Chapter 2

ASHER

Fights. Chaos. Violence. I live for those things, and this wedding reeks of all three.

I wasn’t invited, of course. I’m the enemy, but the pictures piqued my curiosity. Hatred fuels my desire to leave no stone unturned when it comes to researching my enemies. My plan had been to attack the wedding and destroy the chance for peace between the packs. It was in motion until I got wind of the change in plans—and change in bride.

One look at the woman in the pictures, and I knew it wasn’t Mardoc Stone’s frail little princess. I have, after all, seen her naked before. I wonder if she knows the young alpha, Christian, has a section in his gallery filled with nudes of her he’s collected over the years—after he fucked her, during, prior, and without her consent.

There are others in his gallery of nudes and conquests as well: Georgia Moore—now Anderson—her best friend; Madeline Stone, her stepmother; Camille Davis, her most trusted maid since birth. It’s clear that there’s something disturbing about Christian Anderson, but I’m hardly one to talk.

Standing in the shadows, I watch Leilani Stone. Her dress is hideous. I wonder if she’s aware of that as she struts around like a lost peacock. Still, she is undeniably the most beautiful one here, even with mascara running down her cheeks as she indulges in more alcohol.

As if feeling the weight of my stare, her head whips in my direction. I stiffen. The pictures do those eyes no justice. They’re a rare shade of amber, reminiscent of a raging wildfire. And that fire enraptures my soul, instantly setting it ablaze.

A growl resounds somewhere around me, and it takes a moment to realize the sound came from me—from my wolf. My nostrils flare with the need to sniff her neck, and I shut my eyes, trying to calm my nerves and my wolf. There’s no way the Blue Moons’ entitled brat has this effect on me.

Still, the burning in my chest intensifies, and for the first time since I lost everything I held dear, my heart starts to race. My blood pumps harder, faster, and it worsens when her dark brows furrow. She…sees me? Fuck .

I watch every step she takes in my direction, ignoring the Goddess-forsaken pull I feel toward her. She represents everything I despise—her family, her father, her mate, her pack. Besides, I usually don’t fuck with redheads. They’re crazy, and I doubt she’s any different, but I can’t control the direction of my thoughts.

I barely hear the words she says. I’m trying to get her scent out of my nostrils—it’s too sweet. It awakens a primal hunger inside me, the worst kind. It’s a scent that promises forbidden pleasures and a taste of the enemy’s daughter, and I’ll be damned if I can’t resist this temptation.

“How long have you been watching me?”

I lean in, because I can’t stop myself. I feel her muscles tighten when my skin brushes against hers. The contact goes straight to my dick, and I stifle a growl. “Six years.”

For six years, I watched Mardoc Stone, Christian Anderson, and Leilani Stone. It’s a shame that Ken Anderson died of an illness before my plans began, but I suppose it’s only fair that his son bears the weight of my vengeance. He was, after all, the one who pulled the trigger—alongside Mardoc.

She rears back, hazel eyes searching mine, and after a moment, she huffs a laugh. I pause at the sight of a dimple in her left cheek. “You’re joking.” Moving forward, she trips on the train of her dress, and her wrist snaps forward to find purchase. Her fingers tighten around my arm as she holds on tightly. “Sorry,” she murmurs, pulling me down with surprising strength as she struggles to find her footing. “I can usually hold my alcohol.”

When her slender fingers press against my chest, I instinctively grab her wrist. “You’re the first bride I’ve met who’s this drunk before the ceremony even starts.” I let go of her wrist. “Walk with me.”

She makes a face and murmurs something unintelligible to herself, but follows me anyway. Once we reach the balcony, she smiles up at me sweetly. I marvel at how easily the soft starlight cools her fiery amber eyes. “Tell you what.” She points through the window at the hunched old man who’s speaking to her father. “I get stuck with that if I follow through with this wedding. For a damn long time.” Scowling, her eyes return to mine. “You seem like the handsome prince who swoops in to whisk the bride away before she’s forced to marry an ogre. Get me out of here, and I’ll give you…” She pouts, thinking hard enough to hurt her pretty little head.

I chuckle. “You think I’m handsome?”

Her eyes widen, her pupils dilate, and her cheeks turn a bright shade of red. “If I said yes, would you take me away from here?”

My answering smile isn’t entirely fake. “Try a little harder, princess, and I might consider it.”

Disappointment dulls her bright amber gaze. “I have gold. How’s my weight in gold sound? Wads of cash in human currency? I could get you a truckload of it…” Her words trail off as she notices my watch and my gold cufflinks. After a beat of silence, she comes to the same realization anyone else would. I don’t need her gold or her money.

There’s only one thing I want, one thing I’ve lived for since my family was murdered, and I’m going to get it whether she helps me or not. The image of blood splattering onto the rug and drenching it with gore causes my blood to heat. My grip on her wrist tightens, making her flinch. I let my aura slip enough to permeate the space between us, and sweat breaks out on her forehead. “You have no idea who I am. It would be foolish to trade the demons you know for ones you don’t. Do you really want to take that gamble?”

I expect to smell the fear I see in her eyes, but her jaw only sets in determination. The next words that leave her red, taunting lips startle me. “Anything is better than this…pain. And I have nothing else to lose. Not anymore.”

I tilt my head, observing her carefully. “There’s always something to lose, and you’re sorely mistaken. I’m not your savior.”

Her eyes harden, and if it weren’t for the smell of alcohol and her flushed skin, I’d think she was sober. “In just one day, I lost my mate, my hopes, my future. Marrying Beta Manuel would mark the beginning of the end of my life. He’s had six chosen mates before me. They’re all buried six feet under. That’s the only way to escape him. Rumor has it he locked them up in his basement, beat them into submission, starved and chained them when they rebelled. I met Marilyn, the last one. She was only nineteen, already broken and a stepmother to fifteen men who constantly leered at her.” She shudders, disgust curling her upper lip. “I’d rather die than live like that. I’m a rebel. I always have been.”

I know that. She has no idea how much I know, how mistaken she is to think that I’m a lesser evil than the perverted beta she’s supposed to marry. I have chains in my dungeons with her name burned into them. I’ve sharpened daggers and swords for the sole purpose of tearing her father and mate limb from limb, but only after I’ve made her scream and suffer for as long as my sister did before she died.

My fingers find a stray strand of red hair and tuck it behind her ear. I wonder how easy it would be to break her delicate neck and toss her body into the fountain outside. My fingers inch down from her ear to her neck, and I feel her pulse, strong and fast. One move is all I need to kill her and get this over with.

But I hesitate. It’s the way she stares at me with big, hopeful eyes. With such childlike trust. She’s a sheltered, trusting fool. I don’t fault her for it. Unless you’ve been burned, you’d think fire was the most beautiful force of nature. You’d want to touch it with your bare hands.

Her breath hitches when my thumb brushes over her pulse, and I let myself look down at where her chest presses against mine. Fuck, she’s stunning. Drustan, my wolf, yowls excitedly, and my teeth ache to sink into her succulent skin and mark her as mine.

I pause, startled by the destructive wave of emotion coursing through me. The desire to possess, to consume, to ruin this woman is a monstrous craving, a thirst that burns hotter than any inferno. I refuse to accept it. The Goddess wouldn’t punish me this way.

“What’ll it be then? I’m not asking for a savior. All I need is time. Buy me some time, and I’ll give you whatever you want.” Her voice is breathy, impatient, desperate.

“You won’t remember this conversation in the morning,” I murmur, the gears of my mind already shifting. I can always kill her later. “Or this.”

Bringing my lips dangerously close to hers, I grab the back of her neck and twist us so that we’re hidden in the corner of the balcony and her back is pressed against the wall. She gasps, the scent of her fear teasing my nostrils as she struggles against my hold. “W-what are you doing?”

“Scared? Only a couple seconds ago, you came onto me.”

She bares her teeth at me, and I’m hit with the realization that she might be the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on, even more so when she’s mad. “Let go of me right now, or I’ll fucking scream.” She thrashes against me, but all that does is push her succulent breasts against my chest. “Who are you? What do you want?”

Hilarious, this one. “Many things, princess, but right now? You.”

I let it drop—the mask of gentlemanliness, the soft amused grin, the charm that gets any woman I want into my bed. I let her see years of anger and loathing, the desire for vengeance, the unnerving cold that has eaten into what remains of my heart. I let her see the chasm of darkness lurking under my skin, and a fresh wave of her fear washes over me. “It’s you,” she whispers, voice laced with terror.

She rears forward in a bid to ram her forehead into mine, but I’m faster. I catch her red locks and tug them back harshly. A soft whimper slips past her pretty mouth, and my gut tightens. At this angle, I could easily claim her lips as viciously as I hate her. She submits to the pain while staring up at me with fire raging in her eyes. It makes me hard. Fuck knows I’ve lost my mind. “I will do what you asked, Leilani Stone. I will take you away from all of this, and in exchange, your life will be mine. To own. To take.”

The weight of the pistol tucked into my pants presses heavily against my leg. One shot between her eyebrows is all it would take. Just one, and her blood will paint the walls.

But I don’t take out the gun. My body betrays me, and before she can unleash the scream building in her throat, my fingers encircle her neck, cutting off her airflow. She slaps at my hand, gasping for air. “My father…will…find…you.”

Squeezing harder, I mutter, “I’m counting on it.”

Her eyes redden and a single tear slides down her cheek as she rasps, “He’ll…kill…y—” She can’t get the words out before she goes limp in my arms. It would have taken longer if she was sober, but I guess I got lucky.

She topples forward, unconscious, and I catch her. She weighs practically nothing. I peer into her face for longer than I should, reminding myself why I need to do this. She has to die, but with her face pressed against my chest, eyes closed, her breaths slow and her features innocent, I can’t help but think I might be making a mistake.

“Fuck, Ash. This wasn’t the plan!” Talon runs his fingers through his hair, and my gamma, Cayden, looks positively ill. “What do we do with her? Mardoc won’t let this slide. Kill her and we’ll head for war as planned. Keep her and…” Talon trails off, staring at me in disbelief. “You’re really thinking about it?”

Fuck if I even know what I’m thinking, but I smooth my expression as I lean back in the chair. “A war would bring bloodshed?—”

Talon bares his teeth at me, his brown eyes flaring gold. “We’ve sacrificed everything for this cause. We would die for you, Alpha, if you wished it. You can’t throw away years of preparations for a pretty redhead and her perky tits!”

A growl of displeasure rumbles in my chest and claws prick at my fingertips, but I maintain a surprisingly calm exterior. “Do not interrupt me again, Talon.” Or else…

His tan skin pales, and he dips his head in submission. Cayden tenses by the wall. I realize my aura has flared. Sighing, I reel it back in. It’s become increasingly difficult to control myself since meeting Leilani Stone. “Mardoc’s daughter is a wild card, I admit, but this is the only way we can win without sacrificing more innocent lives.”

Bleeding profusely, orphaned and broken, I stumbled into the Dark Moon Pack when I was sixteen. It took an entire year for me to be able to speak, and even longer to rid myself of the nightmares and…the darkness that spoke back. Being forced to watch one’s mother and sister get raped and killed by rogues would do that to a child. I still sometimes hear my father’s roars as he lost his sanity and life in that battle. I still hear the screams of rage and despair as they set him on fire. I still see Mallory’s eyes—my eyes—as she screamed for me and Mother, until she couldn’t. Until her throat was ripped out and the light in her eyes died with her.

Ours wasn’t the first pack to be caught in the crossfire of the power struggle. Since there are significantly fewer werewolves than humans, we established our packs beyond the reach of their government. They stayed out of our way, so long as we stayed out of theirs. But that meant we had limited resources. Our ancestors fought for the smallest bit of land, water, and game, creating rivalries that have lasted for generations. But it wasn’t unheard of for smaller packs to form alliances to annihilate bigger threats.

Mardoc Stone and Ken Anderson were the alphas of two packs who allied against us. Their mistake was leaving a survivor behind. Mardoc hesitated to pull the trigger, just long enough for me to escape. He should’ve known it’d spell his doom. I’ve never been a forgiving man.

With the focus of a man starved, I planned for my revenge, and the Dark Moon Pack, which I inherited from my foster father, became my only family. Over the years, we’ve lost a lot, but we’ve also gained unimaginable numbers, placing us at the top of the food chain. It took a never-ending streak of ruthlessness and savage brutality to protect and expand this pack, and my actions have earned me my title of the Dark Alpha—a title I might be on the verge of losing because my wolf wants the wrong woman.

Grinding my jaw, I raise my gaze to Talon. “Send a message to Mardoc Stone. Tell him his precious daughter is in my possession.” To Cayden, I say, “Have Enya make preparations for the mating rite. Nothing lavish.”

Cayden frowns. “Mating rite?”

I drag my teeth across my bottom lip. “What better way to bring Mardoc to his knees than shackle his daughter to me forever?”