001: A LUST-CRAZE PSYCHO STALKER

♡☆CANDACE♡☆

I turned eighteen today.

Finally legal. And wickedly desirable.

My best friend of eight years turned out to be my fated mate. Damien Knoxville. Agonizingly handsome with that impressive height, built like a walking thirst trap. Every girl in the pack ogled him with hungry eyes, like he was some dessert. I wasn't excluded, practically undressing him with my eyes even though I was his very nerdy, clumsy, and dumb Omega best friend.

Damien was a playboy to the core. Just like his father, Alpha Luca Knoxville. The man I worked for. The ruthless Alpha of Duskmoon Pack.

Tonight was supposed to be the official start of my wild fantasy, with Damien. Finally, his hands would replace mine, touching and teasing every neglected spot in me his eyes had always ignored.

But Damien had a girlfriend. Cathy Baldwin. My step-sister. Pack’s much-gossiped-about good-time girl. His attitude toward me became sour the minute they became a thing.

I envied her.

Not just because I'd walked in on them twice, her skinny legs wrapped around the guy I'd craved all my life, squeaking with eyes rolled up to the back of her head while Damien claimed her.

Also, not just because I'd heard her shameless moans countless times in the hallway through his bedroom door as they spent passionate nights together.

But because Damien looked at her like she was his favorite bad habit. His personal plaything.

The only way I wished my best friend would ever look at me.

But he didn't.

Never did.

Not even now that his bratty girlfriend stole my diary and somehow managed to bring it out here tonight, around the bonfire where his inner circle gathered during the full moon Pack celebration.

"My eighteenth birthday goal: Lose my virginity to Damien Knoxville."

The heavily wasted girl read a page of my diary out loud, scorn dripping from every word.

Everyone laughed, taunting Damien. Humiliating me.

"That's...th... that's my diary. My personal..." I croaked, trying to defend my lifelong secrets and cravings.

Cathy slapped me across my face. Hard enough to knock me off balance, the rest of the words fading inside me. The strong metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I stumbled and fell onto the grass.

The frames of my round-rimmed glasses cracked as the weight of her heels came down on my cheek, forcing my face into the dirt.

I squirmed helplessly on the field. As an omega, I stood no chance against the Pack beauty's claws.

"Dearest diary," Cathy continued, "Today is day 987, I watched him eat frosty chocolate straight from the pint. He loves frosty chocolates in secret. I wish he’d eat it off me, somewhere far more interesting."

Again, their little group of friends jeered. Fully entertained.

"Holy hell, what are you? A lust-craze psycho stalker desperate to get laid? Just like your mother?"

My late mom was the Pack hooker who got knocked up by Gamma Baldwin and I was the unwanted result who grew into the undesirable Omega.

Lonely and ignored.

Now, thanks to my lovely stepsister, everyone mocked my fantasies.

Now he knew.

Damien sat with disgust on his face at the ugly revelation of what lay beneath the facade of our friendship.

"Really? Ogling my boyfriend makes you ache in all the right places? What a loser. Babe, check this line out." My evil stepsister chuckled, clearly having the time of her life humiliating me.

With no words to salvage the mortifying situation, Damien remained silent, his fingers clenching and unclenching at his sides.

"Hold up," her brows furrowed, whatever she'd seen in my diary wiped off the smirk from her sleekly painted face as realization hit her right in the face, "Damien's your mate?"

Well, well, where did all that smugness go?

She turned to Damien with distress on her face.

"Babe, explain this, Candace is your mate?"

"This mutt? What? Hell no." Damien sprang to his feet, his dark eyes glimmering in guilt as they bounced off the entire field but failed to catch mine.

"Well, her diary says otherwise. Day 1,045 says you are her fated mate." For a second, fear flashed in her eyes but she quickly blinked it off.

"Was, okay? She was my mate because I'm about to reject the ugly runt."

All the years we'd been friends, I'd never seen him look this nervous.

"Do it, Attaboy do it!"

The crowd chanted, do it, do it, do it.

My muscles became tight as Damien moved towards me, his dark eyes and clenched jaws made my stomach lurch.

"I, Damien Knoxville, heir of the Duskmoon Pack reject you, Candace Baldwin as my mate and future Luna."

My heart shattered into a million jagged pieces.

With shaky fingers, I grasped my chest in an attempt to ease the tightness as the gnawing ache from our snapping bond made my breathing ragged. The pain was excruciating.

"I... I accept your rejection." The words tumbled out a little too broken, a little too hopeless.

Forcing myself off the dirt ground, I ran. As fast as my weak feet could go. As fast as the pain that burst through me permitted. I didn't stop until I reached the main building of Alpha Luca's mansion.

Fighting back the tears in my eyes, I cleaned up and changed out of my soiled outfit into a clean floral one. With my hair swept into a neat bun, I fixed my blotchy eyes and blew at my nose before hurriedly leaving to fix the Alpha's whiskey.

I had worked as Alpha Luca's personal errand girl for six months now. Making his drinks and organizing his files, and counting the nameless flings he took to his Playroom—the secret room I was forbidden to enter.

I spent more time with my best friend's Dad than anyone else in the entire Pack since Damien ditched and snubbed me eight months ago after dating Cathy.

Besides, being the Alpha's errand girl meant sticking close to his side around the clock.

So when that rejection came, I knew exactly where I needed to go.

To him.

To console myself.

Luca Knoxville. The man who slaughtered with his claws and commanded an army of wolves. My cold, frustratingly grumpy boss, whose imposing presence could make grown warriors tremble and high-value women start negotiating with their dignity.

And whose private life was a mystery I desperately wanted to understand.

The security guards let me through as I fearlessly opened the door to his Playroom for the first time. Boldly stepping into the forbidden room over the excuse of serving the Alpha's whiskey as commanded.

My steps faltered at the scene before me.

Instantly, I ducked behind a giant vase, lucky to be unnoticed by the sinful pair.

The red room reeked of sandalwood, cigars, scented candles, and something else—an unmistakable, intimate musk that made my cheeks burn.

Alpha Luca lounged on the leather couch, his shirt unbuttoned and his pants carelessly undone. A skinny blonde knelt before him, her hands resting on his thighs, her attention entirely focused on pleasing him.

Goddess knew how long I'd been standing there with the daze in my eyes, frozen in place, staring at the scene unfolding before me.

The woman seemed determined to leave him breathless, while Luca leaned back with his eyes closed, one tattooed hand guiding her head.

Holy goddess. I was getting turned on. My body was reacting to him in a way I couldn't control. I hated how curious I suddenly felt. How my thighs instinctively pressed together, trying to ignore the unfamiliar warmth spreading through me.

Tonight, he looked nothing like the ruthless Alpha who bossed me around all day, not with that guttural groan. Not with his newest fling finally lifting her head to expose the breathtaking size of him. My fingers worked fast to adjust my glasses.

My gaze dropped instinctively before I could stop myself.

Goddess!

I'd never seen a man in such an intimate position before.

And I certainly hadn't expected my grumpy boss to leave me so thoroughly speechless.

My cheeks burned.

Damn it, being a virgin was frustrating enough without discovering that my boss had an entirely different side to him.

My quivering fingers crept up my chest, wandering down my skirt, careful not to be heard. Not to disturb the most exciting, free entertainment before me.

It could cost me my neck if I was caught spying on them. But I'd rather die knowing I felt this good than to keep living my sob life.

Anything to make me feel better enough to sneak back out of this sinful sanctuary.

That was when Alpha Luca's dark head snapped up. His squinted eyes shot my way to seek and snag mine through the vase's petals.

He saw me. Saw my hand buried in my skirt.

"Damn it!"

He muttered, gently shoving the blondie aside, standing up. Getting fully exposed.

And I didn't look away.

Neither did he.