[Iris POV]
It was the night of the masquerade ball, and I was kissing my fated mate like my life depended on it.
His hands were tangled in my long brown hair, my hair tie on his wrist. He had tugged it free mere moments earlier, before he pressed me against the dark alcove of the ballroom and pressed his hungry lips to mine.
I kissed him until I felt myself feeling faint from the lack of oxygen, and when I breathed in, I inhaled his sensuous scent, loving how the intoxicating blend of coffee and amber flooded my lungs. I grabbed at the lapels of his expensive suit and tugged him back down, so he could continue lavishing me with kisses.
My fated mate was a stranger, but I already knew he was the perfect man for me. As though he knew what I was thinking, his lips curled into a smile. He traced my jaw and pressed his fingertips to my reddened lips. I deliberately pouted before my tongue darted out and wet his fingers. I saw how his eyes darkened from underneath his black mask.
"God, you're incredible," he groaned, sounding wretched with lust. "I want to be your necklace, just kissing your neck at all hours."
I smiled, suddenly feeling incredibly powerful. I was glad I had taken the risk to sneak into this masquerade party, where no one knew who I was. I had on a vintage dress, a simple hairdo, and my mother's necklace, but that was enough for me to pass as an ordinary pack member.
At least like this, my fated mate could know me as a person before rejecting me outright.
Well, at least he knew how I liked to be kissed. Which was already a step up from how I was usually treated.
Since I entered the pack at the age of ten, I was treated with scorn and disdain. I was the Alpha's illegitimate daughter, the walking proof of his infidelity that caused his own fated mate, the pack's previous Luna, to leave.
"Good that you know," I said loftily, but I pressed a playful kiss to the underside of his jaw. His stubble tickled me, but I relished the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed thickly. One of his hands gripped my waist in a possessive hold, while his other hand caressed my butt, giving it a playful spank.
"Are you doing this in public?" I raised an eyebrow, even if he couldn't see it through my mask. It was very brave or very stupid.
"No one is paying us any attention," my fated mate pointed out, which was true. We weren't the only couple frantically making out in a secluded corner. The room was thick with unbridled, unrestrained scents, as everyone took the chance to let go of their inhibitions. Whatever decorum that this masquerade ball was supposed to have was long gone as hours ticked on, and anonymity encouraged all pack members to go as wild as their wolves would allow.
Even I, who did not have a wolf, felt like indulging myself. Normally, I wouldn't let any random stranger touch me with abandon, but tonight, I just wanted to be treated like everyone else for one night. Not as the wolfless omega with freaky heats that left her wet and weak, or the stain on the alpha's family.
I just wanted to be loved. To be desired. To be treated like I matter. And the Moon Goddess was kind enough to grant my wish.
"Since the lady wants privacy, I'll take you to a very special place," he added, with a promising squeeze to my thigh.
"Oh? Are we going outside?" I asked reluctantly. There were plenty of couples who liked to fornicate in the thick bushes, but I did not fancy having dried branches poking me for my first time. The only wood I wanted in me belonged to my fated mate, and judging by the tent in his pants, I was in for a treat. I could only hope that it didn't hurt as much as the other shewolves said it would.
"Of course not, I'm not a heathen," he replied, sounding offended at the very suggestion. "I know how to woo my fated mate."
"You and I have very different definitions of wooing," I said with a grin on my face. "But you're lucky I like you. Lead the way."
To my surprise, my mate led me up the upstairs, where the bedrooms were. Those were only reserved for high-ranking pack members to stay in, and I wondered who my mate could be. It would be nice, if he had power and prestige to counter my own lack of status.
Then again, if he was powerful, he probably wouldn't want to be stuck with a wolfless freak like me. My feet slowed down as I considered that.
"You're tired already?" My fated mate asked. Before I could reply, he simply lifted me up into his arms like a princess, as though I weighed nothing more than a cotton pillow. His action was gentlemanly, but the way his fingers were stroking the soft skin of my inner thighs was anything but. I let out a surprised squeal and hung on for dear life.
"Hey! I can walk!"
"You're walking too slowly, sweetheart," he drawled out. "We have a long night ahead of us."
"Confident, aren't you?" I stuck out my tongue at him, and he kissed me so deeply I forgot to breathe, before drawing away with a smirk on his face.
I huffed. Two can play at that game. I reached down and accidentally grazed my hand against the tent in his pants. He let out a low groan of pleasure, and a giddy grin formed on my face.
"Pervert," I scolded him.
"And you're a naughty girl," my mate smirked. It was diabolical how sexy I found him, even with half his face covered. I could feel myself steadily getting wetter as his hand made its way up my thigh, delivering a firm squeeze. "I'll have to punish you."
"Promises, promises," I said breathlessly as my imagination ran wild with his words. His strides were long and quick, but I couldn't help but notice how familiar this particular set of corridors looked. Now we weren't in the area reserved for honored guests or higher-ranking pack members.
This was the private wing that my father and half-brother stayed in, and needless to say, it was not available for pack members to visit at will, let alone to fornicate in. But my mate continued to stroll on, as though rules didn't matter to him.
My mouth fell open when I realised my mate was walking to my half-brother's room.
My mate must have a death wish. If my half-brother Caius found me in his room with my mate, there would be no telling the hell he would unleash on me. He already hated me to the core for ruining his family. If I ruin his bed, that might be one straw that breaks the camel's back.
I frantically squirmed in his arms, demanding to be put back down on the ground.
"What's the matter?" He asked, impatient. "If you need the toilet, there's one inside the room."
"The toilet isn't the problem!" I cried out. That's just great. My mate was a lunatic. I knew it was too good to be true that I wasn't mated to a male werewolf in his fifties. "This is the alpha's son's room. We can't go in there! He'll kill us!"
To my surprise, my mate just let out a loud laugh, as though my hysterical words were a particularly funny joke. "No, he won't, I can make sure of that."
"You can't― You really can't― I'm telling you -Is this your way of saying you only want me for one night, since you're planning to die by the morning?" I spluttered in disbelief.
My mate gave a long, beleaguered sigh. "I didn't want to reveal myself so quickly, but I guess I have no choice."
In one quick motion, my mate whipped off his mask to reveal the jaw-droppingly handsome, yet singularly infuriating face of my half-brother, the very same man who had tormented me for most of my teenage years.
I felt my heart drop.
"Darling, I am Caius," my half-brother, my nemesis, now fated mate, declared. "Why shouldn't I claim you in my own bedroom?"