CHAPTER 3
1084 Words
MABEL’S POV
It had been five weeks since I last saw or heard from the handsome stranger at the wedding.
During the first week, I was constantly on edge, wondering when he would appear and what he planned to demand from me. I went through the wedding guest list, trying to figure out who he was. I even checked the hotel’s CCTV footage, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but it was almost as if he had never existed.
The cameras only showed me crying near the balcony before collapsing to the floor and eventually walking back to my father. There was no sign of me nearly falling to my death. No sign of the man who had saved me.
When I brought it up to my therapist, she suggested my mind had created a false memory because of the emotional trauma of watching my stepsister marry my ex-mate. She explained that the brain could fabricate incredibly realistic scenarios during periods of severe distress.
After that, I stopped talking about it. The last thing I needed was for people to think I was losing my mind.
As the weeks passed, I slowly relaxed. Part of me even started believing she might have been right.
Until today.
I had just finished class and was heading toward a coffee shop when a black luxury sports car pulled up beside me.
The tinted window slid down and I gasped.
He raised a brow. “I expected a warmer reaction, considering I saved your life.”
“You’re real,” I whispered.
His brows furrowed. “I take it you hit your head harder than I thought.”
I frowned. “Then how come there was no trace of you on the CCTV? None of the doormen saw you either.”
“I prefer to live discreetly,” he replied, offering nothing more.
I already knew pressing him would get me nowhere.
“Get in.”
“I’m not getting into a stranger’s car.”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
I glanced around. The street was almost empty, and something in his calm expression told me he wasn’t bluffing.
Swallowing my pride, I opened the door and climbed inside. “Where are we going?”
He ignored me.
The car sped well above the legal limit, leaving the city behind. Every passing mile tightened the knot in my stomach.
My thoughts spiraled through every horrible possibility.
He wasn’t planning to kill me… was he?
It seemed like a lot of effort to save someone only to murder them weeks later.
Not that I was counting on it, but I hoped the mate bond would make hurting me a little harder.
Thirty minutes later, he parked in front of a massive strip club.
***********
“It’s been a while, Alpha Zach. What brings you here?”Emma, one of the strippers, asked sweetly.
It took me a moment to process who Alpha Zach actually was. He had inherited the Shadow Pack at just thirteen after his parents died in a tragic car accident. A year later, his older brother, the rightful heir had died under mysterious circumstances. Rumors claimed Zach had poisoned him.Others whispered he had tampered with the brakes himself, killing his parents and younger sister to seize power.
After meeting him…I was beginning to believe every rumor.
A chill crept down my spine as I remembered I’d signed away my freedom to this man.
“I want her prepared,” Zach said.
Her eyes swept over me before she gave me a knowing smile. “This way.”
Emma led me through a hallway into a dressing room lined with mirrors, makeup, and expensive clothes. She opened a drawer and tossed me a black lace lingerie set before holding up an incredibly short red dress.
“There is no way I’m wearing that.”
“The Alpha said to prepare you.”
“Prepare me for what?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
I cursed internally while changing into the lingerie. The matching lace set alone already made me uncomfortable, but the dress was even worse. It barely covered my ass, clinging tightly to every curve of my body.
I hardly recognized the girl staring back from the mirror.
Emma gave an approving nod. “Zach will like it.”
For some reason, those words made my stomach twist.
She led me back to the private lounge.
The moment Zach looked at me, his gaze traveled slowly from my face to my legs before returning to my eyes.
For a brief second, I thought he might compliment me.
Instead, he said, “Seduce me.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Seduce me.”
“I can’t seduce you,” I said quietly. “I don’t have feelings for you.”
The truth was, I wouldn’t know how even if I wanted to.
The furthest I’d ever gone with a man was kissing my ex-boyfriend. Compared to women like her, I knew absolutely nothing.
When Zach realized I wasn’t going to move, he pushed himself lazily off the couch and started walking toward me.
I took a small step backward wondering what he was going to do to me for defiling his order.Zach kept walking until my back hit the wall.He stopped inches away from me, one hand pressing against the wall beside my head.
“What if I have feelings for you,” he said softly.
His eyes drifted to my lips before meeting my eyes again. “It’s difficult not to become interested in an attractive mate.”
He tilted his head. “Tell me you haven’t thought about me since the wedding.”
“I haven’t,” I lied.
A slow smirk appeared. “Your heartbeat disagrees.”
My cheek reddened.
His gaze slowly dragged down my body before returning to my face again, and suddenly I became painfully aware of how little the dress actually covered.
“You want me,” he murmured, leaning in so close I could feel his breath against my lips.
Against my better judgement, my eyes flickered to his mouth and I wondered what it would taste like. I closed my eyes as he leaned in closer.
But instead of kissing me, his lips brushed against the shell of my ears.
“That,” he whispered.”is seduction.”
My eyes flew open as I silently prayed that the ground would open and swallow me whole.
- Writer
