Chapter 6

DANE.

This car ride was hell, and the road ahead stretched endlessly, two more hours that felt like a punishment I couldn’t escape. Every mile made my chest tighter, every turn a reminder of the storm inside me.

The mate-bond—it wasn’t just a pull. It was a wildfire, scorching my mind, igniting every nerve, sending heat crawling under my skin. Her scent—raspberries swirled with cream, warm and tempting—slipped into my lungs with every forced breath. It lingered there, clinging, and my body screamed to inhale deeper. I wanted to taste it, to be lost in it, but I clenched my jaw, forced shallow breaths, and tried to focus.

I couldn’t lose control. Not here. Not now.

She was a weapon. Every curve of her body, every subtle sway of her movement was designed to unravel men. Long blonde hair that would look great wrapped around my fist, tits the perfect size to fuck, ass and hips carved to tease and challenge, skin soft but firm, begging to be claimed. She was everything I wanted to touch, to possess, to conquer—and I hated that I felt it.

Her title—Luna—meant nothing. It was a name, a piece of paper. It didn’t give her power over me. She wasn’t my equal. And she never would be.

Aria Morgan wasn’t someone to love. She was collateral damage. A pawn. A tool in a plan I had built for years. And when it was done, she would be discarded. A rejected mate, unwanted, untouchable.

Some would call me a heartless monster. Fine. Let them call me that. I didn’t give a fuck what anyone thought about me.

‘Obviously,’ Jericho’s voice growled in my mind, low and sharp. ‘Just remember that you reap what you sow.’

‘And I want you to remember that we’re doing this for a reason.’

All of it, everything I was doing, everything that I’d already done, it was all for Sam.

Even now, years later, the memory of his loss struck like a steel fist to my ribs. Failing wasn’t in my nature. But failing Sam—my little brother—had hollowed me out in a way nothing else could. Our parents hadn’t been here for two years, choosing travel and distraction over grief. I knew that they were suffering, but they weren’t the only ones.

I hadn’t just lost my brother. I lost the rest of my family too. It was just another life lesson to learn. Nothing was permanent.

‘Have you paid yet?’ I asked Jerome, impatient to get back on the road. The faster that we got back to the pack, the faster I could get out of her presence.

‘We’re coming out now. She gave me a Luna command so she could pay for herself,’ Jerome said cautiously.

A lesson would be learned if she thought that she could get away with shit like that.

“Cute trick with the Luna command so that you could buy junk food,” I told her as she slid into the car.

Her eyes flared—gray fire against pale skin—and she corrected me, listing what she had purchased. I saw the brief sting of my assumption, the subtle shift of her jaw. She was probably used to people judging her based on looks alone. Having curves and a larger physique didn’t necessarily equate to being unhealthy.

I said nothing in response and silence settled over us like a weight. She needed boundaries. I wouldn’t apologize.

The rest of the drive was a blur, punctuated by the pull of her presence in my chest, Jericho’s sharp irritation thrumming against my skull.

Later, when I revealed the truth about her mother, she exploded. Anger, grief, disbelief all flashed across her delicate features, her voice rising. I promised she would regret testing me again. The whip would serve as a warning—and perhaps a reminder that boundaries could kill desire if crossed.

Being fated to a Morgan made my blood boil. Collateral. That was all she was. When revenge was complete, she would be discarded, left to wander like a ghost, unwanted and untouchable.

Jericho growled in frustration, sharp and low. He hated this contract from the start. Now, with a fated mate tangled in the mix, his fury sharpened.

‘Shut up, fuckhead. I’ve always wanted my mate. I agreed to let you play with your whores until our mate came along. You gave me your word that there’d be no more of them once we found her. It was something that YOU agreed to. That is one line that I won’t let you cross. You already know the consequences of it if you do,’ he warned me.

‘Are you seriously threatening me? Over her – a mate who jumped at the chance to become a stranger’s chosen mate, knowing that his mark would’ve made it impossible to find her fated mate? A mate that just so happens to be you.’

He seethed when Jason described her eagerness to sign.

‘Yeah, she really seems eager,’ he said mockingly. ‘Let me guess, she also strikes you as the type who wouldn’t break the contract conditions, knowing that she’d lose the sizeable funds that she’ll gain access to as long as she plays by your rules.’

What was he on about?

Jericho sighed as if this conversation was exhausting.

‘It’s not this conversation that’s exhausting,’ he muttered under his breath, deciding to just show me what he meant.

Perhaps I had been too focused on suppressing the mate-bond while holding a tight rein on my control. I re-fucking-fused to ever let her think that she had anything that I wanted.

I saw what he meant. She really hadn’t acted like Jason had led me to believe that she would. Perhaps she was just playing hard to get? This wouldn’t be the first time that chicks had done it.

‘She agreed that her father had told her what was at stake. She knows about the money,’ I pointed out.

‘Yes, to the first part. What’s to say that was what she was referring to? Perhaps he laid down his own stipulations. He wouldn’t want this deal to fall through because it’ll provide the resources to keep Morgan Enterprises afloat after the losses that he’s been suffering. C’mon, Dane. Just because we’ve dealt with sharks bigger than him doesn’t mean that he isn’t a shark himself.’

In our shared mindspace, he stood up at his full height, leveling me with a look that commanded my attention.

‘But let’s circle back to my earlier comment. Yes, I’ll leave you if you dare to fuck a whore while there is still an intact mate-bond. I’m not saying to be head-over-heels for her or anything, but you will not disrespect the bond that way because of the immense agony that it’d cause her. I’m not thrilled about her being a Morgan either, but I do trust my Goddess.’

He shut me out after he said that, leaving me to thoughts that were louder than ever before.

The pack, however, thrived on the news of Aria’s Luna title. I could feel their joy crawling over me through the bond, jagged and electric. They’d waited years for this.

Aria smiled, warm, perfect, but I could see the subtle ache beneath her act.

Next, she was introduced to my Beta, Adam, Gamma, Finch, and his mate, Bex.

“It’s so nice to meet all of you,” she said, smiling. “I know that it’ll be a transition for me to learn how this pack runs, but I promise to do my best. I’m excited at this new opportunity that fate decided to put in my path.”

At least she was a good actress. It’d make it that much easier to keep this act up.

Adam and Finch studied her with keen observation, just like they did with anyone new. Aria seemed to meet their approval, as could be seen by the genuine smiles on their faces as they greeted her. Bex was the excited one, thrilled that she was no longer the only female. It had been two years since she joined leadership but had been a trooper.

“Can you set her up in the room right next to mine?” I asked, interrupting their conversation. “I agreed that we could take this slowly as she settles in.”

There’s no telling if the blush on her cheeks was part of her act or not.

Bex grinned widely, linked arms with Aria, and walked off. Bex was the type of person that could make anyone feel welcome.

The guys told me that there was something in my office that had been recently delivered and was urgent. That didn’t sound good.

I sat down at my desk and opened the envelope that Adam handed to me.

My blood boiled as I flipped through the contents, elevating into full-blow fury when I got an article that detailed the death of a legend – Samuel Holden.

I slammed the desk. Heart hammering, chest raw. “Who the fuck sent this?”