Alpha's substitute Lover

Back home, I showered and patched up the cut.

Then I noticed Alpha Lucian was back, too.

He looked pissed.

I put it together. "Vanessa got in a fight with you?"

"Luna Ashvale!"

His voice was a low growl as he stormed over, grabbing my wrist and pinning me against the edge of the bed.

I tried to push him off, but Alpha Lucian's strength was no match for mine.

The lamp flickered, the light stinging my eyes. I squeezed them shut, but tears leaked out anyway.

He paused for a moment, then grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Crying? Feeling sorry for yourself?"

"Luna Ashvale, didn't you say you loved me? That you'd do anything to stay by my side, no matter what?"

His kiss was brutal, rough enough to draw blood, the metallic taste flooding my mouth.

Alpha Lucian barked, "You forgot everything I taught you? Close your eyes."

"Your eyes-they're the least like hers."

His movements weren't gentle, and the pain intensified.

In a moment of panic, I opened my eyes and caught his gaze-dark, stormy, like he was venting something.

It hit me.

I'd upset Vanessa, and Alpha Lucian was punishing me.

Humiliation swallowed me whole. My mind drifted to the past.

When we met, I was a broke college pup, scraping by.

He was the high-and-mighty Alpha Lucian.

I was working at a bar, and he got plastered, saw my face, and lost it.

"Don't you dare walk around with a face like hers, doing something this low-class!"

Later, when my grandma-the only family I had-got sick, I borrowed from every loan shark I could find. Still came up three hundred grand short.

For that money, I sold myself to Alpha Lucian.

Threw myself at him.

The price? He wouldn't let me keep studying for my master's.

"A stand-in needs to know her place."

His voice was flat, deciding my future in a few words.

"You say you love me, right? Then stay by my side for three years. Don't go anywhere."

Vanessa had left him to study abroad.

Alpha Lucian wasn't about to let that happen again.

From that day, my dream of a career in research became a pipe dream.

Grandma didn't make it through the complications after surgery. She held on for six months, then she was gone.

I was a wreck, sitting at her grave all night.

In the middle of the night, it started drizzling.

An umbrella appeared over my head.

Alpha Lucian.

He looked down at me, his voice softer than usual. "How long you planning to stay out here? I'll wait with you."

We were together three years.

I took care of him like my life depended on it.

In rare moments, there'd be a flicker of warmth between us.

But deep down, I knew Alpha Lucian looked down on me.

Another time, I went to pick him up from a night out with his rich buddies. They blocked me, sizing me up with smirks.

"She does kinda look like Vanessa-heard she's some brainiac from Tech U, even worked on patent projects?"

"No way. Yo, genius, show us how you do your science stuff. Put on a little performance."

I dug my nails into my palms, staring them down. "Science isn't a party trick."

The guy leading the pack sneered. "Oh, please. You talk about research, but you're just here to cash in, aren't you?"

A bottle got shoved in front of me. "Not feeling it? Fine, drink. Finish this, and Alpha Lucian's all yours."

Alpha Lucian just lounged on the couch, twirling his lighter, watching me.

Maybe it was the booze, but his usual cold stare softened, lips curling slightly, eyes lazy.

"Go on, drink. Show 'em what you've got."

I went quiet for a second, then asked, "If Vanessa was standing here, would you make her drink, too?"

That set him off.

He snatched the glass and smashed it against me. "Who the hell are you to compare yourself to her?"

"She's not some sellout who'd trade herself for three hundred grand."

I blinked back stinging tears, picked up the glass rolling on the floor, and muttered, "Fine. I'll drink."

Poor wolves' lives are cheap. Dignity's worth even less.

I took his three hundred grand.

This was my price to pay.