4. Someone Other Than Me Hurt Her

Sven ~

Either the goddess was playing a tricky game, or this little menace had truly rotten luck.

“Alpha, here is everything about Rayna Blacaris.” Reeves, my Beta and right hand, dropped the file on my desk.

I skimmed it with a small, devious smile tugging at my lips.

Divorced. My little menace was free now? Even better—abandoned. The man she’d chosen over me left her for his fated mate.

Brilliant.

Reeves stood rigid, his gaze flicking to the unconscious form of Rayna on the chaise, and something hot and sharp—jealousy—spiked through me.

“If you want to keep your eyes, you better look away,” I growled, my voice calm but edged.

He snapped his head toward the wall. “Is this all?”

“No, sir. She’s said to be wed to Alpha William from the DarkMoon pack.”

We can’t let that happen. Vuk, my wolf, growled possessively in my ribs; I smiled and urged him to settle.

I couldn’t forgive her so easily.

The first time I met Rayna was two years ago—Halloween.

She hadn’t bothered with a mask. Instead, she’d gone full Jessie from Toy Story—red hat tipped back, white blouse tied at the waist, denim hugging her hips, boots clicking against the floor.

On anyone else it would’ve looked like a silly costume, but on her? It was lethal. Storm-grey eyes, a confident sway, and lips that dared anyone to stop her. She didn’t dress to impress.

She walked straight up to me, looked me dead in the eye, and rejected me.

She didn't wait for my answer, she just walked off.

Vuk had wanted to tear her throat out that night. I’d laughed instead, because her audacity was almost admirable. Nobody had ever told me no and walked away intact.

Until her.

I shadowed her for a week, then found out she was married. My wolf seethed, and I almost obliged him by taking the husband’s head.

But I didn’t. A mate was a liability in my line of business.

Still, her rejection burned.

I stood, straightening my jacket. “Get the car. We’re paying Nightshades a visit.”

Reeves nodded and left, quiet and efficient as ever.

I pushed my chair back and went to crouch by my sleeping menace.

“You look so peaceful, lying there,” I murmured. “Too bad you don’t know what’s coming.”

I brushed a stray hair from her face. She scrunched her nose in her sleep. Too fucking cute—and too fucking bad.

“You’ll pay for the humiliation,” I murmured. “I’ll make sure of it.”

—

Hayden Blacaris sat opposite me, a scotch balancing at his lips.

“What do we owe this visit?” he asked.

I smiled with practiced cockiness. He’d been trying to secure a treaty with my pack for years; I’d ignored him. I didn’t bother much with smaller packs—his wasn’t small, but it wasn’t mine.

“Your daughter. Rayna.”

The smile on his face soured. “What about her?”

“We want her to ourselves.” My wolf screamed the words in my head and I downed whiskey to drown Vuk’s heat.

It would be easier to tell him about the rejected mate bond. It would also be stupid. No one could know—not yet. Not until I’d decided what I wanted.

“Cancel her wedding to Alpha Williams,” I said.

He nearly dropped his glass. “But—that’s not possible. I’ve already announced it.”

“Then un-announce it.” I sat forward, crossing one leg over the other.

“I’ve chosen to take her as my bride. Whatever Alpha Williams offered you, I’ll triple it—and grant passage into my territory as a wedding gift.”

His mouth fell open. “Even if I agree, I don’t know where she ran off to.”

I gripped the chair arm. He didn’t even bother to search for his own daughter. Of course he wouldn’t.

“She’s been at my pack house for three days,” I said.

“Waking briefly, then slipping back into unconsciousness. The doctor calls it shock. I call it consequence.”

Hayden’s jaw tightened. “I will need to speak to my daughter. If she consents to the alliance, I will consider it.”

Now he wanted to play the concerned father? Bullshit.

“You didn’t care when you offered her to Williams. Why care now?” I asked.

His eyes flickered, almost breaking the mask he wore. “I am her father,” he said stiffly. “It is my right to care.”

I laughed, humorless. “Care? Don’t insult me, Blacaris. You threw her at Williams like she was a coin. Now suddenly you grow a conscience?”

He bristled. “I—”

“Save it.” I leaned in, pinning him with my gaze. “I don’t need your approval. I don’t need hers. Rayna Blacaris belongs to me.”

Vuk rumbled approval, possessive as hot coals.

Hayden swallowed, the scotch trembling in his hand. “You don’t know her, Sven. She will never accept being with you.”

“Enjoy your scotch,” I said, standing. “Pray she obeys me better than she obeyed you.”

I rose, Reeves at my side. The silence that followed thickened until Hayden’s practiced face flickered once with something that looked a lot like fear.

Good. He should be afraid.

The next time we spoke, it wouldn’t be about treaties. It would be about how far his daughter would fall before she realized she belonged to me.

—

We returned to the compound and I headed straight for my study—I needed to see her again.

Watching her like this was almost fun.

They said rejecting me had killed her the wolf.

A fitting punishment, and yet it didn't quite satisfy my need to punish her.

Maybe because someone else has hurt her. The thought of his hands on her made Vuk thrash inside me.

“You seem more agitated than I,” my wolf teased.

I ignored the bastard. He enjoyed my turmoil too much.

“Easy. We’ll have his head on a platter,” Vuk snarled. We worked well because he was darker than me and sicker than me and I liked that.

Rayna stirred. And my lovesick wolf lunges, scraping at my skin, desperate to be seen.

Her lashes fluttered open, revealing storm-grey eyes. My chest tightened. My wolf howled in triumph.

My chest tightened. Vuk howled in triumph.

“Easy, menace,” I drawled, leaning against the bedpost like I hadn’t been watching her every breath. “Wouldn’t want you fainting again.”

She blinked, disoriented. Her gaze darted around the room; she realized quickly this wasn’t Blacaris estate.

My territory was shadow and stone—practically the devil’s lair—and the panic that flitted across her face was nourishment.

“Where—where am I?” Her voice was thin, hoarse.

“Home,” I said, tilting my head. “Mine.”

Outrage flared in her eyes even through the haze. Goddess, she still had fight. Perfect.

“You—” she swallowed, trembling. “You kidnapped me.”

I chuckled, low and deliberate. “Such an ugly word. I prefer… saved.”

Her hands curled into the sheets, summoning strength she didn’t possess. It only widened my grin.

“Relax, little menace,” I murmured, crouching until we were eye level. I brushed a knuckle along her jaw to watch her flinch. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Not yet, anyway.

Vuk purred, satisfied, pushing thoughts of biting, claiming, owning into my skull until my teeth ached.

But I pushed him down. Not now. I wanted her alert and aware for every step that followed.

“You should be thanking me,” I continued smoothly. “If I hadn’t found you, someone else would have. Trust me—they wouldn’t be half as gentle.”

She didn’t believe me. Why would she? Her eyes burned with hatred.

“Who are you?” she whispered.

I smiled as if I’d been waiting for this question all year. “Call me anything—Master, Husband, Lover, Lord. Because from today, Rayna…”

I leaned in close, my voice lowering to a growl that belonged to both man and wolf.

“You’re mine.”