Chapter 1

LYRA POV

“How are you enjoying your Alpha’s cock, you little slut?” Lucien growls in my ear as he pounds me from behind.

His rhythm is relentless. He rams into me over and over again, allowing me no time to adjust to him, until I’m on the verge of tears. Since the moment he first entered me in a single, rough thrust, he had only picked up his pace.

I can’t hold back a whimper. It’s my first time, and his continuous, ruthless assault is making my swollen walls burn—and not in a good way. I can feel blood dripping down my thighs, a testament to my pain. Yet, even so, I can’t tell him to stop. They say losing your virginity is always painful anyway, right?

Lucien is being harder on me than I had anticipated, but I don’t complain. He’s an Alpha, so the possessiveness and roughness are part of his nature. As his mate, I should learn to take it. The anticipation for this moment doesn’t help numb the pain, but I’d been dreaming of the moment he would claim me for so long, I just let him do it.

For over six months since I turned eighteen and connected with my wolf, I’d known Lucien, son of the Alpha of the Shadow Lake pack, was my mate. However, as ecstatic as I was when I first discovered our bond, I refrained from telling him, afraid he would reject me on the spot. Although he’d never been particularly mean to me, he was next-in-line to become leader of our pack, and I was just an Omega.

After losing my parents in a rogue attack when I was younger, I was raised by the other Omegas, who taught me how to cook, clean, and do whatever else the pack needed me to do. I was just a maid, a weak wolf unworthy of the attention of the strongest, most popular male in Shadow Lake. Or so I had thought.

Yet earlier today, the day of the future Alpha’s 18th birthday, his animal counterpart finally awoke and was able to scent me—I’d known it the moment our gazes accidentally crossed in the hall, and his eyes darkened. Composed, he walked up to me, discreetly whispering for me to meet him in the janitor’s closet in fifteen minutes. My heart soared with joy, and I didn’t think twice.

When he met me, the possessive growl he let out made my wolf purr in anticipation. I thought maybe he would kiss me, or simply talk to me. Instead, he just ordered me to take my clothes, turned me around, and bent me over.

“Ah!” I scream suddenly as Lucien slaps my buttcheek so hard I nearly lose balance.

“Answer me when I talk to you,” he demands, fingernails digging into my hip as he grasps me tighter, thrusting deeper than ever before stilling.

“It… It hurts a little, my Alpha,” I tell him honestly, swallowing a cry as I feel him so deep inside me it feels like I’m about to be torn in half.

Lucien scoffs. “I’ll fuck you as fast and as hard as I want to. Do you understand me?”

He pulls out and quickly plunges in again, so violently I’m thrusted against the wall. As I’m about to scream, he pulls my hair roughly. “Do you understand?” he growls.

“Yes, my Alpha,” I breathe out, my shaky, strained voice barely audible.

“Good. Now stay quiet and take it like the dirty slut you are. I’m almost done.”

As he goes back to hammering into me even harder than before, the pain becomes so intense I almost start crying, but I somehow manage to stay silent, just  as he’d asked. Despite his seeming lack of concern for me, the mate bond still urges me to please him like raw instinct.

For a moment, this almost feels wrong. I thought mates should care about each other. That when Lucien and I had our first time, he would be passionate and loving. Yet he fucked me without any mercy and called me degrading terms that made my heart clench instead of jump.

Did I get it all wrong? Or am I reading too much into this?

“Fuck, yes!”

Before I can come to a conclusion, Lucien finally stills inside of me. For a few good seconds as he covers my walls with his cum spurt after spurt, my sore insides are offered a glimpse of relief. When he pulls out, letting his release spill down my inner thighs, it burns one less time before the throbbing pain starts to diminish. By the time he’s done, I’m shaking.

I don’t even have time to recompose myself before he orders, “Get out of here, now. Take the servants path so no one can see or smell you. Take a good shower, and make sure you scrub my scent off of you.”

At first, his instructions don’t register. I turn around to find him already putting his clothes back on while I’m sweaty, naked, and dripping with his juices. “What?” I ask, confused and disappointed.

Suddenly, his tone shifts slightly, becoming softer. “I love you, Lyra. And I want you,” he said tenderly, only further confusing me. Then he steps closer, lifting his hand to my face. “But if you want to be with me, we need to take it slow. Politics are complicated. The pack won’t be happy if I introduce an Omega as my Luna without preparing the ground first. We have to handle this correctly, or our relationship will be doomed before it even begins.”

His words make my heart tighten. Though there is some sense to his reasoning, it doesn’t really sit right with me. The way he said it… It almost sounded like he’s ashamed of me.

“That’s not it, Lyra,” my wolf reassures me. “Lucien is our mate. I know it’s not what we both wanted, but… We have to trust him.” Despite her confidence, I remain unsure.

“You understand this, right, Lyra?” Lucien presses after my long silence, leaning closer. When his eyes meet mine, the bond between us lights up, and I’m hypnotized. “As the mate of an Alpha, you need to know how to behave. Otherwise, this won’t work.”

I hesitate for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

Lucien smiles. “That’s my good little slut. Now, go. And remember—not a word about this.” He waves his finger between us.

Despite the hurt in my heart, I decide to trust my mate and my wolf. Our bond is new, but I would do anything to preserve it.

I just hope Lucien would do the same.