It’s been a few days since I received the most devastating news of my life. Mila and I have been racking our brains, trying to come up with a way for me to get close to Collins without tipping him off that I know what he did. And then it hit us – it wouldn’t be strange at all for me to suddenly want to be by his side constantly. The potion he gave me was supposed to make me his obedient puppet, to trick me into believing I was in love with him. So, sending him a text saying I miss him and want to see him would seem perfectly normal for someone under his spell.
And that’s how I find myself in Collins’ car, my heart slamming against my ribcage as we drive to the moon goddess knows where. Fear courses through my veins, icy and sharp. What if he discovers the potion didn’t work on me? What will he do to me then? The possibilities are too horrific to contemplate.
“We’re here,” Collins announces, jolting me from my spiraling thoughts.
I paste on a smile, hoping it doesn’t look as forced as it feels, and push open the car door. Taking a deep, steadying breath, I try to calm my frayed nerves. If I come across as scared when there’s nothing overtly frightening around us, it’ll be a dead giveaway that something’s amiss.
Collins helps me out of the car, his touch making my skin crawl, and we walk toward a grand mansion bustling with activity. Elegantly dressed people flow in and out, the men in sharp tuxedos like Collins, the women in stunning evening gowns. I say a silent thank you to Mila for insisting on dressing me for the occasion, even though I had no idea what I was walking into. The dress she chose is exquisite – a fitted gold tulle number adorned with shimmering palm tree branches. It’s far more opulent than anything I would have picked for myself, but it blends seamlessly with the high-society crowd.
We bypass a ballroom filled with more beautiful people sipping champagne and making small talk, and I bite back the urge to ask why we’re not joining them. Collins leads me down a set of stairs, stopping before a room flanked by two burly guards. They take one look at him and immediately step aside, opening the door for us to enter.
The moment we cross the threshold, my eyes widen in shock, my stomach lurching with a sickening twist. The room is filled with werewolves in various states of undress, engaged in every imaginable sexual act. The air is thick with the musky scent of sex and sweat, the sounds of moans and grunts assaulting my ears. I try to look away, to find a safe place to rest my gaze, but there’s no escape from the debauchery surrounding us. Each lurid image sears itself into my brain, branding me with memories I desperately wish I could erase.
I can’t begin to describe the depths of my discomfort standing here in the midst of this carnal circus. But I can’t say I’m surprised Collins brought me to a place like this. His pack is the same one where I witnessed two people going at it in public, after all. Depravity seems to be their norm.
“Collins, you’re finally here!” a voice calls out, cutting through the haze of my disgust. I drag my eyes toward the speaker, my brow furrowing in confusion when I recognize him. He’s the last person I would have expected to see in a place like this.
“Sorry, I had to stop by her place to bring her along,” Collins replies, pulling Jeremy, the Alpha King’s brother, into a hug.
“We have business to discuss. You shouldn’t have brought her,” Jeremy says, his tone sharp with disapproval. What kind of business could he possibly have with Collins? As far as I know, their paths shouldn’t even cross.
“She’s going to be my Luna. It doesn’t matter if she knows my plans now or later,” Collins declares, his arm wrapping possessively around my waist.
“She’s still mated to Alex,” Jeremy growls, his eyes flashing with annoyance.
“Doesn’t matter. She’s in love with me now.” Collins’ words make my skin crawl, the lie sitting heavy and bitter on my tongue.
“That’s not enough reason to let her sit in on our meeting.” Jeremy must be referring to the potion Collins was supposed to have used to try to bend me to his will.
“It is for me. And we need her,” Collins insists, his fingers digging into my hip.
“Why? What’s so special about her?” Jeremy asks, raking his gaze over me from head to toe as if trying to see through my skin to the secrets beneath.
“She’s special. With her on our side, we’ll be unstoppable.”
I go rigid at his words, my blood turning to ice in my veins. What the hell is he talking about? There’s nothing special about me, nothing that could make them unstoppable at whatever nefarious scheme they’re plotting. They must have confused me with someone else.
“You’re right. But how sure are you that she’s fully…” Jeremy trails off meaningfully, leaving the rest of his question unspoken. But I can fill in the blanks. He wants to know if I’m completely under Collins’ control.
“Why don’t I show you?” Collins suggests a wicked gleam in his eye as he turns to face me. “Kiss me,” he commands, his voice dripping with smug confidence.
My heart plummets to the pit of my stomach, my pulse pounding in my ears. I blink rapidly, praying I misheard him. The thought of kissing Collins makes bile rise in my throat. But if I refuse, it’ll be a glaring red flag that the potion didn’t work. I’m trapped, damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
An idea sparks in my mind, a way I might be able to avoid kissing him without raising suspicion. But I’m not sure it’ll work. The potion is supposed to make me a mindless puppet, eager to please. Claiming shyness as an excuse not to kiss him in public might be too flimsy to hold up under scrutiny.
My palms grow clammy, a cold sweat breaking out across my forehead as panic claws at my insides.
“See? It’s not as strong as you think,” Jeremy says, a note of triumph in his voice. Oh no. Collins is going to figure out the truth. I have to kiss him, have to sell this charade, or I’m done for.
“It is. I just didn’t look into her eyes. Watch.” Collins takes my face in his hands, his touch making me want to recoil. My heart races. I can’t refuse his command again. Not if I want to survive this.
“Kiss me, my love,” he purrs, his breath hot against my face. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the reality of what I’m about to do. I tell myself it’ll be over in a second, that I can scrub the memory from my mind later. Steeling myself, I pucker my lips, ready to press them against his…
And then, like a miracle, a voice shatters the moment. A voice I would know anywhere.
“Hannah!” Alex shouts, his roar echoing off the walls.
My eyes fly open, my head whipping around to find him standing there, his face a mask of fury. I never thought I’d be happy to see him again, but in this instant, I could weep with relief.
He stalks toward us, his eyes blazing with barely-contained rage, and yanks me away from Collins’ side.
“I’ll be back for you,” he snarls, jabbing a finger at Collins before dragging me out of the room, out of the mansion, and into his waiting car.
As Alex drives, his knuckles turn white from his iron grip on the steering wheel, the tendons in his forearms standing out in stark relief against his skin. I don’t dare ask him what he was doing at that mansion or thank him for rescuing me from Collins’ clutches. The rage rolling off him in suffocating waves is enough to make me weak in the knees, my tongue cleaving to the roof of my mouth.
After what feels like an eternity, the car finally rolls to a stop. I glance out the window, my brow furrowing when I realize we’re in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but towering trees and oppressive silence.
“Get out,” Alex growls, his voice rough and raw with barely contained fury.
I scramble to obey, practically falling out of the car in my haste to put some distance between us. Alex follows, slamming his door with enough force to make me flinch. He begins to pace, his long strides eating up the ground, his anger crackling in the air like a living thing.
“I know I have no right to be angry,” he says, his words clipped and tight. “But fuck, Hannah! You’re mine. And you almost kissed Collins!”
His voice cracks on the last word, a hairline fracture in his composure that makes my treacherous heart clench in my chest. Before I can stop myself, I’m explaining, the words tumbling from my lips in a desperate rush. As if he deserves an explanation, after everything he’s put me through.
“I didn’t want to,” I whisper, my voice small and thready to my own ears.
“Then why were you about to, Hannah? Why?” He whirls to face me, his eyes boring into mine, the anguish in their stormy depths stealing the breath from my lungs.
Confusion swirls through me, a dizzying maelstrom of conflicting emotions. I don’t understand Alex. One minute, he’s claiming his undying love for Alice. The next, he’s looking at me like I’m his entire world like the thought of me with someone else is tearing him apart. Is he just fickle, or is there something more going on here?
“You first,” I counter, my voice trembling with the effort to keep my composure. “Explain to me why you sound so betrayed when you don’t even love me.”
The words taste like ashes on my tongue, bitter and acrid. But I need to hear him say it, need to lance this festering wound between us once and for all.
Alex recoils as if I’ve struck him, his face crumpling with a pain so raw, so visceral, it takes my breath away. He shakes his head, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he clenches his teeth.
“You think I don’t love you?” he asks, his voice a hoarse rasp. He presses a hand to his chest, right over his heart, as if he can physically hold back the emotions threatening to burst free.
“Yes,” I whisper, blinking back the hot sting of tears. “You don’t.”
“My heart aches every single moment I’m away from you, Hannah,” he says, his words fierce and low, thrumming with an intensity that makes my knees weak. “It craves you like the blood flowing through it. Every heartbeat is for you. I fucking love you, in case you didn’t know.”
His eyes bore into mine, twin pools of molten silver that strip me bare, leaving me raw and exposed. There’s no deception in his gaze, no hint of artifice or guile. Just a soul-deep sincerity that steals the air from my lungs and the ground from beneath my feet.
I freeze, my mind going blank as I struggle to process his declaration. After everything we’ve been through, all the pain and heartbreak, I don’t know how to respond. But even in the midst of this emotional storm, hearing him say those words, seeing the truth of them etched into every line of his face… it’s enough to make me believe. To make me hope.
For the first time in longer than I can remember, I let my heart guide me, shoving logic and reason aside as I breathe the words I never thought I’d say again.
“I love you, too.”
Alex’s eyes widen, shock and wonder warring across his features. “Do you?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper, as if he’s afraid speaking too loudly will shatter this fragile moment.
“Yes,” I admit, the truth of it settling into my bones like a long-lost friend. “But…” I shake my head, the words sticking in my throat like shards of glass. He loves Alice, too. It’s not unheard of for people to love two at once. And I refuse to be the other woman, the consolation prize he settles for when she’s not around.
Alex must read the direction of my thoughts in my eyes because he’s already shaking his head, his expression fierce and determined.
“I don’t love Alice,” he says, each word a solemn vow.
“Then explain to me why you said you did, in front of your entire pack,” I demand, my voice cracking as the tears I’ve been holding back finally spill over, tracking hot and heavy down my cheeks. “Explain to me why you put me through hell for her sake, why you embarrassed me in front of humans and made me feel like I was anything but the love you just declared.”
“I was charmed,” Alex says, his voice rough with emotion. “And I was just set free.”
“You were what?” I gasp, my eyes flying wide as I stare at him in disbelief.
Two realizations hit me at once, the impact stealing the breath from my lungs. First, the same thing happened to me. Collins used magic to try to bend me to his will, just as someone did to Alex. And second… if what he’s saying is true, then everything that’s happened these past few weeks, all the pain and heartbreak… none of it was his fault.
Oh my god. This changes everything. Absolutely everything.
I don’t even know where to begin processing this revelation, my mind reeling as I try to make sense of it all. If Alex was under a spell, if he wasn’t in control of his actions… then maybe, just maybe, there’s still hope for us. For our love.
But even as that fragile flicker of possibility sparks to life in my chest, a thousand questions rise up to douse it. Who charmed him? Why? And how can we be sure they won’t do it again?
I stare at Alex, my heart in my throat, torn between the desperate desire to believe him and the fear of letting myself hope, only to have it all come crashing down around me once more.
“Start from the beginning,” I whisper, my voice shaking. “Tell me everything.”