GIA O’LEARY
I stared at him for a moment, waiting for the joke to land. But it didn’t.
When he told me he wanted Alan to be Alpha, I had laughed, not because I found it funny, but because I couldn’t believe it. The words sounded so strange coming out of his mouth, like they belonged in someone else’s world, not his.
But Levi didn’t even crack a smile. His face stayed the same, calm, distant, and sure.
That was when the laughter died in my throat.
“You’re serious?” I asked, my voice low, searching for even the smallest hint that he was teasing.
LEVI EDELMANThe moment I saw her step outside, my breath stalled for a second.Gia walked down the steps with her chin held high, dressed so simple yet so beautiful it almost felt like the world slowed around her. The soft breeze caught strands of her hair, brushing them gently against her cheek, and for a second, I forgot about everything.All I could think about was how I’d let my temper get the best of me last night.I hadn’t meant to leave her room like that. I only wanted her to understand, but the more I tried to explain, the more it felt like I was losing her. I knew she didn’t trust Alan, and maybe I was a fool for believing she could see him the way I did.&n
GIA O'LEARY I grabbed onto the shiny pole in the center of the curbed area in the strip club, just as every other night, this was supposed to be easy. My eyes scanned my audience through my mask, a habit to be certain no one in the crowd was familiar enough to recognize me even with the mask on. I was on display just as every other Friday night, the sickening gazes of these lustful men devoured me ravenously like cackling flames, their leering faces bore unmasked lust. Cheers erupted from the crowd, 'Black Swan' getting chanted from the dark corners of the bar, excited to finally have me on display for them. Wild display. The dim lights cast a golden glow on my skin, accentuating every curve in me as I twirled around the pole. I knew all of the regulars by heart, these boisterous lecherous men ogling at every move I made by the pole were regulars. But tonight, the sudden change of air at the bar stemmed from the unfamiliar face in the VIP area, his piercing green eyes dwelt on
GIA O'LEARYIt was almost morning light when I slipped into my bedroom. I closed the door and rested against it, releasing the trapped air from my lungs as I stood unnaturally still by the closed door. What just happened?The night had grown into something else, something fierce. I kissed a man. I kissed someone for the first time. And I liked it. A lot. No. This was wrong. My eyes screwed tight as though to fight the sizzling thoughts plaguing my mind, the electrifying feel of his rough palm trailing every inch of me, flooding my entire body with heat. What was absolutely wrong became the prickling sensation between my thighs as I conceived these thoughts. Forgive me, sweet goddess but this was a sin too great to resist. To shake off. Keegan didn't want me around his other five daughters because I was a runt. He feared this energy might rub off on them and worse, I was a constant reminder of how tragically his mate, my mom, died so he offered me the antiquated garage to stay In
GIA O'LEARY The tall and imposing doors of the grand hall went open and Keegan led the way in with Madeleine, his pride and joy, clinging to his side, looking more beautiful than ever."Here comes the High priest and his holy maidens!" Emory Rhode, a gregarious man plunged forward to welcome us. I instantly recognized him. The slightly balding man was a regular at the strip club. A pervert to the core. Although I performed every night with my face concealed, I still hid my face with my shawl, afraid of getting recognized. A few pack nobles came forward to welcome us, treating us like we were daughters of the moon goddess.Alpha Levi was a recluse, none of my sisters and I knew what the ruler looked like yet, my sisters were already wedded to him mentally. I chuckled. Just then, the babbles and cackles in the hall ebbed and this made my soft chuckles ring loudly. "Excuse me?" Emory asked, "Is something funny?"His condescending tone and cold eyes made it plain he already knew I
GIA O'LEARYThis certainly was the part where I'd get exposed and put to death for I was no holy maiden. I was an exotic dancer who kissed a man the previous night. His coat in my room a constant reminder that kissing this man who turned out to be the Alpha was never in my head. "I'm blessed with your appearance and that of your holy maidens."The way Alpha Levi said this must've been with a smirk, it was how I pictured his amused tone. My sisters didn't help things, they clustered to themselves as we were ushered to a seat leaving me as the odd one out. The ceremony began with Keegan taking control of the first ritual of the night. This gave me an opportunity to look in Alpha Levi's direction. He looked nothing like he did the previous night. He looked more pale and a bit frail than he was when we first met. Something was wrong. I looked across my sisters and thought of which to pry into a gossip mode with. Sadly, there was none. The first daughter, Beth had been married so she
GIA O'LEARY Keegan tried to persuade Alpha Levi into reevaluating his options but whatever this was about, Levi had already made up his mind. Nothing in Alpha Levi's perceptible mild exterior suggested he recognized me from the previous night. Wth the embroidered loose gown flowing to my ankles and hair covered with the shawl, it was hard to tell I was the same girl twirling around the pole last night. But what were those twinkles at the corners of his eyes whenever they regarded me? "What are you waiting for?" Keegan chided me, his displeasure plain in his manner and tone. I left the chair, towards Levi's outstretched hand. But chose to ignore his hand, I couldn't bear to know what they felt like another time. I couldn't risk his touch exposing me before the scrutinizing gazes of these men. I went straight ahead towards the inner room where the final rituals were to take place. Amusement seemed to twitch at the corners of his sensuous lips, his sweet patchouli tempting, almost
LEVI EDELMAN I had thought it was a burglar at first, but when she retrieved the shawl from her hair I recognized it immediately. What the hell was she thinking, trying to jump off the window at this time of the night? She was probably drunk; was the thought I harbored in my mind when I reached forth my hand to stop her. But the pair of frantic eyes staring back at me was nothing close to drunkenness.Annoyance sipping into me at the unnecessary chaotic disorder her crazy action had sparked in me, I yanked her off the window. She gasped, managing to shield her weight with a guide. Unfortunately, her elbow got on the hard floor and left a whimper off her lips. I regretted my action immediately. I didn't mean to hurt her. Just what in the hell was she about to do just now?I bent to her level. Like a repelling force of magnetic opposition, she swatted over with the hurting elbow in her palm. I didn't derive pleasure from her constant refuting, but I wouldn't say it disturbed me ei
GIA O'LEARYI froze. Blanked. Busted. Forgetting every previous thought I had in my head. He cheesed out with a smirk. A smirk that suggested he found delight in my incapacitated mode.“W-what?’’ I stuttered, unsure how to place his outburst yet. He really did recognize me? It amazed me at how surprising this profound realization caught me. I undoubtedly suspected ninety-five percent out of a hundred possibilities that he recognized me but it had been better staying in just an assumption. Coming to the scary face of reality that indeed, he recognized me as the licentious stripper he had involved in a quick-and-dirty kiss was unnerving. “Holy maidens was it?’’ He further implied. He didn't need a scoff at the end to express his sarcasm. I lost my stance. Shame draping over me like a flowing garment. I crashed to my knees, tugging his pants, refusing to meet his condescending eyes. “You can't tell anyone about that. I promise I can explain. It's not as bad as you may think.’’ I spr
LEVI EDELMANThe moment I saw her step outside, my breath stalled for a second.Gia walked down the steps with her chin held high, dressed so simple yet so beautiful it almost felt like the world slowed around her. The soft breeze caught strands of her hair, brushing them gently against her cheek, and for a second, I forgot about everything.All I could think about was how I’d let my temper get the best of me last night.I hadn’t meant to leave her room like that. I only wanted her to understand, but the more I tried to explain, the more it felt like I was losing her. I knew she didn’t trust Alan, and maybe I was a fool for believing she could see him the way I did.&n
GIA O’LEARYI stared at him for a moment, waiting for the joke to land. But it didn’t.When he told me he wanted Alan to be Alpha, I had laughed, not because I found it funny, but because I couldn’t believe it. The words sounded so strange coming out of his mouth, like they belonged in someone else’s world, not his.But Levi didn’t even crack a smile. His face stayed the same, calm, distant, and sure.That was when the laughter died in my throat.“You’re serious?” I asked, my voice low, searching for even the smallest hint that he was teasing.
LEVI EDELMAN I watched her face closely, the way her brows pulled together, the way her fingers twisted the loose thread of her sleeve like her thoughts were stuck in knots she couldn’t untangle.She had asked me if I thought the maid was the one behind it. If I believed the herbs had really been found just like that, without some deeper plan hiding underneath it all.I leaned back a little, stretching my legs out with a deep sigh. “It’s not the maid,” I said simply. “She was set up.”Gia’s head lifted slowly, her eyes finding mine. I could see the question in her face even before she opened her mouth.“If the maid was really the one who stole the herbs, like I have said,” I went on, “she wouldn’t have meddled with them. She would’ve left them alone and waited for someone else to find them naturally.”Her lips parted, but no words came right away. She was quiet for a while, almost like she was replaying everything in her head, fitting the pieces together, trying to make sense of it
GIA O’LEARYI couldn’t sit still.I paced back and forth across the room like a caged animal, my mind spinning faster with each step. No matter how many times I tried to make sense of it, I couldn’t. My thoughts kept chasing each other in circles.Mia found the herbs. That should’ve been good news. It should’ve been a relief. But all it did was make my stomach twist tighter. If she could find them, did that mean she wasn’t the one who took them in the first place? Or was she smart enough to return them without raising suspicion? Maybe that was her plan all along. Maybe showing them now was just her way of clearing her name.The more I thought about it, the more lost I felt. None of it added up.My chest ached from the weight of it all. Someone had to be lying. Someone had to have tampered with those herbs, which means the person’s main intention is either to tamper with Levi’s heart or trying to lay Levi’s suspicion on me. I stopped pacing for a second, standing in the middle of the
MADDISON SNOWThe moment I heard Mia’s voice say those words, my whole body jumped. My heart skipped so hard I thought it would burst through my chest.She found the herbs? How?I stood up without thinking, the chair screeching behind me, my legs moving on their own. My mind was racing too fast, trying to catch up with the shock. I clearly remembered what Alan told me before. He said the herbs were properly kept, hidden, and safe. No one should’ve found them. No one.But here we were, Mia testifying she had come across the herbs while cleaning.I turned my head slowly toward Alan, search
LEVI EDELMANI knew Alan was watching out for me. His eyes kept moving between me and Gia, but I didn’t care. Whether he was worried or not wasn’t my concern. The only thing I cared about was the way Gia sat beside me, looking like her mind wasn’t even here.Ever since we sat down for dinner, I’d noticed the way her hands kept shaking. It wasn’t much at first, just small, soft movements but the longer it went on, the more it started to bother me. I hated it. I hated the way she looked right now.I watched her pick up her fork, her fingers barely steady enough to hold it. She didn’t even lift the food to her mouth. She just stared at the plate, like she was too lost in her own thoughts to even remember where she was
GIA O'LEARY I stood there, frozen. My mind couldn’t understand what I just heard.For a moment, I couldn’t even speak. My lips parted, but no words came out. I looked at Levi, hoping maybe I had heard wrong. But his face was serious.“Is that… is that even possible?” My voice sounded small, almost like it wasn’t mine.Levi’s hand reached for mine, warm and steady. His thumb brushed lightly over my skin as he gave me a small shake of his head.“Yes, so don’t worry yourself about it,” he said. His voice was calm, but I could feel the tension under it.My stomach tightened. I lowered my eyes, feeling the guilt that had been sitting heavy on me from the start. I had caused too much trouble, more than I ever meant to. I didn’t even know how to fix it, or how things had gotten this messy. It felt like every time I tried to breathe, the weight on my chest only got heavier.“I’m sorry, Levi,” I whispered. My throat tightened as I spoke. “I really am. I didn’t want to cause any of this.”His
LEVI EDELMAN. The magazine in my hand had been stuck on the same page for what felt like hours. My eyes scanned the words, but nothing stayed long enough to make sense. Every line blurred together, every picture looked the same.And it’s because my mind wasn’t on the pages. It was on Gia. I leaned back against the chair, letting the magazine fall loosely onto my lap.I didn’t know why it kept replaying in my head, the way tears fall from her eyes without so much effort amazes me. And now, thinking about it, I didn’t even understand why it made me laugh.I let out a low, dry chuckle, shaking my head at myself.I rubbed a hand over my face, pressing the heel of my palm into my eyes until the sting faded.A soft knock tapped against the door, pulling me out of my thoughts.“Sir,” a voice called, I know it’s a maid so I didn’t bother to reply. “Dinner’s ready.”I didn’t answer right away. My hand dropped from my face, falling back onto the magazine, still open to the same page I had
LEVI EDELMAN I don’t know how long I sat in the room. The walls felt like they were closing in on me, pressing against my chest, making it hard to breathe. My mind had gone too quiet, too heavy, like even my own thoughts had given up on me.I stared at nothing but feeling everything.At some point, I pushed myself up and left the room. I didn’t know where I was going. I just needed to breathe, or maybe I just needed to move, to remind myself I still could.I’d been trying not to think too much about Alan. Trying not to focus on how he always found a way to push Maddison away whenever I tried to lash out at her.I couldn’t understand it. Alan never did anything without a reason, but this time, I couldn’t figure him out.The thought stayed in my head, even as I turned the corner, heading for the door. But before I could step outside, I slowed down when I heard Keegan’s voice.I frowned, wondering what he was doing here and why he hadn’t told me.I took a step forward, and then I saw Gi