Freya's POV

Twenty minutes later, I was pounding on Darren's door like my life depended on it. Because, well. It kind of did.

Darren opened the door on the third knock, his expression shifting from annoyed to horrified in about two seconds flat.

"Sweetheart, what happened? Why do you look like you just attended your own funeral?"

I pushed past him into his apartment, sequined clutch still clutched in my white-knuckled grip.

"Worse. My marriage just ended in front of two hundred people."

Darren's eyes went wide. He was my oldest friend in Pack territory, a gorgeous gay man who'd moved here three years ago and immediately adopted me as his spirit animal. He also happened to know every gossip, every secret, and every eligible bachelor within a fifty-mile radius.

"Sit. Drink. Talk."

He shoved a glass of rosé into my hand before I could protest. I downed it in one go.

"Caleb found his fated mate tonight."

Darren's jaw dropped. "No."

"Oh yes." I set the empty glass on his coffee table. "At our anniversary party. In front of everyone. He had her pressed against the wall like a starving wolf."

"That absolute piece of shit."

"The fucking bastard," I agreed. "But here's the thing. I told everyone I found mine too."

Darren blinked. Then blinked again.

"You what?"

"I panicked! Everyone was staring at me like I was some pathetic discarded wife, and I just—I couldn't let him win, Darren. I couldn't let them pity me."

A slow grin spread across his face.

"So you bluffed. Oh, you beautiful, chaotic disaster."

"Now I have until tomorrow at noon to produce a fated mate who's hotter than Caleb, more powerful than Caleb, and willing to pretend he's madly in love with me."

Darren grabbed my hands, eyes sparkling with the kind of manic energy that either meant disaster or brilliance.

"Lucky for you, I know exactly where to find one."

The place was called The Velvet Room, and it screamed money.

Literally. The black marble floors, the gold-accented bar, the crystal chandeliers—everything about its creamed wealth and seduction. A private members-only club where the city's most beautiful men entertained the city's most powerful women.

"I come here sometimes for the fashion shows," Darren whispered as we entered. "The owner owes me a favor. She's agreed to let you browse."

"Browse?"

"Like a candy shop, darling. Pick whoever you want."

My heels clicked against the polished floor as we moved deeper into the lounge. Everywhere I looked, impossibly gorgeous men circulated through the space. Muscles. Chiseled jaw lines. Designer suits draped over sculpted bodies.

If there were an Olympic committee for hot men, I'd have been the judge.

But none of them were right. Too pretty. Too polished. Too obviously hired.

I needed someone who could pass as a fated mate. Someone with presence. Someone who could make Caleb look like a discount version of a man.

Darren nudged my arm.

"I need the restroom. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Me? Never."

He disappeared down a hallway, leaving me alone near the bar.

I turned, scanning the room again.

And then I saw him.

Holy. Shit.

He stood near the back, leaning against a column like he owned the entire building. Easily six-foot-four. Broad shoulders wrapped in a charcoal suit that screamed power. Dark hair, slightly tousled. A jaw sharp enough to cut glass.

But his eyes.

Even from this distance, I could see them. Piercing gray-blue. The kind that froze you in place.

The man was sin walking on two legs.

My heart did something stupid. My body did something stupider.

Lust. Pure, unadulterated lust.

I didn't think. I just moved.

My emerald gown swished against my legs as I crossed the room. Every step felt like walking toward a cliff edge. Dangerous. Exhilarating.

He watched me approach. Those impossible eyes tracked my movement.

When I stopped in front of him, I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze.

"Hi."

One word. Smooth as velvet.

I swallowed hard.

"I have a business proposition for you."

His brow lifted slightly. Amused. Curious.

"I'm listening."

His voice was absurd. Deep and rich, like dark chocolate for the ears.

I reached into my clutch and pulled out my business card. My fingers trembled slightly as I held it out.

"Tomorrow. The Pack House. Noon. I need you to pretend to be my fated mate at a rejection ceremony."

He took the card. Slowly. Deliberately.

His fingers brushed mine. Electricity shot up my arm.

What the fuck was that?

"I'll pay you ten thousand for the day," I continued, my voice steadier than I felt. "All you have to do is look at me like you can't live without me. Maybe hold my hand. Smile at the right moments."

He studied the card, then studied me.

"That's quite an offer."

"I'm quite desperate."

At that, his lips curved. A hint of a smile. Wicked and knowing.

Dangerous. So fucking dangerous.

"I finish my shift at midnight."

"Perfect. Tomorrow then?"

He tucked the card into his jacket pocket, those gray-blue eyes never leaving mine.

"Tomorrow."

He pushed off the column and walked past me. His shoulder brushed mine. That same electric current pulsed where our bodies touched.

I watched him go. My heart pounded against my ribs like it was trying to escape.

Darren appeared beside me, zipping his pants.

"Did you find someone?"

I was still staring at the doorway where the stranger had disappeared.

"Oh, I found someone alright."

"Someone good?"

I turned to my friend, a smile spreading across my face.

"Someone perfect. Tomorrow, Caleb is going to watch me walk away with the most gorgeous man he's ever seen. And he's going to choke on his own regret."

Darren threw his arm around my shoulders.

"That's my girl. Now let's get you home. You have a fake relationship to prepare for."

I let him guide me toward the exit, but my mind was still back there.

Still on those piercing gray-blue eyes.

Still on the stranger who'd agreed to my insane plan.

Something about him felt...

No.

I shook the thought away.

He was hired help. A beautiful prop to make my ex-husband jealous.

Nothing more.

Tomorrow, I'd walk into that Pack House with my head high and my fake mate on my arm.

And Caleb would finally understand what he'd lost.

Freya's POV

The black dress I chose for today was a deliberate fucking statement. Deep plunging neckline that showed off the girls like they were the main attraction at a goddamn museum. Floor-length silk that clung to every curve like a possessive lover. The back dipped so low you could almost see the crack of my ass.

Fuck you, Caleb.

That's what the dress screamed. That's what I wanted it to say, anyway.

Inside, I was dying. Not that anyone could tell. I'd perfected the art of looking like I didn't give a shit when actually, my heart was being carved out with a rusty spoon.

Five years. Five years of being Alpha's wife. The love. The happiness.The respect.

Gone.

All because some twenty-two-year-old with perky tits and a fated bond walked through the door.

I loved this kind of happiness. I really fucking did. And now I was about to lose everything because my husband couldn't keep his tongue out of another woman's mouth.

The Pack House Grand Hall looked exactly the same as it had two nights ago. Same crystal chandeliers. Same white roses. Same gold trim everywhere like a vampire pimp had decorated it.

But today, there were no congratulations. No envious stares.

Today, everyone was here to watch me get discarded like yesterday's trash.

I swept through the entrance, chin high, smile sharp. Let them stare. Let them gossip. I'd give them something to talk about.

Mia found me within thirty seconds.

Of course she did.

The little bitch wore pale pink. Pale fucking pink. Like she was some innocent flower and not the woman who'd had her tongue down my husband's throat at my anniversary party.

She stepped directly into my path, blocking me from the main hall.

"Freya." Her voice was syrupy sweet. Venomous underneath. "I see you're alone."

I let my eyes drift over her outfit slowly. Judgingly.

"Nice dress. Very virgin sacrifice. Appropriate, considering you're about to steal someone else's husband."

Mia's smile faltered. Good.

"I'm just glad Caleb and I can finally be together. Without..." She gestured vaguely at me. "Obstacles."

Breathe. Don't claw her eyes out in front of witnesses.

"Obstacles?" I laughed. The sound echoed through the foyer. "Honey, I was the best thing that ever happened to that man. He's just too much of an idiot to realize it yet."

Mia's jaw tightened. She stepped closer, lowering her voice.

"Where's this mysterious fated mate of yours? You know, the one you claimed to have found?" Her eyes glittered with malicious glee. "Seems a little convenient that no one's ever seen him. Almost like he doesn't exist."

Stay calm. Stay fucking calm.

"My gorgeous fiancé is outside." I waved my hand airily. "Buying me ice cream."

Mia blinked. "Ice cream?"

"It's ninety degrees out there, sweetie. And honestly?" I leaned in, dropping my voice to a theatrical whisper. "Being around you people makes me need something sweet to wash down the taste of bullshit."

Several nearby guests snorted. Someone actually clapped.

Mia's face flushed pink. Deeper pink. Ugly pink.

"You're lying," she hissed. "There's no man. You're bluffing because you can't stand losing."

I smiled wider. Showed teeth.

"Guess we'll find out, won't we?"

I side stepped her and continued into the main hall.

Caleb stood at the front, near the ceremonial altar. He wore black today. Sombre. Appropriate for a funeral.

Our funeral.

His eyes tracked me the moment I entered. Dark circles underneath. Two days of guilt carved into his handsome face.

Good. Suffer, bastard.

The ceremony was simple. Brutally so.

We stood facing each other. Witnesses surrounded us in a wide circle. The Pack Elder recited the ancient words, his voice monotone and bored.

"Do you, Caleb, Alpha of the Hunter Pack, reject Freya as your mate?"

Caleb's throat worked. His eyes stayed locked on mine. Pain flickered there. Regret. Longing.

I don't care. I don't fucking care.

"I..." His voice cracked. "I reject Freya as my mate."

The words hit like a physical blow. I felt the phantom bond snap somewhere in my chest. A thread I hadn't even known existed, severed.

My turn.

"Do you, Freya, reject Caleb as your mate?"

I didn't hesitate.

"I reject Caleb as my mate."

Done. Over. Finished.

The Elder nodded once. "The bond is dissolved. You are no longer mates."

Caleb's face crumpled. Something inside me twinged. Pity. Just pity. Not love.

"Freya, wait—" He stepped toward me.

I held up my hand.

"Save it. I meant what I said the other night. Your small cock? Mia's problem now. Enjoy your little snake."

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

I turned away, heart racing, and walked toward the side entrance where the wedding ceremony was supposed to take place next.

If there was going to be a wedding.

My dress swished against the marble floor. The weight of every stare pressed against my spine.

The wedding guests had already gathered in the secondary hall. Flowers everywhere. White and gold. A fucking beautiful setup for a bride who might be standing alone at the altar.

My heels clicked against the floor as I approached. Each step felt like walking through wet cement.

He'll come. He said he'd come.

But doubt clawed at my stomach.

I didn't even know his name. I'd hired a stranger at a sex club and trusted him to show up for the most important performance of my life.

What if he'd changed his mind? What if he'd taken one look at the Pack House and fled? What if he'd just... forgotten?

The guests' murmurs grew louder. Confused whispers. People glancing toward the entrance, then back at me.

Standing alone. No groom.

My palms started sweating. I clutched my sequined clutch so hard the beads dug into my palm.

He's not coming. Holy shit, he's not coming.

Panic crept up my throat.

I'd rather die than let Caleb see me humiliated twice in one week.

My eyes darted toward the exit. Maybe I could flee. Claim an emergency. Sudden illness.

Anything.

"Is she really getting married today?"

"I heard her mate is imaginary."

"Probably just saving face after Caleb—"

I wanted to scream. To tell every single one of them to go fuck themselves.

Then the doors flew open.

A hush fell over the crowd.

I turned.

And there, standing in the doorway with light streaming behind him like some goddamn avenging angel, was him.

Taller than I remembered. Broader. Shoulders that blocked out the sun.

That sharp jaw. That tousled dark hair. Those piercing gray-blue eyes that found mine instantly.

Walking. Sin. On two legs.

The stranger from The Velvet Room.

He wore a black suit today. Tailored. Expensive. It screamed power the way his charcoal one had.

But something was different.

He looked at me like I was the only woman in the room.

Like he'd burn down the entire world just to get to me.

Fuck me.

"It's him!" someone whispered. "She actually found him!"

"Who is that?"

"Never seen him before."

"He's gorgeous!"

I barely heard them.

Because his lips curved into that familiar wicked smile, and I knew with sudden, terrifying certainty that nothing in my life would ever be the same.

He started walking toward me.

Every step deliberate. Confident. Like he owned the entire Pack and everyone in it.

My heart hammered.

He came. The beautiful bastard actually came.

He stopped inches away from me, close enough that I could smell him. Sandalwood and something darker. Something that made my thighs clench.

"Sorry I'm late," he murmured, voice like velvet sin. "Wanted to make an entrance."

I stared up at him, words tangled in my throat.

Those gray-blue eyes gleamed.

"Ready to get married, sweetheart?"

Freya's POV

"Ready to get married, sweetheart?"

The words hung in the air like a challenge. Or a promise. Or both.

My brain short-circuited.

Just nod. Smile. Don't let them see you sweating like a whore in church.

"Born ready," I managed, my voice steadier than my racing heart.

His smile widened. Wicked. Knowing. Like he could see right through my carefully constructed bullshit and found the hot mess underneath entertaining.

He offered his arm. I took it. His forearm was solid muscle beneath that expensive fabric, and my fingers tingled where they touched him.

Down, girl. He's paid help. Gorgeous, expensive, professionally trained paid help.

The Elder cleared his throat, looking between us with obvious suspicion.

"We... we ren't introduced." His eyes raked over the stranger with barely concealed disdain. "And I don't recognize you from any Pack."

"I'm not from any Pack." The stranger's voice was smooth. Unbothered. "I'm Asher. Freya's fated mate. And her future husband."

Gasps. Whispers. The sound of two hundred people simultaneously losing their fucking minds.

Asher stepped closer to me. His hand found the small of my back, fingers splaying possessively over the exposed skin above my dress's plunging back.

Electricity. Pure, undeniable electricity.

I bit back a gasp.

What the actual fuck?

"We met three months ago," Asher continued, voice carrying through the hall with practiced ease. "At a charity gala. Wasn't love at first sight or any of that mystical bullshit. Just... chemistry. The kind that makes you stupid."

His thumb traced a slow circle on my lower back.

I shivered. Couldn't help it.

"Course, she was married." Asher's expression darkened, eyes hardening. "And I'm not the kind of man who breaks up a home. So I waited. Stayed away. Told myself the connection wasn't real."

He turned slightly, positioning us so everyone could see his face. See the calculated anger there.

"Then I hear her husband found his fated mate. That he threw away five years of marriage for some two-day bond." His lip curled. "And that same husband had the nerve to keep pursuing Freya afterward. Sending messages. Showing up at her friend's apartment. Begging for forgiveness while still fucking his new mate."

What?

I kept my face neutral, but inside, my mind raced.

Caleb had been pursuing me? I'd blocked his number the night of the anniversary party. Changed the locks on the apartment. Refused every call.

Asher was improvising. Adding details I'd never given him.

And holy shit, was it working.

Caleb's face went white. Then red. Then an ugly shade of purple.

"I never—" he started.

"Save it." Asher cut him off with a dismissive wave. "We both know what you are. A man who couldn't keep his dick in his pants. A man who threw away a woman who made him better, stronger, smarter. A man too fucking stupid to see what he had until it was gone."

The crowd murmured. Someone whispered, "He's got a point."

Mia, standing behind Caleb, looked ready to explode. Her perfectly innocent face had twisted into something ugly.

"This is ridiculous!" she sputtered. "He's lying! There's no way this random man is her fated mate!"

Asher turned to her slowly. Those piercing gray-blue eyes traveled over her form with the kind of assessment that made people feel small.

"And you are?"

"Mia! His fated mate!"

"Ah." Asher nodded. "The home wrecker."

More gasps.

"I'm not a home wrecker! The bond is sacred!"

"Sure." Asher shrugged. "And I'm the fucking Easter Bunny. Bonds are sacred. Actions aren't. You saw a married man and decided you wanted him. The bond gave you an excuse."

Mia's mouth opened and closed. No words came out.

Caleb stepped forward, fists clenched. "You don't get to come in here and—"

"I get to do whatever the fuck I want." Asher's voice dropped. Cold. Dangerous. "This is my woman now. My future wife. And you're going to stand there and watch me claim her."

He turned to me.

Those eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my knees weak.

"May I?"

What?

Before I could process, his hand cupped my jaw. Gentle. Firm. Absolutely possessive.

His thumb brushed my lower lip.

"Going to kiss you now," he murmured, loud enough for the front row to hear. "Going to make it clear who you belong to."

I don't belong to anyone.

But I didn't say that.

Because his mouth was already descending.

His lips met mine.

Soft at first. A question.

Then his other hand slid up my back, fingers tangling in my hair, and the kiss changed. Deepened. Became something hungry and demanding and absolutely fucking devastating.

His tongue swept past my lips. Tasting. Claiming. Staking territory like a goddamn explorer planting flags.

I forgot the audience. Forgot Caleb and Mia. Forgot everything except the way Asher's mouth moved against mine.

His body pressed closer. I felt every hard plane of his chest against my softened curves. Felt the heat radiating off him like a furnace.

Mother of God.

A whimper escaped my throat. Embarrassing. Uncontrollable.

He swallowed it.

His grip tightened in my hair. Pulling my head back slightly, angling for better access.

I melted into him. Actually fucking melted. My body turned to liquid while my brain turned to static.

When he finally pulled back, I was dizzy. Breathless. Wet in places I refused to acknowledge.

His lips brushed my ear.

"Was that convincing enough, sweetheart?"

My eyes flew open.

That knowing smirk. Those glinting eyes.

The bastard enjoyed that.

I cleared my throat, fighting to regain composure.

"Very professional," I managed.

His low laugh sent fresh shivers down my spine.

"Glad you're satisfied with the service."

He straightened, arm sliding around my waist again. Possessive. Proprietary.

Like I was his.

The crowd stared. Open-mouthed. Shocked into silence.

Caleb looked like someone had punched him in the gut. Repeatedly.

Mia's face was a mask of barely contained fury.

Good.

Asher turned us toward the exit.

"If anyone needs us, we'll be celebrating. Somewhere with better company and top-shelf whiskey."

He guided me forward. I let him.

We made it three steps before Caleb's voice cracked out.

"Freya, wait!"

I didn't stop.

"Freya, please! We need to talk!"

"Talk to your mate, Caleb." I threw over my shoulder. "She's your problem now."

We swept through the doors and into the sunlight.

The moment we cleared the Pack House entrance, I exhaled.

"Holy shit," I breathed. "That was..."

"Incredible?" Asher supplied.

"I was going to say insane."

He guided me toward a sleek black car waiting at the curb.

"Same thing, sweetheart."

We slid into the backseat. Tinted windows. Leather interior. The scent of his cologne filling the enclosed space.

I turned to face him.

Okay. He was even more devastating up close. The sharp jaw. Those impossible eyes. The slight smile playing at his lips.

"For the record," I said, "I didn't expect you to go that hard on the backstory."

"You hired me to be convincing."

"I hired you to stand there and look pretty."

His smile widened.

"Can do both." He paused. "Also, your ex-husband has a small dick?"

A laugh burst out of me. Genuine. Surprised.

"That's what he gets for cheating."

"Fair." Asher settled back against the seat. "So. Hotel bar? You mentioned celebrating."

I studied him.

This beautiful stranger who'd just performed a one-man takedown of my ex-husband in front of two hundred witnesses.

Who'd kissed me like his life depended on it.

Who was currently looking at me like I was a puzzle he wanted to solve.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "Hotel bar. My treat."

His eyes darkened with something I couldn't name.

"Looking forward to it."