Chapter 6: I'm Addicted to You

"Divorce? Ha."

Richard’s lips curled into a cold, shallow smile, his dark eyes swirling with a heavy, stormy haze of suppressed fury.

"Arabella, you know I don't buy into this act. Why do you always love threatening me with a divorce?"

He hauled Arabella toward him, his thumb pressing harshly against the back of her neck as a wave of absolute, dominant Alpha pressure suffocated the room.

"I know you're jealous and hurting. Just be a good Luna for a while. After Celeste gives birth, you can throw whatever little tantrums you want, and I'll let it slide."

Hearing Richard dismiss her agonizing, carefully weighed decision to divorce as a mere "little tantrum," a wave of bone-deep chill washed over Arabella. A bitter, self-deprecating smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

For him, she had shouldered three agonizing years of false shame as the pack’s "barren" failure, working herself to the bone to be the perfect, dutiful Luna and a devoted, loyal mate.

In the end, it was all reduced to a pathetic joke.

Arabella’s lips trembled. "Richard, I'm not throwing a tantrum."

Before she could finish, Richard’s phone shrilled. He held up a silencing finger, his expression shifting entirely.

"It’s Celeste. Her prenatal stability is fragile right now, and emotional stress could trigger a miscarriage. For the pup’s sake, I didn't tell her I came to see you. Don't make a sound."

In this exact moment, Arabella—the rightful, sworn Luna of the estate—was treated like a shameful, hidden mistress tucked away in the shadows.

She stood frozen as the sweet, whiny coo of Celeste spilled from the receiver.

*"Richard, where did you go? The manor is so huge and empty, I'm scared all alone. Please hurry back and stay with me~"*

Richard’s voice softened instantly, dripping with protective warmth. "There was an urgent pack matter at the estate office. I’m handling it now, and I’ll be right back to keep you company. Be a good girl and wait for me with our pup."

After a few more honeyed, pacifying words, he snapped the call shut.

When Richard turned back to Arabella, his handsome brows knitted into a sharp, impatient line.

"Arabella, the pack healer said Celeste's aura is unstable. Agitation could cause her to lose the pup. I have to go back and look after her immediately."

He stepped closer, his thumb callously digging into the corner of her reddened eyes, applying enough pressure to sting while his voice dropped into a warning growl.

"As for a divorce, we are bonded for life. Don't you ever let me hear that word leave your mouth again."

Without waiting for her to answer, Richard turned on his heel and strode out of the suite, his broad shoulders disappearing down the corridor without a single backward glance.

Arabella watched his retreating silhouette, every word he left behind ringing like poisonous glass in her ears.

She clenched her fists so hard that her teeth sank into her lower lip, tasting the sharp, metallic iron of fresh blood.

*No matter what it takes, I am getting away from him!*

A moment later, the hotel door clicked open behind her. A wave of crisp, pine-and-mint body wash flooded the air as Samuel reached out, snagging Arabella’s wrist and hauling her swiftly back inside the threshold.

The door slammed shut. Before she could process a breath, Samuel pinned her firmly against the heavy wood, pressing a soft, lingering kiss right over her damp, reddened eyelashes.

His low, hypnotic voice hummed against her skin. "Little Luna, your beta went running off to coddle his little mistress. He clearly doesn't deserve your tears. Why don't you let me keep you company instead, and help you forget?"

Arabella tilted her head away, her gaze colliding with Samuel’s long, phoenix-shaped eyes, which burned with dangerous, untamed heat as one eyebrow twitched upward in a mocking, yet intensely magnetic smirk.

Staring at that face—so terrifyingly similar to Richard’s, yet infinitely more powerful—a sharp pang of grief flashed through her mind as the memory of Celeste and Richard echoed in her ears.

With a sudden, desperate surge of defiance, Arabella reached out, grabbing the lapels of Samuel’s silk robe and pulling him hard until they were chest-to-chest.

"Samuel. You said you’d help me cut ties with Richard. Was that the truth, or a game?"

Samuel looked down at her, standing a mere breath away—close enough to see the raw, jagged pain shining in her clear eyes. A heavy, sympathetic ache contracted deep within his chest.

He raised a long-fingered, calloused hand, gently sweeping a stray strand of hair away from her damp cheek, his expression shrouded in a dark, unreadable intensity.

"Little Luna, I don't lie. If you want out of that sham bond, I can make it happen."

"Only..." He paused, leaning down until his lips brushed the shell of her ear, his voice rough and laced with subtle menace.

"If you want my help, there is a price."

Arabella swallowed hard, her throat burning with a dry ache.

She hesitated, her voice trembling slightly. "What price?"

Samuel’s dark eyes churned like a bottomless abyss, an ancient, predatory hunger waking up beneath the surface.

"Little Luna, I’m addicted."

"I want you in my bed every single night."

Arabella’s pupils constricted, the color draining entirely from her lips.

"Samuel, do you hear yourself? I am your nephew’s wife—everything that happened tonight was a drunken mistake. Wake up, and tomorrow we pretend none of this ever happened."

At her words, Samuel captured her delicate hand, lifting it to his lips to press a hot, unyielding, highly possessive kiss against her knuckles. His predatory gaze never left hers.

"I am completely sober, Little Luna."

He wasn't playing a game. He didn't just want her for a single, chaotic night. He wanted her for a lifetime.

Pinned against the wood of the door, Arabella lifted her chin, her lower lip trembling as she tried to dodge his crushing gaze. "I can't agree to that condition, Samuel. Name something else."

Samuel lowered his head, pressing his face directly against the soft curve of her neck, inhaling her sweet, floral scent like a wild beast marking its territory.

"What can I say? Little Luna, this is the only thing I want."

Before she could pull away, his teeth grazed playfully over the sensitive skin of her throat, his teeth lightly grinding against the soft flesh.

A sudden, electric jolt of heat shot down her spine.

"Ah~"

Samuel’s hand slid down, firmly and possessively gripping her slender waist as a wicked, seductive smile curved his lips.

"Didn't you want a pup, Little Luna? Your beta couldn't give you one, but I can."

At the mention of a child, Arabella’s chaotic mind snapped back into sharp focus.

She whipped her head back, her fingers bunching tightly into the fabric of his robe as a bitter, complex storm raged behind her eyes.

Samuel kept up his relentless persuasion.

"All you have to do is accept my terms, and I’ll hand you your freedom on a silver platter, plus give you a litter of your own. It's a magnificent trade, isn't it?"

Arabella’s eyes cleared completely, the knuckles holding his robe turning stark white.

She parted her lips, letting the words fall like iron.

"One month."

Samuel paused, his eyes narrowing. "Hmm?"

Bracing herself, Arabella looked up at him, her expression a mix of terrifying clarity and desperate resolve.

"I’ll give you one month. Within this month, you must help me break the bond cleanly and get me legally free—and you must give me a child."

She wasn't just walking away from Richard. She was going to shove the truth right into his face and prove to the entire pack that she, Arabella, was far from broken!

Staring down at the fiercely determined woman who had occupied his thoughts for years, Samuel’s playful smirk melted away, replaced by a deep, blazing respect and fierce devotion.

"Deal."