Chapter 2: THE COAT, SHOOT! 

GIA O'LEARY

It was almost morning light when I slipped into my bedroom. 

I closed the door and rested against it, releasing the trapped air from my lungs as I stood unnaturally still by the closed door. 

What just happened?

The night had grown into something else, something fierce. 

I kissed a man. I kissed someone for the first time. And I liked it. A lot. 

No. This was wrong. My eyes screwed tight as though to fight the sizzling thoughts plaguing my mind, the electrifying feel of his rough palm trailing every inch of me, flooding my entire body with heat. What was absolutely wrong became the prickling sensation between my thighs as I conceived these thoughts. 

Forgive me, sweet goddess but this was a sin too great to resist. To shake off. 

Keegan didn't want me around his other five daughters because I was a runt. He feared this energy might rub off on them and worse, I was a constant reminder of how tragically his mate, my mom, died so he offered me the antiquated garage to stay In. 

It didn't take long to flip the interior to my taste and make it my new home. Sneaking in and out of the building to the strip club couldn't get any easier. 

I stripped out of the thick brown Armani coat which enveloped me and swept to the floor reminding me of just how tall this man stood before me last night. His sweet patchouli suddenly filled my room and the taste of his lips lingered abundantly on the tip of my tongue, plaguing me with things best forgotten. 

As one of the Pack high priest's daughters, purity was the law governing our bodies and I naturally gravitated towards breaking this law even though I knew it was punishable by death. 

All because I needed money to escape the torments of this pack. I needed the right amount to go to college in a different pack and leave this deadbeat Pack for good. 

I tossed in bed and shifted my thoughts back to the pending danger. My fears brimmed the surface. I had just stepped out of the bathroom, all dressed with my mask off, ready to leave the club when this hunky guy peeled my dress off, touching me in the most unholy way, his lips ardently wandering me as though he'd conceived the thoughts of touching me all through the night as he passively studied me from the dark end of the bar. 

I heaved another sigh. The eerie way my body reacted to every touch, every kiss made me doubt the goddess would spare me for this sin. 

This man must've seen the mark on my back. 

If he did, then I really needed to get away from here as soon as possible before words spread and they found me.

Who were the men searching the bar that night and what in hell were they searching for? Why did this man appear from nowhere just to smooch and bail? 

I didn't know I'd drifted off to sleep with those piercing green eyes haunting my sleep, those sensuous lips ravenously assailing mine when my name sounded rough above the squelch of his lips against mine. 

"Gia!"

My eyes snapped open and I instantly sat up. 

Madeleine O'Leary, the high priest's most self-absorbed, spoiled brat, and fashionable daughter. Madeleine was the fifth daughter and our father's favorite. 

I was the last and most hated, by all. 

"What do you want?" I groaned, returning to snuggle into the warmth of the coat concealed under the blanket. Whoever this man was took hold of my senses the need to take a shift tonight at the club just to see him again, to feel him all over again budded overwhelmingly. 

"You are never going to believe it!" Madeleine squealed and clasped her hands in delight. 

What? Did Father buy her the sky? I was the first person she bustled to whenever father got them those nice things he never extended my way. 

"Alpha Levi and I are getting married!"

I sat back in bed and blinked blankly at her flustered face and delighted brows.

How possible was that? Were they mates?

"There's a blessing ceremony for Alpha Levi and guess what?"

Could she just say it and leave? My morning peace was disturbed for no good reason. 

Silence was only going to infuriate her which would mean a long day for me. I couldn't afford that so I blandly murmured, "He's going to see you and fall Instantly in love with you because you're very pretty!"

Now could I go back to sleep?

"Father wants me by his side as he performs the sacred rituals for this  Alpha's curse. Yes, just as his image is kept hidden his curse has been kept from the park for all these years but he's found a way to lift this curse and our Alpha will marry a holy maiden, and this holy maiden will become Luna. We're holy maidens. I stand a greater chance."

Yeah, totally so what's the deal? I nearly scorned. 

Maybe this would've been appealing to me if a man's coat wasn't beneath me and the kiss we shared wasn't etched on my memory. 

"First off, I need you to make me some green juice then you're going to pick out a dress and..." She paused abruptly, stuck her nose out, and sniffed the air audibly, "What's that scent?"

The coat. Shoot!

"What scent?" I chuckled nervously. 

"You're dead if a man sneaks in here." She searched every corner of the room and found nothing unaware that what she was searching for was right under my sheets. 

"Explain why you have a man's scent lingering in your room?" 

"What did you use on your face? Looks like there's bound to be a breakout!"

Her lovely blue eyes bulged out of the sockets, her nicely manicured fingers roaming her face. With that, she darted out of my room, giving me enough time to hide the thick coat away in one of the boxes. 

The rest of the day bustled with activities for me as I ran around the Pack picking jewelry, dresses, makeup supplies, and any last minute touch either of my sisters needed.

They looked so absorbed in this, all out to look their best for the blessing ceremony. I found a silk dress that once belonged to our mother with a matching shawl to cover my raven hair. 

I didn't look terrible when I joined them in the car. Father gave me a cursory glance, the pride he wore when he regarded his other girls instantly faded. 

What did I do now?

I pinned my gaze on my trembling fingers as the chauffeur drove through the city, afraid to snag Keegan's gaze and have him read my mind. The nagging fear of having him realize I'd soiled myself with a man some hours ago rose in the hollow pit of my soul. How long was this ride going to be? Being trapped in such a confined space with the all-knowing high priest was the greatest risk of my life. 

If the goddess revealed things to him then I was done for.

Please goddess, don't. 

"Gia O'Leary," Keegan called out darkly and my heart sank to the pit of my belly, the goddess had forsaken me. 

My uneasy gaze left my fingers to dwell on his nose, not daring to meet his gaze, sudden beads of perspiration dampened my forehead, fingers crossed as I tried to appear calm.

"I want you last in every activity. Understood?" He muttered and watched me nod, "I can't have you embarrass me before the Alpha."

Phew!

The chauffeur drove for what felt like forever before he parked outside an opulent mansion.