2

Chapter 2

Aria's POV

The club was packed.

The music hit me the second I walked through the door. It was deep and heavy‚ the kind of bass you felt in your chest before you heard it in your ears. The whole place was dark except for the neon lights that pulsed in blue and purple across the dance floor. Bodies were everywhere‚ moving‚ grinding‚ pressed together in the haze of smoke and sweat. And every single person was wearing a mask.

Humans‚ wolves‚ vampires — I could smell the different mundane and supernatural signatures mixing together in the air. This was a place where species didn't matter and rank didn't exist. Nobody cared who you were outside these walls.

I found Silvia near the bar. She was wearing a silver mask and a black dress that barely covered anything‚ and she already had two drinks in her hands.

"Aria!" she squealed‚ pulling me into a hug and shoving a glass into my hand. "You look fucking insane in that dress. Like actually insane. Every guy in here is going to lose his mind."

"That's the plan‚" I said‚ taking a long sip of whatever she'd handed me. It was strong and sweet and burned on the way down.

"Bad night?" she asked‚ reading my face even through the mask.

"Ughhhhhh! My mom got caught cheating again. Kael found out she's been meeting some guy at a hotel every Thursday."

Silvia winced. "Again? Shit‚ Aria. How many is that now?"

"I stopped counting after four."

"Your mom is wild. Like actually wild. Kael is literally the hottest Alpha in the city and she's out here cheating on him with randoms? Make it make sense."

"It doesn't make sense. None of it makes sense. That's why I'm here. I don't want to think about any of it tonight."

"Then we won't‚" Silvia said firmly‚ clinking her glass against mine. "Tonight we drink‚ we dance‚ and if you see a hot guy‚ you grab him and don't let go. Deal?"

"Deal."

We drank. We danced. Silvia found some tall guy with broad shoulders and a wolf mask within twenty minutes and disappeared into the crowd with him‚ leaving me at the bar with my third drink and a buzz that was starting to feel really good.

I leaned against the bar and watched the room. People were making out in corners. A couple by the pool area had given up on being subtle and the girl was literally in the guy's lap with her dress hiked up while he gripped her thighs. Nobody batted an eye. That was The Veil. No judgment. No rules.

And that's when I saw him.

He was sitting in the VIP section on a leather couch‚ alone‚ with a glass of something dark in his hand. He was wearing a full face mask in black and gold and a tailored dark suit that fit him like it was sewn onto his body. His tie was slightly loosened and the top button of his shirt was undone‚ and he was just sitting there drinking and staring at nothing as if the entire club didn't exist around him.

Who the hell wears a suit to a masked club party?

This man. That's who. And he was so fucking hot that I almost choked on my drink.

It wasn't just the suit or the body underneath it‚ which was clearly built and solid even while he was sitting down. It was the way he carried himself. Even sitting on a couch in a dark club‚ he had this energy around him that screamed power and authority. Like he owned the room and everyone in it knew it.

I couldn't see his face behind the mask but I didn't care. Something about him pulled me in as if there was an invisible thread tied between us and it was getting tighter with every second I stared at him.

He looked lost. Like he'd come here to disappear for a while and the alcohol wasn't doing the job fast enough.

I knew that feeling. I was feeling it right now.

Maybe it was the three drinks. Maybe it was the mask making me brave. Maybe it was the fact that tonight I wasn't Aria and he wasn't whoever he was and nothing that happened inside these walls would follow us out. But I set my drink down on the bar‚ fixed my dress‚ and walked straight toward him.

He noticed me coming. His head tilted slightly as I approached‚ and even behind the mask I could feel his eyes tracing down my body from the neckline of my dress to the heels on my feet and back up again. He didn't move. He just watched me walk up to him like he'd been waiting for someone to be bold enough to do it.

I stopped right in front of him and looked down at him on the couch.

"You look like you're having the worst night of your life‚" I said.

"Top three‚" he replied‚ and his voice was deep and smooth with this rough edge underneath it that made my stomach flip. "Yours?"

"Same."

"Then we have something in common."

I smiled and reached down to grab his tie. I pulled it gently‚ leaning closer to him until my mouth was right next to his ear. I could smell him now. Something expensive and masculine‚ like pine and cedar and leather‚ and underneath it the unmistakable scent of an Alpha wolf. A powerful one.

"I think you and I could help each other forget‚" I whispered against his ear.

I felt his face twitch beneath the mask as if he was smiling. His hand came up and landed on my hip‚ warm and heavy‚ and his thumb pressed against the fabric of my dress right where my skin was burning underneath.

"Is that right?" he murmured.

"Mm-hmm."

"And what exactly did you have in mind?"

I didn't answer with words. I turned around and sat right on his lap‚ pressing my ass against him while I leaned back against his chest. His breath caught. I could feel it against my neck. And I could feel something else too‚ him getting hard underneath me as I rolled my hips in a slow circle.

"Fuck‚" he breathed‚ and his hands gripped both my hips to hold me in place. Not to stop me. To keep me going.

I ground against him while the music pounded around us and the club moved in a blur of bodies and lights. He was so hard underneath me now that I could feel every inch of him through his pants and my thin dress‚ and the friction was making my breath come faster. I leaned my head back against his shoulder and moaned softly against his neck while I kept grinding‚ feeling him grow even harder.

"You don't even know my name‚" he said‚ his voice strained.

"That's the point‚" I whispered. "No names tonight."

His grip on my hips tightened. "You're dangerous."

"So are you."

Around us the club was alive with people doing far worse than what we were doing. In the pool area a girl was riding some guy in the water. In the corner booth a couple was full-on fucking with her legs wrapped around his waist. Nobody cared. Nobody watched. Everyone was too busy losing themselves to notice two strangers grinding in the VIP section.

But it wasn't enough.

"I want you‚" I whispered against his neck‚ and the words came out bolder than I felt‚ but the mask made me brave and the alcohol made me honest.

He grabbed my chin gently and turned my face toward his. Even through both our masks I could feel the intensity of his eyes burning into mine.

"You sure about that?" he asked‚ low and serious.

"I've never been more sure about anything."

He stared at me for another second and then something shifted behind his mask as if he'd been fighting a war with himself and just lost.

"Let's get a room‚" he said.