The Alpha's Dying Mate

The sound of the shower running was like a taunt, each droplet hitting the tiles a reminder that he was mere feet away while I burned alive. My skin felt like it was crawling with electricity, every nerve ending screaming for relief that only he could provide.

I pressed my palms against the bathroom door, feeling the cool wood against my fevered skin. Through the thin barrier, I could hear his ragged breathing, the way he cursed under his breath as the cold water failed to wash away what we both felt.

"Asher," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the spray of water.

The shower stopped abruptly.

I knew I should walk away. Knew I should preserve what little dignity I had left and retreat to the bed, curl up in agony, and wait for this torment to pass. But the heat was beyond reason now, beyond pride, beyond everything except the desperate need clawing at my insides.

My hand found the door handle.

The bathroom was thick with steam when I stepped inside, the air heavy and warm against my burning skin. Asher stood with his back to me, his shirt clinging to his broad shoulders, water dripping from his dark hair. Even soaked and shivering, he was magnificent—every line of his body calling to something primal in my core.

"You shouldn't be here," he said without turning around, but his voice was rough with want.

"Neither should you," I replied, moving closer. "Yet here we are."

He spun to face me then, his golden eyes wild with the same desperate hunger that consumed me. Water droplets clung to his skin, and I could see the evidence of his arousal despite the cold shower, despite his attempts to deny what we both felt.

"Ivy, please." His voice cracked on my name. "Don't make this harder than it already is."

"Harder?" I laughed, but it came out as a sob. "You think this could possibly be harder? I'm dying, Asher. Every second you deny this bond, I'm dying."

I reached for him, my fingers trailing along his chest, feeling the way his muscles tensed under my touch. His skin was cold from the water, but beneath it, I could feel the fire that matched my own.

"I can smell how much you want me," I whispered, pressing closer until our bodies were nearly touching. "Your wolf is going crazy, isn't he? Fighting against your stubborn human pride?"

Asher's hands came up to grip my shoulders, but instead of pushing me away, his fingers dug into my skin like he was drowning and I was his lifeline.

"This is wrong," he breathed, but his head was already lowering toward mine.

"This is fate," I corrected, rising on my toes to close the distance between us.

The kiss was explosive—desperate and hungry and full of three days' worth of denied need. His mouth moved against mine with bruising intensity, his hands tangling in my wet hair as he backed me against the marble wall. The cold stone against my heated skin made me gasp, and he swallowed the sound, his tongue claiming my mouth like he was starving.

I could feel his wolf rising to the surface, could sense the moment his careful control began to crack. His hands roamed my body with increasing urgency, mapping every curve, every sensitive spot that made me arch against him.

"Mark me," I gasped against his lips, tilting my head to expose the curve of my neck. "Please, Asher. End this torture."

His mouth found the spot where my neck met my shoulder, and I felt his canines elongate, pressing against my skin. The sensation sent lightning through my veins, and I knew—knew—that he was going to do it. Going to claim me as his mate and end this nightmare once and for all.

"Yes," I breathed, my hands fisting in his wet shirt. "Please, Alpha. Make me yours."

His teeth grazed my skin, and I felt the moment he began to bite down—

"ASHER!"

Selene's voice cut through the steamy air like a blade, shattering the moment into a thousand pieces. Asher jerked away from me so violently I nearly fell, his eyes wide with shock and something that might have been relief.

She stood in the doorway, her perfect hair disheveled, her ice-blue eyes blazing with fury. For a moment, the three of us formed a frozen tableau—me pressed against the wall in nothing but moonlight and steam, Asher looking like he'd been caught committing murder, and Selene radiating rage like a nuclear reactor.

"You were going to mark her," she said, her voice deadly quiet. "You were actually going to mark that pathetic Omega."

The words hit me like physical blows. Pathetic. That's what she saw when she looked at me—not a woman dying for love, not someone worthy of compassion, but something pathetic and beneath her notice.

The heat that had been driving me to madness suddenly felt like shame, burning through my veins and pooling in my cheeks. I tried to cover myself, tried to find some scrap of dignity in this humiliating scene, but there was nowhere to hide.

"Selene, I—" Asher began, but she cut him off with a sound of pure rage.

"Don't." Her hand cracked across his face with a sound like a gunshot, the force of it snapping his head to the side. "Don't you dare try to explain this away."

I collapsed against the wall, my legs giving out as the reality of what had almost happened—and what had been stolen from me—crashed over me in waves. The heat was still there, still burning through my system, but now it was mixed with humiliation so intense I thought I might vomit.

"Two years," Selene snarled, advancing on Asher like a predator. "Two years I've given you, and this is how you repay me? By betraying me with some desperate little Omega who throws herself at you?"

"It's not—" Asher started, but she slapped him again, harder this time.

"I trusted you!" she screamed. "I believed you when you said you chose me over fate! But here you are, ready to throw everything away for a few minutes with your precious mate!"

The venom in her voice when she said 'mate' made it sound like the filthiest curse imaginable. I wrapped my arms around myself, shaking not from cold but from the complete devastation of having hope ripped away at the last possible second.

"Guards!" Asher's voice boomed through the manor, the Alpha command echoing off the marble walls. "Guards to the third floor, now!"

Within seconds, heavy footsteps thundered up the stairs. Two massive men appeared in the doorway, their eyes carefully averted from my naked form.

"Lock her room," Asher ordered, his voice cold as winter stone. "No male is to go near her. No one enters without my express permission."

"No," I whispered, the word torn from my throat like a sob. "Please, don't do this."

But the guards were already moving, lifting me from the floor with professional efficiency. I struggled weakly, but the heat had sapped all my strength, leaving me as helpless as a newborn.

"You're killing me!" I cried as they carried me toward the door. "Just let me die! Please, just let me die instead of torturing me like this!"

Asher's face was a mask of stone, but I saw his hands clench into fists at his sides. "Take her to her room. Now."

As the guards carried me away, I heard Selene's voice, cold and calculating: "If you love me—if you truly choose me over this supernatural compulsion—you'll complete the rejection at the next full moon. End this once and for all."

The last thing I saw before the door slammed shut was Asher's face, conflict warring in his golden eyes as he stared after me. But he didn't follow. Didn't stop them.

He just stood there, water still dripping from his hair, and let them lock me away like the pathetic creature Selene believed me to be.

The click of the lock was the sound of my death sentence being signed.