Alpha King's Runaway Plaything

Chapter 1: End of Mate Arrangement (Elina's POV) His scent hit me the moment he stepped into the room. Pine and storms. Powerful, intoxicating. My wolf stirred uneasily beneath my skin as Damon Blackwood’s arms closed around me, his pull as irresistible as it was maddening. “Damon...” My voice was quieter than I wanted. “Our mate arrangement has ended.” He didn’t let go. His hold was firm but not forceful, and he dipped his head so low that his breath grazed my ear. “It ends at dawn,” he said, his voice a low growl that sent shivers down my spine. “Till then, you're still mine.” I turned my head away slightly, trying to suppress the tremble in my hands. How did I let this happen again? I was supposed to be done with Damon. Tonight was supposed to be the last night, the turning point when I walked away for good. But then he had appeared, unannounced, unrelenting, his alpha dominance overwhelming every plan I had carefully constructed. His scent surrounded me, consumed me. My wolf whimpered internally, yet I forced myself to stand my ground. Before I could protest again, his lips found my neck. He kissed the same spot he had claimed countless times during our arrangement, the spot his scent lingered strongest. Heat flooded my body, my wolf crying out for more as his intimacy unraveled what little resistance I had. I didn’t stop him. Hours passed in a haze, the kind I had promised myself I would never let him drag me into again. He left his mark on me, not a mate mark, but the scent that would tell anyone who came near me that I belonged to him. At least, for a few more hours. Afterward, as I lay gathering the composure I could barely muster, he finally broke the silence that stretched between us. “Renew it,” he said simply, casually, as if it were nothing to him. I froze, his words cutting into me with the precision of a blade. My chest ached as memories slammed into me like a tidal wave. The whispers that followed my father’s suicide. The crushing debt. The bills against my mother’s mounting medical needs. The nights spent tucked away in the outskirts of pack territory, hiding ourselves from heartless creditors who would stop at nothing. It was Damon who had found us. Damon who offered his arrangement: security, shelter, and the money we desperately needed. It was transactional. A cold, dispassionate exchange. Or, at least, it was supposed to be. But I had fallen for him. That had been my mistake. He was everything an alpha was supposed to be — strong, commanding, untouchable. And me? I was just an omega—a shattered woman struggling to rebuild her world. Renewing this arrangement would destroy me. I couldn’t survive another three years like this, tangled in something that felt so close to love but wasn’t. “My mother’s health is improving,” I lied, forcing my voice not to c***k. “I want something more. A mate. A real future.” His piercing blue eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me. My wolf quivered under his scrutiny. Damon wasn’t just any alpha; he could see through lies like a blade slicing through paper. “A mate.” His voice was flat, unreadable. “Yes,” I forced myself to say. He moved closer, his presence suffocating. His hand reached out, caressing my jawline like he had every right to, every claim still binding. “And you think a mate bond will be better?” he asked softly. “Do you think surrendering your body to someone else will match what we have?” Heat flooded my face. My mouth opened, but no words came. His question was too straightforward, too bold, and it burned in the air between us. “This isn’t about—” I stammered, trying to gather my thoughts. “Oh, isn’t it?” Damon pushed, his voice smooth, mocking, yet devastatingly calm. “You like to tell me what’s appropriate and what’s not. But you’re standing here, my scent all over you, talking about bonds and futures as if you really want to quit us.” That stung. He had always known how to unsettle me. How to prod the weakest parts of my armor until they cracked. I stepped back, carefully out of his reach. To give myself room to breathe, to think, to untangle the knot forming in my chest. “I meant it—” I began firmly, forcing the words out even as they choked me. “This ends tonight. No more arrangements, no more misunderstandings.” I hesitated, but I had to finish it. “Goodbye, Damon.” Something flickered in his expression. Anger? Hurt? Regret? Or maybe I was just desperate to see anything that showed he cared. Anything that would tell me I wasn’t just some convenient transaction to him. “I could make it permanent,” Damon said suddenly, his voice almost too casual. “What?” Confusion and fear swirled in my chest, my heart hammering louder than I wanted it to. “I could mark you.” His piercing gaze locked onto mine, pinning me in place. “Make it official.” My breath hitched. That single sentence shattered what little composure I had left. He said it so easily, like it wasn’t the deepest wound he could inflict on me. Because I knew what he meant. He didn’t want to mark me in love, to bond us as mates. No, this mark would be a brand — a claim, a cage, a sign of ownership for everyone to see. And I couldn’t. I wouldn’t be bound to someone who didn’t see me as more than something to possess. I glanced at the window. Light was breaking on the horizon. Dawn. I couldn’t be here any longer. “It’s done,” I whispered, pointing at the creeping sunrise. “Our arrangement is over.” For a moment, he didn’t move, didn’t speak. His expression remained cold, distant, the mask of the alpha that I could never seem to pierce. “It’s over then,” he finally said. But there was a gentleness to his voice that almost undid me. “If you ever need pack protection... you know it’s still yours.” “Thank you,” I replied stiffly. I needed to get out. Every second was unbearable now. A small, chilling smile graced his lips. “See you later, little wolf.” I swallowed hard and replied silently in my head. Never again, Alpha Blackwood. --- The next day, as I walked into the pack hospital, I was careful to suppress the traces of his scent that still clung to me. My mother would notice, and I couldn’t deal with the questions right now. I was surprised to see her already out of her room. In a wheelchair, no less, and with someone else pushing her. My steps faltered. It was Asher Grey. The tension hit me immediately. He had noticed me and stopped the chair, giving me a tentative expression that seemed torn between guilt and hope. “Are you still angry with me?” His voice was hushed. I stiffened. He didn’t deserve to ask me that. Not after everything. “No,” I said tightly, not wanting to discuss the past. That had been another lifetime. Before all this. Before my family’s ruin, before the weight of everything crushed the innocence I had held onto so dearly. Back then, Asher and I had been close friends. Both kids of respected pack families, it had seemed natural. Our parents dreamed of us as mates, a union of friendship and duty. And part of me... part of me dreamed it too. But when tragedy struck and everything fell apart, where had he been? The initial messages of concern, the offers of help — they faded so quickly. When he finally sent money, it had been through an intermediary. Insultingly little. And now fate had pushed us together again, but this time he was my boss. He was polite, professional even, but the awkwardness never left. “I have a proposal,” he said suddenly, shaking me from my spiraling thoughts. “It’s about work, of course. Dinner with a prospective client. I think you’re the perfect fit for this meeting.” Work. Professional. That’s all this was. “Of course,” I answered firmly. I wouldn’t let myself get dragged into anything personal. --- Weeks later, I stood beside him outside the hotel. I had dressed for the occasion, meticulously put together. I smoothed the fabric of my skirt nervously as Asher opened the car door for me. Then something hit me. Something that stopped me in my tracks. I knew that scent. Pine and storms. My wolf stirred so violently it was dizzying. My eyes darted across the parking lot, and there it was — a familiar black Land Rover. The driver’s door opened, and out stepped Damon. His alpha presence radiated toward me like a tidal wave, forcing all the air from my lungs. Our eyes met, and with that one look, my carefully spun world tilted precariously on its axis.