PAST AND PRESENT

Luna's moans and cries filled every corner of the luxurious hotel room as a stranger claimed her in the darkness. Luna, a part-time hotel staffer working to pay for her studies, had been summoned to the room by her manager, only to be seized and thrown onto the bed. She struggled, but the man released a wave of pheromones that weakened her body.

An Alpha! Luna screamed in her mind.

The man in the room had his way with her, again and again, and with each encounter, her body began to crave his touch. The sensations of his kisses, caresses, and deep thrusts overwhelmed her sanity.

"Fuck! You smell like tangerine..." the man rasped against her ear, his voice hoarse. Luna cried out as she felt him swell inside her.

"I-It hurts... aaahhhhh! Stop! S-stop!" she sobbed, but the man only held her tighter, cursing under his breath.

Luna bit her lip, a sharp pang shooting through the lower part of her neck, as the man's teeth sank into her flesh. It felt like an electric current coursing through her veins, both agonizing and strangely...intimate.

In those moments, her pleas were lost, unheard. Luna knew, with a chilling certainty, that the man was in rut, his eyes glowing with a primal, golden light.

He claimed her throughout the night. As dawn approached, the man finally fell asleep, giving Luna her chance to escape. She didn't dare look at the face of the man who had stolen her innocence, desperate to flee despite the throbbing pain in her body.

Luna tried to report the assault to her manager, but she was met with a chilling reality: her attacker was the son of a wealthy and powerful family.

"Don't even think about going to the police, Ms. Hart. The Ruthersons are not enemies you want to make," her manager warned, leaving Luna with nothing but tears and a shattered sense of justice.

Eight years have passed...

"You still haven't resigned from that company? And of all the places you could work, why the Lacrose Hotel? You're the only moth I know who's drawn to the flame that burned you eight years ago!"

"How many times are you going to say that line, Dianna? I understand your concern, but I'm being practical. Lacrose was the only place that accepted my resume. The pay is good, the benefits are great—am I supposed to be picky?" Luna retorted, getting ready for work.

"But Luna, your boss is the man who stole your innocence eight years ago," Dianna insisted, making Luna sigh.

"I know, but I've been his secretary for almost a year. As long as he doesn't know I'm the woman he forced himself on, there won't be a problem. What matters is that I have a job."

"Don't you feel any anger towards him anymore?"

"Anger? Of course, I'm angry, but what's done is done. What matters to me now is money, money, and more money," Luna declared, making Dianna sigh again.

"What if he remembered you by your scent?"

"I'm recessive omega, Dianna, my scent is weak. Until now he thinks of me as a Beta, so how would he know that i was the woman eight years ago."

"If you hadn't heard that his father was bedridden for life, you wouldn't have even considered working for his company."

"I just grabbed the opportunity, Dianna. Besides, he won't find out about me. And I will make sure he never finds out about the chi—"

"Mama!"

Luna turned to see two identical little boys running down the stairs, their faces alight with excitement. Their names are Leo and Leon Hart, and both of them are born as a dominat alpha.

"We're going to school now, Mama!"

"We can shower all by ourselves now, Mama!"

"Good job, boys. Go to Aunt Dianna's car so she can take you. Mama's going to work too," Luna said with a smile, kissing her twin sons as they raced each other out the door.

"Don't let that man see the twins. Just by looking at them, there's no doubt he's the father," Dianna commented, standing up.

"He won't recognize my twins. I'll make sure of it," Luna vowed, Dianna patting her arm before leaving to take the boys to school.

Luna sighed, and after gathering her things, she left for work. Her destination: the Lacrose Hotel.

She understood Dianna's concerns, but Luna knew she couldn't provide a good life for her twins if she didn't do something. It just so happened that the Lacrose Hotel offered her a job as the CEO's secretary, and she hadn't even considered backing out when she found out who her boss would be.

Luna focused on the future she wanted for her twins, rather than the past she couldn't change. Yes, she was angry at the twins' father, so she channeled her anger in ways that wouldn't affect her work. And because she did her job well, Valerian Rutherson couldn't fire her, even if she acted bossy towards him.

Luna was taking that advantage.

How did she find out that Valerian Rutherson was the twins' father? She did her research when her former hotel manager mentioned the Rutherson surname, and Valerian was the only son of that family.

When Luna arrived at the Lacrose Hotel, she went straight inside, greeted by the staff she passed.

As Luna waited for the elevator, she sensed someone beside her. She glanced over and saw her boss, his brow furrowed as always, his expression a thundercloud.

"Good morning, boss."

"Don't 'good morning' me, Luna. I'm pissed off," Valerian snapped, clearly not in the mood for pleasantries.

"Okay."

"Did you cancel the fucking meeting I was supposed to have with the Smiths?" Valerian demanded, turning to her.

"I did."

"Do you know how important that meeting was? And you canceled it without telling me?!" Valerian snapped. Luna knew the reason for his foul mood.

"I was simply doing my job, Mr. Rutherson. As your secretary, I determined that the Smiths would not be good business partners, given the things they've been saying behind your back," Luna calmly explained, causing Valerian to frown.

"They're backstabbing me?!"

"They said worse, Mr. Rutherson. You don't seem to have a knack for discerning who to trust, so I took the liberty of acting to protect the hotel's reputation," Luna countered.

"Are you mocking me, Luna?"

"Did I? I would never, Mr. Rutherson. Just be grateful that as your secretary, I have the hotel's best interests at heart," Luna said with a saccharine smile as the elevator doors opened.

"Oh, let's go, sir," Luna said, stepping into the elevator first, Valerian following with barely suppressed anger.

"You're lucky you're so damn good at your job, or I'd fire you in a heartbeat."

"Thank you, Mr. Rutherson. I'm overwhelmed by your generosity," Luna replied, demonstrating with exaggerated hand gestures before giving Valerian a thumbs up, earning her a muttered curse.

Luna knew that being Valerian's secretary was a dangerous game, but she would do everything in her power to keep him from discovering their shared past.