Chapter 5 05|Make me hard for you.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot. It was a scripture written in the goddess’s holy book..It meant taking from someone exactly what they had taken from you.

If they took your eye, you took theirs.

If they took your tooth, you took theirs.

If they took your hand… or your foot… you took theirs.

The moon goddess who preached forgiveness, who preached love, who preached mercy had still written those words into her sacred scroll.

Why?

It was simple.

Because no matter how kind someone was, no matter how gentle or weak they seemed, there would always come a time when revenge became necessary.

A moment when a boundary would be pushed so far, so violently, that all that remained was the need to make them pay and when that moment came, that person would feel no pain.

Shed no tears.

They would become empty.

A shell.

I had become that person.

Someone who wanted to take back every eye, every tooth, every hand, every foot that had been stolen from me and I swore it by my name, Eleanor, that I would have my revenge, even if it was the last thing I did.

“That look in your eyes…”

Time seemed to slow.

The only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock—Soft. Slow. Relentless.

As if it were quietly mocking me.

One second passed, then another and all I could do was stare at the devil before me. His lips stretched into something unhinged, that familiar, dangerous glint burning in his eyes as he closed the distance between us. Slow. Intentional.

Predatory.

“That killing intent radiating off you…” he murmured, voice low, almost pleased. “I love it… haha, I love it.”

His chuckle rolled through the room, deep and unsettling.

I didn’t react.

Not even when he leaned closer—closer until our noses almost brushed, until I could feel the heat of his body pressing into mine as he caged me in with both arms.

“You look like a woman who’s already lost everything…”

His voice dropped, softer now, sharper.

“Like someone who has nothing left to lose…Someone who’s thirsty for blood.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, gaze dragging over me like he could see straight through my bones.

A slow, dangerous smile.

“Now that… is exactly what I’m talking about, Miss Eleanor. I will help you get your revenge,” he continued, voice almost a promise. “I’ll help you take back every debt they owe you.”

Then he tilted his head slightly.

“But…”

The word lingered.

“There’s a condition.”

I didn’t speak. I didn’t move, I just stared at him, calm and unbothered as if I were already used to this kind of madness, maybe I was. After all, this wasn’t my first time standing in front of Alexander.

I had met him three times before. A man who rarely revealed himself to the public. A man who lived outside the pack and yet, despite not being the Alpha of the Bloodtorn pack, people still called him the Rogue Alpha.

Because of his strength. Because of his wolf and all three times, I had gone for his life. The first time, I hadn’t even managed to fully draw my sword before he was behind me.

A breath at my neck,

Claws grazing my skin,

Ready to end me but when he saw my face, he had paused.

Then laughed.

Saying he hadn’t expected his brother to send his own Luna to her death and just like that, he let me go.

The second time, he let me draw my sword. Let me attack, only for it to turn into a mockery. He didn’t fight back, he didn’t even try.

He simply dodged every strike, every desperate attempt, laughing like a madman until I exhausted myself and then… he kicked me out.

Telling me to come back when I was worth his time.

The third time, I found him torturing another assassin. He tied me up, forced me to watch every second of it with that same smile on his face and when it was over, he let me go even though I had come for the exact same reason.

So yes.

I knew exactly what kind of man he was.

Insane. Alexander was completely, and utterly insane.

I just looked at him—cold, steady and finally spoke.

“What is the condition?”

I didn’t hesitate.

And that…that made his grin widen. For a brief moment, his silver eyes glinted and the next second, he leaned back, away from me and the moment he did, my chest loosened.

I felt no fear but my body…it had reacted on its own. A silent warning.

Danger.

As I watched him straighten to his full height, towering over me, his gaze dragged over me slowly… deliberately.

“You will do everything I tell you to, Miss Eleanor,” he said softly, his voice almost amused. “No questions asked.” He paused. “And that includes changing your identity.”

My eyes didn’t waver.

“You will have a new face.” He tilted his head, his smile sharpening. “You will be reborn into a completely different woman and your name will be Delilah.”

The name lingered in the air. Then, his voice dropped.

“I will make you sin itself,” he continued, almost thoughtfully. “A woman no man can resist.” His eyes traced me again—slow, assessing. “From the way you walk… to the way you speak… the way you laugh…”

A faint chuckle escaped him.

“I will teach you everything about men.”

He stepped closer.

“How to draw them in… how to break them… how to make them beg without even realizing it.”

Another step.

“And most importantly…”

His hand lifted slightly, as if already claiming what was his.

“I will teach you how to be my temptress.”

Silence fell.

Heavy.

Suffocating.

“And you will listen to everything I say,” he finished, his voice turning absolute.

In other words, I would belong to him. The room went still. For a moment, we just stared at each other. No emotion crossed my face. If it had been the Eleanor from before, she would have been furious.

She would have clung to her morals. She would have said she already belonged to someone else… To the man who betrayed her.

But now? I felt nothing.

Even if I had to lay down my life to get my revenge, then so be it.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The clock echoed in the silence and on the next tick—

“I will do it,” I said quietly, repeating my earlier words. “I will do anything as long as I get my revenge.”

The tension in the room snapped. Alexander’s grin widened, a low chuckle slipped from his lips as he nodded.

“Good.”

He paused.

“Then shall we begin your first lesson?”

My brows furrowed slightly.

But before I could react, his hand shot out, gripping my chin, forcing my head up, our eyes locked. His gaze darkened, filled with something dangerous.

“Tell me…” he murmured, voice low and smooth, his thumb brushing slowly along my lower lip, lingering there just a second too long. “How well can you tempt a man?”

I didn't answer. I didn’t know how to.

My heart raced.

A faint, wicked smirk curved his lips as his eyes dragged over my face, slow and deliberate.

“Your first lesson is making me want you.”

He leaned in just a fraction closer, his voice dropping to something rougher.

“Make me feel you… make me react… make me lose control.”

His thumb pressed lightly against my lip again, tilting my mouth open just slightly as he uttered those last words that sent a shiver through my spine, and made my breath hitch.

“Make me hard for you, Miss Eleanor.”