Chapter 24: Not freedom
ARIEL'S POV
I ran out of Alpha Viktor's private parlor like I was on fire, biting my lip hard to keep the tears from spilling.
One moment, he was giving me the most intense pleasure I’d ever felt—and then… he kissed me.
It wasn’t like Rhyder’s kisses, the kind that were slow and sometimes feel forced.
Viktor’s kiss was different. It was raw. Urgent. Every shred of it laced with impatience, like there was something he couldn’t say out loud, something he needed me to feel instead.
I hadn’t seen it coming. Not at all.
And I thought I’d hate it. I didn’t.
How do you hate something that consumes you? Something so raw and addictive it leaves you aching for more, even when shame wraps around your insides like chains? I knew I shouldn’t want it. I knew better.
My
