Chapter 3: The Beginning of Alpha’s Game

Vick’s POV

“Such a low-life bitch” I whispered under my breath and leaned against the doorframe after Lucy stormed out, her silhouette disappearing into the dark hallway. Blood dripped down the side of my head, but I didn’t even flinch. The pain was temporary. My anger was uncontrollable.

Lucy dared to embarrass me in front of Alpha Ryker.

It was the same Alpha I’d been trying to impress for months. And she dared humiliate me in his presence? Now, Alpha Ryker will see me less of what I had always portrayed because of t..that...thing. L…Lucy, oh Lucy, you had no idea of what you have just done, and I, Alpha Vick, will deal with you.

Furiously, I collected the tissue paper from the hand of the other strippers, and I wiped the blood with the back of my hand, chuckling darkly as I stepped out of Room 39 luxury. I moved quickly and quietly into the corridor, slipping through the shadows of the Club kill air. I knew where she would go. I have kept tabs on her since I noticed her in Club Kill. The moment I saw her break down in that back hallway, I knew she was done and would regret ever daring me.

Just then, her phone rang. I stayed stiff and hid behind a wall of liquor crates, watching her answer. She sounded desperate and restless. “I’ll be there in ten minutes!” she said, breath hitching. With her voice—breaking in fear. It made me smile, and I knew it was time to teach this little rat a lesson she wouldn't forget for a long time.

Alphas like me should never let someone like Lucy feel they have power. Tonight, she thought she had it. Now, I was going to take it all back.

Speedily, I picked up my phone and put a call across. “Yeah, it’s time,” I said frankly. “She’s leaving with the back door. Yes, follow the warehouse route. Make it scary and messy, but not too messy—I want her scared, not dead. Got it, guys?” I ended the call and lit a cigarette, blowing smoke into the night air and feeling fulfilled. I held my head; it was still throbbing from the bottle she smashed across it, but my blood was rushing with something else—revenge and a wicked one at that. This was going to be satisfying, yes, really satisfying.

An hour later, I moved slowly back into my suite, pacing and waiting impatiently for the update. Immediately, I picked up my phone, and the call I had long been waiting for came.

“Boss, it's done. Though she put up a fight,” the guy on the other end said, panting. “But we handled it perfectly well.”

“hahahhah…Good,” I said. “Now disappear from that spot. I want no trace back to me, you got that.”

Still laughing, I ended the call and poured myself a drink. But even after everything, I still didn’t feel satisfied. That girl had been under my skin for too long; one scare wouldn’t cut it. No. I needed something... permanent that would forever put her in her place.

I held my cheek to devise better mischief before I heard a soft knock tapping against my door.

Quickly I turned, halfway expecting one of the dancers, but it wasn’t those cheap slut.

It was him, Ryker. The Alpha himself.

Alpha Ryker stood there, sharp suit and dark aura, calm as ever, staring at me, his appearance often making the air feel heavier.

“Can I come in?” he asked, though it wasn’t a question but a tease.

“Yes,” I replied, stepping aside quickly.

“Are you sure everything is alright?” he questioned with a smirk around his handsome lips.

“I nodded.” He entered without another word and poured himself a drink, his sharp gaze locking onto mine. “Lucy,” is that her name? he said after a beat. It was just her name, and yet it made me freeze.

“What about her?” I said, playing dumb.

“She’s interesting.”

Immediately, I raised a brow. “She’s just a stripper.”

Alpha Ryker chuckled. “Is that what you think?”

Hmmm… yeah. My brows pulled together. “She’s nothing special. Poor, desperate, and lowlife bitch. I said with so much hate written in my voice.

He kept his gaze on me. I’ve seen her file.”

“And she’s not poor,” he said casually, sipping his drink. “She’s an heiress. Last living descendant of the Castellano bloodline, the late Castellano.”

My hand jerked, the glass nearly slipping off my fingers. “You said what?”

“He nodded… Oh, yes. Hidden in plain sight.

Smart move, so she came in here pretending to be a stripper?

She doesn’t even know I’ve found out yet and I don't think she knows.”

Oh boy… This couldn’t be real. Lucy… rich? Do you mean super wealthy?

Alpha Ryker moved closer, his eyes unreadable but determined. “Vick, that’s why I’m here. I need her.”

I stared at him, I didn’t like how he said that.

“For the program?” I was inquisitive to ask.

Yes… He gave a slow, knowing smile. “Among other things. As my surrogate, she’ll be mine for the next nine months.”

H.hahahaha...I laughed bitterly. “Good luck with that. She’s not exactly cooperative, you know.”

“Relax, she will be,” he said, finishing his drink and setting the glass on the table. “Especially once she finds out I’m capable of paying off her brother’s huge hospital bill.”

The room was silent.

“What?” I hissed.

“I will push her to sign the contract as quickly as possible. The moment she finds out her body now belongs to me for the terms of this agreement, well… she won’t have the luxury of refusing me.”

My jaw clenched. “She’ll fight it. I know her very well.”

“Of course,” he said, completely unbothered. “That’s the fun part about all this.”

My fists curled, but I tamed myself. Oh no, he was stealing her. Lucy is mine. No one disrespects me like her and walks away from it. No one. But now she was tied to Ryker. The ruthless Alpha, the dread monster with money, power, and control.

“What can I do now? Unless… I turned the tables and exposed him before she knew what she was. Yes, that's what I will do; I kept meditating silently with my thoughts.

“You sure she doesn’t know about her inheritance?” I asked again.

“Not yet,” Ryker said. “And I intend to keep it that way. If she knows, she’ll bolt out, and that I don't want. We both know she’s got a bite.”

I shook my head; he was right. But the idea of keeping it from her—using that secret like a blade—sparked something dark in me.

I can use that against him; she’d hate him when she found out. And yes, that could work in my favor.

“Anything I can do to help?” I asked smoothly and smiled.

Alpha Ryker looked at me for a long moment before answering. “Just keep an eye on her. But don’t touch.” He said with a warning voice.

Just too late for that, I thought bitterly. But I nodded anyway.

Alpha Ryker left after that, leaving a storm of thoughts he had awakened.

Lucy was no longer just a stripper. She was a threat, a pawn, and now... the most dangerous piece on the board.