Chapter 3

I shouldn't be so surprised, though. I had encouraged him by delivering anything he demanded within seconds, no matter how many miles I had to run just to get his errands done.

He had once asked me to deliver sanitary pads to the luxurious motel once.

I walked over to the medical cabinet, pulling out a small, velvet-lined box containing the soft pads.

Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the location. The lights inside were dimmed to a soft, warm amber. Through the sheer curtains, I could see two shadows. Nyxen was sitting on the edge of the bed, his shirt unbuttoned, while Aphra sat close to him, her head resting against his shoulder.

I walked inside.

Aphra gasped, instantly pulling the silk sheets up to her chin, her eyes darting to me in manufactured terror. "Lucy! I—we didn't mean to trouble you. It was an accident—"

"Quiet, Aphra," Nyxen said gently, rubbing her arm before turning his gaze to me. He didn't look a bit guilty. In fact, his eyes gleamed with a dark, twisted satisfaction. He loved this. He loved seeing the fierce, unbreakable warrior princess brought low, serving his desires.

He extended a hand, tilting his head arrogantly. "You brought it. Good. Put it on Aphra's panty and leave.”

Jaxon’s words pulled me back from the memories of past as he joked, “You are literally asking your mate to deliver lubricant for you having sex with your lover, Nyxen aren't you being too harsh on Lucy? What if she complains?”

“She would better not!” Nyxen added, his eyes darkening as he added, “If she really wants me to show up on the Blood Moon and not leave her humiliated before the guests.”

“Come on, what are you thinking, Lucy?” One of his female friend chuckled, “You would not want Nyxen to have unprotected sex with Aphra, do you? If she gets pregnant, it would be even more difficult for you to win Nyxen’s heart back.”

They laughed while making fun of me. But I remained quiet for the time enough to drive Nyxen crazy as he groaned, “Have you not listened to me, Lucy? Go get me the oil.”

“Ask your own omegas to fetch it,” I replied, my voice flat.

“The omegas talk, and the elders are already watching me,” Nyxen’s voice dropped, laced with that smug, possessive certainty he always carried. “You’re my future Luna, Lucy. No one questions what you carry across the pack grounds. Besides, you know exactly how to handle the extract without spoiling it. Don't keep me waiting. Aphra is cold.”

"Cold?" I asked, my voice carrying a sharp, echoing clarity that cut right through the remnants of their laughter. "Then perhaps you should have thought twice before stripping down for someone else's mate in the middle of winter, Aphra. Or does the heat of your desperation usually keep you warm?"

Aphra flinched as if struck. Her bottom lip trembled, and within seconds, beautiful, heavy tears began to roll down her flushed cheeks. "Lucy... how can you say that?" she sobbed, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently. "I didn't... Nyxen, tell her! I didn't mean to—"

"Lucy! Shut your mouth!" Nyxen roared, his face contorting into a mask of pure fury.

The smug, arrogant satisfaction he had been wearing moments ago vanished, replaced by a violent rage at seeing his precious, fragile lover reduced to tears.

Losing the last vestige of his control, Nyxen raised his hand, his palm cutting through the air, aimed squarely at my face. I braced myself, refusing to close my eyes. But the strike never landed.

A hand caught Nyxen’s wrist mid-air.

"I suggest you lower your hand, nephew," a deep, velvety voice purred, laced with a terrifying undercurrent of absolute authority. "Unless you want me to snap it off."

Nyxen gasped, his face draining of color as he looked at the man who had effortlessly blocked him. "U-Uncle..."

Alieus Stormborn, Nyxen's uncle, a man I chose to mate with. He was the only man Nyxen was afraid of.

Alieus didn't look at Nyxen. His piercing, midnight-blue eyes were fixed entirely on me, scanning my face for any signs of harm. Satisfied that I was untouched, he let go of Nyxen's wrist with a dismissive flick.

"Come, Lucy," Alieus said softly, his voice a stark contrast to the ice he had just spit at his nephew. "You don't belong in the mud with dogs. I’ll drop you at home.”

As Alieus led me out, Nyxen and his friends only watched me, stunned. Alieus’s reputation had been formidable in the pack. It was highly unusual for him to remember any she-wolf’s name, let alone give her a lift in his car.

Even in my previous life, I had never had any conversation with him. It was only one night that I stood outside Nyxen’s office waiting, soaked wet in rain, to surprise him for our anniversary. Outside because he never allowed me inside his workplace. The outcome was that I ended up in the pack’s infirmary while the healers talked behind my back that he was busy training Aphra the entire night in his office.

Even the next day, when he came to hear about me, he simply left me a message through our mind link that he had some important meeting and was unable to pick me up. No apologies for hanging me the entire night. No apologies for forgetting our anniversary. Just a mechanical update of his work.

That day, it was Alieus who surprisingly came to pick me up from the Pack's infirmary. He also had a bouquet of lavender in his hand. When he dropped me at my home, he pushed the bouquet into my hands and said, “I wish I could say ‘Happy’ mating anniversary to you.”