Ch. 1 One Night Stand

Odette’s POV

The world spun like a merry-go-round of blurred lights and muffled sounds. My head felt like someone was hitting me over and over with a lead pipe. What was happening to me? I couldn’t remember a single drop of alcohol passing my lips, yet here I was, staggering against the cold hotel wall.

My co-worker’s arm was an unwelcome anchor around my waist. “Easy there,” he cooed, his voice a velvety threat. “Just sleep it off, darling. The room is all yours, I will book another one.”

“You can just take me….” I wanted to protest, to break free, but my limbs were heavy and uncooperative. It was as if someone had drugged me with wolfsbane. “T-Thank you,” I stammered.

His smile was a wolf’s grin, and I felt the first tendrils of fear curling in my stomach. The hotel room appeared before me, lavish and unfamiliar. “This is my first time in a five-star hotel, it’s quite fancy,” I mused, a wry smile dancing on my lips. But as I leaned in, his hands were there, shoving me forward with a force that stole my breath.

“Easy, easy,” I wanted to say, but the words were lost in a fog. “Why are you?” I began, my voice trailing off into a whimper as he forced a smile and handed me the keys.

“What are you trying to say?” he inquired. “If you don’t want to go in immediately, I won’t force you. You can take your time. I will be off.” He said, backing away, but his eyes were cold and calculating.

I watched him leave, each step echoing in the silent hallway. I stumbled into the nearest room and heaved a sigh of relief. The door was ajar and dark, but it was as if the room was calling my name. My head ached as I kicked off my shoes and let gravity take me.

The bed was supposed to be my sanctuary, but it betrayed me. I collided with a solid form, and a hand clamped over my mouth, silencing my scream.

“Shh,” a voice hissed from the darkness. “Not a sound, or it will be the last thing you will ever do. Do you know how long I have been waiting for you?”

My heartbeat slowed to a painful rhythm. This was no fucking sanctuary; it was a predator’s den. And I—I had just walked right into it.

My breath hitched, and the stranger’s hand pressed coldly against my lips. “Mariposa, where have you been all night? Did you forget about our appointment?” His voice was a dark melody, mixed with a seduction that sent a wave of nausea crashing over me.

I should have been terrified, but instead, a wild, reckless part of me stirred. The part that was wolfless, the lone she-wolf in the world of werewolves. His lips found mine, and it was like a spark to dry tinder, igniting a fire I couldn’t control.

I kissed him back, a hunger I couldn’t name driving me into his arms. The taste of him was sweet, like the rain and the earth. My skin burned, his touch setting me aflame as his hands trailed over my body. He touched me as though I were the only she-wolf on earth, his fingers sliding up my side, brushing against my breast, then tracing my collarbone.

When he pulled back, I was gasping for breath, feeling as though I had been submerged underwater for too long.

“Who are you?” I breathed against his mouth, my hands wrestling for reality and for strength to push him away. But his arms were a prison, and I was a submissive captive.

***

I woke up in an unfamiliar room and felt a strange pair of arms wrapped around my waist. It was a dimly lit room, but it didn’t take much effort to see the person next to me. My heart swelled at the sight of Alpha Dominic, the soon-to-be Alpha of the Steelmaw pack. He was the definition of an adonis, with his dark, tanned skin and his long, blonde hair that framed his face perfectly.

I remembered what happened last night and was instantly aroused. After I drank a glass of juice offered at the employee's night out, I felt dizzy and was taken to this hotel by one of my co-workers. That was all I remember, and now I was naked, lying on a king-size bed with a god of a man sleeping peacefully beside me.

What the hell was going on?

I tried to slip away, but his grip was an iron band, and I tumbled back onto the bed. My clothes were scattered like fallen leaves; I snatched them up, my head still aching from the night’s events.

Then, a voice pierced the silence, familiar and frantic. I crept to the door, peering through the crack. There he was, my co-worker from the night before, his words a hurricane as he accused the hotel staff of negligence.

“You must be mistaken, sir; no one slept in this room last night,” one of them said, but he was insistent and desperate. “What nonsense are you saying? Are you trying to say I lost my memory? I left her right at this door.”

“Sir, you need to calm down. I understand how you feel, but it’s not like the lady you are looking for is a child. Why don’t you try calling her phone?” One of the staff members suggested.

A smile touched my lips despite everything, he was worried. I was about to reveal myself when another voice joined the fray. My boss, Mr. Hargrave, a fury incarnate, appeared out of nowhere, his words a death sound.

“You…you had one job,” he growled like a bulldog. “Just one job, and now you are telling me you still haven’t found her. I had to sleep alone last night because of you. Do you know how long I have been waiting for this opportunity?” Mr. Hargrave said, shaking his head in frustration.

The co-worker’s pleas were a symphony of despair. “S-She drank the juice, I swear! I saw it with my own two eyes. You said she was a light drinker, so there is no way she could have survived being drug—”

Mr. Hargrave cut in. “You are fired, I don’t ever want to see your face again!” he declared.

My heart jumped into my throat. The juice. I clapped a hand over my mouth, tears carving rivers down my cheeks. I had been a pawn in a game I didn’t even know I was playing. I flung the door open and ran, the corridor a blur.

“Ms. Odette!!!” They called my name, and their voices gave me a haunting echo, but I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. The truth was a shadow at my heels, and I was running for my life. And then, just as I thought I had escaped the nightmare, a figure stepped out from the shadows ahead, blocking my path.

“Going somewhere, princess?” a voice cooed, one I recognized all too well.