3

IRIS’S POV

“Alpha Wolfe. We welcome you officially to the Calder pack,” My father’s voice boomed in the dining room, his gaze sweeping across the room as he raised a glass in honor of the man who sat at the opposite end of the table where I sat.

“The honor is mine,” Darius muttered, raising his glass too.

I had tried to read him since he got here but he was unreadableㅡ apart from the slight shock in his eyes when he saw me, he wasn’t saying anything else again to me. Not even looking at me or acknowledging him.

And for some fucking reason, that bothered me.

Now, hearing that voice angered me. That cool silky voice that brushed over my skin as he told me to cum for him.

That low rasp that filled my ears. My stomach twisted as realization dawned on me. The man I was hooking up with was here to get married to my sister.

Venus was practically glowing beside him, leaning forward so she was almost brushing up on him. “I hope the journey wasn’t too exhausting, Alpha. Our roads are rather… wild.”

Of course, she would try to stake her claim on him. Like anybody would dare to fight her for him.

“It was fine.” His tone was polite, clipped — the kind of tone men used when they didn’t care.

Despite the nonchalance in his demeanor, his eyes flickered toward me, just for a heartbeat. I quickly looked down as our gazes locked, pretending to adjust the napkin in my lap.

His gaze still did something to me. How could it not?

He was right there. Sitting across the table from me. My mystery lover. The man who had tied me down, made me beg, made me forget my own name.

And now my father was smiling at him like a prized ally.

Fucking hell.

“Tell us, Alpha Wolfe,” my mother said, voice light with sickening warmth that I knew was just to get on his good side, “how is the Northern territory? I hear the winters are unforgiving. It’s that time of the year again and I would think that your people are going to be having a hard time with the icy wind.”

He met her gaze evenly. “Harsh, yes. But manageable. My people thrive on discipline.”

“Discipline,” Venus echoed, letting the word roll off her tongue like she was tasting it.

I almost gagged at the sight.

“Father,” she continued, flashing Darius a coy smile while twirling we luscious locks between her fingers, “I think I’d like to see the North someday. I’ve always loved the cold.”

Father chuckled approvingly. “I’m sure you’ll adapt quite well, my dear.”

I stabbed a piece of meat a little too hard and my fork scraped the plate, drawing eyes.

Venus looked at me with a raised brow, her lips pulled down. “Careful, sister. You’ll ruin the plate. You have some problem with it?”

No, I couldn’t just stab the person I had a problem with.

I forced a smile instead. “Oh, I’m sorry. Must be all the excitement.”

Darius’s mouth curved slightly — not a smile, more like something between amusement and curiosity.

I knew he could feel it. The tension that lingered between my family and I and he found it amusing.

The bastard.

Father shot me a glare. “We would not tolerate another disturbance.”

Dessert came by and the meeting was going pretty smoothly with both parties discussing about something that I was no longer paying any attention to.

I was still trying to make sense of everything I had figured out tonight but it all felt too surreal.

I couldn’t stop replaying that last moment from last night.

‘We won’t be meeting tomorrow.’ That’s what he had fucking said and I spent half the night wondering why he said it that way.

He’d said it like he was cutting off a secret affair. Only he hadn’t told me why. And now I knew.

Because he was coming here. For her. To be her fucking husband.

The thought burned alongside the fact that the warlord Alpha Darius had been the one buried inside me almost every night for a year straight.

When dinner ended, Darius rose first. “If you’ll excuse me, Alpha Ronan, I’d like to make a call before our discussion.”

“Of course,” Father said eagerly. “We’ll reconvene in the study shortly. Please take your time.”

He nodded once and strode out, his guards not bothering to follow after him. Something told me he would defend himself quite fine and going against him was a death sentence.

My fingers gripped the edge of my chair and I itched with the different thoughts that ran through my mind.

I should stay here, I should keep my head down and pretend like none of it mattered, but I was already standing because I couldn’t keep it in again.

“I think I’ll get some air,” I murmured.

I don’t think anyone even noticed when I slipped out. At least, no one except Darius’s second handㅡ a smaller man who had been staring at me with a hard expression since the beginning of the dinner.

That could wait. Now, I needed to find Alpha Darius.

The hallway was quiet and I looked through the corridors. Where the hell was he?! He had a lot of explaining to do.

That’s when it hit meㅡ the musky scene of sandalwood that floated through the air. I paused and turned to the small turn in the deserted hallway.

And there he was. Leaning against the railing while looking up at the sky.

“Running already?” His voice cut through the air, jolting me back to reality. “You always leave too soon.”

My throat went dry as I approached him fast. “Don’t.”

He turned slowly, his gaze dark as he covered the distance between us in short strides. “Don’t what?”

I hated how tall he was. How his presence filled the space so completely that I could hardly think.

“Don’t act like this is normal.” My voice cracked, betraying me. “You—you knew who I was.”

“Did I?” His tone was flat, mocking and I hated how stupid I felt for coming out here.

“You did,” I hissed, stepping closer. “All this time—you knew, didn’t you? That I was from this pack. That I—”

He took a step forward, and suddenly we were inches apart. I had to tilt my head to look up at him, my throat running dry by the intensity his gaze carried.

“I didn’t know,” he said quietly. “And even if I had… it wouldn’t have changed anything.”

The cold note in his voice stabbed through me like a knife. “You—” My voice faltered. “You think this is funny? You used me. You—”

He grabbed my chin between his fingers, forcing my gaze up. “You used me just as much, sweetheart.”

The nickname sent a shock through me and I bristled, about to curse him out but he didn’t give me the chance to.

His thumb brushed my lower lip, slow, deliberate. “You didn’t ask my name. You didn’t want to. You just wanted to be fucked hard enough to forget whatever you were running from.”

Heat flared up my neck and I shoved his hand away. “You’re disgusting.”

“Maybe,” he murmured. “But you liked it.”

My heart thundered against my ribs and I hated how my body reacted to his voice, how it remembered the feel of him even when my brain screamed to run.

He leaned closer, breath ghosting over my ear. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m angry.” I countered.

“Then stop trembling like you want me to touch you.” He whispered, fingers tracing a soft line on my cheek.

My nails dug into my palms as I clenched my hands into fists. “You’re engaged to my sister.”

“That wasn’t my idea.” He shrugged, leaning back on his heels.

“You could’ve said no.”

He smiled faintly — a cruel, dangerous smile. “And disappoint your father? Or ruin this lovely alliance he’s so proud of? Honestly I don’t give a fuck but you seem not to understand the meaning of this alliance.”

“Why are you here, Darius?” I whispered. “Really?”

His gaze darkened into something unreadable. “To form an alliance as I said. To make your pack stronger. To do what Alphas do.”

“That’s bullshit.”

He tilted his head slightly. “And yet you still came after me to make sure I wasn’t here for your pretty little pussy.”

My breath caught and the space between us felt like a thread way too tight. Like it would snap if one of us took even a step forward.

“Stay away from me,” I said, even as my pulse betrayed me, hammering in my throat.

His smirk was nothing short of amusing. “I would,” he murmured, “if you stopped looking at me like you still want it.”

That made me freeze. I was suddenly aware of how close we were, the way his gaze raked over my body, undressing me in one sweep.

“Darius…” I said, feeling his name roll off my tongue smoothly. “You are a piece of shit.”

His gaze flared and it felt like his control had snapped. “Wrong fucking answer.”

Then his lips were on mine. Damning. Claiming.

And suddenly, I broke down every wall I foolishly tried to erect, but my next course of action happened too fast before I could register any regrets.