Fearful secret-1

[ SELENA ]

I stood outside the Alpha’s door, my hand shaking so hard the tray I was holding rattled. The head maid told me he asked for me specifically to bring his breakfast. Why? Why me, and why today of all days?

I took a quick, panicked sniff of the air, praying my scent suppressant was actually working. He couldn’t know. If he found out I was his mate, I’d be dead, or worse, rejected. I’m just an Omega, a rejection like that from an Alpha would literally kill my wolf. For months, I’ve been a professional at ghosting him, staying in the shadows and making sure our paths never crossed. But my luck finally ran out.

** “Why don’t we just tell him, Selena?” my wolf, Lena, whimpered in my head. She was practically scratching at the surface, desperate to get to her mate. “Maybe things would be different. Maybe he’d actually want us.”**

“No, Lena. We aren’t risking it,” I snapped back internally. “He’s notorious for a reason. He’d reject us and banish us without a second thought.”

**“But—”**

“No ‘buts.’ We stay hidden until we save enough money to leave this pack for good. That’s final.”

“Are you going to go in, or just stand there looking like a fool?”

One of the guards at the door was staring at me, his eyebrows pulled together in a look of pure exhaustion.

I let out a nervous, awkward laugh and flashed him a weak smile. “Right. Going in. Now.”

I took a deep breath, trying to stop the frantic beating of my heart, and pushed the heavy oak door open with my shoulder.

The room was dim, smelling strongly of sandalwood, expensive bourbon, and him, that overwhelming scent of rain and forest floor that made Lena howl in the back of my mind, one that sent a signal straight to my core. I could feel myself getting wet. Which is dangerous because I could not have him noticing my musk.

The Alpha was sitting at a massive desk by the window, his back to me. Even sitting down, he looked powerful, his broad shoulders stretching the fabric of his black shirt. Which is only adding to my problem because looking at him makes my clit ache for his tongue.

"Set it on the table," he said. His voice was a low growl that vibrated right through the floorboards and straight up my spine.

"Yes, Alpha," I whispered. My voice sounded small and brittle.

I moved as quickly as I could, trying to be a ghost. I set the tray down on the coffee table, my fingers fumbling with the silver dome covering his eggs. Just leave, I told myself. Drop the food and run.

"You're late, Selena."

I froze. He hadn't turned around, but hearing my name come out of his mouth felt like a physical touch. He wasn't supposed to know my name. To him, I should have been just another nameless face in the kitchen.

"I... I apologize, Alpha. The kitchens were busy this morning," I lied, my eyes fixed on the rug.

I heard the creak of his leather chair as he stood up. I didn't dare look, but I could feel him moving toward me. The air in the room grew heavy, charged with an intensity that made my skin prickle. He stopped just a few feet away, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his body.

"Look at me," he commanded.

Lena was doing mental backflips, screaming at me to look, to touch, to claim. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, forcing her down. I couldn't look. If I looked into those eyes, I was afraid the suppressant wouldn't be enough to hide the truth written all over my face.

"I have work to finish, Alpha," I said, my voice trembling as I took a step back toward the door. "If that's all..."

"It isn't," he said, his voice dropping an octave as he took a predatory step forward, closing the gap I’d just tried to create. "Why are you so afraid of me, little wolf?"

I shifted from one foot to the other, the silence in the room feeling heavy enough to suffocate me. My heart was a frantic drum against my ribs.

"I’m... I’m not afraid of you, Alpha," I stammered, still refusing to meet his eyes. "It’s just... my sign of respect."

"Really?" he asked. The word was smooth, but there was an edge to it, like he was peeling back layers of a lie I hadn't even finished telling yet.

"Really," I muttered, focusing intensely on a small scuff on my worn shoes.

** “See how calm he is with us, Selena?” Lena’s voice was a purr now, vibrating through my chest. “He’s treating us well. Hiding like this is basically treating him badly. Just let a little bit of our scent out... just a tiny bit.”**

“Shut the fuck up, Lena!” I snapped at her mentally, shoving her toward the darkest corner of my mind. “Stay calm. If our scent gets out, I swear I won’t forgive you. Do you want to be hunted? Because that’s how this ends.”

The silence stretched on until I couldn't take it. I ventured a glance up through my lashes, and my breath hitched. He was watching me, not like a boss watching an employee, but like a predator tracking something it had finally cornered. His gaze was intense, dark, and far too focused.

"I will be going now, Alpha," I said, already turning toward the door, desperate for the safety of the hallway.

"Stay until I’m done eating, Selena."

He didn't yell. He didn't have to. He just sat back down in his chair, pulled the tray toward him, and gestured to the space in front of his desk. He was perfectly calm, which somehow made the situation ten times more terrifying.

I felt like a bird trapped in a cage with the door wide open, yet too scared to fly. I slowly walked back to the center of the room, my hands clenched into fists at my sides to keep them from shaking. Every second I spent in this room was a second the suppressant had to work overtime.

"Is the food not to your liking, Alpha?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper, just trying to break the tension before it snapped me in half.

He picked up a fork, his eyes never leaving mine as he took a bite. "The food is fine," he said slowly. "But it's the company I’m interested in."

Then all of a sudden, he pushed the chair back with a harsh scrape against the floor and stood up, walking toward me. He took his time, taking one deliberate step at a time, closing the distance until the air in the room felt electric.

"I’m done playing games with you, Selena. I'm done playing hide and seek. So now, let it out."

"Wh... what?" I asked, my voice cracking. I took a shaky step back, my legs feeling like lead.

"Your scent and your wolf. Let it out, Selena. Don’t push me harder, because you won’t like what the outcome will be."

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He knew? He knew, but for how long? Had he been watching me this whole time, waiting for me to trip up? My mind raced, looking for an exit, a lie, anything.

"Alpha, I..." I started to say, my breath coming in short, panicked gasps.

"Don’t, Selena," he growled, his eyes darkening until they were almost entirely black. "Don’t fucking say a word. Just let it out, or I swear I’m going to press you against that wall and fuck you so hard I'll cripple you."

My entire body shook under the sheer weight of his gaze. A violent shiver ripped down my spine, my toes curling tight inside my worn shoes as a heavy, undeniable wave of heat pooled right between my thighs. I was getting slick just from the way he looked at me, a hot, desperate ache blooming so fast it made my knees weak. Please, I prayed internalizing, a mantra of pure panic rolling through my head. Please let the suppressant be working. Don't let him smell me. Don't let him perceive how ruined I already am for him.

But looking at him now, the lie was suffocating me. Up close, his raw, dominant power was blinding. My eyes, betraying my terror, tracked the hard line of his jaw up to his lips, full, cruel, and perfectly shaped, before dropping to the thick muscles of his chest, stretching the black fabric of his shirt to its absolute limits. Every instinct told me to run, but my body was completely hyper-focused on his physical proximity, growing helplessly horny under the dark promise of his touch.

He didn't give me time to breathe. He closed the remaining distance in half a heartbeat, his large, calloused hand suddenly wrapping around the back of my neck.

The heat of his palm burned through my skin, a jolt of pure electricity striking straight down to my core. I gasped, my head forced up as his fingers tangled in my hair, anchoring me in place. The scent of rain, bourbon, and dominant male flooded my senses, completely overriding the chemical dampeners of the suppressant.

"You think you can hide from me in my own territory?" he murmured, his thumb brushing over the pulsing vein in my throat, feeling the frantic, terrified speed of my heartbeat. He leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of my ear, his breath searing hot against my skin. "I've smelled you through the dampener for weeks, Selena. Every time you passed the hall, every time you left a room. It drives me insane. You’re drowning in your own slick right now, aren't you? I can feel your body vibrating for me."

"Alpha... please," I whimpered, my hands coming up to press weakly against his massive chest, the solid, unyielding muscle beneath my palms only making my clit pulse with a sharper, hollower ache. I wanted him to tear my clothes off. I wanted him to reject me and ruin me all at once. The contrast of the dark terror in my chest and the needy moisture gathering between my legs was driving me mad.

"Please what?" he growled, his grip tightening just enough to make me arch into his frame, my chest pressing against his. His dark eyes locked onto mine, stripping away every single defense I had left. "Tell me what you want, little wolf. Tell me before I take it anyway."