Candace

I dragged my fingers across my lips, scrubbing the taste of Reign away as if I could erase the last few minutes entirely. Oh goddess, what the hell was I thinking?

Rivulets of water dripped from my hair down my back as I shut the door to the pool area and strode through the well lit corridor, voices drifting off in the distance.

The sharp bite of chlorine clung to the evening air around me. My bikini was damp against my skin, but I barely registered it. All I could feel was the ghost of Reign’s mouth on mine.

Goddess, it had been soft.

Like warm marshmallows melting against my lips. Sweet and dangerous and so deeply enticing I wanted to scream.

I pressed trembling fingers to my mouth. I had kissed him to spite Deidre. That was all it was supposed to be but instead I had lost my head entirely and dissolved in his arms.

But goddess, the way he had kissed me.

His hand had cradled my jaw, and in that second I had felt like something precious to him. His mouth had claimed mine with raw hunger, his tongue sweeping inside — teasing, tasting, and drinking me in.

I had melted completely. My legs had wound around his waist without thought, my body pressing against the hard length of him through our clothes, burning and aching and seeking more.

Heat rushed to my face and I raised both hands, slapping my cheeks sharply. I was furious. Furious at myself for kissing him back like a woman who had been starved of touch. Furious at Star for purring as though he had handed us the world instead of yet another knife aimed straight at the heart.

The glare in his eyes when he pulled away — the cold anger, the disgust — my own eyes burned with shame. What was I even thinking? Was taunting Deidre truly worth the sting of watching him look at me like I was something foul?

I shouldn’t have kissed him. Sure, the intention had been to get under Deidre’s skin, but looking back now, it felt like the most reckless thing I had done in weeks.

Are you sure that was the only reason? Star teased, her purr vibrating warmly through my thoughts.

I slapped a hand over my face, my feet smacking hard against the floor as I hurried down the hallway, wishing the ground would open and swallow me whole. This had to be the mate bond.

Damn him for tangling up my thoughts like this. I should have left the minute he appeared at that pool instead of standing there drinking in the sight of him — a sight he and his brothers absolutely did not deserve to be admired for.

I had no business thinking about any of them that way. Not after everything they had put me through. Not after they had made my life a slow, grinding hell.

A sharp whistle cut through the air, yanking me from my thoughts. I had drifted to the centre of the wide hallway that branched toward the various quarters of the west wing.

Standing several metres ahead of me was a pile of filth that should have been disposed of a long time ago.

Dylan dragged his eyes down my body and back up slowly, his eyes gleaming with a stomach-churning mischievous glint. It felt like a thousand crawling insects were unwrapping me.

He smacked his lips like a rabid dog licking a bone as he increased his pace towards me. I pulled my robe tighter around myself, my skin prickling with revulsion.

There was no other route. I would have to walk past him. I straightened my spine, lifted my chin, and tried to side step him when his hand closed around my wrist.

"Get your fucking hands off me," I snarled, rage scorching through my chest at the lazy grin spread across his face. I shoved him off.

This was the same bastard responsible for getting me thrown into that asylum. The same idiot whose narcissistic father had beaten me unconscious while his unhinged mother spat on me and ground me beneath her heel.

I had not forgotten my promise. His time was coming, I just needed proof.

Switch with me, Star snarled, her voice razor-sharp. Just once, Candy. I’ll redecorate these walls with his insides.

His tongue was practically lolling, his eyes fixed on my chest as though the robe were made of air.

"Come on, cousin, don’t be rude," he grinned, wide and shameless, his voice carrying a tinge of nauseating friendliness.

I darted my eyes around behind him to be sure I was safe. I didn’t want a repeat of the last time. Five Pack guards were stationed at the end of the lounge area, I swallowed the heavy lump down my throat.

"The royal life suits you well." He leaned in, a smirk grazing his ugly face.

"You’re really glowing, cuz. If you ever care to glow better, you know where to find me. Let’s just say, I can fuck better than any of them."

I clenched my hands into fists, the urge to slap his face and shove those words down his throat took over my instincts but this was still my uncle’s golden boy and I wasn’t Luna yet. To think I shared blood with this beast made my insides churn with disgust.

Let me out, Star raged. Let me out this instant and I will claw that expression clean off his face.

I suppressed Star, a fake smile bursting free on my lips, I didn’t need Star to deflate an idiot’s oversized ego. My voice leaned into a whisper.

"Really? From what I’ve heard, your exaggerated dick needs a search party just to find a release. No wonder you’re cornering women in corridors since no one is volunteering for that—"

My eyes dropped to his pants, ignoring the wounded ego bleeding across his face.

"Disappointment. It must hurt to be a free sample nobody wants, cuz. I’ve tasted better and bigger sizes." I rolled my eyes, a wicked giggle slipping free. "I don’t think I could ever settle for a needle."

My gaze swung back to his face, his eyes darkened with jealousy and a mortified expression was etched on his face. I knew I had hit a nerve.

His mouth opened and closed like a fish pulled from water. Whatever he’d planned to say clearly abandoned him.

"Do you want another reminder to stay the hell away from me, Dylan?" I gritted my teeth in anger, my voice now low and tight. "You will not walk away with just injuries next time."

"Now get out of my sight and go live in the slum where beastly perverts belong," I dismissed him and pushed past him.

"Not so fast, cousin," he regained his voice, his voice slicked with something oily and self-satisfied.

"We should learn to get along, Candace. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of me."

Goddess forbid. I glanced back over my shoulder. "What is that supposed to mean?"

An unpleasant grin replaced his sour expression. "I’ll be appointed Beta once the Alphas are crowned." He tilted his head, eyes roaming.

"Go to hell," I hissed and strode away before the rage boiling inside me finally fulfilled my dream of slapping Dylan.

Are they truly making that creature Beta? Star seething in my head. Has every single person in this pack completely lost their minds?

I shook my head, making my way to my quarters as I remembered how he landed me in the asylum. Sooner or later, Dylan Sinclair’s dick would go on a sabbatical. He just had to fall for my trap.

I shoved open the door to my room when a folded note tucked into the door hinge fell to the marble floor.