Chapter 2

Lyra

The moment my lips crashed against his, I expected him to shove me away, snarl or literally anything else. I didn't expect the universe to literally tilt on its axis.

The second our mouths collided, a violent, crackling shockwave of electricity ripped through my entire body. It was so intense it made my toes curl in my heels.

But it wasn't just a spark. For the first time in what felt like forever, the constant, agonizing stabbing pain in my right kidney simply vanished. The suffocating tightness in my chest unspooled, replaced by a rush of intoxicating warmth.

My eyes fluttered shut as my body practically melted into the sensation, I'd never felt so...whole.

The massive stranger had gone completely stiff beneath me, as if struck by lightning. For a split second, I thought I had made a terrible mistake. But then, a low growl vibrated from him, the sound so deep it practically bypassed my ears and rattled straight against my ribs.

Before I could pull away, his massive hands came up, gripping my waist like iron bands. He pulled me closer, his large fingers digging possessively into my dress as his lips parted, taking total control of the kiss. He deepened it like a starving beast, stealing whatever breath I had left.

I could actually feel his heartbeat stuttering against my chest where we were pressed together. Panic and a strange, wild thrill flared simultaneously in my blood, my mind spinning frantically. Who was this man? Why did his touch feel like something I've been waiting for all my life?

Suddenly remembering where I was, who was watching, and the revenge I was supposed to be executing, I forced my eyes open and summoned every ounce of my willpower to break the kiss.

The moment our lips parted, the freezing air of the ballroom rushed back in, and I immediately felt the ache in my kidney begin to return. My chest was heaving, my lips swollen and tingling with a strange heat.

I looked down at him, and the breath hitched in my throat.

The stranger's ice-blue eyes were practically glowing. His pupils were blown wide, dark and dilated with a terrifying hunger that made my pulse hammer wildly against my neck. His grip remained unyielding on my waist, his thumbs pressing firmly into my sides as if daring me to try and run.

I forced myself to look away from that paralyzing gaze and turned my attention back to the stage.

The entire grand hall was trapped in a suffocating silence. You could have heard a pin drop on the thick carpets. The pack members were staring at me like I had grown a second head, their mouths literally hanging open. A champagne flute slipped from someone’s hand in the third row, shattering against the floor, but nobody even blinked.

An Alpha carrying a second Luna wasn't exactly common but it wasn't uncommon either. But a Luna taking a second Alpha? That was simply unheard of.

On the stage, Julian looked as if he had just been physically gutted.

His golden-boy facade had completely melted away. He was gripping the microphone stand so hard his knuckles were stark white. His face was bloodless, his green eyes wide with a mixture of shock and rage. The humiliation of having his discarded, "barren" wife publicly claim another man had completely shattered his fragile Alpha ego.

Vera was clutching his arm, her gown suddenly looking cheap as she stared at me with wide, terrified eyes.

I didn't let my gaze linger on them for long, straightening my shoulders, and ignoring the trembling in my knees.

"This is him, my new second-husband."

With that confirmation, I didn't wait for Julian to scream. Didn't wait for the Council elders in the front row to object or demand an explanation. I reached down and firmly pried the stranger's massive hands off my waist. It took far more effort than it should have, and a warning rumble ripped from his throat the moment my warmth left him, but I didn't look back.

I turned my back on Alpha Julian, his mistress, his bastard child, and the six years of my life I had wasted. The crowd parted for me in stunned, breathless silence as I walked straight out of the grand hall.

The moment the double doors swung shut behind me, severing me from the gala, the room inside finally exploded. Shouts, gasps, and Julian's enraged roar echoed through the thick walls.

I didn't stop. I kept my head high, walking  out into the cool night air. I climbed into my waiting pack car, and ordered the shocked driver to take me back to the packhouse.

Thirty minutes later, I was standing in the center of the expansive master bedroom I had once shared with Julian.

The adrenaline that had carried me through the ballroom was beginning to crash, leaving me shaking uncontrollably. I dragged a single duffel bag from the back of my closet and began throwing my clothes into it. I bypassed the jewelry boxes, ignored the designer gowns and the expensive furs Julian had bought me for public appearances. I only took the simple clothes I had purchased with my own money before he had drained my life away.

As I zipped the bag shut, the last remnants of the soothing warmth I had absorbed from that stranger’s kiss finally vanished from my bloodstream.

The agonizing pain in my right side returned, hitting me so hard my vision went entirely black for a second.

I gasped, dropping the bag as a wave of nausea washed over me. I stumbled blindly toward the en-suite bathroom, my hands desperately grasping for the doorframe, then the edges of the sink. I gripped the porcelain just in time, my knuckles turning white.

Leaning forward, I coughed violently into it.

When I finally opened my eyes, a thick, gruesome splatter of pitch-black blood stared back at me.

My hands trembled so violently I could barely hold myself upright. The doctors had told me my remaining kidney was failing due to the heavy strain of the original donation, but it shouldn't be this bad. Right?

I turned on the golden faucet, quickly washing the blood down the drain. I also splashed freezing water onto my face, forcing myself to breathe.

I needed that life-saving surgery on the black market, and I needed it now. My timeline had just shrunk drastically. Thank goddess for Julian exposing himself just in time, now I could annul our marriage and request the dowry I'm legally owed.

*BZZZ. BZZZ.*

The harsh vibration of my phone on the vanity made me flinch. I reached out with a shaky hand and tapped the screen to wake it.

It was a text from Julian.

"You think you can humiliate me in front of my entire pack and just walk away? I am the Alpha. You have nothing without me. I've frozen all the pack accounts and your personal cards. Crawl back here, get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness in front of the elders, or die on the streets."

I read the message twice, the glowing words burning into my retinas.

He really thought I was still the weak, submissive, people-pleasing Luna who would break under his threats. He thought freezing my bank accounts would force me into a corner.

I looked up, meeting my own reflection in the mirror. My skin was alarmingly pale, and dark circles bruised the delicate skin under my eyes, but my amber irises were blazing with a fire that hadn't been there in years. The collar of my dress had slipped slightly during my coughing fit, revealing the dark, crescent-shaped tip of a birthmark on my chest.

I grabbed a hand towel, slowly wiped the remaining speck of dark blood from my chin, and tossed it into the hamper.

A cold, razor-sharp smirk touched my lips.

"Watch me.”