Chapter Three: The stranger

The Obsidian Hotel rose forty stories above the city. The kind of place where no one asked questions if you paid in cash, so the only place my father wouldn’t find me as I pretended I was not getting handed to my new owner soon.

I stood at the reception desk, my hair covering the bruise blooming on my cheek, my bare feet hidden beneath the coat I grabbed on my way out. I pulled out the crumpled bills from my emergency bag.

“I need a room. Just for tonight.”

The clerk barely glanced up from his phone. Young, bored and snobbish. “ID and credit card.”

“I have cash.”

That got his attention. His eyes raked over me, the tangled hair, the smudged makeup, the party dress visible beneath my coat. His lip curled in disgust.

“Cash reservations require a deposit. Plus the room f*e.” He named a price that made my stomach drop.

I counted out the bills and recounted. Came up short. All my money was controlled by my father. Almost everything was.

“I don’t have enough for the deposit, but I can pay for the room. I just need somewhere to…”

“Then I can’t help you. Try the motel on Fifth. They’re more accommodating for people like you.”

The way he said it made my skin crawl.

“Please. I just need…”

“I said no.” His voice rose. People in the lobby were starting to stare. “If you can’t afford the full amount, you need to leave before I call security.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

The voice came from behind me. Deep, and commanding, making me turn in shock.

And I forgot how to breathe.

The man standing there wasn’t just handsome, he was the kind of beautiful that made you stare. Tall, easily six-three, with shoulders broad enough to block out the lobby lights. Dark hair fell across his forehead like he had been running his hands through it. Sharp cheekbones, a jaw that could cut glass.

And his mouth.

Full lower lip, the upper one curved in a way that suggested he knew exactly what to do with it.

But it was his eyes that stopped me cold.

Almost black in the dim lighting. And the way he was looking at me, not at the bruise, not at my wrecked appearance, but at me, like I was the only person in the room.

He pulled out a black credit card, his movements unhurried. Everything about him screamed power. Money. The kind of man who was used to getting exactly what he wanted.

“Put her room on my account. And the deposit.”

The clerk’s whole demeanor changed. “Of course, sir. Right away, sir.”

I should have protested. Should have said something. But my tongue felt thick in my mouth while he stood there, close enough that I could smell him.

Cedar and something darker underneath that made my wolf stir for the first time since the rejection.

Not recognition. Not a mate bond.

Just pure animal attraction.

What is wrong with me?

The clerk processed the payment. The stranger picked up both keycards, examined them briefly, then turned to me.

He held one out.

“Twenty-third floor.”

I reached for the keycard. Our fingers brushed.

The contact was brief, barely a second.

But heat shot up my arm. My breath hitched. His eyes dilated, and I knew he felt it too.

That crackling electricity.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.” I said immediately I remembered to talk, my face heating up with embarrassment.

“I wanted to.” He slid the other keycard into his pocket. “I’m Levi.”

The way he said his name, low and intimate, sent a shiver down my spine.

“Thank you, Levi.” I didn’t give my own name. It felt too dangerous.

His mouth curved slightly, like he knew exactly why I wasn’t offering it and found it amusing.

“You’re welcome, mystery girl.”

We walked to the elevators in silence. I was hyperaware of him beside me, the way he moved like a predator, the heat radiating off his body, how he stayed just close enough that I could feel his presence but not close enough to touch.

The elevator doors opened.

I stepped inside and he followed.

And suddenly the space felt too small.

The elevator was mirrored on all sides. Everywhere I looked, I could see him, the way his suit jacket stretched across his shoulders, the way those eyes tracked my every movement, the way he stood with his hands in his pockets, perfectly relaxed, while I felt like I might combust.

He pressed twenty-three. Then forty.

The elevator began to climb.

The silence was suffocating. I could hear my own breathing as I felt his eyes on me.

I kept my gaze on the floor, counting the seconds until I could escape.

“Have dinner with me.”

My head snapped up.

He was watching me in the mirror.

“What?”

“Or a drink. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” He turned to face me directly now. “I’d like to get to know you.”

I stared at him. At this man who looked like he’d stepped out of a magazine, who moved like sin, who could probably have any woman he wanted with a single smile.

“Why?” I asked, shocked. I looked like shit, and this man, this man I’ve never seen before, was asking me out? When my own mate didn’t even want me?

His head tilted slightly. “Why what?”

“Why would you want to have a drink with me? You could have anyone. I can barely afford my hotel f*e. You’re…”

I stopped, heat flooding my face.

“I’m what?”

“You know what you are.”

He stepped closer. Not touching, but close enough that I had to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. Close enough that his scent wrapped around me and I swallowed harshly.

“I know what people see when they look at me. But you’re not looking at me like everyone else does.”

“How am I looking at you?”

His eyes dropped to my mouth. Lingered there. “Like you’re trying to decide if you are dreaming.”

My breath caught.

“I want to have a drink with you because when I saw you in that lobby, you looked…” He paused, searching for words. “Fierce. Fragile. Beautiful. All at once. And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since.”

The honesty in his voice made my chest tight.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I just… I can’t.” I turned away, my heart beating as I forced myself to reject him. It was too early. My whole life just came crumbling down.

Something flickered across his face. But he nodded, stepped back.

“I understand.”

The elevator slowed as we reached the twenty-third floor.

I moved toward the doors, needing to escape before I did something stupid.

“Wait.”

I turned back.

Levi had closed the distance again. He stood in front of me, close enough that I could see flecks of gold in his eyes.

“May I?”

His hand lifted slowly, giving me time to pull away.

When I didn’t, his fingers gently tucked my hair behind my ear.

Exposing the bruise.

The tenderness of the gesture made my throat tight. His hand stayed there, cupping my face, thumb barely grazing my cheekbone just below the darkening mark.

Tender in ways I’ve never felt.

“Who did this to you?”

The fury in his voice contrasted sharply with the gentleness of his touch. His eyes had gone hard as he stared at the bruise.

For me. A stranger.

It was too much.

“I have to go.”

I pushed his hand away, the loss of his touch like a physical ache.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

The elevator doors were opening. I stepped out, my legs shaking.

“Wait.”

He held the door open with one hand. The other was clenched in a fist at his side.

“I’ll be downstairs at the bar. Nine o’clock.” His eyes held mine. “If you change your mind. I would like to know you.”

The doors began to close.

His gaze never wavered. “I’ll be waiting.”

Then he was gone.

I stood in the empty hallway, my cheek still burning where he touched me, my heart racing with excitement and fear.

Nine o’clock.

I looked at my phone.

It was barely six, but I smacked myself for even considering it. Julian just ended things with me, and I was doomed to marry a stranger.

By eight-thirty, I had changed my mind six times. A part of me said it was a stupid idea. I was hurting, wounded. In just a few hours, my life had changed. My mate was marrying my sister. But the other part of me, the one I suppressed, she wanted this. She wanted to get to know Levi, to pretend for one night, her life was hers. To make a decision that belonged to her. To be desired.

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror. The woman looking back was someone I barely recognized. Dark kohl made my eyes look huge, dangerous as I paired it with deep red lipstick. My hair fell in loose waves and the black dress I wore was slutty. Too short, hitting mid-thigh. Too tight, molding to every curve. The neckline plunged just enough to be suggestive without being obvious.

I looked like the kind of woman who said yes to beautiful strangers in hotel bars.

I didn’t look like the wounded weak omega my father sees. I didn’t look like Ella. Good, because I didn’t want to be Ella.

Tomorrow, I would marry a monster I never met.

But tonight?

Tonight I could be someone else.

I grabbed my keycard and left before I could talk myself out of it.