Chapter 0004

Theodore

I closed the door behind her, glowering down at my erection and laughing at myself.

Violet Donovan of Darkmoon had always been a beautiful woman, but I’d had never imagined that she’d be a fucking tiger in the sheets. It was rare that I found a woman who could keep up with me. Even if she’d been shy at the beginning, uncertain, still mentally married, she hadn’t remained so. I could still smell the scent of her arousal in the air and taste her on my tongue.

She hadn’t behaved like a jilted wife seeking revenge on her cheating husband. She hadn’t even really behaved like a jilted wife either, which made me curious as to what the hell was going on in Darkmoon.

She’d been married for seven years, seemingly happy, yet tonight, the night she was supposed to be celebrating the merging of her and her husband’s pack, she’d tried to pick me up. I’d caught a glimpse of her at the beginning of the event, and she’d seemed happy.

What had Lucas done in the span of an hour to change her so much?

I grabbed my towel and tossed it in the bathroom before grabbing my phone to look through the coverage from the night before. The news,

which was mostly funded by people who wanted to undermine me as Midnight’s alpha, had taken plenty of pictures and had plenty of things to say about Lucas and his current status. They were saying that Darkmoon now had the strength to challenge Midnight, and thus, Lucas had the strength to challenge me.

I scoffed at the idea. Lucas was the third son of Twining Rivers’ alpha. He couldn’t challenge me in any arena, even if he and Violet were happily married. Violet was another story.

Despite the misogyny her father and my father’s generation breathed and passed on to us, Violet wasn’t a weak woman, and Darkmoon had always been big enough and wealthy enough to be considered a threat to anyone. The only reason no one viewed them that way was because Violet and her father never played politics. They made money hand over fist, but not enemies or allies. But most people were wrong.

Violet knew the score. She’d always known it. She was too intelligent not to, and I had figured out quickly that Lucas was just a mouthpiece of an alpha. Violet had taken the title of luna in Darkmoon, but there wasn’t a single deal of note, a single payment, invoice, trade, or otherwise, that didn’t have her signature on it. I didn’t know if that meant she kept Lucas as little more than a pet and everything was a front or not, but from the way she’d looked at the bar, I had a feeling that Lucas had done something. I scrolled through, searching for more of the rumors that had first piqued my interest about Violet and Darkmoon, but there was nothing more than a photo with Lucas and a woman at the event last night.

Maybe she was a jilted wife. I looked at the note with Violet’s number and scoffed.

What an idiot.

Only a fool would marry way above his station and fuck it up, but Lucas had never seemed smart.

Still, that meant that Violet was unexpectedly, practically single. Interest stirred in me. In the absence of my fated mate, if I had to choose an ideal partner for my plans, the cunning, intelligent woman who had just sauntered out of my hotel room was the only name on the list.

I glanced over at the ring she’d left behind and smiled. Lucas was going to make this easy for me.

Maybe I should prepare a present.

Violet

I looked down at his hand around my wrist, mere inches from the mark he’d caused, and took a deep breath. The instinct to snarl and claw his face off was so strong that I was almost shaking with it. The bolt of pain at his touch was like fuel to the fire, but I held back, keeping my expression neutral. Kincaid wasn’t the only other person in the room. His guards and his beta were all members of Twining River, and it would complicate the split if anyone stated that I had attacked him or had proof.

I lifted my gaze to meet his, not surprised that he seemed so surprised at how calm I seemed.

“Where is Nora?”

“I ask the questions here!” He barked and jerked my hand up, shaking it at me. “Where’s your fucking ring? Where have you been all night?”

“What does it matter considering what you’ve done?”

He frowned then looked at my wrist where the mark was. Kincaid let out a horrified gasp, but I watched Lucas’ face. The recognition, the understanding, and then the pure malicious joy in his eyes made me want to kill him.

When he started laughing, it took everything in me not to slam him to the ground and beat the shit out of him.

He would deserve it, but it would be a mercy.

He laughed louder, dropping my hand and stepping back.

“Looks like you finally know your place, eh?” His whole body shook with laughter. “I can’t believe it worked! I’m fucking free.”

He gestured vaguely. “Don’t bother to stop him. Let him grab her stuff.” He looked at Kincaid. “You can set it outside. She can carry it herself.”

“I will never, and have never, taken orders from you, Lucas,” Kincaid said and looked at me. “A—”

“Please grab my things, Kincaid.”

“I’m the true alpha of Darkmoon now,” Lucas said. “If you don’t want to be a rogue, you have to listen to me. Put her things outside. We—”

I laughed. I threw my head back. My laughter echoed through the room.

He glared at me. “What’s so funny? You’re not going to think it’s funny when I kick you out with nothing.”

I shook my head. “And I see more and more why your father never thought much of you.” He flinched and flushed. “You've been plotting against me for seven years to steal my pack, and you still know nothing. It’s fascinating to see someone so caught up in their fantasy and still be able to breathe."

He scoffed. “You’re laughing, but it seems you don’t know anything. The merger is complete, meaning I’m the alpha, and you’re only what I allow you to be.”

I smiled, cold and utterly detached. “We’ll see when the case starts.”

He snarled and snapped at his beta. “Take her back to the estate. I won’t have her on my arm at the Gathering.”

His beta was barely an inch taller than Lucas. Before he touched me, before Kincaid had crossed the room, I caught his wrist, twisted it, and flipped him so he landed hard on the ground. Lucas went pale, and his eyes widened. I let the man’s arm go and walked over him, enjoying the cry of pain he let out when my heel bit into his crotch.

I closed the door quietly behind me and walked back to the elevator. I kept my steps measured and even. I didn’t hurry despite the pain shooting through me at every step. His touch had brought it all back in a rush.

When I got to my new room, I collapsed onto the couch in the antechamber and clutched the pillow to my chest, curling up and trying to muffle the cries of pain that escaped me.

A few minutes later, Kincaid entered, huffing mad and calling for me.

“Alpha?” He called, closing the door behind him. He hurried to me, murmuring. “By the moon…”

Without even being told, he dashed away, barely making a whisper of sound. The blinds were drawn closed, and the lights were turned off. I heard the clink of ice in a glass, and then something cold was across my neck and forehead, soothing the pounding.

“That son of a bitch,” he growled softly. “I’ll challenge him paint red parlor with his blood.”

My lips twitched into a smile. I took the glass and the medicine he offered.

“No.”

“You’re right… It could be brought up in court. A happy accident?”

“No,” I said, almost laughing. “Merciful.”

He tutted. “You’re right… He doesn’t deserve the mercy of a quick death. I’ll run you a bath. Just try to relax.”

I smiled, thanking him again. Then, he was gone. I heard the bathtub filling and him moving around while I tried to figure out what to do about Lucas going to the Gathering with Nora. My phone rang, and I hurried to answer, wincing at the sound of it. I answered it. “Hello, Alpha Violet.”

I frowned. The voice seemed familiar, but I couldn’t say why. My head was pounding, but there were only a handful of people who would actually call me alpha.

This man sounded like none of them. “Who is this?”

He chuckled. “Theodore Nightshade.”