Chapter 2: Seven Nights

Anya

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The moment the words left my mouth, Nathan’s eyes lit up with hunger and desire, a kind of craving I had never seen before. His lips began to devour me, trailing down the line of my neck as his hands roamed over my body.

“Is Noah asleep?” he asked, pulling back slightly, his forehead still pressed against mine, his hands gripping my waist firmly.

“Y-yes…” I stammered, my breath still struggling to return after his hungry kisses.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, tightening his hold on my waist.

“I… I didn’t even know you wanted me…” I replied, instinctively clutching his shoulders.

Nathan let out a low laugh. “You have no idea…” One of his hands slid up to my neck, his fingers brushing my face. “You have no idea how much I’ve held back, how hard I’ve fought this. Every time I catch your scent…” He tilted his head and buried his face in my neck, inhaling deeply. A shiver ran through my entire body. “It’s unbearably intoxicating.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, still looking into his eyes. “Why didn’t you say anything? You’re the Alpha heir. You could have any woman you want… why me?”

For the first time since he gave in, he hesitated.

His gaze shifted away for a moment. Looking back now, I should have noticed. But in the heat of it, I couldn’t do anything except follow what my body wanted.

Nathan looked at me again, gripping my chin and tilting it up. “It doesn’t matter,” he whispered, brushing his lips against mine. “I’m not resisting anymore.”

He kissed me again, deep, warm, and consuming. I held onto his neck and shoulders as if I were clinging to a lifeline in the middle of a storm. His hands slid down my body until they reached my thighs, lifting me effortlessly.

The next thing I knew, we were in my room, the one the Volkovs had given me for nights I needed to stay over. Time blurred under his kisses. Our clothes disappeared, and soon we were tangled together on the bed.

When he moved inside me, it felt unreal, overwhelming in a way I had never experienced before. Not that I had much experience, but I knew right then that this wasn’t something casual. What we had was something more.

I felt his teeth brush against my neck, felt him holding himself back from biting me. Of course he couldn’t. I was just a poor she-wolf working as a nanny. He was a future Alpha. There was no way he could mark me as his Luna.

He lifted one hand to the headboard, his face still buried in my neck.

“Your scent… your taste…” Nathan growled, his voice thick with desire, the words vibrating through his chest. “It’s so…”

He didn’t finish. Instead, he gripped the headboard, and the solid wood crumbled in his hand as if it were nothing, as he drove into me again and again. I scratched his back, biting my lip, trying to muffle my sounds so I wouldn’t wake the entire house.

He was holding back so much just to avoid marking me.

But why? I was no one in this pack, so why did the Alpha want me so badly?

Those were the questions I asked myself at dawn, when everything was over and the warmth of his body was no longer beside me. I woke up alone, startled by the sound of my alarm, the one that ensured I was up before Noah.

I sat up in bed, the sheet covering my chest as I ran my fingers over my skin, remembering the night before. I stood, still wrapped in the sheet, and walked to the mirror. There were marks on my skin, nothing I couldn’t hide with makeup.

Though deep down, I didn’t want to hide them. A strange part of me wanted to show everyone what the Alpha had done to me. I turned to the bed and looked at the headboard. He had done that. But he had wanted more, much more. Maybe he wanted me to truly be his…

I shook my head, pushing the thought away. I wasn’t his. I couldn’t be.

That had been a one-night thing, and that should have been more than enough for someone like me.

If it had ended there, it would have been better. Simpler. Easier. We would have avoided each other’s eyes. I would have said I didn’t know what happened to the headboard, that it was already like that when I went to bed, and they would have assumed some animal had gotten in. We would have moved on with our lives.

But that’s not what happened.

What happened was that Nathan showed up at my door the next night.

He didn’t say anything. He just knocked in the middle of the night, after Noah had gone to sleep. But somehow, I knew it was him. I knew he would come, as if there was something between us neither of us dared to name.

Again, we lost ourselves in each other. I bit into pillows to keep quiet. He held himself back so he wouldn’t mark me.

Six nights passed like that. Six nights of indescribable pleasure.

There was a silent agreement between us. He would come to my room at night, we would lose ourselves in each other, he would leave before dawn, and during the day, we would pretend nothing had happened.

I had never felt anything like it. I trembled under his touch, his kisses, every word he whispered. I didn’t even know how we had managed to go six months without touching. It felt like we were meant to be together. Every part of me seemed made for him.

And the worst part was that I knew he felt it too. I could see it in his eyes, even when he looked away, even when he tried to hide it.

It was becoming unbearable to live like that.

On the seventh morning, I followed the same routine. I got ready, went to Noah’s room, and carried him downstairs for breakfast.

Everything felt normal, except for the certainty growing inside me that I would confront Nathan that night. I knew that if I pushed him, if I kissed him hard enough, I would force the truth out of him. He would confess everything, and I would finally be recognized as his… maybe even as his Luna.

Because it was obvious, wasn’t it? That’s what we were: Alpha and Luna.

For a moment, a brief, foolish moment, I truly believed that.

Until I saw her.

Sitting beside Nathan, posture flawless, wearing a dress more expensive than anything I had ever worn, long blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, a smile that radiated class and elegance.

I was holding Noah in my arms, the boy still sleepy. Time slowed.

I watched her laugh and place her hand over Nathan’s, resting on his thigh. The Volkovs laughed like they were celebrating something.

“Anya!” Patricia called, excitement in her voice as she stood and walked toward me, arms open to take Noah. “Come here, let’s introduce you. Come to mommy, my little one…”

She took Noah from my arms and grabbed mine with her free hand, completely unaware of the way my expression betrayed me.

“Come, dear. You know the Smirnovs, don’t you? The leaders of the Silver pack? This is Mirella, their eldest daughter, Nathan’s fiancée and the future Luna of the Silverfang.”

Her words pierced through me like poisoned needles. I looked at Nathan, and for a brief second, I saw it: Pain. But just as quickly, he looked away.

Of course he did.

That’s all he ever does.

I clenched my jaw, fists tightening as I forced a polite smile, holding back the tears.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said, lowering my head slightly, avoiding eye contact. “Please excuse me, I need to prepare Noah’s breakfast.”

“Of course, dear,” Patricia said.

I hurried to the kitchen like the obedient servant I was. I locked myself in the pantry and slid down against the door, feeling my world collapse.

What I didn’t know at that moment… Was that things were about to get much, much worse.

Because while I sat there crying, hidden from everyone, I was already carrying the heir of the pack inside me.