Chapter 6: The Lycan King’s Bargain

KIERA'S POV

I could tell that my heart had significantly stopped beating.

The name kept echoing in my head like a death sentence.

Alistair.

The Lycan King.

The same man Rafael had spoken about with a mix of fear and greedy hunger in his voice.

The one they called a murderer. The unpredictable monster from the North. And now I was naked in his arms, my body was  stillaching from how deeply he had taken me and his scent was plastered all over my skin.

I tried to sit up again, but his arm felt like iron around my waist.

“Let me go,” I whispered, my voice shaking so badly it barely sounded like mine.

Alistair’s golden eyes gleamed in the dim morning light that already started filtering through the heavy curtains.

A dangerous smirk formed slowly on his lips, the same lips that had been everywhere on me just hours ago. He looked completely relaxed, like he owned the entire world and everyone in it.

“Little omega,” he murmured, his voice was low and a little rough from sleep. “You weren’t complaining last night when you were begging me to fuck you harder.”

I felt my face heat up in embarrassment so fierce that I wished the ground would open up and swallow me.

I remembered everything. The way I had moaned like a desperate whore. The way I had cried Rafael’s name by mistake and how Alistair had only driven into me deeper, punishing me with pleasure.

The way my nails had dug into his back as I came apart underneath him.

I hated myself.

“I was drunk,” I said weakly, trying to pull the sheet over my breasts. “I didn’t know who you were.”

“You knew enough,” he replied calmly. His fingers traced lazy circles on my bare hip, sending unwanted sparks through my body. “You knew I wasn’t your pathetic excuse of a husband and that was all that mattered.”

Tears formed in my eyes again. I turned my face away from him, staring at the luxurious hotel suite. Everything in here screamed power and money.

The massive bed, the dark elegant furniture, the faint scent of lavender and danger.

I felt so small. So stupid. So used.

“I need to leave,” I choked out. “Please. This was a mistake. A horrible mistake, that I think we shouldn't talk about.”

Alistair finally released his grip, but only enough for me to sit up. I quickly wrapped the sheet around my body, clutching it like my life depended on it, which at this point it did.

My long black hair was a tangled mess down my back, and my thighs still carried faint marks from his hands.

He sat up too and the sheets fell down to his waist, revealing his heavily muscled chest.

There were scars across his skin like stories of battles I didn’t want to know about. He looked exactly like what everyone whispered about him—the human embodiment of death.

“You’re not leaving yet, Kiera,” he said. The way he said my name sent a chill down my spine. He knew everything. He had known from the moment I bumped into him.

I swallowed hard. “Why are you doing this? Why me?”

He watched me silently for a long moment, those piercing golden eyes stripping me naked all over again.

“I can give you what you want,” he finally said. “Revenge. Your pack. Your title. I can destroy Rafael and your sister. I can make them suffer the way they made you suffer.”

My breath got stuck in my throat.

For one weak second, the offer felt like a chance towards redemption. I remembered Rafael’s groans, Alice’s laughter, theway they had called me pathetic, useless, and fat.

The way they planned to strip me of everything while I was still alive to watch.

But nothing in this world came free.

“What do you want in return?” I asked in a whispery tone.

Alistair leaned forward slightly. “Marry me.”

His words felt like a physical blow to my face. I stared at him in disbelief, as my eyes widened with shock.

“You’re insane,” I breathed. “I just caught my husband cheating on me yesterday. I’m still legally married. And you….you want me to marry you?”

“I don’t care about your weak little mate,” he said coldly. “He is nothing but a rodent pretending to be an Alpha. Marry me, and I will crush him. I will hand you his head if you ask nicely.”

I shook my head, finally letting the tears fall  down my cheeks. “I can’t. I won’t trust another powerful man. Not after what he did to me. I refuse to be used again.”

Alistair’s expression didn’t soften. If anything, it grew colder.

“You don’t have a choice, little omega. Rafael is already looking for those documents. Your sister is probably spreading her legs for him right now while they laugh about how stupid you are. Without me, you will lose everything. Your pack. Your home. Your future. And they will throw you out like garbage.”

Every word hurt me more than the last, because they were true.

I remembered my father’s warnings. All the times I had ignored the red flags because Rafael made me feel wanted for the first time in my life. And now look at me—naked in a stranger’s bed, broken and cornered.

“I just wanted to be loved,” I whispered brokenly, hugging the sheet tighter around myself. “That’s all. Why is that so much to ask?”

Alistair stood up from the bed, completely naked and unbothered. He walked to the window, staring out at the city like he owned it.

“Love is a weakness,” he said flatly. “It makes people like you easy to destroy. Power is the only thing that matters. Marry me, and I will give you power. The kind no one will ever take from you again.”

I stared at his broad back, my mind spinning with multiple thoughts.

Last night I had let this man inside my body. I had cried in his arms while he fucked the pain away. And now he was offering me a deal that had literal chains on it. Another cage. Another man who wanted to use me for his own gain.

“What if I say no?” I asked quietly.

He turned to face me. The look in his eyes made my weak wolf whimper inside me.

“Then I will form the alliance with Rafael. I will give him the resources and protection he needs. And I will watch as he strips you of everything while I take what I want from your bloodline.”

My blood ran cold.

I felt trapped and suffocated. The same way I had felt standing outside my office door watching my husband fuck my sister.

Alistair walked closer until he was standing right in front of me. He tilted my chin up with one finger, forcing me to meet his terrifying gaze.

“Tonight, Kiera. You have until tonight to decide.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine—a mocking, possessive kiss that made my body betray me.

Then he pulled back and headed for the bathroom like he hadn’t just taken what was left of my world.

I sat there on the edge of the bed, with the sheet clutched desperately around my body and tears streaming silently down my face.

I had run from one monster straight into the arms of the devil himself.

And this time, I had no way of escape.