Chapter Three

Lyra’s POV

He still doesn't tell me his name or who he is. Instead, he walks me to a convertible parked at the other side of the road, not saying a word until we arrive at a villa on the outskirts of the town.

Beauty doesn’t even begin to describe how it looks, with vines climbing the ceiling-to-floor windows and the flicker of lights coming from a room upstairs.

He leads the way, his tall frame easily towering over me as we walk through a dark hallway. He walks like he owns the room, like everyone bows to him when he appears.

And there is this flicker of power underneath, something that compels me to keep moving, rather than turning around as every rationality screams in me.

But I have nothing to return to.

“Stay here,” he says as we reach the cozy living area. “I’ll be right back.”

It feels like nature is watching us, with all the trees around me. I hear a waterfall crashing in the distance, and my eyes find it at the far corner through the window, breathtakingly imposing.

“You found it,” he murmurs, striding back into the living room. “It was the reason I built this place. I get to watch it in peace.”

“In peace?”

He hands me a glass of water. “Don’t leave a drop in it.”

Nodding, I throw my head back and gulp down its contents, aware of his gaze licking every corner of my skin. It burns where his eyes touch, and I feel something warm in the pit of my stomach.

When I hand him the glass, his fingers graze mine. A jolt of electricity washes through me suddenly, and I jump back. He must have felt it too, but he gives nothing away, still maintaining that cool demeanour that fills me with the need to see beneath it.

“This was a bad idea,” I whisper, my voice coming out husky. He arches a brow, then slides the glass onto the table behind us.

“Lyra…”

“I should go.”

At first, it seems like he is going to argue. But he nods and nudges me towards the door. "My driver will take you back," he says, his hands in his pockets as we reach the doors.

I try to ignore the strange hurt in my chest, but it comes out through my tone. “You’re not taking me yourself.”

He shakes his head. “You said it yourself. This is a bad idea.”

“Will you tell me your name?”

His gaze washes through my features, and with the light flickering behind him, he looks so ethereal that it leaves a hitch in my throat.

He moves slowly, stalking me like a predator until my back hits the wall next to the door. His eyes fall on my lips, just as I hear a click next to me. The dense air from the hallway creeps into the living room.

“Go, Lyra. Leave while you can.”

I stare up at him with huge eyes, unable to move an inch.

"Lyra," he breathes, my name falling from his lips like a whisper on a rainy day. "I don't think I will be able to let you go if you stay here for another minute, and I can't guarantee what will happen next."

My hands reach for the door, and I slam it shut, still looking at him.

His eyes grow even darker, and I barely recover from that before his mouth crashes hard into mine. My back is arched, and my legs pressed to the wall, and his tongue finds mine. I have never been kissed before, yet I can tell that this is far from soft and sweet.

He kisses me like he is missing something. Like he wants to lay a claim on me and watch the whole world burn from the aftermath of his decision. I kiss him back with all I have in me, my kisses made sloppy because of the liquor.

 But he doesn’t seem to mind as he lifts me into the air. Instinctively, I wrap my legs around his waist as he moves back to the window, from where we can see the waterfall. My body is pinned between the window and him as his lips devour me, leaving only heat in his wake.

I angle my head as his lips trail down my nape. I feel it in my core, my thighs pressed against each other, and my back arched into him. I try to tell myself why this is wrong, but all I can think of is the man in front of me, as he has consumed every fragment of my being.

One hand hooks around my waist, pulling me impossibly closer to him. A moan slips free from my lips as his other hand cups my boobs through my shirt. My head falls back when his hand slips lower, allowing the wave of passion to hit me.

A delicious ripple goes up my spine as he turns me around suddenly so that I am looking out into the night. He rips my clothes off me in one go, and the cool air caresses my skin. But the chill doesn’t last as his hands find my naked frame.

My breath rages all around me, as his hands roam my skin, touching me in places I never knew were possible. And when he buries himself inside me, a loud gasp finds its way out of my lips.

“Fuck!” He whispers. “You are a virgin.”

I don't trust my lips to say anything coherent, but I nod. He lifts me again and takes me to the bedroom, lowering me into the bed. My hand wound around the fist, and the other buries in the thick strands of his hair as he thrusts.

Nothing makes sense in this moment, other than this. I feel every part of my body quiver as a blind wave of intense passion hits. I hear a scream in the room, but I am not sure if it is from me.

Hours later, at the crack of dawn, I am sheathed in his arms, staring up at his flawless face. My brain nudges at me, as the familiarity I didn’t realize last night begins to return.

My eyes widen as I push off him suddenly.

I just had sex with my mate's father. Alpha Kael, the Alpha of the Mystic Hollows Pack. This is all Aiden's plan. I can't believe I was so foolish as to fall for it.

Slipping out of bed, I try to find my clothes on the floor, but come up with nothing. I remember he took them off in the living room and I make to go out.

But my feet halt again when I see the glow on his neck again, this time, brighter. It is coming from something that looks like a crest, but in a half-moon shape. The closer I get to it, the brighter it glows.

I reach out slowly, unable to stop myself as I take it off him.

And then, I vanish.