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Chapter 1 — Broken Bond
Violet
I thought our marriage was perfect until I heard him say her name.
“Nora!”
Lucas darted away from me and across the room to a woman in a velvet blue dress. He swept her up into his arms. His face lit up with a joy that I’d never seen on his face before. He looked at her as if she were a gift from the moon, and I realized that there was this whole other side to Lucas I had never seen.
He loved her… more than he ever loved me.
The thought cut like a knife. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. He whirled her around with their cheeks pressed together, squeezing each other tight and whispering. It was written all over their body language that Nora held a place in his mind and heart that I never had, yet I was his fated mate.
I gripped the glass in my hand tightly, shattering it. A low, furious growl started to build in my chest. Who was she? How could he act like that with some other woman in front of me? Here? Now?
Like this?
The Alpha Gathering was just next door, and everyone I had invited was here. Tonight was supposed to be a celebration of our packs uniting under the Darkmoon banner, and the official merge of our packs, a symbol of how powerful our relationship was and the start of all the great heights we'd reach together.
And yet, my husband of seven years was in another woman's arms as if this night was the first night of the rest of their lives—not ours.
Lucas set Nora down, barely brushing his lips against her cheek and whispering something soft and intimate into her ear. She flushed and giggled. The sound of broken and fallen glass came from far away. My feet were moving, cutting through the crowd before I could stop myself.
I reached them quickly. They didn't even have the decency to pull away from each other. If anything, Nora drew closer. I looked at Lucas.
He lifted his chin arrogantly. "What is it?"
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” I asked, meeting his gaze. He set his jaw. “Don’t you have something else to—”
I thrust my hand toward Nora.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Nora, was it? I’m Violet. His wife.”
Lucas shoved my hand down and stepped in between us. My chest grew tight at the obviously protective gesture. He was protecting her from me.
“How dare you?” he hissed. “Go manage the caterers or something. Leave me and Nora alone.”
“You expect me to just let you disrespect me?”
"You're the one who's disrespecting me," he hissed. "I'm your alpha. You don't question me. If you don't understand your place, leave."
I cocked an eyebrow at him. My anger turned cold and vicious. I clenched my fists at my side.
“Leave?” I asked. “You want to kick me out?”
"If you don't have the sense to behave the way you should."
"And how exactly should I behave?"
"You shouldn't even be showing your face for all the shame--"
"Shame? I have nothing to be--"
“What should a wife feel other than shame if she can't bear her husband's children?" He hissed. "A barren daughter of a breeder? Your father must have known you were defective. No wonder he was so happy to get you married off."
I let the words cut through me like a knife, but I didn't look away. I didn't flinch, but I didn't have to for him to know how deeply his words cut me. I had always wanted children desperately. He knew that. We both wanted children, but the Goddess had not blessed me with even a hope for a child.
Breeders were highly coveted in the werewolf world, known to be very fertile and bear the strongest werewolf children. I was proof of that in every way. My mother had been my father's fated mate, and he treated her like the stars were her eyes and she could do no wrong.
He had never taken another mate, wife, or even a lover after she died.
It was because of them I believed that was what it meant to be fated. But hearing the way he was speaking now, I felt just as naive, just as stupid, as my father had always wanted me to believe I was.
Then, I caught myself and halted that train of thought. Lucas owed me everything he was right now from his new shows to his status within his birth pack, and this was how he treated me?
Before we married, Lucas was the youngest, forgotten son of the alpha of Twining River, a territory barely the size of a town. He was never in line to inherit in his own pack, while Darkmooncontrolled nearly a third of the state and several business enterprises.
"Perhaps you're the defective one." I cocked an eyebrow at him, letting my gaze drag over him with contempt. “Your father certainly had reasons for his reservations, didn't he?”
He turned bright red. "You--"
"Oh, please don’t fight,” Nora cut in. “I'm sure he didn't mean it the way it seems. It’s just that Lucas and I haven’t seen each other in so long… We were together up until he met you and all…”
Someone called my name. I glanced over, forcing a smile as I acknowledged whichever alpha it was. I looked back at Lucas, letting my smile drop.
"We'll speak more about this later."
He sneered but said nothing more before I turned to greet the man alpha formally. When I looked back a few moments later, I didn't see him or Nora. I didn't think much of it as I was busy sending off the guests that were leaving.
I looked around at the members of the Twining River pack. They were all grinning at the sight and all wearing Darkmoon's colors, dressed in suits paid for by Darkmoon’s money— my money. The sight of them and Lucas, smug and complacent—their complete disregard of me— only made me think of my father.
I should have told him to go fuck himself when I had the chance.
My father had believed that only a man could lead a pack, so I had always been a disappointment to him. It had never mattered how strong of a werewolf how smart or cunning I was compared to men of my generation. I was never enough. My intelligence made me difficult, not strong or capable.
When I'd met Lucas and we confirmed we were fated mates, my father had handed over authority of the pack to Lucas as acting alpha as if his being male was enough to teach him anything about running a pack of any size.
I had just wanted my father to die in peace, so I had stepped back and played the part of luna, allowing Lucas to act as the alpha, but I was still the registered alpha, and I always would be.
Lucas had been upset about it, but he had seemed content when his influence within his own pack started to grow. His father had stepped aside and ceded control to him earlier this year rather than his elder brother because we were married.
A sharp, throbbing pain started in my chest. I tried to fight through it, but my vision started to blur from how much it hurt. I excused myself to the staging area and sank into a chair just as my vision started to go black.
Was it just stress catching up to me? Had I not eaten enough? Then, I heard a woman's voice.
"Lucas, please…"
I could see Nora's face in my mind's eye. I saw Lucas's hand, still wearing our wedding band and the signet ring of Twining River on the wall beside her head. The dull ache turned to a stabbing bolt of pain. I couldn't breathe. I heard his breathless voice.
"Nora," he groaned. "Goddess, I've missed you. You feel like heaven." I sucked in a breath and clenched my jaw. My eyes burned. My throat felt tight, but I wouldn't cry a single tear.
He didn't deserve that from me.
"There hasn't been a day I haven't thought of you," he panted. "I should have never left you."
Our bond stretched and frayed. I relaxed my hold on it.
"It's okay. We can be together now, can't we?"
I shut my eyes, bracing for the pain I knew was coming. Regret hit me hard and fast. If I had just taken over the pack, my father’s feelings about my gender bedamned, I wouldn't be sitting here bracing for my mate bond to break while my husband slept with another woman.
"Of course, Nora. Yes. Always. I'll give you all the children we talked about… A son, first. A daughter…"
The bond broke. The pain rippled through my whole body. I swallowed the cry of pain and looked down, watching the mark of the unwanted surface around my wrist in deep black.
Chapter 2 — Theo
Violet
“Another, please.”
I slid the empty glass forward, waiting for the bartender to refill it and sighed. I didn’t want to look at it, but my eyes kept drifting to the mark burning on my wrist. Unwanted. I was the Darkmoon heir, and not even my fated mate wanted me. My eyes pricked. Was I really that defective? Maybe Father had a reason not to want me to lead the pack. Perhaps he'd seen something I hadn't.
This is not the time for a pity party.
I scoffed, dragging the refilled glass back toward me. I drank it. Maybe I was defective in that I couldn't even make my fated mate love me, but my father didn't have the foresight to figure out what kind of person Lucas was before happily blessing the union.
He could have spared us both all of this trouble if he'd been focused on anything but his misogyny.
Lucas was a spendthrift, arrogant at the best of times, and childish. I had loved him, but I kept a close eye on everything because I knew he'd ruin my pack if I didn't. He might still if he managed to out me from it.
I pushed a hand through my hair, glaring at the ring on my hand. My own personal feelings aside, there was the pack to think about. The quietest way to do all of this would be let Lucas have Nora as his mistress and stay on as luna despite the betrayal. The social and political issues around splitting us up would be a headache, but I didn't want to still be tied to him.
I didn't want him tied to Darkmoon and benefitting from me just so I could be comfortable. He was probably banking on it.
I needed to kick him, his first love, and his small pack out of Darkmoon as soon as possible. The how of it was still too fuzzy for me to feel confident that it would happen. The only good thing about all of this was that we didn't have children. A custody battle would only complicate things further.
A warm body drifted behind me. A spicy, musky scent and something sharp like ozone reached my nose.
Then, he spoke. "A beautiful alpha like yourself shouldn't be nursing a cut with a bar towel."
I looked up, but before I could say anything, a large warm hand had taken mine. The man lifted my hand, unwrapping the towel. He tutted and pulled out a small vial, dropping a few drops into my hand. The wound started to close as he massaged the liquid into my palm, but I was distracted.
He was taller than me with eyes like the sun, a strong jaw, and the presence of the kind of alpha Lucas wished he could be. Broad- shouldered, heavily muscled, and dangerous-looking in his suit: he reminded me a bit of my father when he went to Gatherings.
It made me smile, a bittersweet and vicious thing. My father had never been so large, and Lucas had tried to put on muscle for years and failed no matter how much he trained with me. He'd always be pissed off that he couldn't keep up, rejected my advice and just generally made it clear that he didn't value my opinion.
I hated that I had been too blind, too complacent, to see the signs for what they were. He may have played a good husband, but it had been a shallow act relying on my willingness not to see to carry on. Stupid, Violet, I thought. I turned, prepared to ignore the man, then, I remembered the other amenities Midnight Park offered. They had sex workers on staff for the bar and club attached to the hotel. The place was more of a one-stop resort of revelry than a hotel. For that reason, the alpha king liked to host gatherings here.
"Better?"
I blinked down at my hand. "Yes… Thank you…"
"Call me Theo'." He licked his lips. "I had hoped you smelled as good as you looked before I came over here. It's better than I imagined." My face heated. "Uhm… well… I didn't think men really cared about perfume."
"You're not wearing any." I blinked. He smiled and winked. "Unless you're counting blood."
That much was true, but most people assumed I was… Most people also didn't know that my mother was a breeder, and that's why I smelled the way I did.
I cleared my throat. "How much for a night of your time?"
He smirked. "A beautiful woman never has to pay for sex, let alone with me."
He cocked an eyebrow and looked down at my hand. "How's your husband feel about it?"
I looked down at the ring, but my eyes were drawn to the mark on my wrist. I could hear him panting her name, and I yanked the ring off. His hand fell on mine.
"Leave it," he said, his eyes twinkling as he leaned closer. "Consider it a prop."
"A prop?"
"Jilted wife picks up a cock for hire to give her everything she's wanted." My heart sped up, and my body heated as he leaned closer, whispering in my ear. "And a lot more she didn't know she wanted." He placed his hand over mine. "The way his tongue feels on her skin, the hard thrust of his cock making her forget whatever her husband's done."
I looked up at him. "You think you can make me forget?"
"I think you already have."
I bit my lip. Embarrassed that he was talking to me like that, raking his eyes over me, hot and hungry. It was nothing like the way Lucas would look at me.
He gestured to the bartender and offered his hand. "Shall we?"
I bit my lip, considering it. In place of the pain, there was a throbbing, pleasurable ache pooling between my legs. I felt better than I had imagined, and I took his hand.
"Lead the way."
We got into the elevator, and the first thing he did was pull the pins out of my hair. My hair tumbled down over my shoulders. He gathered it into his hands and pushed me back against the wall with a low groan.
"By the moon," his voice strained.
I let out a startled squeak when he hauled me up. My feet left the floor. He pressed his hips against mine, pinning me to the wall, and rolled his hips suggestively, dragging the hard length of his cock against me and sending shocks of pleasure through me.
The pain melted and gave way. I wrapped my arms around his neck, drawing him into a kiss. He let out a low groan, licking into my mouth and thrusting harder against me like a promise. The kiss turned hot and devouring. It was nothing like the way Lucas kissed me.
He dropped his mouth to my bare shoulder, nipping, sucking, and dragging his calloused hands up my legs until he could get a firm hold of my ass. He pulled back just enough to fit a hand between us, his fingers fluttering and stroking me. I moaned as he added more pressure, teasing me through the thing scrap of lace between us.
"You're already so wet," he groaned, pushing her panties aside and making teasing little circles with his fingers. "I bet you taste…"
My stomach jolted. He pulled his hand away and set me down. My eyes widened as I realized his plan.
I couldn't even reply before he was on his knees, my knee on his shoulder, and his face between my legs. He thrust his tongue into me so fast, so deeply, I saw stars. I gripped his hair, and he groaned, thrusting his tongue deeper. I tried to push him away, but my knees were weak. My hips jerked forward on their own, grinding against his face and chasing the feeling of his tongue inside me.
Lucas had never done anything like this to me, and between the pain and pleasure, the embarrassment and desire, I didn't have the strength to fight it.
I didn’t want to.
"Theo, you--"
He reached up, groping my breasts, devouring me–ravaging me. He thrust his tongue in harder, pinning me against the wall, legs open and helpless to do anything but take it. The feeling of being utterly helpless only made it more exciting. My heart was pounding in my ears. I pulled at his hair.
“Theo---“
He grunted. It sounded encouraging. He picked up the speed.
The elevator dinged and came to a stop. The doors trembled, and Theo’s tongue sped up. I was frozen, fearful of who would be on the other side, but unable to stop the jolt of pleasure and unyielding pull of my orgasm growing closer.
"Theo, Theo, wait--"
He pulled back, his face shiny and wet.
"Imagine your husband standing on the other side of the door."
Chapter 3 — As You Wish
Violet
The thought of seeing Lucas' horrified and jealous face with Nora at his side flashed through my mind. The tension tightening through me snapped. I cried out, damn sure that someone had heard it
The door slid open to an empty hall, and I slumped back in relief, trembling.
The doors finally started to close when he drew back with a low, pleased sound. I was dazed, trembling as the aftershocks rattled through me.
"You taste so much better than I'd imagined."
I laughed, unable to do much else and trying to get a hold of myself. I felt giddy. He grinned, standing up and lifting me back into his arms. The elevator dinged again.
"Here's our floor."
Theo practically carried me down the hall with his hand on my ass. As soon as the door opened and closed, I felt a shift in him.
He unzipped my dress, unhooked my bra, and had me stumbling back toward the bed in a matter of seconds. I reached for my shoes, but he stopped me.
"Leave them on.”
Then, he turned me around and bent me over the bed. My face heated at the position. I heard the rustle of clothing being stripped off and tossed behind me before he pressed up against me. The naked heat of his cock pressed between my thighs. I shuddered, clenching my thighs around him. The sound of his cock gliding against me was too much.
I was so sensitive, but I wanted more.
"W-Wait. Condom?"
"Don't insult me," he said, his voice amused. I heard the crinkle of wrapping paper. "I'm not nearly as much of an asshole as most think."
He pulled away for a moment, hissed, and then he was back, thrusting between my thighs. I saw the empty wrapper flutter to the bed. He pushed on my back until my face was on the bed, my ass in the air, completely exposed.
"Though the thought of sending you back to your husband full of my come is more than a little appealing."
"I--" I gasped. His grip tightened as he started to push into me at a slow, unrelenting pace.
My legs trembled. My mind went hazy with the sensation. When our hips met, he let out a soft sound of satisfaction. "You're perfect."
I shuddered, biting my lip and trying not to get swept up in the rush of emotion that swept through me at the words. He thrust into me hard, driving me over the edge over and over again. The pain I’d felt earlier seemed like a bad dream.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t do anything but hold on and give in. He turned my head to kiss me, drinking in every pant and moan. My head was a mess. All I could taste was his him. All I could feel was the hot throb of his cock inside me.
The scent of our mingled sweat and sex filled my nose like a drug and I basked in it, wondering if there was enough cash in the Darkmoon accounts to pay a man of his skill.
When I woke up, I was alone. I could hear him in the shower and smiled at the pleasant ache still thrumming through me. My phone chimed on the bedside table. I answered it.
“Alpha Violet, are you still at Midnight Park?”
I blinked, recognizing Kincaid’s voice.
“I am. You sound upset.”
“After last night?” He growled. “I’m beyond upset. Where are you? I’ll–”
“No,” I said. “I’ll meet you in the lobby. I need you to work on getting my things out of my room and making separate arrangements from Lucas for me. I don’t care if it’s at Midnight Park or across the street.”
“As you wish.”
He hung up, and I looked down at the mark on my wrist. The ache was still distant. I felt lighter than I had the night before. Maybe all the mythos around what the mark would do wasn’t exactly true.
I sighed and climbed out of bed. He’d moved my clothes to a chair nearby, so I slipped back into them, tucking my underwear in my clutch rather than putting them on. I counted through the bills I had and figured I should leave it all. It wasn’t enough, but it was all the cash I had.
I gasped as he came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me back against him. He slipped his hand into the slit of my dress, aiming for my inner thighs.
“Leaving already?”
I gasped and pushed my hips pushed against his hand. His fingers were clever and too knowledgeable. If I wasn’t careful, he’d convince me to crawl back in bed with him, even if that meant I was going to be late.
“I…” I cleared my throat and pushed at his arm. “I really wish I could stay, but I have fires to put out.” I turned, nodding to the stack of cash and the wedding ring on the nightstand. “T-The money will certainly cover the hotel room and well, consider the ring a tip. It’s real. You’re really… a pro bar none.”
“How gracious of you.” He turned back, scooping the cash off the table, placing the stack of cash in my hand. “Tip the hotel staff. I’m not a cock for hire.”
I blinked. “But…”
“Nothing like a bit of fantasy to get anyone going,” I whispered. “I enjoyed you immensely.”
He dipped his head to graze our lips together.
“How about a kiss for the road?” He nipped me. “Something to think about while you’re putting out fires?”
I shuddered, but I didn’t resist when he licked into my mouth and pressed our lips together. I melted, pushing up against him, twining my arms around his neck and my hands in his hair. He groaned and backed me up against the door, grinding against me as we kissed. I felt his towel slip off and hooked my leg around his waist. The hard length of his cock pressed against me, teasing me.
It would take just the smallest adjustment to have him inside me again. I wanted it. He groaned, gripping my hips and starting to lift me.
Then, my phone rang. I jerked back.
“I really have to go.” Then, an idea began to grow in my mind. “If you’re not a man for hire, then you must be here for the Gathering, right?”
“Why? Need a date?”
“No, but I’d like one. You, if you’re not otherwise occupied.”
He grinned. “I’m not. You’ve got a number, hm?”
I nodded, pulled out a small pad of paper, and scribbled my number before handing it to him.
“We could… meet in the lobby?”
“Sure thing.” He swept his gaze over me. “I look forward to it.”
He opened the door for her, and with one last lingering look, I left.
I took the quickest path back to the hotel room I had been sharing with Lucas. I could hear Kincaid and Lucas arguing inside.
“By order of the–”
“I am the alpha. You listen to me! Where is she?”
I shook my head and opened the door. Lucas was half-dressed in just a towel. I could see the marks on his chest. The fact that he hadn’t even thought to put a robe on was telling. He whirled on me. I noted that he didn’t have the mark of the unwanted on him and couldn’t help but smile. The Goddess was oddly cruel, wasn’t she?
I should be angry. But the pleasant ache between my legs and the feeling of how slick I still was made it hard to be upset.
He’d spent his night rekindling his relationship with Nora, and I had gone to get fulfillment. Shouldn’t we both be happy?
“Where the hell have you been all night?” Lucas asked, glaring at me. “You’re wearing the same thing!”
I glanced over at him and then back toward the door of the bedroom. We’d gotten a suite so I could have some office space, but I could see that he was using it to hide Nora, but not very well. Her dress from the night before was on the ground. I didn’t smell Nora in the room. Either my senses were dulled from the rejection, or she was hiding in the bathroom.
I found I didn’t care either way. I glanced over at the two Twining River guards and the Twining River's beta, and then I turned to Kincaid, who looked about ready to smash Lucas’ face in.
“If you could finish up here, Kincaid? I’d like to relax before lunch. Do you have my new key?”
“Yes,” he said, offering me the card. I tucked it into my clutch. “I’ll have the rest of your things moved at once.”
“You’re not”
I turned to leave, and Lucas darted in front of me. He snarled and grabbed my arm, gripping it tightly. “You aren’t going anywhere!”
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