The attic air tasted stale, heavy with dust and the suffocating scent of lilies. I knelt on the uneven floorboards, smoothing the edges of Seraphina's engagement veil. Tomorrow, my perfect sister would wear this. Tomorrow, she would bind herself to Kaelen Dravos.

The brass doorknob turned. A sharp click echoed through the rafters.

The door locked from the inside.

I spun around. My knees scraped the wood.

Kaelen stood in the shadows, his broad frame blocking the only exit. He hadn't bothered to take off his suit jacket from the rehearsal dinner.

"What are you doing up here?" I asked, keeping my voice low. "The guests just left."

"I missed you at dinner, Elara." His voice was a low rumble that vibrated against my skin.

"I had to steam the dress. Now leave, before someone sees you."

He didn't move. The shadows clung to his sharp jawline. "Make me."

"Kaelen, I swear to God—"

He crossed the room in three massive strides. Before I could scramble backward, his hand shot out. He snatched the delicate tulle from my fingers. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the veil into the corner. It landed in a crumpled white heap.

"My sister's veil!" I yelled.

"Forget the fucking veil."

His fingers clamped around the back of my neck. The sheer force of his grip sent a shockwave down my spine. I stiffened, my back going completely rigid.

"Let go of me," I demanded.

"Down," he ordered.

The Alpha command hit me like a physical blow. My biology screamed to submit, to collapse under the sheer weight of his pheromones. I fought it. I dug my fingernails so hard into my palms that the skin broke.

"I said, down." He shoved my shoulders hard.

My knees hit the floorboards, landing right in the center of the discarded white tulle. The fabric snagged against my bare skin.

"Are you insane?" I hissed, glaring up at him. "Your engagement party is in eight hours!"

"And you've been avoiding me for three days."

"Because you're marrying Seraphina!"

Kaelen dropped to his haunches, leveling his gaze with mine. His eyes were entirely black, the pupil swallowing the iris. "Does that change anything?"

"It changes everything."

"You belong to me, Elara. A ring on her finger doesn't erase my mark on you."

His thumb found the sensitive knot of flesh at the base of my neck. My gland. He didn't just touch it; he dug his fingers in, massaging the swollen tissue with a rough, punishing rhythm.

A violent shudder tore through my body. I tried to twist away.

"Stay still," he growled.

"You're hurting me."

"I'm marking you."

His breathing turned ragged, harsh against the quiet of the attic. He leaned in, his nose brushing the curve of my jaw. The scent of cold iron and crushed pine needles flooded my senses, heavy and suffocating. It was a pure, unfiltered Alpha scent, designed to conquer.

"Stop," I gasped.

"You smell like dust and cheap soap," he muttered, his lips grazing my ear. "I need you to smell like me. Only me."

"Seraphina will notice."

"Let her."

I pushed both hands against his solid chest, trying to wedge some distance between us. It was like shoving a brick wall. He didn't even flinch. Instead, he shifted his weight forward.

His knee drove hard between my closed legs, forcing my thighs apart.

I gasped, my eyes widening. "Kaelen!"

The rough wool of his expensive suit trousers ground against the frayed cotton of my old nightgown. The friction sent a wicked, unwanted spark straight through my core. I hated myself for feeling it. I hated him for knowing exactly how to cause it.

"You're trembling," he noted, a dark smirk playing on his lips.

"It's fear," I lied.

"It's arousal."

"You're a monster."

"I'm your Alpha."

He pressed his knee higher, pinning me firmly against the floorboards. The thin fabric of my nightgown offered zero protection from the heat radiating off his body. Every time I tried to shift away, his leg locked me tighter in place.

"Admit it," he whispered, his grip on my neck tightening just enough to control my movements. "Tell me you want me to leave."

"I want you to leave."

He leaned down, his mouth hovering a millimeter from mine. "Say it like you mean it, Elara."

"Get the hell out of my room."

"Liar."

He crushed his mouth against my neck, right over the pulsing vein. His teeth scraped the surface of my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the relentless ache pooling low in my stomach. The Alpha pressure in the room was so thick I could barely drag oxygen into my lungs.

"Please," I whispered.

"Please what?" he taunted, his thumb pressing harder into my gland. "Please stop? Or please don't stop?"

"You're going to ruin everything."

"I already have."

His free hand slid down my side, tracing the curve of my waist before gripping my hip. He hauled me flush against his chest. The tulle from Seraphina's veil twisted around our legs, a mocking reminder of the wedding that was supposed to happen tomorrow.

"She loves you," I said, my voice cracking.

"She loves the title," Kaelen corrected. "She loves the power of being the Alpha's mate. You're the only one who looks at me like I'm a nightmare."

"You are a nightmare."

"Good. Then wake up and face me."

He forced my chin up, making me look at him. His expression was wild, stripped of the polished, cold demeanor he showed the rest of the pack. This was the beast beneath the suit.

"Mark me," he ordered.

I stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

"Scent me back. Now."

"I won't."

"Do it, Elara, or I swear to God I'll rip this veil to shreds and tell your sister exactly why."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

He surged forward, pressing his scent gland against my cheek. The overwhelming aroma of pine and iron assaulted me. My instincts flared, a deep, buried part of my Omega nature begging to rub against him, to intertwine our scents until nobody could tell where he ended and I began.

I kept my hands balled into tight fists at my sides. I refused to move.

"Stubborn," he muttered, his breath hot against my collarbone. "I'll just have to do it for both of us."

He shoved his knee deeper, the friction causing a sharp gasp to escape my lips. My resistance was crumbling under the sheer force of his presence.

Then, footsteps echoed on the wooden stairs outside.

Slow, steady steps coming right toward the attic.

My blood turned to ice.

"Someone's coming," I panicked, pushing frantically at his shoulders.

Kaelen didn't budge. He kept his knee locked between my thighs, his fingers still wrapped around my neck.

"Let them come."

"Are you crazy? Get off me!"

The footsteps stopped right outside the door. A soft, rhythmic knock followed.

"Elara?"

It was Seraphina. Her voice was muffled through the thick wood, sweet and entirely innocent.

I froze. The air trapped in my throat.

"Elara, are you asleep?" she called out. "Kaelen doesn't seem to be in his room. Have you seen him?"

I opened my mouth to answer, to tell her to go away, to make up an excuse.

Before a single syllable could leave my lips, Kaelen's large hand clamped violently over my mouth.

He silenced me completely.

His eyes bore into mine, dark, dangerous, and utterly unyielding. The smirk returned to his face, a wicked challenge daring me to make a sound.

"Elara?" Seraphina knocked again, a little louder this time. The brass doorknob rattled as she tried to open it.

Kaelen leaned in close, his lips brushing the shell of my ear.

"Make a sound," he whispered against my skin, "and I'll take you right here on her veil."

The doorknob rattled again.

"That's weird," Seraphina muttered from the hallway. "It's locked."

I stared at the door, my heart hammering violently against my ribs, entirely at the mercy of the monster in the dark.

"Pull it tighter," Seraphina ordered.

"The fabric will tear," I warned, kneeling on the plush carpet of the master dressing room.

"It's reinforced silk, Elara. It won't tear. Pull it tighter."

I gripped the heavy ivory satin of her wedding train, dragging the edges together. The morning light filtering through the sheer curtains felt entirely too bright. My knees ached. My neck still burned where his fingers had bruised me the night before.

"You're wrinkling the lace," she complained.

"I'm trying to align the seams."

"Well, try harder. The photographer will be here in twenty minutes. I need the silhouette to be flawless."

I slid another pearl-tipped pin into the fabric. "It looks fine."

"Fine isn't good enough for a Dravos," she snapped, turning slightly to check her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror. "Kaelen expects perfection. The entire pack expects perfection."

"They're just looking at the dress."

"They are looking at the future Luna." She smoothed her hands over her stomach. "Do you think he'll like the neckline? It's lower than the original design."

"I'm sure he'll love it."

"You sound bored."

"I'm tired, Seraphina. I was up late."

"Doing what? You barely stayed at the rehearsal dinner."

"Steaming this dress." And surviving an ambush in the attic.

"Right. Well, I appreciate it." She didn't sound appreciative. She sounded impatient. "Are you wearing the gray dress tonight?"

"I planned to."

"Don't. It washes you out. Wear the burgundy one Kaelen bought you."

"He didn't buy it for me. The pack sent it."

"Same thing. He signed off on it. He wants his new family looking presentable."

"I'll wear the burgundy."

"Make sure you steam it. We have VIPs coming from the northern territories. Just fix that fold near the bottom."

The heavy oak door swung open.

"I think the fold looks perfect."

Kaelen stepped into the dressing room. He wore a custom charcoal suit, the crisp white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He looked exactly like a man about to claim an empire.

Seraphina gasped, her hands flying to her cheeks. "Kaelen! You aren't supposed to see me!"

"I'm not looking at the dress," he said.

He crossed the room. No hesitation. No apology. He stepped right over the pooling fabric of the train and wrapped his massive arms around her waist from behind.

He pulled her back against his chest.

"You're breaking tradition," Seraphina scolded playfully, leaning into him.

"I make the traditions."

He rested his chin on the top of her head. Then, he lifted his gaze.

His eyes found mine in the mirror.

I froze. My fingers dug into the satin.

The playful groom vanished. The black, hollow stare of the Alpha from the attic locked onto me. The air in the room instantly grew heavy, thick with the sharp scent of pine and iron.

"How is the alterations expert doing?" he asked, his voice a low, vibrating hum.

"She's too slow," Seraphina sighed. "She's afraid of ruining the silk."

"She knows how fragile things can be," Kaelen replied. He didn't blink. He just kept staring at my reflection.

I dropped my gaze to the floor. "I'm almost done."

"Look up," he commanded softly.

"I need to finish pinning the hem."

"Look up, Elara." The Alpha edge bled into his tone.

Seraphina laughed. "She's focusing, Kaelen. Leave her alone."

"I want to see my future sister-in-law's face. I want to see if she's happy for us."

I forced my head up. I met his eyes in the glass.

"I'm thrilled," I deadpanned.

"You don't look thrilled."

"It's just my face."

"Smile for us, Elara."

I bared my teeth in a stiff, unnatural grimace.

Kaelen smirked. "Beautiful."

Seraphina turned in his arms. "Stop teasing her. Focus on me."

"I'm always focused on you."

She reached up, her manicured fingers tracing his sharp jawline. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips right over the pulse point on his neck.

Right where he had forced my face into the floorboards ten hours ago. Right where his scent gland pulsed with dominance.

My stomach violently twisted.

I clamped my teeth together. The sharp sting of my own fangs cut into the inside of my cheek. Hot, metallic copper flooded my tongue. I swallowed the blood, my throat tight.

My hands started to shake. I tried to steady them against the dress, but the tremors traveled down my wrists.

The silver pearl-tipped pin slipped from my grasp.

It bounced off the hardwood floor with a sharp tink, rolling under the edge of the satin train.

Seraphina pulled away from Kaelen and glared down at me.

"Careful!" she snapped. "Those pins cost more than your car. If you snag the fabric, I swear—"

"I'm sorry," I muttered, scrambling forward on my knees.

"I'll find it." Kaelen released her waist.

He dropped to a crouch right in front of me.

The distance between us vanished. His broad shoulders blocked Seraphina from my view. The overwhelming aroma of crushed pine assaulted my senses, wiping out the floral perfume of the dressing room.

I reached for the silver pin resting near his polished leather shoe.

His hand shot out.

He didn't grab the pin. He slammed his palm flat over the back of my hand, pinning it to the floor.

I flinched, my mouth opening in a silent gasp.

"Got it," he lied, looking over his shoulder at Seraphina.

"Bring it up here," she told him, turning back to the mirror to adjust her hair.

"In a second. It's caught in the rug fibers."

He turned his attention back to me. He shifted his weight forward, pressing down.

The heavy gold band of his engagement ring ground violently into my knuckles.

Bone grated against bone. A sharp, searing spike of agony shot up my forearm.

"Kaelen," I whispered, my voice trembling.

"Speak up, Elara," he mocked, keeping his tone pitched low. "Tell her what I'm doing."

"Move your hand."

"Make me."

He pressed harder. The edge of the ring tore at my skin.

"Tell her," he challenged.

"Seraphina," I choked out.

"What is taking so long down there?" she called out. "My neck is getting stiff."

"Just a stubborn knot," Kaelen answered her, his eyes never leaving mine.

He leaned an inch closer. "You didn't sleep."

"I slept fine."

"You have dark circles under your eyes. Were you waiting for me to come back to the attic?"

"You're insane."

"I'm getting married today. Wish me luck."

"I wish you nothing."

He twisted his wrist. The metal dug a fresh groove into my bruised flesh. I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a tear. My jaw ached from clenching it so tight.

"You taste like blood," he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips. "Did you bite your cheek watching her kiss me?"

"I hate you."

"Good. Keep hating me. It makes this much more entertaining."

"You're hurting me."

"I haven't even started."

He finally lifted his hand.

My knuckles throbbed instantly. Angry red marks bloomed across my pale skin, the faint outline of his wedding ring stamped into my flesh. I pulled my hand back, cradling it against my stomach.

Kaelen calmly reached forward and snatched the silver pin from the floorboards.

He stood up, his towering frame casting a long, heavy shadow over me. He adjusted his cuff, perfectly composed, the picture of a devoted Alpha groom.

He held the pin out to Seraphina.

"Here you go, my love."

"Thank you." She took it with a bright smile, oblivious to the violence that had just occurred two feet away from her.

Kaelen turned his gaze back down to me. The mock warmth vanished from his features, replaced by a terrifying, icy void.

"Don't ruin her dress at the banquet tonight," he said.

Crystal chandeliers cast a harsh, blinding glare over the banquet hall. I balanced the heavy silver tray on my left hand, keeping my bruised right knuckles tucked against the rim. The burgundy silk of my dress clung uncomfortably to my skin, trapping the heat of a hundred pack members.

"More champagne, Elara?" Beta Garrick asked, stepping into my path.

"Of course."

He held out his empty flute. Next to him, his mate, Livia, offered a mocking smile.

"Make sure you don't drop it," Garrick warned. "Omegas are notoriously clumsy."

"I'll manage."

"I don't know," Livia chimed in, tracing the rim of her glass. "She looks a bit shaky today. Maybe the dress is too tight. Didn't your sister pick that out for you?"

"The pack sent it," I corrected sharply.

"Right. Charity," Livia sneered. "Well, run along. The Alpha's table is parched."

I poured the champagne, keeping my movements stiff and controlled. "Enjoy."

"We will," Garrick laughed.

I moved past them. The pack didn't treat me like the Luna's sister. They treated me like a stray dog allowed indoors for the night.

I navigated the sea of tailored suits and glittering gowns. Every step felt heavy. Whispers followed in my wake.

"Why is she serving?"

"Seraphina wanted to humble her."

"Good. She needs to know her place."

"Look at those bruises on her hand. Probably got into a fight with another Omega."

I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge the venom.

The head table sat on a raised dais at the far end of the hall. Seraphina glowed in a white evening gown, a crown of fresh white roses nestled in her golden hair. Kaelen sat beside her, his charcoal suit immaculate, one arm draped over the back of her chair like a king surveying his court.

He wasn't looking at his bride.

Across the crowded hall, over the heads of a hundred chattering guests, his pitch-black eyes locked directly onto me.

I tightened my grip on the silver tray and forced my legs to move. One step. Then another.

The whispers faded behind me. The crystal glasses on my tray trembled with each step, chiming softly against one another.

I was walking straight toward the head table.

Straight toward him.