The Alpha's Forbidden Heiress

Chapter two

Maria

The scalding water ran down my skin, but no matter how hot I made it, it didn't wash away the tightness in my chest. My palms pressed against the cool tiles of the shower wall.

I couldn't stop replaying the way his eyes burned into mine. The handsome stranger, the one whose car we hit.

Why did it feel like he had reached inside me with just one look and dragged out a piece of my soul I didn’t even know was missing?

By the time I stepped out with my towel wrapped tightly around me, Isabella and Ana were sprawled across my bed. They were still in their shopping clothes, faces lit up with gossip.

“Finally!” Isabella huffed dramatically, tossing her phone onto the covers. “We thought you drowned in there.”

Ana props herself up on her elbows, eyes glittering. “Well? Don’t leave us hanging, Maria. What was that thick tension girl?”

I tightened the towel, pretending to be nonchalant, though my heart skipped. “I don’t know man. I just wanted to stand up to him, you know he was rude at first, but ....”

“Rude?” Ana arched her brow. “You mean sinfully gorgeous.”

Isabella fanned herself dramatically with her hand, grinning. “That jawline could cut glass. Don’t even deny it.”

I rolled my eyes, but heat crept up my neck. “That’s not the point. I felt… something. Like I knew him. Like…”

I hesitated, because even saying it out loud made me sound insane. “Like there was a string tying me to him, pulling.”

They exchanged looks before bursting into laughter.

“Oh, Maria,” Isabella said, shaking her head. “You’ve got wedding jitters, that’s all. You’re imagining sparks where there are none.”

Ana leaned forward, voice teasing but edged with seriousness. “You’re engaged to Rafael, remember? The future of your family rests on this. Don’t let some stranger’s good looks mess with your head.”

Rafael. The name tasted heavy on my tongue. He was kind, polite, and dependable. Everything a fiancé should be. So why did his touch feel like sand slipping through my fingers while the stranger's glance felt like fire searing into my bones?

I curled up on the bed beside them, hugging a pillow. “I don’t know, Ana. I’ve never felt like this. And the dreams….”

“Dreams?” Isabella perked up. “What dreams?”

I froze. My friends knew everything about me, except this. The shadows that crept into my sleep. The blood, the fangs, the moonlight-soaked forests. The monsters that felt so familiar that it terrified me.

I shook my head quickly. “Nothing. Forget it.”

But when they fell asleep later, laughter still lingering on their lips, I lay awake staring at the ceiling. And I knew. I can’t forget.

The next morning, I jolted awake drenched in sweat, chest heaving. My sheets clung to me.

Another nightmare. This one was sharper, clearer. I was running barefoot through a forest, my hands dripping with blood that wasn’t mine. Someone or something was chasing me.

My legs trembled as I swung them off the bed. I couldn't keep this to myself any more.

I found my mother in the sitting room, brushing her long hair before the mirror. She sat by the window ,soaking up in the early sunlight which made her look softer, gentler than her usual stern self.

“Mamá,” I whisper.

She turned, her smile widening when she saw me. “Maria. Sit, darling. You look pale. Is it the nerves?”

I sat on the couch next to her and clenched my fingers. “It’s my dreams Mamá. They’re getting worse. They feel real, like memories I don’t remember living. And yesterday, when we ran into this man…”

Her smile faltered for the briefest moment before she put it back on. “Nonsense. Dreams are just dreams. You’re overwhelmed with the wedding preparations, that’s all.”

“No,” I insisted, moving closer. “It’s more than that. You don’t understand, I….”

She stood abruptly and cupped my cheeks with her warm hands. “Maria. You are my daughter. And you are about to step into your future. Stop chasing shadows.”

Dismissed. Just like that.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced a nod. “Yes, Mother.”

But inside, rebellion stirred. If she won’t give me answers, I’ll find them myself.

I make my way to the family library quietly. Shelves towered over me, filled with centuries of history, lore, secrets. My fingertips brushed over cracked spines until I paused at a book embossed with a wolf and a crescent moon.

I pulled it down, the dust raining down on me.

“Maria!”

I flinched, nearly dropping the book. My aunt Elena, entered the library. She strode toward me in her elegant gown, her eyes sharp.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed, pulling the book from my hands.

“I was just….”

“No time for this.” She hooked her arm through mine. “The engagement dinner is tonight. You should be preparing, not getting lost in old stories.”

“But Aunt Elena…..”

“Later,” she snaps. “Come.”

And just like that, I was dragged away. But the weight of that book’s cover still lingered in my palm.

Lucien

I didn't sleep. I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, her face was there. Those eyes, that spark. My wolf paced restlessly inside me, snarling, demanding.

Mine. Mine.

I ran a hand through my hair and threw on a shirt, but it did nothing to calm me. Not even a morning run in the forest, where I usually find peace, could settle the storm.

A knock interrupted my pacing. My father stepped inside, looking regal as always, his eyes cold but assessing.

“Lucien.”

“Father.”

He studied me for a long moment. “You look restless.”

I clenched my jaw. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t believe me. “Good. Because tonight we are attending the engagement dinner of one of my closest associates. His daughter is to be wed. It is important that you show respect.”

I nodded stiffly, though my wolf growled. I didn't care about dinners or politics.

But I was still going to go.

Maria

By the time Aunt Elena dragged me away from the library, my head was buzzing with questions. That book, the wolf and the crescent moon, it called to me. I didn't know why, but I felt like it held the answers I’ve been looking for.

Instead, I’m shoved into hours of grooming. Dresses, jewelry, hair. Isabella and Ana squealed every time another gown was draped across me, but my heart wasn't in it. My mind kept drifting back to his eyes, his voice, the way my skin prickled when he looked at me.

When night finally fell and the grand chandelier lit up the ballroom, I stepped inside on my father’s arm. My dress clung to me like a second skin, the soft ivory fabric brushing the floor. People murmured, bowed, and smiled. I smiled back, but it didn't reach my eyes.

“Breathe,” Rafael whispered as he took my hand, kissing it softly. His lips were warm, but they didn't send shivers down my spine. They didn’t set me on fire.

I nodded, forcing a smile. “Of course.”

His eyes scanned me carefully, as if searching for something beneath my calm exterior. “By this time next month, you’ll be mine, Maria. Nervous?”

Nervous. Yes, but not in the way he thought.

Before I could answer, my breath caught. Across the room.

Him.

Everything slowed. The hum of voices, the clink of glasses, the music all blurred. He was standing tall, a dark suit sculpted to his broad shoulders, his presence commanding the entire room without trying. His eyes locked onto mine, and the air disappeared from my lungs.

Rafael squeezed my hand, dragging me back. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly, though my voice trembled.

But when He began to move toward us, my pulse spiked.

Lucien’s POV

The second I walked in, I hated this place. The stench of perfume, the hollow laughter, the suffocating walls. My wolf paced angrily, claws raking against my insides.

The ballroom was a cavern of golden light and murmured laughter. My shoulders tightened beneath the weight of stares. I didn’t belong.

And then I saw her.

The bride. It was her, the Stormy blue eyed stranger from the car crash.

My wolf clawed at my insides, raging and howling.

Every breath I’d been holding since yesterday burst free.

She was radiant in soft ivory, her hair cascading like waves of dusk. But it’s her eyes that strike me, wide and startled when they find mine across the room.

My father muttered introductions at my side, but I barely listened. I only moved toward her, drawn like iron to a magnet.

And then her fiancé stepped in front of me.

Rafael.

He plastered a smile on his face, one that didn’t reach his eyes. “Lucien, isn’t it? My father mentioned you might be here. Welcome.”

I shook his hand, my wolf growling low. His grip was too tight, a performance.

“Yes,” I said evenly, but my eyes slid past him to Maria. She looked caught, trapped, her lips parted like she couldn’t breathe.

Rafael slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “This is my fiancée, Maria.”

Fiancée.

The word hit like a blade to the chest.

Maria forced a polite smile, but her hand trembled when she extended it. I took it, and the moment our skin touched, fire ripped through me.

Her eyes widened. Mine narrowed.

Mate.

The truth roared in my blood.

Maria

It was only a brush of his hand. Just skin against skin.

But my entire body ignited. Heat shot down my spine, pooling low in my stomach, so intense I nearly gasped out loud.

Lucien’s eyes darkened, stormy and sharp, like he felt it too. For a moment, the whole world fell away.

I couldn’t move. I couldn't think.

“Maria,” Rafael murmured sharply, his hand pressing against the small of my back. “Are you all right?”

I forced myself to blink, to pull my hand away. “Y…Yes. It's just… a little warm here.”

Isabella and Ana appeared at my side, buzzin

g with chatter, but even their voices were distant. They took me away to greet some important guests but I couldn’t stop staring at Lucien, couldn’t stop my heart from hammering.

And worse, I didn’t want to.