* * * * *“I reject her. Now get her out of my sight.”The Alpha King’s words lash out in the air like a whip, sharp and shocking. I’m kneeling on the dais, the black veil on my head blocking nearly everything from my sight apart from the view of everyone’s shoes.I’m in the throne room, surrounded by all the Alphas of the land. Their laughter rings in the air as the King drops his verdict.“I knew that girl was going to be rejected. She’s skin and bones.”“And from what I heard, she might also be half-Human.”“Silence!” The Alpha King commands, getting to his feet and staring down at me. The light moves over his face, giving me a glimpse of his handsome features. His gray eyes are practically glowing in the dark, but the rest of his face is still hidden in shadow. “Step away from the throne now. I have no need for you—”“No.”It just slipped out of my mouth. I clench my hands, surprised at my own daring.But what else can I do? I have been prepped for this exact moment, bred and groom
SIX YEARS LATER.MONICA.I need money. Of course I’m going to take it.The lights in the club dim down as the song approaches its end. I lie across the stage, sinking my nearly naked body on the sheet of dollar bills lying on the shiny floor.A smile is on my face, that ‘fuck me’ smirk that all the men here love. They all holler, making it rain, and I bask in it for one more moment before sweeping my loot into my arms.I like to think that I’m some sort of a bandit, a temptress who takes what she wants from men who don’t know any better. All to distract myself from the fact that I’m just a desperate stripper, spinning on a pole nearly every night in front of men who very well know that I’d do just about anything for cash.Stepping away from the spotlight to give way to the next girl, I head to the backstage to put my money into the counter.Andy comes in immediately, because god forbid any girl here takes a dollar more than their share.“The cash is all here,” I tell her, holding my a
MONICA.Freezing in front of the client is something that Andy would consider a disgrace. In that regard, I have a clear track record.Until now.I’m completely petrified on the man’s lap. I can feel the tip of his cock rubbing against my ass, and it feels… good. I don’t know why the hell it feels good, because right now I should be disgusted. But I’m not.In fact, I can feel my pussy getting wet.This hasn’t happened before. Not with any client, not with any man I’ve dated. Sure, I can chalk this up to the fact that I haven’t had sex in a very long time due to not being in a relationship, but this is just bizarre.What is this man doing to me?“Sir,” I manage to croak. My face heats up just feeling how big and girthy he is under there. “Sir, I need to—”He cups my chin and makes me look at him. The rest of my words peter out into a gasp when I see his face up close.He’s… handsome. Too handsome, in a way. Almost painfully angelic. His lips are well-shaped, his nose straight, and his
MONICA.Nausea crawls up my throat. My ecstasy screeches into a deadly halt, taking my heart along with it.I leap out of the man’s lap like a scalded animal, rushing towards the door without bothering to cover myself up. The metallic scent of blood somehow stuck to my nose, and every breath is now touched by it.“Hey,” he starts to say, but I got no interest to spare him.Struck with mindless panic, I burst out into the hallway. There’s a bathroom in the corner, and I lock myself in there, hoping against hope that the man won’t follow me here.I press my back against the door, closing my eyes.What the hell was that?Why would he have fresh blood on his sleeve?He was hiding it. It was his shirt that had the blood, and surely he has seen that before he put his jacket on.Was he the one bleeding?Or did he hurt somebody?The worst thought suddenly strikes me.What if he killed someone?A shudder creeps on my body. I wrap my arms around myself. I can’t believe I got myself in this situ
ROMAN.“What the hell are you doing?”August’s voice is the first thing that greets me as I walk through the doors. Don’t get me wrong, August is my friend and he’s usually a pleasant presence, but right now I just want him to leave me alone. Unfortunately for me, he follows me even to my chambers.I exhale sharply. “Come on, Auggie. Don’t you think it’s a bit weird that you followed me all the way to my bedroom?”“I only did that because you’ve been gone all day!” he hisses, closing the door behind him. “Do you know what hell I’ve gone through dealing with the Alphas asking where the hell the King is on his thirtieth birthday? I was tempted to put on your armor and pretend you want to joust or something!”A grin etches on my lips. “That would have been fun to see.”“This is serious, Roman.” August’s face turns dark. When he calls me by my name and not my title, I do know that it’s indeed serious. “Every Alpha was angry and they were demanding answers about the north.”Immediately, my
MONICA.“Someone’s looking rough,” is the first thing I hear when I walk into the girls’ longue.Needless to say, it pulls me back down to earth. I look around to see which one of the girls said that, but only one of them is laughing. I roll my eyes. Of course it’s Elvira. No one else will hate me more than this woman does.Actually, I don’t know her real name. In fact, we don’t really know each other at all. We got hired around the same time and that was enough for her to start a rivalry with me. Every time we get out there, it’s always a competition on who gets to earn more. It gets vicious too. I remember her almost smashing a glass on my feet because she was so mad I earned exactly a hundred dollars more.Why’s it been like this? I don’t really know. I don’t think anyone here does. Elvira just hates my guts.She’s ironing her long black hair now, staring at me through the mirror. The other girls are silent, backing away into the corners. They don’t exactly like her, but they’re al
MONICA.“I’m sorry to interrupt,” the man says in his smooth voice. “I can’t help but overhear, but you should really let her go.”My breath hitches in my throat. I expect Manny to tighten his grip on me just to reinforce his dominance, but he doesn’t. Slowly, he lets go of me, turning his gaze to the man. At this point, I don’t know who I should run away from.The man is even more attractive under good light, to the point where it’s almost unfair. He’s wearing a dark gray shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his heavily tattooed arm. The fabric clung to his torso nicely, emphasizing every angle. His hair is slicked back this time, his face clear for me to see. His eyes are unbelievably gray from this angle, the prominence of his black pupils making him look like a wolf.I draw in a breath when he looks at me. It’s a mere glance but it’s almost like he can see through me.“Prince charming comes to save the day, huh?” Manny chuckles. “Gotta admit, didn’t expect you to be the typ
MONICA.The darkness has spread around my vision, making it look like everything is being swallowed in black smoke. I shake my head, both as an answer to Elvira and an attempt to get rid of the haze.“No?” Elvira mocks, her heels clacking on the tiled floor as she saunters towards me. “You think it’s a request?”“I think you should leave me alone.” My lips barely move. “Please. Just go.”Her laughter echoes on the walls. “Don’t be stupid, Red. We both know that that man should have been mine. I saw him first when he came here. Andy told me to entertain him, but for some reason, you ended up alone with him in that private room.”My hands tighten against the sides of the sink. I look at her through her reflection on the mirror. Her almond eyes are scorching with anger, even with that pretty little smile on her face.“Andy told me that he asked for me specifically,” I try to explain, closing my eyes momentarily to drown the drumming pain in my temples. “I didn’t take him from you. I didn’
MONICA.“I did.” My voice is barely a whisper as lean back.The bathtub isn’t as big as I thought. Or maybe Roman is just bigger than I anticipated. His stiff length is rubbing against me, and my pussy just aches. It seems that he doesn’t mind being hard, though. Because he just folds his big arms over my stomach and rests his palms on my skin, tracing my waist down to my thighs and up again on my shoulders.“This is nice,” I say in an attempt to distract myself.“Mm.” The sound is a rumble in his chest. He starts to squeeze my shoulders. “You’re very tight here. You’re stressed the fuck out.”Roman gently digs his thumbs into the muscles, pushing the tension out. I close my eyes, feeling him work me, when I suddenly get struck by a thought.This is by far the most intimate thing I have ever done with anyone.And it makes me smile.“Feel better?” Roman asks, angling his head to look at me. When I nod, he places a kiss on my shoulder and drags his hands back to my waist again, his thum
MONICA.Something pierces through my consciousness, breaking through the darkness that’s been surrounding me for what feels like hours now. It’s a sharp pain in my chest, going right through my heart like a deliberate stab.I gasp, my eyes flashing open. There’s no gentle fluttering. No slow introduction to being awake again. It’s almost mechanical.I’m still expecting myself to be down there in the dark hallway with that strange woman Cassandra, but instead I’m in a huge bedroom with tall windows that reach the high ceiling. The Manhattan skyline spreads before me, illuminated by the stark morning light. I’m on a bed with dark blue sheets that smell like pine and mint and something clean like soap.“Hello?” I call out.Did someone take me home?Wait… did my stalker take me home?My chest constricts with panic. I jump out of the bed, almost crashing against the nightstand, realizing that I’m still wearing the coffee-stained shirt from yesterday. I search around the huge space and see
ROMAN.I pull up a light blue summer dress, instantly picturing Monica in it. I look up excitedly, smiling as I turn to the spot where she’s standing. “Monica, take a look at….”All my words come to a screeching halt. Monica is nowhere to be seen in the store. In fact, the store appears to be empty now, and the only thing left on her aisle was the basket she was holding.My arms go slack, the clothes hanging on them falling to the floor. I race to her aisle, keeping my eyes peeled in case she just moved to a different spot. But I’m wrong. She’s actually nowhere to be found at all. Wind blows into the shop, and with it is the unmistakable scent of a she-wolf.Cassandra.How on earth didn’t I notice it before? I’m punishing myself mentally, angry that I wasn’t able to clock it early. I should have seen this coming. After all, this is Cassandra we’re talking about. She’s hateful, down to her very core.And she was never one to distance herself from Humans in the name of adventure.My c
MONICA.“Is everything okay?”Roman’s voice once again appears in my consciousness, this time in the form of what seems to he his normal self. I’m pulled out of the darkness, and with one blink, I’m back in the hotel room, safe in his arms.“What’s going on?” He cups my chin and inspects me closely. “You just kind of… disappeared for a second.”My tongue is like sandpaper. I can’t even swallow normally. “That happens sometimes. That’s why I was seeing Dr. Martin. It’s not as bad as this, usually. I’m so sorry.”“Don’t be.”Roman gets up and looks for water in the room. He finds a chilled bottle in the rusty fridge and inspects it under the light before cracking it open and bringing it to my lips. I take a sip, and that seems to do the trick.However, I can’t get rid of the gooseflesh covering my body. That felt so real, almost like I’m uncovering some kind of secret memory instead of suffering from a blackout.“Thank you,” I whisper as he sits next to me and rubs my back. “I should pr
MONICA.There’s nothing left to gather in that apartment. Everything has been destroyed. The only thing left are the clothes on my back, and even then it feels like too much.I never thought I would get kicked out of a shitty apartment in complete shame, but here I am, walking out with time slowed down to a painful degree. Every look. Every whisper. Every scowl aimed at my direction. I feel them all.“I can’t believe she refused that,” Roman was ranting as he helps me into his car and drives away. “Well, it wasn’t a good place anyway. You could do much better. It’s not great that you got breached that easily. I mean, she hardly knew me and she let me in.”He’s right. I didn’t think about that before. Deborah let him in, even though I’m pretty sure he’s never been there before.“It doesn’t matter,” I say, trying to sound strong. “There are other places out here. I guess the apartment gift is more appropriate now.”Roman doesn’t say anything. I can see the guilt in his eyes, but he does
MONICA.Everyone is looking at us now. We’re both drenched in coffee, but seeing Roman made me realize why I wasn’t enthusiastic about the visit from August.I resent Roman for being gone so long. For not even texting me back.Is it crazy? Yes. He’s not my boyfriend. We’ve known each other for a month at this point. The attachment I feel for him isn’t healthy, and I completely acknowledge that.But for now, I’m angry.And it seems that so is he.His hand clenches at his sides. The coffee is making dark brown clouds on his crisp blue shirt. Granted, it’s also staining my tank top. I can feel my nipples getting hard from the cold, and his eyes are drifting towards them.Something hard starts to nudge against my abdomen. I look down and notice that his pants are protruding in the front.He’s hard.“You might want to take care of that,” I murmur, pushing past him.But I only manage to through the door before he catches me, his hand around my arm. He’s not even bothering to hide his massiv
ROMAN.“Get out of my fucking way,” I growl, pushing Hyden to the side.Even though he nearly slides out of this wheelchair, he still finds the gall to smile. I can’t help it. Something inside me snaps. I grab him by the collar and slap him so hard across the face that his lower lip starts to bleed.August is horrified. “Roman!”“This is all your fault,” I murmur, gearing for more, but August himself holds me back.That’s the only time I let Hyden go. I don’t care if he has to crawl back to his chair with his useless little legs. I walk away, with the full purpose of heading to Black Rush city and making sure Cassandra knows not to cross me again.But then, Hyden speaks, his voice slurred as he blinks away the effect of my slap. “She’s not in the city. She’s staying here, at the Capital Lakeside Inn.”He doesn’t need to tell me twice. I don’t know how I managed to get to the Inn as fast as I did, especially with August, but somehow I end at the front desk.Wrestling the doorman on his
MONICA.“Which one of you did it?”Andy is shaking as she paces in front of us in her office, all the girls who work for her, the waiters, the bar staff… everyone.All the clients have been told to leave. Elvira had to be rushed out to the hospital in a taxi, because Andy didn’t want any of the clients to be put off. She just said that there was a gas leak that needed to be taken care of. August was promptly kicked out as well. The police wasn’t called.“Who hurt Elvira?” Andy demands, stopping in front of her desk to drink whiskey straight of the bottle. “Her fucking tongue was snipped. She was choking on her own blood. Who the fuck would hurt her?”Silence. I’m just looking at my lap, twisting my fingers.I’m still shaken. I don’t think I’ve said a word since I found the body. I just rushed back to find Andy and point at Elvira.I have to admit, I thought she was dead. There was blood all over the place, and she wasn’t moving. The workplace nurse said that she had a bump on the back
MONICA.“Is there a place where we can talk in private?” the man named August asks Andy, gesturing around with a small smile. “It’s quite crowded in here. And please don’t worry, I’ll compensate you for your troubles.”“You can use my office,” Andy volunteers immediately.August smiles. “Thank you.”“Right this way,” she leads, pointing to the hallway to her left, an area none of the girls have ever dared to tread.Since I’m basically topless, I dip really quick into the lounge to get my coat. Wrapping it around myself, I follow Andy and August to the office.Just as I’m about to get in, Andy squeezes my arm excitedly. “You really lucked out with that gentleman. Don’t forget me when he finally takes you out of this life.”“What?” is all I can say. She rolls her eyes, annoyed, but I can’t help it. I’m still dazed.She just pushes me inside the office and closes the door behind me. August is already sitting in one of the leather couches, looking around the room politely. The decor in th