Chapter 0001

Calithea

“What did you say?”

His voice was low and rough, as a flicker of shock crossed his dark eyes. He stared down at me as if the question had come out of the blue.

“I said kiss me,” I repeated courageously, without batting an eye.

But the words had barely left my mouth when he stepped into my personal space, looming over me like a shadow.

A hand went above my head, leaning on the wall as he trapped me in place, the heat radiating from him almost swallowing me whole.

Before I could even gasp, he suddenly leaned down, his face an inch away from mine, as if he wanted to kiss me, but he halted, before his lips could touch mine.

“What?…” I breathed, too stunned to form any words.

A short, breathless chuckle escaped his lips, rolling into a deep, intense laugh.

“You look scared for someone who just demanded a kiss from a stranger.” His voice dropped an octave, sending a wicked pulse of heat straight to my stomach.

He looked intimidating, dangerous, and completely out of my league, but I was long past the point of caring about consequences.

“I’m…I’m not scared,” I squeaked,reeling internally at how easily his close proximity subdued me.

He raised an eyebrow at my words, “Isn’t it a man’s job?” He asked, as his thumb slowly grazed over my lower lip.

A jolt went through my body, my eyes fluttering shut at the warmth of his touch.

“I mean…you have the kind of lips a man would lose his mind over. I find it slightly annoying that you would first ask that of me.”

“Then why did you stop?” I muttered immediately, shocked at my own desperation.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Trust me, my restraint is the only barrier left between us," he whispered, his breath fanning hot against my cheek. "Cross it, and I will have you crying out my name until you forget your own,” A sudden, pool of heat straight to my stomach.

“A lot of big promises for a man who is currently just standing there," I fired back, masking the frantic thumping of my heart with a teasing smile.“And besides I don’t even know your name”

A slow, dangerous smile touched his lips, but his eyes remained entirely serious. "Careful," he murmured, his fingers brushing the sides of my neck, enough to make me catch my breath. "I don’t make promises I can’t keep."

“But you sure you won’t regret this?” he asked, pulling back a bit, and I felt a prick in my chest at the loss of heat.

The sudden warmth in his voice felt like a warning, a final chance to back out. But his words only triggered the deep, burning ache of rejection inside me.

Regret? I had lived in regret all my life.

I had spent years begging for affection from my own father who scorned me for the death of my own mother.

I had to live as the miserable unmarked mate, because Ryden, my fated mate, has refused to mark me, after three years of being with him.

Just hours ago, I had found the neatly folded love letters in Ryden's trunk, letters from another woman. While I was known as the unwanted mate. The woman and daughter no one would ever choose.

“Just kiss me,” I said curtly, not answering his question, wanting to erase the ache searing deep in my chest.

Is he playing hard to get or what?

Slightly pissed at his reluctance, I brought my head forward, wanting to swiftly steal a kiss, but he backed away.

“Not so fast,” he said, his eyes twinkling, as if he was enjoying my impatience. “You are going to ask nicely, like a good little ember that you are,” he whispered slowly against the shell of my ear.

Little ember? I mused, the title sending an illicit shiver down my spine.

“Then maybe I will give you what you want.” His lips hovered a mere breath away from mine, cocking an eyebrow as if testing me.

I felt heat spread round my face, in embarrassment. He is so unbelievable!

“Ple… please, kiss me,” I croaked out, my body rendering itself entirely helpless under his intense gaze.

Yet, as if magic were in my words, his eyes softened, lingering on mine for a while, till he finally leaned down, taking my lips with a gentleness that caught me completely off guard after his commanding behavior.

The kiss was slow at first, restrained, as if he were deliberately holding himself back, which disarmed me.

Even with my hands still in his control, his free hand slowly slid down from the wall to cradle my face, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw.

But a sharp throb of pain shot through my chin at the contact, but I endured the pain with the enthralling sensation of the kiss.

Hours ago, Zirelle, the Beta’s cruel daughter, and future Luna, had clamped her nails brutally into this exact spot, before she banned me from the pack’s grounds.

The sting of her nails was nothing compared to the devastation of finding another woman's love letters in Ryden's trunk later that evening.

I had fled our suffocating house straight to this dangerous tavern, determined to spend one night living like a woman who was actually wanted.

The suffocating memory vanished the second he pulled back from the kiss.

“Is that how you like it, little ember?” he asked, but suddenly a flash of confusion crossed his face as he looked down at me.

Slowly, he released my hands, as a finger caught a stray tear slipping down my cheek, one I hadn't even realized was falling.

“Was the kiss really that good to make you emotional?” A teasing grin at the corner of his lips, “Or have you just never been kissed like that before?”

His questions were harmless, but it dragged me right back down into the reality I was trying to escape.

A sudden surge of defiance flared in my veins. I was here for petty conversations with him.

I suddenly gripped his collar and yanked his face down towards mine, my eyes burning directly into his.

“Quit the questions, and fuck me, will you?" I muttered with a sudden provocation.

The teasing grin vanished at once, replaced by a dark piercing gaze.

In a blur, he grabbed my hands and pinned them effortless above my head.

That’s more like it.

His muscular body pressed tight against mine, forcing me to feel every hard contour of his frame.

“I do not take orders,” he shot back, his voice low and intense, carrying the unmistakable, crushing aura of authority that made my knees weak instantly, not from fear, but from a primal need to submit to him, like a wanton woman I never knew I could be.