Chapter 2

LYRA POV

For the following week, nothing changes.

Throughout the day, Lucien will mindlink me and tell me to meet him somewhere away from unwanted eyes. He never invites me on dates, nor does he act kindly towards me when there are others nearby. In public, he completely ignores me. Our bond could be resumed to quick fucks and sneaking around whenever he calls.

He doesn’t ask me if I’m satisfied. If I enjoyed our moment together. He just pulls out of me, shoves his cock back into his pants, and barks the same order: “Go straight to the Omega’s wing and wash. Don’t let anyone catch my scent on you.” That’s it—no aftercare, no cuddling, no love. In fifteen minutes it’s over, and he’s sending me away again.

And I’m starting to grow tired of it.

In the beginning, I bought the story he’d told me. That our situation is complicated, and we have to act with caution. My anxious, naive heart used to race every time he told me to meet him, thinking we would do something other than just feed our hunger. But as the days went by, his lack of care and attitude started to seem less like the behavior or a dominant Alpha and more like he was just using me.

“That’s not true, Lyra,” my wolf begs to differ as soon as the thought crosses my mind as I go back to doing my chores. “You know how pack hierarchy works. You know it’s not easy. Mate would never lie to us,” she insists.

Part of me wants to believe her—the lovesick girl who had longed for any form of connection with my mate. However as time passes it becomes harder and harder to fool my brain into believing that the way he treats our relationship is justifiable.

“He’s just trying to protect us and our bond,” Moon desperately reassures me, as if she’s trying to convince herself more than me. “If the pack learns about our bond now, they’ll try to destroy it.”

“Then what? We settle for being a secret while Lucien just uses us for his own pleasure?” I argue, hurt slowly turning into annoyance.

She lowers her ears. “We just have to be patient…”

I love Moonveil a lot. I was never popular in the pack—in fact, most pack members shun me—so when our connection was established on my 18th birthday, she immediately became my best friend. She’s kind, caring, and always makes me feel better about myself.

All wolf shifters get their wolves at the age of eighteen, when they have their first shift. But I never did. Though Moon did awake inside my mind when I came of age, quickly becoming my voice of reason, I can’t transform into our animal form. She told me that she’s too weak to come out, and to be honest, that didn’t take me by surprise. Since both of my parents were Omegas, I didn’t come from a strong bloodline.

When the pack learned that I couldn’t shift, they started making fun of me and calling me wolfless. But I don’t mind. I’m very grateful to have Moon with me, even if she’s not the strongest wolf. She keeps me company and helps me make the right decisions.

Yet for the first time, I couldn’t fully agree with her.

As I’m lost in thought, burdened by uncertainty regarding the mate bond, Lucien’s voice suddenly echoes in my head.

“Are you busy right now?” he asks simply, excitement laced in his tone. My heart skips a beat as I hear his voice, the matebond humming with anticipation under my skin, but it doesn’t let butterflies loose in my stomach as it once did.

I rub my eyes, pushing myself off the bed. “I have to help in the kitchen soon,” I reply hesitantly.

“It can wait,” he says dismissively. “Meet me in the shed behind the packhouse. I have a surprise for you.”

A surprise? I think to myself, and my wolf’s ears immediately perk up. Could this be the moment where we finally do more than just have sex? Where he invites me to be intimate with him in a more personal way? It may be Moon’s wishful thinking finally getting to me, but I hopelessly grasp the feeling and tell Lucien I’ll be there.

I rush to the shed, careful not to let others see me, and the second I open the door, strong arms capture me. I’m startled at first, but relax as I recognize my mate’s touch even though I can’t see him well in the dark. Yet the relief only lasts for a brief moment, until he lets his claws out and starts tearing my clothes off.

“Ah! Lucien, wait!” I whisper-yell at him, hesitant, worried.

He doesn’t stop.

“Quiet,” he snaps back, snaking one arm around my waist and using his other hand to bend me forward over a wooden surface. The next second, I let out a gasp as I feel his tip press against my entrance. “I wanna have some fun with you, and you’ll let me.”

This time, his intrusion is so sudden, so forceful, not even the amplified emotions caused by our bond can get me ready for him on time. I’m not wet enough when he pushes inside me, and it hurts. It gets even worse when he continues to thrust in and out painfully fast despite the friction.

I want to tell him to stop. That it hurts. That I’m not enjoying this. But I can’t find the words. If I told him I don’t want to do this, would it sound like I’m rejecting him? Would he get mad?

Too afraid to find out, I just let him fuck me until he finishes. Thankfully, it’s over faster than usual this time. Still, by the time he’s done, I’m shaking, too weak from his sudden assault.

Lucien throws some nearby rug around my body, pulling me to stand straight and face him without any tenderness. “You know the drill by now, don’t you, my little Omega?”

For a moment, I can’t speak. My breath is shaky, my body is quivering. Tears start streaming down my face, both from the pain caused by how violent he had been, and from me starting to second-guess our relationship.

Lucien seems to notice it, as he brings one hand up to my face, gently caressing my cheek with the back of his fingers. “What’s wrong, my mate? Is your Alpha too rough for your liking?”

“I… I…” I try to speak, but struggle to form words.

He chuckles. “Don’t worry. I promise I won’t break you. But you’re my mate—you need to be able to handle me.”

His words immediately strike me as a massive red flag, but before I can fully acknowledge it, he continues, “And because you’ve been so good lately, I’ll give you a reward in two days. Something you’ve been asking for. How’s that sound?”

Lucien leans in, pressing his lips to the top of my head. It’s the most caring gesture he had shown me since the first time we’d spoken. And that affects me more than it probably should. A spark of hope ignites in my chest, and I nod.

“Good. You’re a good little Omega,” he says before turning around and leaving.

As usual, I wait a few minutes before running back to the Omega’s wing, praying no one sees me when I have just a rag to cover my body. Thankfully, I manage to make it to the shower and put on new clothes before Maribeth, the Head of the Omegas, storms into my room.

“Lyra! Where the hell have you been!” she yells, and before I can answer, her eyes scan me from head to toe. “Where did all those bruises come from?”

I take a quick look at my body and realize there’s purple marks scattered across my skin where Lucien had gripped me too tight earlier. The sight scares me, but I shake it off before Maribeth notices.

“I fell,” I blurt out.

She huffs. “Be more careful. You will be working at Alpha Lucien’s Ceremony in two days, and you can’t make any mistakes there.”

My eyes widen. “I… I will?”

“Yes. The young Alpha talked to me just now and personally demanded your presence.”

That foolish spark of hope burns brighter inside of me. I connect the news to what my mate had said before he left.

I can’t help but assume the reward he mentioned is that he plans to reveal our bond to the pack during his ceremony.