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Luka stirs on top of me, brushing kisses to my throat. I can’t remember everything about last night—we were both dosed with eros—but after nights of this torture, I’ve learned how to suppress it. I know for a fact that we didn’t have sex, and that’s what matters.
I told Gunnar once that I would talk to him before I acted on bringing more alphas into the pack.
I meant that.
I just need to hang on a little longer.
“Tomorrow night,” I murmur, my lips brushing the shell of Luka’s ear. “Don’t forget.”
The moment lingers, suspended, before rough hands seize my arms, yanking me from Luka’s warmth. His eyes snap open, meeting the chaos of the breaking day as I’m dragged away. He snarls and lunges for me, but other guards are there to grab him.
There’s no use fighting; the guards are just doing what they’re told.
“Hey!” I snap, trying to twist free even though it’s pointless. “I can walk on my own.”
The guard grunts, his grip unyielding as he hauls me through the temple’s arches. With every step, the revelry fades, replaced by the sobering chill of morning air. He dumps me unceremoniously onto the floor of my quarters—no, not mine, theirs. The space they’ve assigned to me in this twisted sanctuary.
“Delicate touch you’ve got there,” I say, rubbing at my arms where his fingers dug in. No response, just the thud of a door closing behind me.
Not everyone worships the May Queen here, especially if they’re faithful to the High Priestess.
I push myself up, dusting off my thighs. My heart hammers with the thrill of last night’s ceremony mingled with the rush of being caught off-guard.
It’s a cocktail I’m all too familiar with here in New Eden.
I hear footsteps out in the hall, and I right my clothes and sit down on the bed. There’s a bathroom connected to my room—my cell—and I’ll need to go in there to clean up the mess from what me and Luka did last night. Even if we didn’t have sex…
…it felt good.
I haven’t been with anyone since I got here, and I’ve been through three heats. That means that for several long, awful months, I’ve had to satisfy myself, riding my hand all night when the desperation got bad enough. Lianna has been trying to get me to mate with a new alpha—maybe for experimentation, maybe for her own sick and sadistic pleasure—but I’ve refused, and my father won’t let her throw me in with the most feral alphas when he seems half-convinced to claim me for himself.
I can do this.
It’ll just be a little harder to resist with Luka here.
The lock on the door clicks, then I watch as Lianna steps across the threshold in her long green dress. She’s still wearing the mask she always keeps on here in the colony, but I know better.
“You don’t have to leave that on, Lianna,” I mutter. “I know who you are.”
She huffs out a laugh and pulls back her hood, the mask falling like a cowl around her neck. She leans against the wall beside the door, crossing her arms, red nails tapping out a pattern on her elbow.
“What do you want?” I ask.
She shrugs.
“I was just surprised to see you take on a partner,” a voice slices through the silence. “We’ve been trying to get you re-mated for months and now…why him?”
I ignore the question.
“Thought you’d be tucked away in your own bed by now,” I shoot back, crossing my arms. “Or whatever coffin you sleep in.”
“Charming as ever, Aisling.” Lianna strides in, her presence filling the room like smoke. “But really, choosing someone during the ceremony…that’s new for you.”
“Maybe I’m getting comfortable here. Maybe I’m ready to move on from old ties, old bets.” I keep my voice even, casual, knowing full well it’s a dance of deceit we’re both committed to.
“Is that so?” She tilts her head, a small, knowing smile playing on her lips. “Poor, pretty Gunnar must be heartbroken. Or perhaps relieved?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” I can’t let her see she’s hit a nerve. Can’t give her the satisfaction.
