Page 16 of The Forbidden Alpha

“Scrub the school day off, Adea. I need a clean slate—virgin skin.”

I stood over the sink for a long moment, watching the gray water swirl down the drain. I scrubbed until my face felt raw and pale, wishing I could wash my sins clean as well. I was about to be made anew, and I was ready to feel anything but exhausted and scared.

When I stepped back into the bedroom, things were already in motion. In the amount of time it took me to wash my face, Nikki had covered every inch of space on Mavy’s vanity. Music bumped through the floorboards, rattling the vanity mirror.

“Turn it down, Nik,” Mavy laughed, though she looked just as bubbly, lugging a ring light into position.

“Are you going to war? Why do you have enough chemicals to start a fire?” I asked.

“Because I am going to war,” Nikki said, her eyes gleaming with a terrifying sort of focus as she pointed to the chair. “And you’re my lead soldier. Trust the process, Adea. Don’t look in the mirror until I say so.”

I sat in it and Nikki quickly got to work, her brushes sweeping over my skin in a blur. I felt the layers of primer and foundation settling over my skin, a shield built one layer at a time.

“Your eyes are so big, Adea,” Nikki whispered, leaning in close. “I’m giving them wings. I want them to look like they could draw blood.”

I looked over at Mavy for help, but she was busy ripping open a bag of chocolates, shrugging at me with a mouthful. I was on my own. When Nikki finally stepped back and clicked off the ring light, she squealed.

“Check it out.”

This was the moment. I turned to the mirror and froze. The woman staring back at me was a stranger. My eyes were winged and lethal, my cheekbones were carved out of shadows. My lips were plush, stained a bruised pink, the color of a mouth that had just been kissed—or fed on.

Mavy squealed. “Now, let’s go find the armor to match.”

The drive to the high-end district was a trip to another planet entirely. I didn’t belong in a land of glass and chrome, hiding behind Nikki’s makeup as we navigated the crowded aisles of stores I usually only saw from the sidewalk.

Two hours later, the mall had become a gilded cage. Mavy was spinning in a long white dress with a slit that climbed nearly to her hip. She looked pure and untouchable, a saint carved in white silk.

“Try this one next, Adea.” Mavy threw a bundle of silk onto the bench.

I reached for the tag and my jaw hit the floor. “Two thousand—who spends this much on one piece of clothing?”

“I do,” she said, her eyes firm, but kind. “The right dress is never too much. Stop looking at the numbers and start looking at the beautiful unmated woman in the mirror.”

I turned to Nikki, who was already sashaying out of her stall into a black, sheer dress that was so low-cut it was a miracle of physics. How her breasts stayed up at all, I had no idea. It was also almost transparent, a slit running up the back to the base of her spine.

“If your mate sees you in that at the Festival,” I breathed, “he’ll take you right there on the floor.”

Nikki gave me a slow, feline smile. “I can only hope.”

I stepped into my stall, dropped my clothes, and pulled it over my head. The fabric was cold, sliding down my skin like water—blood-red and impossibly smooth. The sleeves fell off my shoulders, exposing my neck, while the front dipped low enough to tease the swell of my breasts. The slit ran up my thigh, flashing skin with every step.

I walked out, and the air in the dressing room changed. Mavy’s jaw dropped. Nikki’s eyes went wide.

“Goddess,” Nikki whispered. “Adea… you look…”

“I think this is the one,” I murmured, my reflection looking back at me with a desperate intensity.

“You’re damn right it is,” Nikki said.

I didn’t recognize my reflection. The woman who scrubbed floors was gone. In her place was a woman who belonged on a throne or a pyre—nothing in between. The dress clung to my body, highlighting every curve I’d spent years trying to hide as Nikki circled me the way an artist circles a finished piece, hunting for the one flaw she’d missed.

“When your mate sees you in this, he’s going to kill everyone nearby,” Mavy giggled as I blushed. I snapped a picture and sent it to Gabe.

My phone dinged three times as I changed out of it, but all I could think about was the ticking clock in my head. Gabe’s texts were a flurry of fire emojis and “THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT,” but they felt miles away. The silk dress was purchased with the Alpha’s money and tucked into a heavy paper bag, but I could still feel the weight of it against my skin—a promise that the woman I used to be wouldn’t survive the Mating Festival.

Chapter 8

The next morning, with the armor washed away, it was my turn to handle the morning rush. I’d finished the bathrooms before returning for a shower. I pulled on a black skirt and my favorite oversized charcoal sweater—the kind that was so thick and loose the sleeves swallowed my hands. The hem fell past the skirt, leaving the silhouette looking unfinished, so I did a quick tuck of the front corner into my waistband to fix it.