her hips, the soft swell of her ass, the way her thighs pressed together like she was trying to hide how wet she already was.

My wolf surged forward, demanding I pin her down and knot her until she screamed my name.

I clenched my jaw so hard I tasted blood.

“On the bed,” I growled.

She turned slowly, giving me a perfect view of that gorgeous ass as she climbed onto the massive mattress. Hands and knees, just like I ordered. Her dark hair fell over one shoulder as she looked back at me, eyes wide and defiant even now.

I stepped closer. My hand hovered over the curve of her back. The moment my palm touched her skin, electricity shot up my arm. She gasped. I felt it too — the bond locking into place, pulling us together like magnets.

I leaned down, lips brushing the shell of her ear.

“You’re mine now,” I whispered. “Whether you like it or not.”

My fingers trailed down her spine, over the perfect swell of her ass. She shivered hard. A tiny, broken sound escaped her throat.

I was so hard it hurt. My cock strained against my pants, desperate to bury itself inside her. To claim her. To knot her and fill her until there was no question who she belonged to.

But the glowing mark on her wrist kept flashing in my mind.

The monster I had sworn to kill… was now inside my mate.

I gripped her hip hard enough to bruise and positioned myself behind her.

This was going to be the longest night of my life.

And the most dangerous.

Because if I lost control even for a second, the beast inside me might not just claim her body.

It might devour her soul.