Chapter 1

Lyla stood in front of the mirror and examined herself. She was putting on a long red evening gown. The gown was a sleeveless, off the shoulder gown that showed off her neck. It also had a high slit that showed off most of her thighs. Against the blood red of the gown, her pale skin contrasted beautifully making her look stunning. Lyla nodded at her reflection in the mirror, satisfied. She looked ok. Just then the door opened and Lyla turned over startlingly to look at who would walk in like that without knocking. She swallowed back her words and gulped instinctively when she saw that it was her husband, the alpha, who had just walked in.

Lyla stared uneasily at him, standing at 6ft tall, Kyrian, was devilishly handsome. He had Hades - black eyebrows affixed to an aesthetic face. His eyes were opal round and he had scintillating loam gray eyes. His acqueline shaped nose sat in between this pair of loam gray eyes. He also arched cheekbones and his marble jaw was rugged was rugged and masculine. He had a powerful and forceful aura about him. Lyla shuddered involuntarily as Kyrian's eyes roamed all over her.

"What are you doing?", Kyrian asked in a deep voice.

"We are going to be late", he added.

"I'm sorry, I was just about done", Lyla croaked a response, her eyes on the floor, not making eye contact with him.

"Be quick about it then", Kyrian said and turned to walk away from the room.

As Kyrian closed the door behind him, Lyla let out a sigh of relief. She looked back at the mirror. She could see the goosebumps on her skin. She struggled to calm herself knowing that Kyrian would not like to see them.

Kyrian was the alpha of the Lumen pack and one year ago, Lyla's step father had sold her out to him to be his wife. She could still remember it like it was yesterday.

Lyla had first seen Kyrian at the moon festival. Even then he had been as cold and aloof as he was now, sitting alone with a cold expression and exuding an intimidating aura. She had heard the rumors about him then. How he was a very cruel and ruthless alpha. Lyla remembered thinking to herself then that while the rumors had done a lot to describe the alpha as cruel and ruthless, they had not done much to describe how incredibly handsome he was.

"But make no mistake, behind those amazing looks, is the devil himself", her friend, Corrine had whispered into her ear at that time.

Lyla had agreed with her and had forced herself, with great difficulty, to look away from Kyrian and focus on the moon festival. As handsome as he was and although Lyla couldn't deny she was attracted to him, she still didn't want to have anything to do with him. An alpha with rumors like that surrounding him, some of it had to be true. As she made to look away, Kyrian had suddenly turned towards her direction and for a few seconds, their eyes met. Lyla had been incredibly startled by what she had seen in his loam gray eyes, the coldness that they held. She remembered shuddering before looking away quickly. Her heartbeat had accelerated but Lyla had calmed herself down, telling herself that it was for such a brief moment and an accident, Kyrian had probably not even seen her.

Lyla knew now how wrong she had been. Kyrian had not only seen her, he had taken note of her as well. There was something in those bewitching green eyes of Lyla's that had held Kyrian's attention for that brief moment. They intrigued him, she intrigued him, so he had told his guards to find out everything about her and now Lyla was here two years later as a result of that brief eye contact, Luna of the pack and wife to one of the cruelest alphas.

Lyla straightened out her dress and after making sure, everything was in order, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror once again. Staring at her reflection, Lyla slowly formed a smile on her face, showing off her well set teeth. Satisfied that she looked alright, she turned around and headed out of the room. When she opened the door, she found her maid, Hilda, standing by the door waiting for her.

"I'll escort you to the alpha, my luna", Hilda said and Lyla nodded.

They walked along the corridors, Hilda leading the way as Lyla followed behind her. As they approached the ball room, Lyla could hear the loud music from the ballroom and the chatter. She looked up and saw Kyrian, flanked by two guards waiting for her at the door to the ballroom. He stood watching her as she walked towards him. Lyla felt uncomfortable under his gaze and she kept her eyes down, careful not to make eye contact with him.

Hilda stopped walking at a respectable distance away from Kyrian and stepped aside. Lyla mustered all her courage, walked past her and up to Kyrian. She stopped just a few feet away from him, her head bowed. She dared not look in his eyes. There was a long and suffocating silence as neither Kyrian nor Lyla said anything. Lyla began to shift uneasily as she felt Kyrian's eyes move all over her.

"What took you so long?", Kyrian asked her sharply in his deep voice and Lyla flinched.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I was getting ready, it took longer than expected", Lyla managed to croak out a reply despite her beating heart.

Kyrian stepped closer to her and as much as Lyla wanted to step away from him, she stood rooted to the spot which was good for her because Kyrian would not have appreciated it if she had.

"You kept me waiting", Kyrian said in a low tone but it wasn't any less menacing.

Lyla gulped.

"You know I don't like to be kept waiting", he continued.

"Now, how should I punish you for keeping me waiting?", Kyrian asked her in a tone that sent shivers down her spine.

"Forgive me, my alpha, but the guests are waiting", one of the guards said, cutting the silence that hung heavily in the air, but Lyla was grateful for his interruption.

Kyrian stared intently at Lyla for a few minutes longer. Her head was still bowed and she didn't make eye contact with Kyrian. This was a habit of hers and Kyrian could feel growing irritation because of it.

"Do this again and I can assure you, there will be consequences", Kyrian said finally and Lyla breathed a sigh of relief.

Kyrian turned towards the door while Lyla stood dazed for a few seconds. When she finally realized herself, Lyla hurried to stand beside him. Kyrian held out his arm and Lyla after hesitating for a few seconds took it. She listened as the guard announced their arrival and the doors to the ballroom opened. As they walked in, Lyla had a smile plastered on her face. As they went around greeting guests, Lyla's mind drifted back to the incident that happened just a few minutes before. That was how Kyrian usually was, cold and ruthless. But she didn't have to worry, all she needed was to bear him a son and things would be different.

Yeah, things would definitely be different if she bore him a son.