All Chapters of Waking up to my sin: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The air in the Newtown manor was thick with the scent of expensive gin and my mother’s cold desperation. I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, my hands trembling as I smoothed the silk of the dress Betty had forced me into. It was blood-red, dangerously tight, and felt less like a garment and more like a target. ​"Don’t just stand there like a statue, Leona," my mother, Betty, snapped from the doorway. She was nursing a glass of bourbon, her eyes scanning me with a calculated greed that made my stomach turn. "Dante is a powerful man with a very specific set of tastes. He’s paying enough to clear our debts and then some, so don't you dare give me that 'bitch ass' attitude tonight. You’re going to smile, you’re going to be charming, and you’re going to do exactly what he says." ​I felt a surge of pure, hot hatred for the woman who had raised me. She wasn't just my mother; she was a pawn of the High Council, and tonight, she was making me the ultimate sacrifice. "You’re sell

​The gates to Malakai’s estate didn't just close behind us; they sealed with a heavy, metallic thud that signaled the end of my life as a normal girl. As the SUV wound up the long, gravel driveway, the estate came into view—a massive, gothic structure of black stone and glass, perched on a cliffside overlooking the crashing waves of the Newtown coast. ​It was beautiful. It was terrifying. It was exactly like him. ​Malakai parked the car and killed the engine. The silence was absolute, save for the sound of my own frantic breathing. He didn't move immediately. He sat there, his large hands still gripping the wheel, his silhouette dark against the moonlight. ​"This is it, Leona," he said, his voice dropping to a velvety, dangerous register. "Once you step through those doors, the High Council can’t help you. Betty can’t find you. You belong to the shadows. You belong to me." ​He climbed out and walked around to my side, opening the door before I could even reach for the handle. He

The silk sheets felt like cool water against my heated skin, but nothing could cool the fire Malakai was stoking inside me. He hovered over me, a dark silhouette of muscle and ink, his eyes burning with a "furious" light that told me there was no going back. ​"You’re shaking, Leona," he whispered, his voice a deep, gravelly caress. He caught my hands, pinning them above my head with a single, massive palm. The power dynamic was clear—he was the King, and I was his willing captive. ​"I’m not afraid," I lied, though my heart was hammering so hard I thought it might bruise my ribs. ​"You should be," he growled, leaning down until his nose brushed mine. "I told you I’m obsessed. I don’t do things halfway. When I take something, I take all of it. Your body, your breath, your 'bitch ass' mother’s memory... I’m going to replace it all with me." ​He started to move, his lips tracing a path of fire from my jaw down to the sensitive hollow of my throat. Every time his teeth grazed my skin,

The panic room was silent, but the walls seemed to vibrate with the muffled thuds of distant gunfire. I sat on the cold floor, clutching the dagger Malakai had given me. It felt heavy, a "no joke" weight in my hand that reminded me I wasn't that scared girl in the red dress anymore. I was a target. I was a prize. But as I listened to the sounds of war outside, I realized I wanted to be a weapon. ​Outside the reinforced doors, Malakai was a whirlwind of "furious" destruction. ​He didn't hide behind cover; he moved through his estate like a shadow with a blade. The High Council’s "Cleaning Crew" had expected a panicked man protecting a girl. Instead, they found a Primal who had finally found something worth killing for. ​Malakai rounded the corner of the grand foyer, his suppressed weapon spitting hot lead into the chests of two men in tactical gear. They dropped without a sound, their blood staining the white marble floors—the first drops in the "bloodbath" Betty had invited into ou

The drive to the coast was a blur of high-speed turns and the smell of burning rubber. Malakai drove like a demon possessed, his eyes constantly checking the rearview mirror for the tell-tale strobe of Council sirens. I sat beside him, the cold weight of the pistol resting in my lap. I wasn't shaking anymore. The "no joke" reality of the library had changed me. ​"We’re almost there," Malakai muttered, his voice tight. "My boat, The Sinful Queen, is fueled and waiting at Pier 4. Once we hit open water, the Council’s jurisdiction ends. They can’t touch us in international waters." ​"And Betty?" I asked, watching the salt spray hit the windshield. "You think she’ll just let us sail away with her 'retirement fund'?" ​Malakai’s jaw tightened. "Betty is a scavenger. She only bites when she thinks her prey is weak. She’s about to find out I’m the strongest I’ve ever been because I have you." ​We screeched into the industrial shipyard, the towering cranes looking like skeletons against th