First Encounter

His hands slid up her thigh.

"So, kitty, you wore the underwear for me?"

She shivered from his touch as his voice crackled near to her ear.

Why did those words curl around my chest so close? What caused my skin to burn from the sound of dominance, said and whispered?

I disliked myself for reacting. I hated how quickly my body betrayed me, how readily my mind followed routes it shouldn’t.

"Ahhh," she panted as the vibrator touched the tip of her wet panties. His fingers began sliding into that area; she felt his touch grazing her clit.

Under my fingers, the pages seemed alive. Hazardous. Addicting.

I understood I should pull back. I continually reminded myself I would stop.

The words, nevertheless, kept dragging me under; each line brought me one more rung down into a universe where rules warped and shame disappeared.

"Aria, Aria," I heard in my head.

I was moving beyond books. I was getting away. Breaking free from the burden of reality, the expectations, the sorrow I had followed like a shadow since Dad died. In a life where I had none, these tales gave me direction.

"Aria!"

My Mom threw a book at me from the front seat.

"What the hell was that for, Mom?" I yelled, annoyed.

"I’ve been calling you for ages! How many times have I warned you about those books you’re always reading?" Mom said, still driving.

"Mom, that was the climax part, shit," I murmured, almost crying.

The words escaped before I could prevent them. My face was hot. I detested how readily my emotions betrayed me—how near tears I always was, feeling too much.

“English, Aria," Mom corrected.

"Whatever, I'm now a college student and I'm eighteen, for Luna's sake," I groaned, closing the book and placing it gently beside me.

Eighteen. Legal. Adult.

Yet still powerless somehow. Still shifting pack to pack, like luggage from location to location.

"You're still that six-year-old Aria to me," she joked.

That version of me used to appeal to me—before everything broke. Before I realized being different made you a target.

"Whatever, just—"

"Yes, we've arrived," she interrupted me, and the car stopped abruptly.

The place looked so unreal, like something carved straight from mythology. The location seemed fantastic. The soaring gates and stone walls emitted power. This wasn't only a dwelling. This was a realm.

“Oh my Moon Goddess, is this the Star Crest Pack?"

My mouth fell open in awe; it was so grand. So mighty, with beautiful gardens.

“No, the pack house is a little bit far from here," she said, pointing in a direction. I didn't even bother to take a look.

"This is the Alpha's residence—your stepdad," she added immediately, averting her eyes away from mine.

I felt my mood spoil a hundred times. She noticed. I came out of the car before she could ruin it any further.

"Aria darling, I'm doing all this for you. You need to go to college," she said, coming out of her car.

"I told you, I would come up with something! You never even told me it was an Alpha you were getting married to. You just hid the truth from me!"

I felt the heat rising in my chest.

"I get it, Dad died a long time ago. We have debts to pay, you wanted a bright future for the both of us, but whenever you did something, did you ever think of my feelings?" I yelled.

The words poured out years of silence, resentment, and grief. I didn’t even recognize my own voice anymore.

“Every f*cking, freaking thing I've been doing was all for your future, so you better respect yourself and put on your best character,” my mom warned.

Like it always did, her power crushed mine without difficulty.

Whatever, this is what she always says—for my future, I thought, taking my school bag out of the car.

“Aria wait, Aria!” she called after me, but I kept walking forward.

Tears spilled from my eyes. My vision became blurry and foggy. For years after Dad's death, we've been changing packs because of one reason, and that reason was me.

I was worthless. I couldn't transform into my wolf. I was nothing in a society where wolves defined value.

In my former high school, I was the perfect scapegoat for bullies—the “nerdy wolfless human,” they all called me. Uninvited, the past crept in, gently wrapping itself around my chest. I wiped my tears off as I kept walking ahead.

I turned. “Oh, I don't even know where I am,” I mumbled.

That's when I heard someone huffing.

The noise was low, annoying, and strong. Not human.

I followed the sound and was shocked to the bone. A tall guy with long, packed hair was stroking his—

Holy shit, I muttered, covering my mouth.

I wanted to leave, but my body refused to move. My eyes studied his movements exactly as I've read in those dark romance books. I was rooted to the ground as fear and fascination intertwined.

“Thump.”

I heard something fall. That was when I realized it was my own heartbeat, because that guy suddenly turned.

Making me see him directly as he walked toward me, completely unashamed of his nakedness.

I was frozen, my breath hitching in my throat. Every dark romance I'd ever read hadn't prepared me for the sheer, suffocating power radiating off him.

“ Were you sent here by James. How many times will I earn that bastard.” He groaned, making my mind wander somewhere dark

“Was it James , Caleb or Sean,I clearly told them I don't want a slut tonight.

“ Slut” I repeated coming out of my dazed self .

“Did you just call me a slut?” I asked , moving closer to him.

Something shattered. Shame became fire

I didn't know the courage that just came over me but my feet were moving before my mind.

Before he could say anything my hands already grabbed his cock.