9. Venus

Sven

I paced around my office, the memory of the bathroom replaying in my head like a fucking curse.

What the hell had I been thinking giving into her taunts? Taking her into that room had been reckless, too fucking reckless.

“Tell me,” Vuk rumbled in my head, his tone feral. “when you spanked her and your fingers touched her wetness, did she taste good?”

I didn't try to lie, she did and that was the fucking problem. Three days in the pack and only one day conscious and already I was losing control.

She was so tempting, the way she responded to each spank, trembling while shooting her ass up for more.

Goddess I need to figure out how to get her to sign the damned contract before the next full moon.

But that wasn't the real issue, that wasn't the reason why I ran off the room and not fucked her. Rayna was in heat, which shouldn't be.

She was wolfless, and now an omega.

They didn't have heat cycles, they couldn't conceive but she was showing all the signs of heat. Her scent was sweeter like a succubus ready to devour, the look in her eyes, the barely contained lust that I’m certain she wasn't aware of.

I mind linked Reeves into my office.

A minute later the door swung open and he came, that damned knowing smirk already tugging at his mouth.

“You called?”

“What's your stats on the Nightshades? Is Hayden up to something?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.

Reeves crossed his arms, calm as always. "No, Infact he’s been using our paths already. Three shipments arrived this morning.”

I allowed myself to smile. Even if Rayna didn't sign the contract, her father’s reliance on my routes was leverage enough to keep him in check for as long as I needed.

And I needed him away for long, this thing with Rayna was getting harder than I expected. And I needed time to enjoy it before it blew up in my face.

I picked up some documents for the new shipment arriving in Los Angeles coast by midnight, six hundred rounds ammunition one of my biggest transfer in that coast.

“Quick question, what do you want from the girl? She’s not really your usual type.”

I looked up from the paperwork I was going through.

He wasn’t wrong, I always went for the mildly innocent girls who loved to throw themselves at me, desperate to please.

Revenge aside, Rayna caught me off guard the minute her eyes locked on mine, something magnetic pulling tight between us. It wasn't the mate bond, if anything—it felt stronger.

“I don’t want revenge” Vuk growled. “I want to own her.”

Yeah me too buddy, but first we get her to want us back, to need us.

“She was my mate.” I said simply, that’s all he needed to know.

“She as in Rayna Blacaris? She’s the one who rejected you?”

I glared at him, hearing the amusement creeping into his tone, maybe telling him was a mistake but I trusted Reeves.

My inner court was built on people I myself mentored, and Reeves was one of the lot. Met him on the streets of Iowa mugging some fellas and I took him in and he showed me how efficient he could be as my right hand and a beta.

But now the way he laughed was beginning to puss me off.

“Before you go scurrying off,” I warned, “don’t mention shit to her. She trusts you for some reason.”

That shut him up. “I’m confused, is she not aware you’re the wolf she rejected?”

I nodded, he howled into laughter again, throwing his head back until the sound filled the room.

My patience snapped, I shoved the desk forward with a hard push knocking him right out of his chair.

It was one thing for an alpha of my status to be rejected but another for him to be forgotten and that's what angered me the most.

My mask didn't hide much that night—i was fucking Freddy Kreugar.

Reeves adjusted himself, half on the floor, half kneeling and shot me a look as an knock rapped the door.

Venus.

He mouthed a “good luck” before hauling himself up and going to the door.

“Welcome back, Venus.” His voice rang out smoothly as he pulled it the door.

She didn't even glance at him, instead she brushed past like he didn't exist and launched herself straight into my arms.

I stiffened, bracing for the contact.

“I’ve missed you so much, Sven.” She whispered in my ears, peppering kisses all over my face.

Her scent suddenly felt nauseating, I turned away resisting the urge to gag.

Not that it was appealing at first, but it didn’t compare to Rayna’s sunflower scent.

Fuck.

“You done?” I muttered but she only burrowed deeper into the crook of my neck clinging tightly.

I carried her towards one of the couches, knowing damn well she had no plans to let me go anytime soon.

“Your lack of affection hurts me, Sven.” She grumbled.

“I’m still—you’re still in my arms, aren’t you?”

“Yet you won't admit you missed me, you even ignored my confession.”

I huffed a bitter laugh.

Venus was still a child, barely nineteen. I remembered the day I found her—ten years, her father sold her to a brothel in Rouge Island for a measly thousand dollars.

I raided the place and when I saw her, barely clothed rage had consumed me. I killed her father the following weekend and brought her back to my pack house.

She had trained relentlessly since, proving herself over and over until at sixteen she earned her worth when she saved the pack from an ambush while I was away.

That was the day she became my delta and the little cockblock in my love story.

Always threatening a girl off, or telling them she was my woman. Then, it didn't matter but now with Rayna around, it might matter.

Venus’s grip on my neck tightened, almost possessive and I scoffed. “Such a baby.”

“So tell me,” I said, voice flat, “why did you return this early. We weren't expecting you until the end of next month.”

Or even before Rayna’s Luna coronation.

She pulled away from my neck, her face hovering close to mine, lips parting in that fake pout she’d perfected.

“Great. He doesn’t ask about me but immediately focuses on work.”

“Well, I carried out—” Her words were cut short by the of the office door.

My head snapped up before my eyes registered her—her sweet scent filling my lungs.

My menace, a fucking menace.

She stood there frozen like a deer caught in hindsight, her gaze flicking from Venus in my lap to me, a flash of something that looked like anger or was it jealousy in her eyes.

“Uh-m, I’m sorry. I should leave.”

“Yes, leave.” Venus snapped instantly.

My throat tightened. Fuck no.

“Rayna,” I said, my voice dropping an octave as I pried Venus off me with firm hands. “What do you want?”