Chapter 2

Lyra

"Wow... that's nice," I said, forcing a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes. If Selena was about to become the Alpha King's bride, then good for her. It wasn't my business, and I had enough problems of my own to worry about.

Mom frowned at my reaction. "Come on, Lyra. You should be happy for your sister. And who knows? Maybe the Moon Goddess will bless you with a wonderful man someday."

I only looked at her without saying a word. She sighed and stepped closer, but suddenly stopped. Her nose twitched once before she inhaled again, more carefully this time. "...This scent."

My heart skipped a beat.

She leaned in, taking another sniff. Her eyes slowly widened as realization dawned on her face. "Lyra..." she whispered, her voice filled with disbelief. "You spent the night with a man?"

I met her stunned gaze.

"You told me you came to the city for a job interview."

"I will explain later." I responded quickly.

Before she could ask another question or stop me, I slipped past her and walked into the house. The moment I entered the living room, I understood why the atmosphere outside had felt so strange.

Several men in perfectly tailored black suits stood around the room like silent guards. Their hands were clasped in front of them, their expressions unreadable as their sharp eyes swept over every corner of the house. Their presence alone made the room feel smaller.

Selena sat on the couch with her head lowered, twisting her fingers together shyly, looking every bit like the picture-perfect daughter. Theo stood proudly behind her, the moment his eyes landed on me, the pride on his face disappeared, replaced by a dark glare.

Wonderful, I'd only been home for less than a minute, and I was already unwelcome.

"There she is," Theo said with a smile that looked polite on the surface but did nothing to hide the disgust in his eyes. "Meet my other daughter." His gaze traveled slowly from my head to my feet before he let out a small chuckle. "The fat one."

The room fell into an awkward silence, I rolled my eyes. Same old Theo. I'd heard far worse from him almost every day for the past fifteen years. At this point, his insults had become part of the household soundtrack. If they burned calories, I'd have been thinner than Selena years ago.

Theo turned his attention to the guest seated with his back to me.

"My King," he said with a respectful bow. "Please forgive her appearance. She takes after her late father."

The man slowly turned around, the instant our eyes met, every bit of color drained from my face. "You..." The word barely left my lips before it died in my throat.

It couldn't be, my pulse began pounding in my ears as I stared at the face, the man who had slept with me all through the night. The man who had rejected me this morning. For a few long seconds, my brain refused to connect the dots. Then it finally did.

Kyon Draven, the Alpha King.

My stomach dropped, I had spent the night with the Alpha King, the crazy one and feral one. The man every pack whispered about.

How on earth had I not realized who he was? His name alone should have been enough, but I had been too distracted. Looking back, his impossible stamina should have been my first clue. No wonder the man had been completely insatiable.

Mom walked into the living room before I could recover from my shock. "Lyra, that's the Alpha King," she said as she stopped beside me. Lowering her voice, she whispered urgently, "Bow and greet him."

"Oh... right. The Alpha King." I quickly lowered my head.

When I straightened again, my eyes found Kyon's, his expression was completely unreadable. There wasn't the slightest hint that we'd spent the previous night tangled in the same bed.

Just coldness, the same icy hostility he had looked at me with after rejecting me this morning. If I hadn't known better, I would have believed we'd never met before.

Theo cleared his throat. "Go and drop your things, then join the maid in the kitchen. The King will be having lunch with us."

Kyon immediately turned to Selena, and the scowl on his face disappeared as though it had never been there. In its place was a warm smile.

My throat tightened, I lowered my head and quietly walked upstairs. When he had thrown that bundle of cash at me that morning as payment for my "service," I hadn't felt nearly as broken as I did now. Back then, I was too stunned to process it.

But this, this hurt. It wasn't because I had fallen in love with him. I barely knew the man. It was the fact that I had spent an entire night with him, only for him to treat me worse than trash a few hours later. Then, as if fate hadn't humiliated me enough already, he showed up at my house to marry my sister.

I let out a quiet, bitter laugh. Maybe there really wasn't any hope for fat girls.The thought followed me all the way to my room.

I shut the door behind me and leaned against it for a brief moment before making my way to the bathroom. You are not crying over him, I told myself as I pulled off my clothes. You are absolutely not crying over that arrogant jerk.

The second the warm water from the shower poured over me, my resolve shattered. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably, mixing with the water until I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

I frowned at my own reflection through the fogged-up glass. Why was I crying? It wasn't like I had fallen for him, he wasn't my mate. He was just an incredibly handsome man with far too much money, too much power, and the title of Alpha King.

A man who had made me feel desired for one night before reminding me exactly where I stood. Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks, I grabbed the sponge and began scrubbing my skin harder than necessary, as though I could erase every trace of him.

Every touch, the rougher I scrubbed, the more my body seemed determined to remember him instead. The lingering ache between my thighs refused to disappear, mocking every desperate stroke of the sponge.

A shaky sob escaped my lips, there was no washing away what had happened. I slowly lowered the sponge, my shoulders trembling as I tried to steady my breathing.

Just then, I heard my bedroom door open, I quickly turned off the shower. Mom or Selena, I assumed. Neither of them had ever believed in knocking before entering my room.

I reached for a towel, wrapped it tightly around myself, and stepped out of the shower with a sigh. Couldn't they let me have one peaceful moment while they entertained their charming Alpha King downstairs?

The bathroom door swung open, I looked up, already preparing myself for another lecture. Instead, my heart nearly stopped, Kyon stepped inside.

My eyes widened in disbelief. "What the hell are you doing here?" I yelled.