04

ELARA

His mouth moved against mine smoothly and my body responded before my brain could catch up. Every nerve ending I thought had died two years ago suddenly roared back to life.

I pulled back, breathless. "Wait, I don't even know your name."

"Does it matter?" His thumb traced my lower lip, his golden eyes dark with want. "We both know why we're here."

He thought I was one of those girls they pimp out here. The realization should have made me pull away, should have made me explain the mix-up and leave like I had planned.

Instead, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back down to me.

This time, there was nothing gentle about it. His hands slid down my sides, fingers digging into my hips as he backed me against the booth. I gasped against his mouth, and he took advantage, deepening the kiss until I couldn't remember why I ever wanted to stop.

He sat down on the leather seat and pulled me onto his lap easily. I straddled him, the short dress riding up my thighs, and felt him hard against me through the thin fabric separating us.

"Fuck," he growled against my neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin there. "You smell incredible."

His hands roamed up my bare thighs, squeezing, claiming. I arched into him, my fingers tangling in his hair as his mouth found the curve where my neck met my shoulder. When he bit down gently, my wolf practically purred.

Two years. Two years of being untouched, unwanted, invisible. And now this stranger's hands were everywhere, his mouth hot against my skin, his body responding to mine like I was the only woman in the world.

I rolled my hips against him and heard his sharp intake of breath. His hand slid higher, fingers hooking into the lace of my underwear.

"Here?" I managed to whisper.

"The booth is private." His voice was rough. "Unless you want to stop."

I didn't want to stop. I couldn't remember the last time I wanted anything this badly.

"Don't stop," I breathed.

His fingers found me already wet and ready. He groaned low in his throat. "So responsive."

I bit down on my lip as he circled my clit slowly, building pressure exactly where I needed it. My hips moved against his hand, chasing the sensation, and his other hand gripped my waist, guiding my movements.

"That's it," he murmured against my ear. "Take what you need."

The words sent heat flooding through me. I reached between us, fumbling with his belt, desperate to feel more of him. He helped, freeing himself with quick movements while keeping his fingers working between my legs.

Then he was lifting me slightly, positioning himself, and I was sinking down onto him with a gasp that turned into a moan I couldn't suppress.

He filled me completely, stretched me in a way that was almost too much and exactly right at the same time. For a moment, neither of us moved. His forehead pressed against mine, breathing hard.

"Moon Goddess," he muttered. "You feel perfect."

I started to move, slowly at first, adjusting to the fullness. His hands gripped my hips, helping me find a rhythm. The angle hit something deep inside that made my toes curl in my heels.

"Faster," I whispered, surprising myself.

He didn't need to be told twice. His hips thrust up to meet mine, and suddenly we were moving together, hard and desperate. The sounds of our bodies coming together filled the private space, mixing with my breathless moans and his deep groans.

I buried my face in his neck to muffle the sounds escaping me, but he pulled my head back by my hair, gentle but firm.

"Let me hear you," he commanded, his voice pure Alpha authority that my wolf responded to instantly.

So I did. I stopped holding back, stopped being quiet, stopped pretending I was anything other than a woman finally being touched the way she needed.

His thumb found my clit again while he continued thrusting up into me, and the dual sensation pushed me rapidly toward the edge. My nails dug into his shoulders through his shirt.

"That's it," he encouraged, his own breathing ragged. "Come for me."

The orgasm hit me like a wave, crashing through my entire body. I clenched around him, trembling, crying out as pleasure flooded every nerve. He followed seconds later, his grip tightening on my hips as he buried himself deep and groaned my release into reality.

We stayed like that for a long moment, both breathing hard, bodies still connected. Slowly, reality started creeping back in.

I climbed off his lap on shaky legs, adjusting my dress while he tucked himself back into his pants. The silence felt heavy now, loaded with pure satisfaction.

He stood, running a hand through his disheveled hair, and looked at me with those golden eyes that seemed to see right through me.

"You better be the same person they send next time," he said, his voice still rough from the whole thing.

I wanted to argue, wanted to explain that there wouldn't be a next time, that this was a mistake, a mix-up, a one-time thing I never planned but the words stuck in my throat.

Instead, I just nodded. Then I grabbed my clutch and walked out of the VIP section on trembling legs, not looking back once.

By the time I got home, it was nearly ten. I kicked off my heels the moment I entered my bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, staring at the ceiling with a ridiculous smile I couldn't seem to wipe off my face.

My phone rang. Sophie, of course.

"Tell me everything," she demanded the second I answered. "And don't you dare leave out a single detail."

"Sophie, you are absolutely insane." I was grinning so hard my face hurt. "I cannot believe you actually did that."

"So it was good?" She sounded gleeful. "It was good, wasn't it? I can hear it in your voice."

"It was..." I searched for words and came up empty. "I don't even know how to describe it. It was exactly what I needed and completely insane and I'm never speaking to you again but also thank you."

She laughed. "You're welcome. You deserve to feel good, Elara. You deserve to be wanted."

We were still talking, I told her would the whole mix up and she was even more than glad. Sophie was trying to get me to reveal more details I was absolutely not sharing, when I heard a knock on my door.

I sat up. "Hold on, someone's at my door."

I opened it to find one of the house staff, an older woman named Margaret who has always been kind to me.

"Mrs. Cross, the Alpha is requesting your presence in his office."

My stomach dropped. "Now?"

"Yes, ma'am."

I told Sophie I would call her back and followed Margaret down the hallway, my heart pounding. In two years, Lucian had never summoned me to his office. We had barely spoken beyond the bare minimum required at pack functions.

The door was open. He sat behind his desk, looking every bit the future Alpha in his expensive shirt and perfectly styled hair. He glanced up as I entered.

"Close the door."

I did, then stood there awkwardly, waiting.

He studied me for a long moment, his eyes traveling over my dress, my still-curled hair, the makeup I hadn't bothered removing. Something flickered across his face that might have been surprise.

"You went out tonight." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"You smell different." He leaned back in his chair. "Like someone else."

My cheeks burned, but I kept my face neutral. "Do you need something, Lucian?"

He was quiet for another moment, then sighed like I was exhausting him. "This has been stressful enough, living like this. For both of us."

I didn't respond.

"I think it's time I find my real mate. My real Luna." He pulled open a drawer and retrieved a stack of papers. "Someone worthy of standing beside me as Alpha."

The words should have hurt. Two years ago, they would have destroyed me. Now they just felt like confirmation of what I have always known.

"The debt," he continued, pushing the papers across the desk toward me. "You've been here two years. That's half the agreed time, so consider half the debt paid. One hundred thousand. Your father still owes the other hundred, but I'm willing to give you a reasonable timeframe to handle that on your own."

I stared at the papers, not quite processing.

"What I'm saying is, you can leave." He picked up a pen and held it out to me. "I want a divorce."

The word hung in the air between us. Divorce. Freedom. An end to this nightmare of a marriage that had never really been a marriage at all.

I should feel relieved, this was what I had wanted since the moment he rejected me on our wedding night.

So why did my hand shake as I reached for the pen?

"There are conditions, of course," Lucian added, leaning forward. "You don't speak about our marriage or what went wrong to anyone. Not your friends, not other packs, no one. What happened between us stays between us."

Not like it's interesting information anyway, I thought bitterly. Who would I even tell? Who would care about the rejected mate of Lucian Cross?

"And you can't leave the country," he continued. "I need to know where you are in case any pack business requires your presence during the transition period." He paused. "You can stay in this house for now if you want, until you find somewhere else."

I nodded slowly, stay in this house? As if I could bear another day in these walls that had witnessed my humiliation night after night but I kept my face blank and reached for the pen.

My hand trembled slightly as I signed my name on the line. Elara Hayes not Cross. Never really Cross.

I set the pen down and took a deep breath, letting it fill my lungs completely before releasing it.

"We're done here," Lucian said, already turning his attention back to other papers on his desk.

I stood, smoothing down my dress, and walked toward the door.

My hand touched the handle and I paused for just a second.

I AM FINALLY FREE!!

The thought bloomed in my chest like the first warm day after a long winter.

I pulled open the door and walked out without looking back.