Chapter 2 Tori's Fear

Tori's POV

A faint musk surrounded me. The earthy fragrance reminded me of a forest on a rainy day. The smell was cold, but it was almost psychedelic, just like him.

I ducked my head involuntarily. He had to be staring at me. I didn't need to look to know that.

"Lift your head," he ordered. His voice was low and harsh. It rocked me, made my whole body shake.

After a moment's pause, I pulled myself together.

The cold reflection of his metal cufflinks caught my eye. His hands were already reaching for my face. His arms were athletic, his muscles thick and powerful.

'What am I thinking? Tori, stop focusing on the wrong thing,' I wondered.

In less than a second, his hand clamped down on my jaw, his fingers strong and hot as he pressed hard against my head, forcing me to look up.

He was clearly not a patient person.

"Look at me," he ordered again.

I hesitated slightly and raised my eyes to look at him. I dared not refuse. No one dared to disobey his orders. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his right arm move.

Almost instinctively, my body tensed, my eyes half-closed, and I expected a slap in the face, because that was what my father would have done but I stopped myself, because I still remembered his command not to close my eyes.

However, the slap never came.

Instead, he reached up and brushed the hair from my face. My hair tickled my cheek, and I smelled again the gentle musky scent of him, cocooning me like a cocoon.

I watched as his piercing blue eyes scanned my face as if memorizing every detail of it.

In the face of the oppressive aura, those blue eyes had been like an angry sea, ready to devour life at any moment.

But now, as he looked at me up close, the anger faded, and I realized what clear, beautiful eyes he had.

I lost myself in his gaze. All fear and anxiety vanished. Only the pure blue of his eyes was real. It reminded me of the clear sky I'd seen on the swing in the backyard.

At that time, I was seven years old, with my mother's laughter and my father's unflinching reproach. I remembered the earthy smell of grass after the morning dew. It was all in the past, long gone.

But when I gazed into his eyes, I saw my reflection, a helpless girl in the backseat of a luxury car, looking at the man I needed to sleep with.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?" he began.

I immediately shuddered heavily. Before I could open my mouth to answer, he leaned down and kissed me hard on the lips. He pressed down on me, making me unable to move. I trembled even more.

Although I was Alpha's daughter and past the age of eighteen, I had not found a mate. I was still a virgin and had never been kissed. I closed my eyes like someone in a movie.

"Are you afraid?" Cayden gave a low laugh, and I felt the soft vibration of his lips as our lips connected so that my lower lip quivered with it.

I puckered my mouth clumsily, brushing his lips, and his chin.

"Take it east." His palm brushed my face, left my lips, and sat back.

He was so unreadable. I didn't dare to ask why he stopped and if he wasn't pleased with me.

I could only peek at him carefully. He didn't say anything. He leaned lazily against his seat and closed his eyes to rest.

After a few seconds, the car started and slowly drove forward. The carriage returned to silence until it stopped in front of a building.

"Ms. Herron, please get out of the car." The driver opened the door for me. I got out and followed Cayden's footsteps toward the Forest Hotel in front of us, through the gilded lobby.

The lobby manager stepped forward respectfully and greeted, "Good evening, Alpha!"

Cayden only nodded, pulled me along, and kept going.

We passed through the lobby and stepped into the elevator. The elevator's display screen kept jumping until it could no longer jump up.

When the elevator door opened, I saw a luxurious red carpet and a corridor that stretched as far as the eye could see.

My palms were sweating, gripped in his large hands. Even though I knew what was about to happen, I still felt uneasy.

I felt my heart beating faster and faster. I couldn't look at Cayden at all. From his composed pace, I guessed that he was much calmer than I was.

Or perhaps, as far as he was concerned, what was going to happen next was as normal as having dinner.

In the car, he only kissed me, lightly on the lips, not deeply and without tongue. Then he released me. It was as if I was only charming to him to the point of letting him have a taste.

If that was the case, I should be glad. However, I was a little terrified. He acted like he wasn't interested in me. Then, my father's business would fail and I would be chased out of the pack or killed by my father...

While my thoughts were running wild, the door opened and then closed again. I followed him into the room in a daze. Before I could react, he pushed me roughly against the door.

The door was very hard, and it hurt me. He pressed down on me, his tall figure like a heavy beast. He bent his head, licked my earlobe, and covered my lips with his.

His kiss wasn't as gentle and light as it had been. This time it was fiercer, harsh, and punishing. His tongue tangled with mine, devouring my soft lips in a frenzy, tasting me. I could barely breathe.

"Oh." I couldn't help but groan and struggle in his arms.

His large hand rubbed my back eagerly. One hand was around my neck, and the other was down my back, slowly reaching for my waist.

Even though I had mentally prepared myself before getting into Cayden's car, I was still afraid when the moment really came.

Instinctively, I swung my hips and ducked, but that provoked a grunt from him. He grabbed my wrist, bent my arm behind my back, and put me facedown on the table. He slapped me on the butt with his other hand, then stopped.

"Alpha," I exclaimed in panic. He kissed me on the lips again.

Oh, God. How could I have such a lascivious moan?

The feeling of shame made my entire face burn. Under his crazy kisses, my legs became weaker and weaker, and I could barely support my body.

He took hold of the back of my head, put his other hand on my breast, and pushed me down onto the table. It took him less than two seconds to rip my kilt off.

"No," I begged in a trembling whisper. I hadn't wanted any of this. I was more afraid of what would happen next.

No matter how hard my life had become, no matter how desperate I'd become, I'd always prayed that one day I'd find my mate.

Someone would take me away, save me, love me. This was my only and last hope in this life. But my father used me as a bargaining chip to make love to a ruthless Alpha.

As handsome as he was, I didn't want to hand over my virginity so hastily and purposefully.

There was no denying that he wanted me. His desire faithfully reflected that fact.

The forbearance in the car might be because he didn't want to scare me. Or perhaps he wanted to slowly taste me and not eagerly take me for himself like a pervert.

Instead, he was more willing to play with his prey in a room that was absolutely undisturbed and let me become his toy bit by bit.

He bit my tender lip again, hard, before shifting ground and attacking my slender, dainty chin.

Terrified of what was coming, I slapped him with both hands, my jaw jerking violently. Finally, he stopped. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him.

"You don't want to sleep with me?" he whispered, lowering his head to my lips. I was stunned for a moment. All my struggles stopped.

"I don't need to threaten or coerce the woman I want into bed," his gaze grew even colder. "I don't like forcing anyone." With that, he released me.

I slid limply along the door panel and down. I awkwardly reached out to hold the door behind me to prevent myself from falling to the ground.

I looked even more petite and slender in front of him. His tall figure cast a shadow under the light that almost completely enveloped me. I had nowhere to run in this shadow.

He stepped back, crossed his arms, and looked me up and down.

"Don't you know why you're here?" His voice was cold and sarcastic. "Didn't anyone tell you what you were supposed to do before you came?"

With that, he turned and refused to look at me again as if that was the end of my attraction to him.

'No, don't go.' I wanted to say it but didn't succeed.

All I could do was watch as he took his time removing his suit, pulling off his tie, and gracefully unbuttoning his shirt. Then he entered the bathroom and closed the door.

The sound of running water filled the bathroom. He was taking a shower.

He didn't feel embarrassed at all, and the more at ease he was, the more uneasy I felt. My legs went weak and I suddenly sat on the ground, tears falling from my eyes!

My father's words rang in my ears. "Tori, I've raised you for so many years. It wasn't easy for that. Now is the time for me to need you. You'll repay me, right?"

My father, Mark, was a builder who owned his own construction company and had a small reputation in the Moonlit Howl Pack.

This time, the Black Shadow pack had come to our pack to invest. The empty space they had created would be filled with astonishing buildings.

My father wanted to take this opportunity to take on some of the work. As long as he could get Alpha's favor and get a chance to cooperate, he could save the huge debt crisis the pack was facing, so the Moonlit Howl Pack would not be destroyed.