Kiara

"Yes, I have done this more times than you count." I gasped. My nails were digging into the sheets. I forced a jagged laugh. "Haven’t you heard of surgery? I keep getting it done. That’s why my clients are always so pleased with me."

The lie was a bitter pill.

I didn't want him to know that even after he discarded me, no one else had touched me.

I didn't want him to know my wolf refused to sleep with anyone, even when he didn't want me.

My words were gasoline on his fire. He roared. His inner beast taking control.

He buried his face in my neck, leaving deep, purple love bites. He bit into my soft flesh like a wild animal claiming a kill. I was his prey and he was a hungry lion.

My moans filled the room—a mix of agony and a treacherous, fated pleasure. He ravaged me, over and over, his stamina fueled by Alpha blood.

4 a.m. came and went. The torment didn't stop.

Thomas Blade was Alpha king. Much more powerful than anyone can ever imagine. I was crushed under his body for the whole night.

I had no idea how many times I came. I kept coming. My body shuddered with pleasure.

Eventually, the world went dark. My body gave up and I passed out from the sheer exhaustion.

When I opened my eyes, the morning sun was cutting through the heavy curtains.

My body felt like it had been run over by a freight train.

Every muscle screamed.

Thomas was beside me. He slept peacefully, his chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm.

He looked like the man I had once loved, not the monster who had torn into me just hours ago.

I sat up as I bit back a whimper. My skin was a roadmap of his possession. Bruises bloomed like dark flowers on my thighs. Bite marks lined my shoulders.

He hadn't just used me; he had tried to consume me.

I moved like a ghost. I gathered my ruined clothes and pulled them on before he could open his eyes.

The cheque was sitting on the nightstand.

The amount on the cheque made my eyes go wide. The price of my soul. I traded my body with my ex husband.

But it was the most needed thing for me right now. I grabbed it, the paper crinkling in my fist.

I didn't look back. I left the room, leaving the Alpha King and my shattered heart behind.

In a short while, I was sitting in the plastic chair. The hospital's fluorescent lights sting my eyes.

The smell of bleach and sickness was a sharp contrast to the whiskey and musk of Thomas’s suite.

My mother, Margaret, was lying in the bed. Her face was pale. Her breaths come in shallow, ragged hitches.

She was counting her final days and every second felt like a grain of sand slipping through my fingers.

“Kiara, give up,” she whispered. Her voice a ghost of what it used to be.

She looked around the private room. “Why did you admit me to such an expensive hospital? Where will you get so much money?”

I felt the bruises under my clothes. The bite marks Alpha king Thomas had left on my skin. They throbbed with every heartbeat, a secret map of my shame.

“No, Mom,” I lied, forcing a soft smile. I reached out and took her frail hand. “I told you, I got a promotion. My boss gave me a bonus. A big one.”

The cheque in my pocket felt like it was burning a hole through my fabric. I had sold my soul to Thomas Blade to keep her heart beating for just a few more weeks. I’d do it again if I had to.

“Really? You get a promotion?” She looked at me with such love, such pride. It nearly broke me.

Everything had changed in one year. My father, the renowned Alpha of Bloodwind pack was killed by his best friend. He burned our kingdom. Even poisoned me with silver. My mom, who was already a cancer patient, her situation worsened.

We left with nothing. No one to help us. People of our pack accepted their new Alpha out of fear.

I kept finding small jobs for our survival. Now my mom and I were living life worse than any rogue.

And two days ago, Mom fainted.

I couldn’t afford losing her. She was the only family I had remained.

And then I met Marcus, the manager of the prestigious bar, Moonlit Den. He offered to work with him.

Then I decided to trade myself for her life.

“Yes mom, I am going to work hard and soon you will be fine. These doctors are experts. Unlike your last hospital.”

I said and she smiled. It was my hope.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my pocket. The screen lit up with a number I knew by heart. A number I had deleted a year ago but could never forget.

Thomas.

“Who is calling you? Is it from your office?” mom asked me. I shook my head.

“It’s not that important.” I replied.

My voice cracked. I stepped away from the bed, my heart climbing into my throat.

I stared at the blinking screen. He was hunting me already.