I slowly flutter my eyes open and although my eyesight is a bit blurry, I can see the unfamiliar white rooftop with no crack on it. Where am I? I suddenly a feel a throbbing headache causing me to wince in pain. I rub my forehead and shut my eyes close for a brief moment. I snap my eyes back open when I hear a familiar hoarse voice. That voice belongs to no one other than Xavier himself.
How could I ever forget his voice even after those years of not seeing him or hearing from him? His voice remains forever in my head. I release a heavy and slowly rise up to my feet. Wait, where am I? Do not tell me mum and dad actually sold me off to Xavier without letting me spend just the night at their place. I place my hand over my mouth to stop myself from crying out loud and I bite my lower lip to hold back the tears that threaten to fall from my eyes.
"Why did you touch her you fucking retard?" I hear Xavier yell loudly. A slamming noise comes alongside his harsh tone and I am tempted to open the door and peep what is going on outside of the room.
I gaze at the room and realize how fancy it is. The walls are painted nicely and the bed is queen-sized. There is a large wardrobe and a small bedside table with a lamp on it.
I attempt to take a step forward but I accidentally trip and fall to the floor. I groan loudly in pain and watch the door open wide, no one other than the Alpha himself steps into the room with an unfamiliar man besides him.
"Larissa, are you okay?" He asks with his tone laced with concern. This feels so unreal, Xavier concerned about me? That almost sounds impossible. I try to get up but my head hurts really bad that I just lay on the floor and stare at the familiar hazel eyes. Xavier's short dark hair falls across his face and his brows are raised at me. I hate how he can still manage to look so gorgeous.
Xavier turns to the unfamiliar man besides him and says in the deadliest tone ever "Get out and call the nurse now!"
The man scurries out of the room leaving just I and Xavier behind. The tension is killing and so is the awkward silence. Xavier reaches for me and pulls me up by the waist. The hairs on my skin rise at the feeling of his touch on my bare skin. I hate how he still has this effect on me.
Xavier places me on the bed gently and stares at me.
"Are you okay Larissa?" He asks. The way he calls my name causes my heart to race fast. No! I can not be here, I can not be here and allow Xavier's irresistible charm to confuse me.
"I am fine, I just want to go home." I snapped at him.
Xavier pauses to choke out a small laughter and his dimpled smile melts my heart. "I am afraid but I can not let you out Larissa. That will not be possible." He says. What? Am I really in his captivity? Will I really never be able to leave this place?
"Excuse me? I want to go back home as I do not clearly feel comfortable around you!" I snapped at him.
"Wait, are you seriously telling me your parents did not tell you anything?" Xavier raises a brow at me.
"They did but I am not interested in getting married to you. Now let me go or else..." Xavier does not let me complete my statement, he leans closer to me and arches his brows at me in curiosity.
"Or else what Larissa? What will you do? Cry your way out of here?" He fires at me and I can not believe that a few minutes ago, he was acting concerned about me. I should have known that was all a pretence.
"Why do you want me here then? It is very clear that you and I are not in good terms. You do not need me too so why are you keeping me captive? What wrong have I done?" I snap at him even though I know all of this is in vain. If Xavier has made up his mind to keep me here then I might as well remain here for the rest of my life. That sucks but it is what it is. I would have to find another way out of here.
"Just see it as a way of paying for the sins of your parents. They owe me a lot and they refuse to pay back." Xavier says with a small shrug and a cocky smirk plastered on his face. I can not wait to wipe that smirk off his face when I find a way out of here.
"Then give them time, it is not like they have the money with them but are refusing to pay. We are clearly poor so give us time." I say with pleading eyes. I silently pray that Xavier still has a heart in him to actually let me go.
"Alright then Larissa. I will give you guys a lot of time." Xavier says with a wide grin.
"Really?" I ask with my eyes wide open in shock, it feels too easy. Xavier would not just agree to something without him getting anything in return.
"Your parents have all the time in the world to pay me back as long as you are in my captive." Xavier deadpans. I groan in frustration and throw my hands in the air. I can not believe this. My worse nightmare is slowly coming to pass. My parents did abandon me for the second time and now I am about to spend the rest of my life with the man I despise the most.
"I look forward to spending a lot of time with you." Xavier pauses to smirk wider. "My future wife." He whispers softly into my ears.
Kai’s hand locked around my arm like a shackle, his grip iron-tight as he dragged me back from the bars. Heat poured off him in waves, his fury so thick it felt like the whole corridor vibrated with it.“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” His voice was sharp, dangerous, too loud in the narrow hallway.Mira stepped forward fast, blocking his path before he could yank me further. “Kai, wait…”“Move.” His command cut like a blade.“No.” Mira’s eyes sparked with defiance. She stood straighter, folding her arms like a barrier. “Don’t do this here.”The guards lingered at the door, tense but quiet. They didn’t need to move. Kai’s presence was enough to make the air burn.I tried to twist free, but his grip only tightened. Pain shot through my wrist, but it was nothing compared to the storm surging in my chest. “I just needed to talk to him.”“You needed?” Kai’s voice dropped to a dangerous calm that made my stomach turn. “Do you realize what you’ve done? Do you even think before
Sleep didn’t find me that night. I lay in the apartment’s dim quiet, the ceiling above me blurred by shadows of passing headlights. Every time I shut my eyes I heard it again, his voice raw but unyielding. Family. That single word had carved itself into me, echoing through every pulse of my veins.I twisted under the blanket, restless. My chest felt heavy, like something was pressing down on me from the inside. The walls seemed closer than they should have, the silence too sharp. Kai had insisted on staying near, but even when he finally left with the promise to be back at first light, his warning stayed behind, heavier than his presence had been. Do not believe him. Do not let him near you again.And yet I couldn’t stop replaying the way those gray eyes had searched for me, desperate, like I was the last thing tethering him to this world.The door clicked softly, and I sat up quick. Mira stepped inside without knocking, carrying a blanket draped over her arms.“You look like hell,” s
The air in the room was still thick with Sera’s warning when Kai finally coaxed me out into the open. He said it would help, that I couldn’t hide in the four walls forever, and maybe he was right. But as I stepped into the afternoon light, I felt like the whole pack was watching, weighing me with their eyes. Mira was the one who tugged at my arm with her easy grin, insisting the pack needed to see me alive, not just whispered about. “You’re Luna now, whether you believe it or not,” she said. “They’ll only follow if they can look you in the eye.” So I went, Kai’s presence a steady line at my side, Mira bouncing ahead like she didn’t feel the quiet tension humming in the ground beneath us. The heart of the village was alive, women gossiping , children shrieking in play, men sharpening blades that gleamed in the sun. It was the kind of scene that should have felt safe, but every sound struck too sharp, every glance lingered a moment too long. I forced myself to smile. I held my head h
I woke because of the light, a pale stripe slicing across my eyelids. For a second the world felt slow and soft, like I was under water and everything moved easy. Then a warmth pressed against my arm, steady and real, and my breath hitched.Kai was still asleep, arm tossed over his face, chest rising and falling against mine. I curled my fingers around the edge of his sleeve without thinking, memorizing the steady rhythm of him. There was a ridiculous part of me that wanted to stay exactly like that forever, tucked into the space where none of my nightmares could find me.My mouth felt like I’d swallowed fire and water in the same breath. Last night was a blur of lips and heat, of fingers mapping the places I had kept closed for too long. The memory made something in me small and bright. I let it sit there, not trying to name it.He shifted then, not waking, just moving closer until I could feel the scrape of his beard against my cheek. He mumbled something that sounded like my name h
The walk back from the market with Sera had been filled with laughter, small talk, and the kind of lightness I hadn’t felt in a while. By the time we reached the clearing where the path split, she gave me a playful smile, tugged my arm, and said she needed to check on Mira. I didn’t argue. I just nodded and watched her disappear, leaving me standing there with a bag of fruits in my hand and silence pressing in. I lit a small lamp, its glow softening the corners of the room, and pressed my palms against the table as if grounding myself. That was when I felt it—the subtle shift in the air, the way the silence wasn’t silence anymore. My pulse quickened before I even turned. Kai was leaning against the doorway, like he’d been there longer than I realized. His eyes were dark, steady, taking me in. He didn’t look surprised to see me. If anything, it felt like he had been waiting, though his voice was casual when he spoke. “Thought you’d be with Sera longer.” “She had somewhere else
Sera nudged my arm with her basket, nearly spilling the apples she’d just stuffed into it.“Tell me why every guy in the training yard thinks flexing their arms is the same thing as flirting,” she said, rolling her eyes.I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. “Because it works on you. Don’t even lie.”“It does not.” She made a face, shoving a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just because that beta—what’s his name again, the one with the too-perfect jaw”“Rowan,” I supplied, smirking.“Yeah, him. Just because he asked if I wanted water and I said yes doesn’t mean anything. I was thirsty.”“You were blushing,” I teased, lowering my voice just enough for her to groan. “You nearly spilled the water on yourself too.”She gasped and swatted at me. “You’re the worst.”“And you love me for it.”We were still laughing when the scent hit me. Sharp. Familiar. A thread of the past that wrapped around my lungs before I could take another breath. My feet stopped cold, the sound of the market fading unde