I Paid the Alpha King for One Night

Delilah POV

Pain. That was the first thing that registered-a splitting headache that felt like someone was taking a sledgehammer to my temples.

I groaned, shifting on the mattress that felt like a cloud, far too soft to be the lumpy bed I shared with Jaden. My movement sent a ripple of sensation through my body, a dull ache between my legs that brought a sudden, horrifying clarity to my mind.

Memories of the Gala flashed behind my eyes like a broken film reel. The champagne that tasted too sweet. The heat that had consumed me. And then... him.

I froze.

A heavy arm was draped over my waist, pinning me to the sheets. The heat radiating from the body behind me was scorching, like lying next to a furnace. But it was the scent that truly paralyzed me.

Sandalwood, storm, and musk.

It was thick, intoxicating, and commanded obedience. My inner wolf, usually a cowering, whimpering mess after three years of Jaden's verbal abuse, was currently purring. She was at peace. A deep, soulful peace that I had never experienced in my life.

Mate, she whispered, her voice dripping with longing.

Panic, cold and sharp, pierced through the haze of the bond. I scrambled out from under the heavy arm, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I fell off the bed, landing on the plush carpet with a soft thud, and scrambled backward until my back hit the wall.

The room was massive. Floor-to-ceiling windows revealed the city skyline, still slumbering under the grey light of dawn. But my eyes locked onto the nightstand.

There, next to a platinum Rolex that probably cost more than my life, was a notepad. The embossed gold crest at the top made my blood run cold.

The Mcclain Citadel.

I stopped breathing.

I hadn't just slept with a stranger. I had slept with a Mcclain.

Jaden was a Mcclain, albeit a lesser cousin on the fringes of the main lineage. If this man was his relative-a cousin, an uncle, or god forbid, someone high up in the Pack hierarchy-I was dead. Adultery was frowned upon, but betraying the Mcclain bloodline? That was a death sentence.

I looked at the man on the bed. He was sleeping on his stomach, the sheet pooled at his waist. His back was a landscape of corded muscle and old battle scars, broad and powerful. Even in sleep, he radiated an aura of absolute dominance that made the air in the room feel heavy.

I had to leave. Now.

I grabbed my torn silver dress from the floor, my hands shaking so badly I could barely pull it over my head. The silk was ruined, ripped in the heat of the moment, but it would have to do.

My eyes darted back to the man. He hadn't moved.

I couldn't just leave. If he woke up and remembered... if he came looking for me...

I needed to make him hate me. I needed to turn this from a fated encounter into something cheap. Something dirty. Something an Alpha would never admit to.

I opened my clutch. My wallet was thin. I pulled out everything I had-three crisp hundred-dollar bills. It was my emergency fund, money I had been squirreling away for months to escape Jaden, but my life depended on this escape more.

I placed the money on the nightstand, right next to his watch.

With a trembling hand, I picked up the heavy pen. I tore a sheet off the notepad and wrote, my handwriting jagged with fear.

For the service. Keep the change.

It was the ultimate insult. Treating a high-ranking wolf like a common gigolo.

I placed the note on top of the money, suppressing the whimper of my wolf who was clawing at my chest, begging me to stay, to crawl back into bed with him.

I'm sorry, I whispered to the air, to him, to my wolf.

Then I turned and ran. I didn't look back as the elevator doors slid shut, sealing my fate.

Carter POV

The moment the elevator doors chimed shut, my eyes snapped open.

The room was silent, but the scent of her lingered-vanilla and fear. It was fading, and the loss of it felt like a physical blow to my chest.

I sat up, the sheet falling away. My skin still buzzed with the electricity of her touch. For the first time in years, the constant, maddening noise of the Pack in my head had been silenced. She was the only thing that had ever quieted the storm in my blood.

And she had run.

My grey eyes shifted to the nightstand.

I saw the money first. Three hundred dollars.

A low growl started deep in my chest, vibrating through the silent room. I reached out and snatched the piece of paper resting on top of the bills.

For the service. Keep the change.

The growl erupted into a snarl that shook the glass of water on the table.

She thought she could pay me? Me? The Alpha King of the Blackwood Pack? She thought she could toss me a few bills like I was some whore she had picked up at a bar?

I crushed the paper in my fist, my claws extending, shredding the expensive stationery into confetti.

The insult burned, hot and violent. But beneath the anger, there was something else. Something darker.

Possessiveness.

She had marked me with her scent, used my body to soothe her heat, and then dared to insult my honor to cover her tracks.

I closed my eyes, reaching out into the void of the Pack link.

"Scott."

My Gamma answered instantly, his mental voice sharp with alertness. "Alpha?"

I looked at the empty side of the bed, the sheets still rumpled from her shape.

"Pull the security footage from the penthouse floor. Now."

"Is there a threat, Alpha?"

I stood up, the power of my aura flooding the room, cracking the crystal glass on the nightstand.

"No,"I replied, my voice a deadly calm that promised retribution. "There is a thief. Find the woman who just left my room. I don't care what it takes. Bring her to me."

Delilah POV

The taxi ride back to the Mcclain Estate was a blur of grey buildings and rising panic. When I finally stepped into the foyer, the silence of the house hit me like a physical weight. It didn't smell like a home; it smelled of lemon polish and cold, stagnant air.

I sprinted up the stairs, my heels clicking frantically against the marble, and locked myself in the master bathroom.

My hands shook as I tore off the ruined silver dress, kicking it into the corner. I turned the shower on, cranking the handle until the water was steaming, bordering on scalding. I stepped in, hissing as the heat hit my skin, and grabbed the loofah.

Scrub. Scrub it off.

I dragged the rough sponge over my skin until it turned raw and red, desperate to erase the scent of him.

Sandalwood, storm, and musk.

It was clinging to me, seeping into my pores, branding me. But the harder I scrubbed, the more my inner wolf whined in protest. She didn't want to lose it. She was clawing at my chest, mourning the loss of the intoxicating comfort we had felt in that stranger's bed.

Stop it, I hissed at her, tears mingling with the spray of the shower. "He was a mistake."

Suddenly, the bathroom door banged open.

I shrieked, grabbing a towel to cover myself just as Jaden stormed in. He was still wearing his tuxedo from last night, his tie undone, his face twisted in a snarl that was more petulant than threatening.

There you are, he spat, his voice echoing off the tile. "Do you have any idea how foolish I looked last night? My wife, disappearing in the middle of the most important Gala of the year?"

He didn't ask if I was hurt. He didn't ask where I had been. He only cared about the optics.

I... I was sick, I stammered, clutching the towel tighter against my chest, terrified he would catch a whiff of the Alpha scent that still lingered faintly beneath the steam. "I had a migraine. I took a cab home."

You're always sick, Jaden sneered, stepping closer. His scent-faint, sour, and unimpressive-assaulted my nose. "You're weak, Delilah. A pathetic excuse for a Mcclain wife. Everyone was asking where you were, and I had to lie for you."

He loomed over me, trying to intimidate me, but as he turned his head slightly, the morning light from the high window hit his neck.

I froze.

There, just above his collarbone, was a mark. It was fresh, angry, and red. Three distinct lines curved into his skin.

A claw mark.

The fear that had been choking me moments ago evaporated, replaced by a cold, sharp clarity.

What is that? I asked, my voice surprisingly steady.

Jaden blinked, his momentum stalling. "What?"

I pointed a trembling finger at his neck. "That mark, Jaden. That's a claw mark. From a she-wolf."

His hand flew to his neck, covering the scratch. His heartbeat spiked-I could hear the frantic rhythm of it even over the running water.

Don't be ridiculous, he snapped, his eyes darting away. "It's from training this morning. A branch snagged me."

You don't train, I said, stepping out of the shower, water pooling at my feet. "You haven't joined the pack run in six months. You tell everyone you're too busy with 'finances'."

Cornered, his face flushed a deep, ugly crimson. "You're delusional," he shouted, backing away toward the door. "This is why I can't stand being around you! You're paranoid, suffocating, and useless! Clean yourself up. You look like a drowned rat."

He slammed the door behind him, the sound vibrating through the walls.

I stood there, shivering, water dripping from my hair. He was lying. I knew it. My wolf knew it.

I wrapped the towel around me and walked into the bedroom. Jaden was gone, but in his haste to escape my accusation, he had left his phone on the nightstand.

As if on cue, the screen lit up.

A message preview popped up. The sender was saved simply as "B".

"The morning sickness is driving my wolf crazy. Jaden, you promised you'd get the supplements to calm my wolf from the Pack Healer."

The air left my lungs.

B. Brielle Sims.

The pop star. The wolf who had skyrocketed to fame singing "ancient ballads" that were actually my songs-melodies I had written in the dead of night, poured from my soul, only to have Jaden call them trash and then secretly feed them to his mistress.

And now... morning sickness.

I stared at the screen, my vision blurring. I had begged Jaden for a pup for two years. He had told me we weren't ready. He had told me he didn't want the burden.

But he was giving a pup to her.

He had stolen my art, my dignity, and now, the family I had prayed for.

A cold, dark rage settled in my chest, silencing my weeping wolf. The tears stopped. The fear of the man in the hotel room, the fear of Jaden-it all burned away into ash.

I didn't scream. I didn't throw the phone.

I walked to the east wing of the estate, to the dusty storage room no one ever entered. I pushed aside a heavy stack of boxes and pressed the hidden latch on the wainscoting. The panel clicked open, revealing my sanctuary.

It was a tiny, windowless space, just big enough for a desk and my keyboard. The walls were plastered with my original sheet music-the proof of my soul that Brielle was currently butchering on the radio.

I sat down at my encrypted laptop and opened a secure line. My fingers flew across the keys, typing a message to the only person in this world I could trust-Charley Knowles, a human hacker who owed me a life debt.

"Charley,"I typed, my jaw set so hard it ached. "I need a favor. I need Jaden Mcclain's financial records, his call logs, and his location history for the last year."

A reply pinged back instantly. "Target acquired. What's the endgame, D?"

I looked at the sheet music on the wall, then down at my trembling hands.

"Total destruction,"I whispered to the empty room.

I hit send. I was done being the victim. If Jaden wanted a war, I would give him one he would never survive.

Delilah POV

Three days of silence had settled over the Mcclain Estate, thick and suffocating like a wool blanket. Since the night of the Gala, Jaden and I had existed in separate orbits, ghosts haunting the same hallway.

I sat at the long mahogany dining table, pushing a piece of dry toast around my plate. My phone, hidden in my lap, was silent. Charley was still digging, mining the digital depths of Jaden's life for the ammunition I needed to blow it all apart. Until then, I had to wait. I had to breathe.

Pack a bag, Jaden said abruptly, not looking up from his tablet. His voice was tight, strung with a tension that made the hair on my arms stand up. "We're leaving for the Hamptons in an hour."

I froze, my fork clattering against the china. "The Hamptons? Why?"

The Harvest Moon Assembly, he muttered, finally glancing at me. His eyes were bloodshot, rimmed with dark circles that spoke of sleepless nights. "Carter is back."

The name sucked the air out of the room. Carter. The Alpha King. Jaden's older brother and the terrifying ruler of the Blackwood Pack. I had never met him-he had been away expanding pack territories in Europe since before our arranged marriage-but his reputation was a living, breathing monster in this house.

I'm not going, I said, my voice steady despite the sudden spike in my pulse. "We had a deal, Jaden. I stay out of pack politics, and you leave me alone. I'm not parading around in front of your family just so you can play the devoted husband."

Jaden slammed his hand on the table, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "Do you think I have a choice? This is a direct summons! An Alpha Command!"

He stood up, his chair screeching against the floor, and marched over to me. The scent of his fear-sour milk and burnt rubber-was so pungent it made my wolf curl her lip in disgust.

Carter isn't like father, Jaden hissed, leaning down until his face was inches from mine. "He smells weakness. He scents lies like a shark scents blood. If I show up alone, he'll start asking questions. He'll dig. And if he digs..." Jaden's voice cracked, panic fracturing his arrogance. "I need you there, Delilah. You will wear the sapphire ring, you will smile, and you will keep your mouth shut. Do you understand?"

He was terrified. The man who tormented me daily was trembling at the mere thought of his brother.

Fine, I whispered, pulling away from his foul breath. "I'll go."

Good, he straightened, adjusting his cuffs, the mask of superiority sliding back into place. "Be ready in twenty minutes. And wear something that says 'Mcclain', not 'charity case'."

I left him in the dining room and ascended the marble stairs, my legs feeling heavy. I wasn't doing this for him. I was doing it to buy time. If Carter Mcclain was as perceptive as Jaden feared, one wrong move could expose everything-including my plan to destroy Jaden.

Inside the master bedroom, I moved to the vanity. My hands were shaking as I opened the velvet-lined jewelry box. I needed my diamond studs-the simple, elegant ones that were the only gift from my late mother. They were my armor.

I picked up one stud, the diamond catching the morning light.

I reached for the second one.

My fingers brushed against empty velvet.

I frowned, tipping the box toward the light. Nothing.

Panic, cold and sharp, pricked at my skin. I dumped the contents of the box onto the cold marble counter. Necklaces, bracelets, and rings spilled out in a glittering heap, but the second earring was gone.

No, no, no, I breathed, dropping to my knees. I frantically patted the thick carpet, checking under the vanity, inside my purse, even in the bathroom sink.

It wasn't here.

My mind reeled back to three days ago. The Citadel Hotel. The penthouse suite. The tangled sheets and the heat of a stranger's body.

I had taken them off. I remembered the distinct clink of metal on the nightstand before... before everything blurred into sensation.

I had left it there.

I sat back on my heels, the blood draining from my face. A diamond earring wasn't just a piece of jewelry; it was a breadcrumb. A distinct, traceable clue left in the bed of the man I had used and discarded.

If Jaden found out I lost it, he would fly into a rage. But if that stranger found it...

I didn't know who the man in the hotel was, only that he was powerful, rich, and likely a Mcclain associate given he was staying at the Citadel. If he decided to find the owner of the jewelry, he could lead a straight line right back to me.

You're paranoid, I told myself, forcing a breath into my constricted lungs. It's just an earring. The cleaning staff probably vacuumed it up.

But my wolf paced anxiously in my mind, whining at the loss. She didn't care about the diamond; she cared that we had left a piece of ourselves with him.

Delilah! The car is waiting! Jaden's voice boomed from the foyer below.

I scrambled to my feet. I couldn't look for it anymore. I grabbed the remaining diamond stud and shoved it deep into the back of my underwear drawer, hiding the evidence of the pair.

With trembling fingers, I reached for the heavy sapphire ring Jaden had demanded I wear. I slid it onto my finger. It felt cold and heavy, like a shackle.

I took one last look in the mirror. The woman staring back was pale, her eyes wide with a secret terror that had nothing to do with Jaden Mcclain.

I was walking into the lion's den, and I had left the key to my destruction in a stranger's bed.