The Lycan CEO's Contract Luna

Chapter 4: The Key

Morning in the Lycan CEO's penthouse.

Esther woke up in silk again, but this time the room was bright. Sun through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The whole city awake below. The bed next to her was empty.

The sofa was empty too. Blanket folded perfectly. No Ethan.

And in her fist, still pressed so tight it left a mark — the small silver key from the bathroom.

She sat up. She was still wearing his huge black shirt. It smelled like him — dark cedar and rain. On the pillow where the Lycan had slept, there was a steaming cup of coffee and a note in sharp, messy handwriting.

"Drink before it gets cold. Your clothes are on the chair. — E

P.S. You can use the key if you want. Door is yours."

Esther vstared at the locked bedroom door. The same door that clicked last night.

She sipped the coffee. Black, one sugar. Exactly how she drank it at the campus library. He remembered.

On the velvet chair was not her old torn campus dress. It was a new dress. Soft white, simple, her exact size. And sneakers. Not heels. He knew she hated heels from her student ID photo.

A part of her wanted to scream. He knows everything.

A smaller part wanted to smile.

She changed fast, hiding the key in her dress pocket. The black velvet box with the black diamond necklace was still on the bathroom sink, untouched.

In the gold mirror, Esther Rose, 22, campus girl, looked like she belonged in a billionaire's penthouse.

She walked to the door. Her heart pounding like a drum.

She put the silver key in.

CLICK.

It fit. The lock turned. The door opened one inch.

And Ethan Knight was standing right outside.

Leaning against the wall, in a fresh black shirt, sleeves rolled up showing the faint silver scars on his forearms — the marks of a Lycan. Phone to his ear, his voice low and dangerous.

"...if anyone goes near the campus library again, break their hands. Understood?"

He saw her. He ended the call instantly.

For a second, neither spoke. She held the door from inside, he stood outside. The key between them.

"You used it," he said quietly, his golden-brown eyes dropping to her hand. Lycan eyes. Glowing faintly. "I thought you would take longer."

"You left it on purpose," Esther whispered. "You wanted me to leave?"

"I wanted you to have a choice, Esther" For the first time, his cold CEO mask cracked. His voice was rough. "My world is not safe. I am not safe. My wolf has been howling for you for three months since I first saw you in that bookstore and you didn't look away. But I can't keep you in a cage. That's not love. A Lycan who cages his mate is no better than the monsters who hunt us."

My mates

Esther breath caught.

"The elevator is at the end of the hall," he continued, not touching the door, letting her hold it. "My driver is downstairs. He will take you back to campus, to your dorm, to your normal life. No one will follow you. You are free.

Esther looked at the open hallway. Freedom. Campus. Library. Normal.

Then she looked back at him — the most dangerous Lycan CEO in the city who made her coffee with one sugar, who slept on a tiny sofa so she could have his bed, who gave her a key instead of keeping her locked.

"And if I stay?" she whispered.

Ethan's eyes flared gold. A slow, dark, completely obsessed smile spread across his face — his wolf showing through.

"If you stay, little campus girl," he whispered, stepping into the doorway, his hand covering hers on the handle, warm and possessive, "then you stay as mine. My mate. And I will never give you another key again."

He was giving her a choice.

Stay and be his Lycan's mate.

Or leave and be free.

Esther looked at his hand over hers. At the black diamond necklace waiting on the sink inside.

She closed the door. From the inside.

CLICK.

She locked them both in.

"I stay," she said.

Ethan stared, shocked for half a second, then he let out a low, triumphant growl that vibrated through the whole penthouse and pulled her into his shadows.