Chapter 2

Music and liquor fumes churned together in Zoe's tavern, making my head swim.

I threw back another shot, my throat too numb by now to taste anything.

An unwanted woman—what did it matter how carefully I'd picked out that nightgown?

Especially when his heart belonged to someone else.

I, Freya Moon, didn't need some Alpha who didn't want me.

Some male wolf pulled me up to dance, and without thinking twice, I swayed along with him.

A stranger's pheromones—pine needles—flooded my nose, dizzying.

Zoe shoved her way over and yanked me back.

"Have you lost your mind?" she hissed, eyes cutting to the wolf. "If Lucian catches that scent on you, you're done for."

Whatever clarity I had left was drowning in alcohol, my feet already unsteady.

"He won't even touch me. What right does he have to care who I dance with?"

Zoe didn't bother arguing—just grabbed my arm and hauled me out.

Back at the villa, I remembered my phone was still off.

The second I turned it on, the screen exploded with missed calls. All from Lucian.

I frowned, in no mood to call back.

I pushed open the door and walked straight into his gaze.

He shot up from the couch.

"That scent—"

Only then did I remember the stranger's smell still clinging to me. My stomach dropped.

He didn't finish the sentence. His hand dug into the armrest, knuckles white.

I was too drained to say much.

"It's late. I'm going to bed."

No need to explain anything—I'd be filing for the Rejection Ritual tomorrow anyway.

I headed straight upstairs, but my steps grew heavier with each one, my head burning like something was on fire inside.

My knees buckled. My vision went black. I crumpled straight onto the stairs.

The next instant, a pair of arms caught me, moving so fast they blurred.

Lucian's brow knotted into a hard line. Without a word, he swept me up and carried me straight to the bedroom.

He laid me on the bed, pressed his palm to my burning forehead. A thread of cool Alpha pheromone seeped from his fingertips, sinking into my skin, trying to force the fever down.

"Let go... I don't need you." I struggled weakly, but there was no strength left in me.

"Shh, let me help you cool down. It'll pass soon." His voice was low and rough, laced with a coaxing tone that left no room for refusal.

His breath came hot and heavy, but the hands covering me were absurdly gentle.

I sank deeper into that cool sensation, and just before consciousness slipped away, I heard him release me and walk toward the bathroom alone.

When I woke again, it was already morning.

I was wrapped in his arms, something hard and hot pressed against my leg—too obvious to be imagination.

"Still burning up? Still not feeling well?" He'd just woken, voice thick with sleep, hand groping blindly for my forehead.

I snapped fully awake instantly—'that' heat was all his own doing!

I tried to push him off, but he caught my waist with precision, thumb pressing into the small of my back. A jolt of tingling warmth shot through me, and I couldn't hold back a soft gasp.

"Freya." He murmured my name, voice dropping low.

"If you're willing... we could make the bond official."

It was the first time he'd ever offered.

But I couldn't let myself soften.

Last night in the study, he'd rather trick me with fake pheromone than actually mark me for real.

Now, after one fever, he'd suddenly changed his mind?

I let my face go cold, and my voice followed.

"Don't bother."

His throat worked once. Slowly, the arms around me loosened, and he pulled back.

"I'm the one who dragged this out too long. It's not your fault."

"Be careful out there from now on."

He got up, pulling on nothing but a pair of shorts—his body stark and unmissable in the morning light.

The cut of his waist, the muscle of his abdomen, the faint trace of an Adonis belt—the body of a top-tier Alpha laid bare in front of me without reserve.

I quickly convinced myself that any other well-built male wolf standing there would've gotten the same reaction out of me.

Just a normal physical response. Nothing to do with him specifically.

That's what I told myself.

After getting up, I went to the closet for clothes. At first, only a few ordinary outer robes were missing, and I didn't think much of it.

They weren't worth much. Lost was lost.

But when I realized my ceremonial robe for the Moon God Festival was missing too, something felt wrong.

I'd worn that robe against my skin for an entire week—it carried my scent at its strongest, and it was required for the offering ritual at the festival.

The territory's security was airtight. No outsider could possibly get in. Yet I couldn't figure out how it had vanished.

At breakfast, I decided to just ask outright.

"Someone broke in and stole from the house."

Lucian, head down, was cutting my steak. His hand paused at my words, but he didn't look up.

"What's missing?"

"My ceremonial robe."

The knife tip stopped against the plate with a faint scrape.

I stared at his hand—steady as stone just moments ago, now with a barely perceptible stiffness.

I narrowed my eyes and tested the waters.

"What, don't tell me you're the one who took it?"