KASMINE.
It all happened so fast.
One moment, I was standing outside the hospital, pacing around impatiently and looking at my watch. The next, a man was standing in front of me-so suddenly, so quietly, I hadn’t even noticed his approach.
A chill slithered down my spine.
I took a step back, instinct prickling at the base of my skull. He was tall and lean but built, his dark sleeves blending too well with the dimming afternoon light. And his eyes-hazel, cold, unreadable-fixed on me with a gaze that made my stomach clench.
Beneath the golden light of the sun, I caught the way his jaw tensed-strong, sculpted, like it had been carved from stone.
Something about him felt wrong. Not in an obvious, aggressive way. But in the quiet, insidious kind that made my pulse quicken for all the wrong reasons.
He had a dark aura that was both compelling and disturbing.
Everything seemed a bit within my control until he spoke and called my name. Time seemed to stand still.
“Hello, Kasmine,” He said, plastering a forced smile on his thin lips. A smile that barely reached his Hazel eyes.
How the hell did this fellow know my name?
A slow, unsettling smile curled his lips as if he enjoyed the momentary shock flashing across my face.
“Hi…” I replied, totally unsure as to how to feel. I moved to create a distance between us, but he stepped in front of me.
“Now, that’s not how to treat a friend, Kasmine. Don’t you think?” He chuckled, and my security consciousness spiked up by a thousand degrees.
“Who… Who are you, and how do you know me?” I asked, doing all I could to hide the tremor in my voice.
He smirked, tilting his head slightly as if amused by my question. “Kexandre,” he said casually. “But most people call me Alpha Kex.”
The name rattled through my skull, making my heart pound so hard I felt it in my throat.
Alpha Kex?
The man who had been making Kester’s life a living hell. The one who had been pulling strings behind the scenes, trying to tear my brother apart, piece by piece.
He looked way too young to constitute the kind of nuisance I’ve heard about him. He was probably in his late twenties, just like my brother.
What the hell?
What was he doing here?
I didn’t like the way he looked at me, like he wanted to devour me in order to send a message across to my brother.
No one had even told me why he was hell-bent on ruining my brother’s business. And I didn’t think this was the right place and time to even ask him such a question.
I forced my stiff legs to move to create some distance. “Excuse me, Alpha Kex. I have somewhere to be,” I said, my voice as steady as I could manage.
I turned to leave, to put as much space between us as possible, but before I could take another step, a firm grip clamped around my arm.
A gasp tore from my lips as he yanked me toward the parking lot, his fingers digging into my skin.
He barely seemed to exert effort, yet there was no escaping his hold.
Up close, I could see the way his muscles flexed beneath his sleeves, the ridges of his forearm tight with restrained power.
Panic erupted in my chest. My free hand flew up, ready to shove him off, but then he turned to me, and the glare he sent my way made my blood run cold.
“One wrong move from you, and you are dead, beauty.”
His voice was calm. Too calm. Like he wasn’t threatening me at all. Anyone who saw us would think we were just two old friends out for an evening stroll, talking about the cold weather.
I glanced behind me and saw the nurse I had spent hours waiting for, leave her post. She was heading toward the hospital doors, ready to go home.
Shit.
I opened my mouth to scream, to call out to her, but Kex’s grip tightened, his fingers pressing into my skin with just enough pressure to make his message clear.
“Don’t,” he murmured, his breath ghosting over my ear.
I clenched my jaw, my heart hammering so hard. “Let me go,” I bit out, trying to pull free.
But he didn’t budge.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Kasmine. Just be calm,” He said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
I stumbled, barely managing to keep up, my heart pounding so violently I thought it might break through my ribs.
I should scream, fight, or do something.
But I was too aware of the deadly calm in his voice. Too aware of how easily he could snap my neck before anyone even noticed I was gone.
We reached a dark Sedan parked at the far end of the lot, tucked away from sight. The sunlight barely stretched into this corner.
And then he shoved me.
My back slammed into the cold metal of the car with a force that stole the breath from my lungs. A sharp gasp tore from my lips as pain shot through my spine.
Before I could recover or even process the situation, he took a step back, sliding his hands into his pockets like he had all the time in the world.
And then he smiled a slow smile, his hazel eyes glinting with something that made my stomach churn. He was looking at me. Not just looking-assessing, drinking me in like I was something to be owned.
I swallowed hard, suddenly painfully aware of every inch of my body.
Thank Selene, I wore jeans and a T-shirt today. There wasn’t much skin for him to leer at. But still-still-he stared at me like I was standing there naked and exposed to the bone.
“So…” His voice was totally smooth, almost conversational, as he tilted his head. “What they say about your beauty is true.”
I stiffened.
His eyes traveled over me again, painfully slowly, like a predator sizing up its prey.
His long fingers lazily brushed his deep, brown hair, which was slightly tussled not in a careless way, though.
He was the kind that took his looks seriously. I could tell.
“I’ve seen your pictures,” he continued, his voice laced with amusement. “Instagram, Facebook, all the usual places. You photograph well, but I have to say-” He let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. “The pictures don’t do you justice.”
A sickening chill crawled up my spine.
I pressed back against the car, my palms flat against the cool metal, desperate for distance, but there was nowhere to go.
I was trapped.
“What do you want, Alpha Kex?” I forced out, trying to keep my voice steady while trying to ignore the way his gaze lingered just a little too long.
His smile widened, but his eyes only darkened the more. “What I’ve always wanted,” he murmured, and the air suddenly turned to ice.
What did he mean?
Kill me and pass on a message to Kester?
Oh, no.
He leaned in close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him. I could smell the faint scent of his expensive cologne.
His broad chest so broad that it hinted at his strength and power strained against the buttons of his sleeves, was just a few inches away from me.
He wasn’t just any kind of ‘strong’; he was the kind of ‘strong’ that came with absolute control, like he knew exactly how to use every inch of his body to his advantage.
“I want you, Kasmine.” His voice was softer now, almost intimate. “As my mate.”
The world tilted.
A sharp, sickening twist coiled in my stomach, nausea rising so fast I had to press my palm against the car for balance. My skin prickled with heat and ice all at once.
What in hell?
Was there ever a man who didn’t want me?
A bitter laugh scraped the back of my throat. It almost escaped. Almost.
But his eyes pinned me in place as if he was watching and waiting for the impact of his words to truly sink in.
Then he leaned in, his voice carrying the edges of something cruel, “And guess who’s standing in my way, baby?” He paused as if waiting for me to figure it out, and I did.
I didn’t need anyone to tell me Kester was the one standing in his way.
I was the reason this man was ripping through everything, dismantling Kester’s world piece by piece.
The realization settled like ice in my veins, but before I could react-before I could even find the right words to spit back at him-something shifted in the air.
It was just as if the universe had decided to play enough games to last me for a lifetime.
I felt a presence.
Familiar. Overwhelming.
The kind that made my breath hitch in my throat before I even turned to look.
Kester.
A slow, suffocating panic wrapped around my ribs, squeezing tight. I was caught between two storms, unsure which one terrified me more. I didn’t know if I should be thankful or terrified.
What in the name of Selene would I tell him I was doing here?
And how the hell did he know I was here?