Chapter 4: The Devil's Bargain
The word "stay" hung in the air between them, thick with implication and heavy with consequence. Kael's thumb continued its slow, maddening stroke along her jawline, his touch both a brand and a seduction. The heat from the Moonmark on her wrist pulsed in time with her frantic heartbeat, a treacherous drumbeat urging surrender.
Lyra's mind was a battlefield. On one side: Jace's face, pale and terrified in that hologram. The certain death that awaited them both if she returned to Silas empty-handed. On the other: the terrifying, absolute submission Kael was demanding. Her freedom, her very identity, traded for survival.
He was offering a gilded cage, but a cage nonetheless. Yet, wasn't her life with the Crimson Paw just a different kind of prison? One made of fear and servitude instead of opulence and possession.
"Your protection," she repeated, her voice husky. She forced herself to hold his stormy gaze, to not flinch from the raw hunger she saw there. "What does that mean, exactly? My brother walks free, unharmed. And I… what? Become your pet? Your pretty little shadow?"
A dark, appreciative gleam lit his eyes. He liked her defiance. It was a spark he clearly wanted to tame himself. "You become my mate," he corrected, his voice a low rumble. "The Luna of the Silverfang pack. You will have power, respect, and my unwavering protection. But yes," he leaned closer, his breath ghosting her lips, "you will also be mine to touch. Mine to taste. Mine to possess in every way a man can possess a woman."
His words were explicit, leaving no room for misunderstanding. A shiver that was equal parts fear and unwanted anticipation coiled low in her belly. This was the gamble. She could use this. If she was his mate, she would have access. To his home, his secrets, the relic. Silas's mission was not entirely lost; it had just become infinitely more dangerous.
She had to make it real. For Jace.
"And if I say no?" she challenged, a last, desperate act of rebellion.
Kael's hand slid from her jaw to her throat, not squeezing, but cradling the column of her neck, his thumb resting on the frantic pulse that hammered there. It was a dominant, primal hold that made her breath catch. "Then you walk out that door. Your brother is released. And I wish you luck surviving the night in Crimson Paw territory." His gaze was merciless. "The choice is yours, Lyra. Freedom and death, or submission and power."
There was no choice. Not really.
She let her shoulders slump, a calculated show of defeat. She allowed a tremor to run through her body, letting him see the fear he expected. "You'll protect Jace? You swear it?"
"On my blood and my power," he said, the words resonating with the weight of an unbreakable vow. "He is under Silverfang's protection for as long as you are mine."
Lyra closed her eyes for a brief second, as if gathering courage. Then she opened them and met his gaze. "Then I stay."
The change in him was instantaneous. The predatory stillness vanished, replaced by a wave of triumphant, visceral satisfaction. The hand on her throat slid to the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. He didn't kiss her. He pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes blazing into her soul.
"Say it," he commanded, his voice guttural. "Say you're mine."
The words stuck in her throat, a final, internal protest. But she forced them out. "I am yours."
A low growl rumbled in his chest, a sound of pure, male possession. It should have terrified her. Instead, it sparked that same, answering heat deep within her. The bond, this cursed, unwanted connection, thrummed between them, a live wire of addictive energy.
"Again," he demanded, his lips so close to hers she could almost taste him.
"I am yours, Kael," she whispered, the name feeling foreign and intimate on her tongue.
That was all the surrender he needed.
He captured her mouth in a searing, devastating kiss.
It was not a kiss of gentle exploration. It was a claiming. Hard, possessive, and overwhelmingly skillful. His lips moved over hers with a bruising pressure, his tongue sweeping into her mouth to taste and conquer. The world dissolved into a whirlwind of sensation—the scent of him, the taste of whiskey and pure male, the feel of his hard body pressed against hers. Her hands, trapped between them, curled into fists against his chest, but the protest died before it could form.
Her wolf, the part of her she had denied for so long, rose up in a wave of shocking, primal response. A moan caught in her throat, and her fists uncurled, her hands sliding up to clutch at his shoulders for balance. She was drowning in him, and a treacherous part of her never wanted to come up for air.
He broke the kiss as suddenly as he had started it, both of them breathing heavily. His eyes were wild, the storm now a hurricane of unleashed desire. He looked at her like he wanted to devour her whole.
"Your first lesson as mine," he said, his voice rough with passion. "You don't hide from me." His fingers went to the buttons of her worn leather jacket, popping them open with efficient movements. He pushed the garment from her shoulders, letting it fall to the plush carpet. His gaze swept over her, taking in the simple tunic and pants beneath, the vulnerable line of her throat. His eyes lingered on the Moonmark, now glowing with a soft, steady light. "This is my mark. Everyone will see it. Everyone will know who you belong to."
He was stripping away her armor, both physical and metaphorical. Lyra felt exposed, naked under his intense scrutiny. But she also felt a strange, terrifying thrill. This was the game. And she was now a player at the highest stakes table in the city.
"Ronan," Kael said, his voice returning to its cool, commanding tone, though his eyes still burned for her.
The Beta, who had been a silent, watchful presence near the door, stepped forward. His face was carefully neutral, but Lyra saw the tightness around his mouth, the flicker of something pained in his hazel eyes.
"Alpha?"
"Have someone retrieve Lyra's things from her previous quarters. She resides here now. With me." Kael's hand found the small of Lyra's back, the touch proprietary. "And spread the word. Lyra Hale is under my protection. She is my chosen. Any insult to her is an insult to me, and will be dealt with accordingly."
Ronan's gaze met Lyra's for a fleeting moment. It was a look of warning, of confusion, of unspoken questions. Then he bowed his head. "It will be done, Alpha."
As Ronan left, Kael guided Lyra toward the sprawling sofa. "Sit."
She sat, feeling like a doll being arranged. He didn't join her. Instead, he stood over her, a king surveying his newest acquisition. "We will have a formal ceremony to solidify your position once I've dealt with the… complications your arrival brings."
"Complications?" Lyra asked, her voice still unsteady from the kiss.
"Silas won't take this lying down. You were his asset. He will see this as a declaration of war." A cruel smile touched Kael's lips. "Let him. I've been looking for an excuse to wipe the Crimson Paw from my city."
The casual way he spoke of annihilation sent a fresh chill down her spine. She was now at the center of a coming storm, a pawn between two ruthless Alphas. Her survival, and Jace's, depended on her ability to navigate the violent currents of Kael's obsession and Silas's vengeance.
Kael's datapad chimed. He glanced at it, his expression turning grim. "I have business to attend to. The suite is yours. Don't leave this floor." The command was absolute. "We will continue… your orientation… tonight."
The promise in his words was unmistakable. Her "orientation." The thought of what that would entail sent another confusing jolt of fear and anticipation through her.
He turned and walked back into his office, the door closing behind him with a soft, final click.
Lyra was alone in the vast, silent penthouse. She brought her fingers to her lips, which were still swollen from his kiss. She looked down at the Moonmark, glowing softly on her wrist. A symbol of a bond that was both her prison and her only shield.
She had made her choice. She had chosen the devil she didn't know over the devil she did.
But as she sat in the oppressive luxury of Kael Draven's lair, a terrifying thought began to take root.
What if, in her desperate gamble to save her brother, she had just made a deal with a devil who would ultimately consume her soul?