"Are you sure about this?"
Petra watched me get ready, her face a mixture of concern and curiosity. I'd come to her house to prepare for tonight, too nervous to stay at my own cabin.
"No," I admitted, applying lipstick in her bathroom mirror. "But I'm doing it anyway."
"What do you think is going to happen tonight?"
"I don't know." That was a lie. I had a pretty good idea of what Alpha Lucian wanted. The question was whether I was ready to give it to him.
"You know the whole pack is going to know about this by tomorrow, right? If you go to his house, if you spend the night there..."
"I know."
"And Jude will know."
"Good. Let him know. Let him feel what I felt."
Petra was quiet for a moment. Then she said softly, "Hailey, I need to ask you something. And I need you to be honest with me."
"What?"
"Is this really about revenge? Or is there something more happening here?"
I met her eyes in the mirror. "I don't know," I admitted. "I thought it was just revenge. But when I'm around him, when he looks at me, when he touches me..." I trailed off, not knowing how to explain it.
"You feel something," Petra finished for me.
"Yes. And I don't know if it's real or if it's just my broken bond making me seek out any connection I can find."
"What does your wolf say?"
I closed my eyes, reaching for my wolf. She was there immediately, stronger than she'd been in days.
He's ours, she said simply. The Alpha is ours.
"She wants him," I told Petra. "She's wanted him since that first night at the pack meeting."
"And what do you want? Not your wolf. You."
That was the question, wasn't it? What did I want?
Revenge, yes. But also... connection. Understanding. Someone who saw me not as the broken, rejected mate, but as something more. Something powerful.
"I want him," I said finally. "I want the Alpha."
Petra nodded slowly. "Then go get him. But Hailey?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful. Alphas are possessive. Territorial. Once you're his, he won't let you go easily. And if this really is just revenge for you, if you don't actually want him for keeps... it could get messy."
"It's already messy."
"It could get messier."
She was right, of course. But I was past the point of being careful.
I arrived at the Alpha's house at exactly eight o'clock. It was a large cabin on the outskirts of the pack lands, surrounded by forest. Private. Isolated.
My hands were shaking as I knocked on the door.
It opened almost immediately. Alpha Lucian stood there, dressed in dark jeans and a simple black shirt. He looked relaxed, but his eyes were intense as they traveled over me.
I'd worn a simple green dress, one that hugged my curves without being too obvious. My hair was down, and I'd kept my makeup natural.
"You came," he said, a hint of surprise in his voice.
"You doubted I would?"
"I thought you might lose your nerve."
"I don't lose my nerve."
He smiled. "No. I don't suppose you do. Come in."
I stepped inside, and he closed the door behind me. The house was warm and inviting, with a fire crackling in the fireplace. It smelled like him-pine and earth and something uniquely Alpha.
"Wine?" he offered, gesturing to the kitchen.
"Please."
He poured us each a glass of red wine, and we moved to sit on the couch in front of the fire. For a moment, neither of us spoke. We just sat there, the crackle of the fire the only sound.
"Why am I here?" I asked finally, needing to break the silence.
"Because I asked you to come."
"That's not an answer."
He took a sip of his wine, considering his words. "You're here because we have unfinished business. Because there's something between us that neither of us can ignore."
"The only thing between us is revenge."
"Is it?" He set his wine glass down and turned to face me fully. "Then why is your heart racing right now? Why can I smell your arousal from here? Why did you spend an hour getting ready for a simple conversation?"
Heat flooded my face. "How did you-"
"Petra texted me. She wanted to make sure my intentions were honorable." He smiled. "I told her they absolutely weren't."
"And she still let me come?"
"She said it was your choice to make. That you're a grown woman who can make her own decisions." He reached out and traced his finger along my jaw, just like he had in his office. "So make your decision, Hailey. Are you here for revenge? Or are you here for me?"
"Both," I whispered.
"That's not good enough. I need to know-"
"I don't know!" The words burst out of me. "I don't know what I want anymore. I came here tonight planning to seduce you, to use you to hurt Jude. But now I'm sitting here and all I can think about is how much I want you to kiss me. How much I want you to touch me. And I don't know if that's real or if it's just my broken bond making me desperate for any connection."
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he stood up and held out his hand.
"Come with me."
"Where?"
"Just trust me."
I took his hand and let him lead me through the house to a door at the back. He opened it, revealing a deck that overlooked the forest. The moon was full tonight, huge and silver in the sky.
"Look at the moon," he said, standing behind me. "What do you feel?"
I looked up at the moon, letting its light wash over me. "I feel... calm. Centered."
"That's because the moon doesn't lie. It shows us the truth, strips away our pretenses and our fears. So I'm going to ask you one more time, Hailey Moreno, and I want you to answer with complete honesty. Why are you here?"
I closed my eyes, letting the moonlight guide me to the truth.
"I'm here because I want you," I said finally. "Not just for revenge. Not just to hurt Jude. I want you because when you look at me, I feel seen. Really seen. And when you touch me, I feel alive in a way I haven't felt since the bond broke. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe this is all wrong. But I want you anyway."
He turned me around to face him, his silver eyes glowing in the moonlight.
"That's all I needed to hear."
Then he kissed me.
It wasn't gentle. It wasn't soft. It was claiming, possessive, demanding. His hands tangled in my hair, pulling me closer as his mouth moved against mine with an intensity that made my knees weak.
I kissed him back with everything I had, pouring all my pain and rage and desire into it. My hands gripped his shirt, pulling him closer, wanting more.
He broke the kiss, both of us breathing hard.
"If we do this," he said, his voice rough, "there's no going back. You'll be mine, Hailey. Not just for tonight. Not just until you've had your revenge. Mine."
"What if I don't want to be anyone's?"
"Too bad. Because I've waited two years for this. Two years of watching you, wanting you, hating myself for wanting my son's mate. I'm not letting you go now."
"That's very presumptuous of you."
"I'm an Alpha. Presumption comes with the territory." He kissed me again, softer this time. "Say yes, Hailey. Say you're mine."
I should have said no. Should have walked away. This was dangerous and complicated and wrong in so many ways.
But my wolf was singing inside me, and for the first time since the bond broke, I felt whole.
"Yes," I whispered against his lips. "I'm yours."
He growled, a sound of pure satisfaction, and lifted me into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me back inside, heading for what I assumed was his bedroom.
"Wait," I said suddenly.
He stopped. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just... I need you to know something."
"What?"
"This started as revenge. But it's not anymore. Whatever happens between us, whatever this becomes, I need you to know that it's real for me now. You're real for me."
His expression softened. "I know, little wolf. I know."
Then he carried me to his bedroom, and the rest of the night became a blur of hands and mouths and whispered words that sounded almost like promises.
When I woke up the next morning, wrapped in his arms with the sun streaming through the windows, I knew everything had changed.
I'd come here for revenge.
But I'd ended up finding something I hadn't expected.
Hope.
