Stolen by the Lycan King

KIRA POV:

An unnatural, suffocating fever tore through my veins, setting my blood ablaze.My vision started to fade.

My palm slammed against the velvet wall of the VIP lounge, fighting to keep my balance as my knees buckled into useless cotton.

My trembling fingers reached for my phone, but another violent pulse of heat surged through my core, dropping me straight onto the plush carpet.

My inner wolf thrashed in my mind, howling in frantic confusion. This was not a natural cycle. This was a foreign, artificial storm forcefully tearing down my defenses.

The heavy lounge door clicked open.

The one coming to save me was finally here.

A tall, imposing silhouette filled the frame, cutting off the light from the corridor. Before I could see his face, his scent hit me-a wave of crisp cedar, frost, and ozone, cutting through the sweltering haze like a blizzard.

A broken whimper slipped past my lips. The sheer dominance radiating from him should have sent me running, yet every treacherous inch of my burning skin begged for his touch.

He knelt before me. A broad, calloused hand gripped my jaw, lifting my face.

The moment his skin brushed against mine, a current ripped down my spine, forcing an involuntary gasp from my throat. He let out a low, guttural growl, as if something wild had snapped inside his chest.

Before the last shred of my sanity dissolved, he scooped me into his arms and threw me onto the deep leather sofa.

He came down over me, his cold lips crashing against mine-not in a gentle kiss, but in a raw, commanding claim of ownership.

The friction was too intense, the fever too wild. Overwhelmed by the crushing power of his weight, I opened my lips and bit down hard on the corded muscle of his broad shoulder.

A sharp grunt vibrated against my collarbone.

"Ease up," he rasped, his large palms locking onto my waist with bruising force.

Knowing the sting of wolf teeth, I loosened my bite, panting against his neck.

Before I could breathe, a low, wicked chuckle brushed the shell of my ear.

"I was not talking about your teeth, sweetheart."

The words sank in, and a scorching wave of humiliation instantly set my cheeks on fire.

Beside the sofa, my discarded phone buzzed relentlessly against the carpet, the screen lighting up with a headline notification: Alpha Hayes Carlisle and Clarisa Knox spotted together at the Pack Gala.

Hayes Carlisle was my husband.

The name felt like ice down my spine. My entire body locked up, instantly turning rigid beneath him.

The sudden shift was undeniable.

The man paused, lazy hooded eyes glancing toward the glowing screen on the floor. His gaze swept over Hayes's beaming face before settling back on me, a mocking smirk playing on his lips.

"Carlisle's heir... an acquaintance of yours?" he murmured, pressing a hot, deliberate kiss beneath my jaw.

The mention of Hayes made my stomach churn with disgust.

"Is prying into gossip part of your hourly rate?" I snapped, gasping as I tried to keep whatever dignity I had left.

He let out a low, dangerous laugh.

His grip tightened on my hips, his rhythm turning unapologetically fierce, drowning my defiance in a storm of breathless heat.

Everything was over.I let him shower first.

By the time the sound of running water echoed from the private bathroom, the fever had finally begun to ebb.

Every muscle in my body ached, but I refused to stay another second.

Pushing myself up from the sofa, I gathered my torn dress and pulled my clutch from the floor. With trembling hands, I drew out a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills and slammed it onto the velvet armchair.

I did not care who he was.

Holding the wall for support, I slipped quietly out the door and disappeared into the rainy night.

AIDEN POV:

Steam drifted from the doorway as I stepped into the dim lounge, a towel slung low around my waist.

My eyes immediately landed on the neat stack of banknotes sitting on the dark velvet chair.

A slow, wolfish grin spread across my face.

I walked over to the bar, lit a cigarette, and picked up the cash, letting the crisp bills slide through my fingers with genuine amusement.

The outer door swung open, and my Beta, Shawn, rushed in, catching the thick, lingering scent in the room and instantly freezing in horror.

"Alpha! Forgive me for the security breach," Shawn stammered, bowing his head in panic. "Give me thirty minutes, and I will have my enforcers track her down."

I leaned back against the counter, exhaling a thin stream of gray smoke.

"Stand down," I said, my tone lazy and unbothered. "I was a willing participant."

Shawn looked up, completely stunned.

In all the years he had served me, I had never allowed a single female within arm's reach. Pack rumors had long whispered that I was cold-blooded and incapable of desire.

Yet here I stood, my chest marked with fresh scratches.

Before Shawn could wrap his mind around the situation, my voice turned lethal and deep.

"Pull every file on Hayes Carlisle's private life. I want a full breakdown on my desk within the hour."

When the little wolf had collapsed into my suite earlier, burning up from a tainted state, I had expected an ambush. But the moment I claimed her, I had discovered two glaring facts.

She carried no Alpha mark on her skin.

And despite two years of marriage to my half-brother, she had been entirely untouched.

I looked down at the money in my palm, watching the crisp paper catch the dim light.

I liked this little surprise.

Even if she had mistaken me for a cheap escort and failed to recognize who had just taken her.

KIRA POV:

Every muscle in my body throbbed with a dull, persistent ache as I dragged myself up the grand staircase of the Carlisle estate.

The fever had receded, but the phantom weight of that stranger still seemed to press against my skin, cold and commanding.

Before I could even reach the bedroom, my phone vibrated violently against my palm.

I swiped the screen, and Willow's frantic voice exploded through the receiver.Willow was my fiercely loyal best friend and confidante.

"Kira! Thank the Moon Goddess you are alive! How are you holding up?"

"Barely," I rasped, leaning against the banister to steady my shaking knees.

Hearing my hollow tone, Willow's temper flared into a furious snarl. "Hayes Carlisle is a filthy piece of garbage! If he wanted out of the mating, he should have said so, instead of leaving you with a tainted glass like a coward. What kind of Alpha pulls a stunt like that?"

Yesterday marked two years of marriage. My husband messaged me about celebrating, but when I arrived all dressed up, he left me waiting. Then came that glass of juice-and a night of reckless chaos.

Was it really him behind this?I couldn't be certain, but I would find out who it was.

A bitter pang struck my chest, but I forced the ache down. "It is over now, Willow. I will handle it."

"You are too soft-hearted," she huffed. "If you need me, I will strap on my sharpest heels and take his head off. But wait... who was the guy from last night?"

I froze, an unsettling chill crawling down the back of my neck. "Wasn't it the discreet companion you hired for me?"

"I booked him, yes, but he called me at dawn furious because you never showed up at his lounge! Kira, who the hell did you spend the night with?"

The air vanished from my lungs, my mind spinning into freefall.

If that was not Willow's contact, then who was the lethal Lycan that claimed me?

Before the panic could settle, the master bedroom door swung open.

Hayes stood in the doorway, damp hair clinging to his forehead, a single dark towel slung low on his hips as he looked down at me.

"What companion?" he demanded, his amber eyes narrowing with cold suspicion.

I pulled myself together, severed the call without a word, and pocketed my phone.

The man before me wore his usual mask of arrogant superiority, eyeing me as if I were nothing more than dust on his polished floors.

The only thing out of place was the swollen, bruised bite mark on the corner of his bottom lip.

A fresh mark from a frantic, breathless encounter with another woman.

A wave of profound revulsion churned in my stomach, far heavier than any lingering sorrow.

"Nothing," I murmured flatly, stepping toward the door.

Hayes frowned, his fingers shooting out to clamp around my wrist like a shackle. "What is with this attitude, Kira?"

He rarely spent the night here, and whenever he returned, I used to greet him with quiet warmth, ensuring everything was effortless for him.

I did not pull away. I only stared back at him with hollow, steady eyes. "Have I not always been like this? Obedient, quiet, maintaining your estate so you could focus entirely on climbing the pack hierarchy."

I paused, letting a faint, icy curve touch my lips. "Isn't that what you preferred? It certainly made it convenient for you to entertain your mistress without interference."

Hayes's expression darkened. He let go of my wrist, adjusting the towel at his waist with unbothered arrogance. "I came back this morning because we need to talk."

I lifted my hand, slowly and deliberately rubbing the skin where his fingers had rested, wiping it clean as if scrubbing away a smear of grease.

"Ready to make her public?" I asked quietly.

His jaw tightened, a flash of defensiveness crossing his features. "You had someone look into her?"

The nervous edge in his voice made me want to laugh. "Did I need to? The front-page headlines of you flaunting her at the Pack Gala were everywhere by midnight. Anyone with eyes saw it."

Hayes studied my face. My voice was completely devoid of its former warmth, yet he seemed irritated by the calm detachment in my gaze.

He leaned against the frame, tossing out words meant to cut deep. "Clarisa is carrying my pup. Her early weeks are fragile, and making a public appearance with her was to keep her mind at ease."

My fingernails dug slightly into the fabric of my coat, but my pulse did not waver.

She was pregnant.

While I had spent two years maintaining an empty home and protecting his reputation, he had been busy planting his bloodline elsewhere.

Seeing the pallor in my cheeks, Hayes's arrogant smirk returned. "It is not that I refused to touch you, Kira. It is simply that you are entirely too dull. No true Alpha wants a mate as tasteless as plain water."

The deliberate insult hung in the air, but the sting was gone, replaced by a crystalline clarity.

I had shrunk myself to fit his expectations, dulling my own claws and hiding my strength to play the obedient partner he demanded, and to him, it was merely boring.

I looked at him, my expression utterly serene.

"That works out well," I said softly. "Let us dissolve the bond and get the divorce papers drawn up. That way, you can give her and your pup a legitimate name."

The word divorce caught him off guard, his brows twitching in brief surprise.

Then, he let out a harsh, mocking bark of laughter. "Still playing hard to get, Kira? How many of these childish games have you tried over the past two years? You think threatening to leave will make me chase you?"

He looked at me with open condescension, entirely convinced of his own indispensability.

"You worship the ground I walk on. You would never survive a day outside this pack without me."

A faint smile ghosted across my face, cold and pitying.

When his early ventures crumbled and his standing in the pack hit rock bottom, I had emptied every reserve I had to help him rebuild his foundation.

He had offered marriage as a calculated debt of gratitude, and I had foolishly believed loyalty could foster love.

Now, his hands were stained with betrayal, and continuing to care would be nothing short of degradation.

"Have your pack lawyers draft the separation agreement," I said, my voice steady as stone. "Whatever terms you set, I will sign."

I didn't wait for his answer. Walking right past him into the room, I began packing my luggage, ready to get out of here.

KIRA POV:

I dragged my suitcase toward the front door without looking back. The cool morning air on my face helped to clear some of the fog in my head.

Hayes caught up to me, blocking my path, his face a dark cloud. "You cannot leave right now."

I stared at him coldly. "You wanted a divorce. I agreed. What more do you want?"

"The divorce can happen, but not today." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You have to attend the pack banquet tonight."

I let out a bitter, humorless laugh. "The pack banquet? You want me to show up covered in marks, play the devoted Luna, and watch you parade your mistress around the council?"

His eyes darkened, but impatience quickly took over. "Do not make this difficult, Kira. This is bigger than our grievances. This is about the entire Carlisle Pack."

He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a tense, urgent whisper. "My father's health is failing, and he is finalizing his succession will with the pack elders. Aiden Beaumont arrived in Blackwood Creek overnight. As the pureblooded heir born to the first Luna, his return threatens everything I have built."

Aiden Beaumont. The name sent a jolt through my memory. The cold, untouchable prodigy from my youth, the rival who had bested me at every turn.

"The elders are already scrutinizing my legitimacy because of my mother's bloodline," Hayes continued, his jaw working with suppressed bitterness. "I need the Knox Pack's backing, but I cannot walk into the council as an unstable Alpha discarding his Luna right before the will is sealed. The elders demand stability. They need to see a united front."

So that was his desperate scheme. He needed Clarisa's pedigree to secure political power, yet he needed me, his legal Luna, to maintain the illusion of an honorable leader before the council.

"So you want me to play the docile clown for your ambition, and once you secure the Alpha seat, you toss me away like garbage?" My voice cut like dry ice.

Hayes exhaled, attempting to smooth over his tone. "Kira, be realistic. We have been mated for two years. I provided you with status and comfort. If you stand by me tonight and appease the elders, I will double the financial settlement in the rejection agreement."

Money. He truly believed everything-loyalty, dignity, sacrifice-could be bought off.

Looking at his anxious, self-serving face, I did not waste my breath on grief or hollow questions. The man who had once stood by me was long dead, replaced by a calculating coward.

I leveled a cold, detached gaze at him, my chin lifted in unyielding defiance.

"One condition," I stated, my voice steady as iron. "I will stand at your side tonight. I will play the devoted Luna and give the elders the united front you need to survive Aiden's arrival. But the second the banquet concludes, we stand before the council elders and execute the formal rejection. You sign the release, and I walk away with full independence."

Hayes blinked, visibly caught off guard by my absolute composure.

A smug, patronizing relief washed over his features. "Fair enough. Between an Alpha and an Omega, there are boundaries dictated by blood. A true Alpha fighting for supreme command needs a fierce partner by his side, not someone fragile. I knew you would be reasonable and understand your place."

The deep-seated arrogance of the werewolf hierarchy bled through every word. To him, my calm detachment was merely an Omega bowing to the inevitable weight of an Alpha's decree.

"Then it is settled," I said, stepping back toward the house without sparing him another glance.

He thought he had won. He believed I was resigned to being discarded quietly once his seat was secured.

He had no idea that tonight's banquet would not be his coronation-it would be his execution.

Back in my room, I shut the door firmly and let the icy silence settle around me.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Willow.

"Willow, I need your lab contacts right now," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "I need an urgent forensic screen on the glass left in that lounge. There was a synthetic heat-inducer in my system last night, and I want the exact chemical trace and batch registry."

I needed to know precisely whose poisoned hand had tried to destroy me.

Tonight was the beginning of the end.