The Alpha King's Obsession

8. The First Taste

Alexander’s POV

The city below was a grid of gray steel and glittering glass, but I saw none of it.

I stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office, my reflection staring back at me, like a dark, brooding ghost overlaid on the Manhattan skyline. My hands were clasped behind my back, gripping my own wrist hard enough to turn the knuckles white.

She’s coming.

Titus was pacing in the cage of my mind, on edge and rattled, scratching at the metaphysical walls and causing a low, vibrating growl in my chest. He didn’t care about the contract and he didn’t give a damn about the money or the strategic necessity of a fake marriage.

He only cared that our Mate was in a car with another male, even if that male was River, and she was moving toward us.

Safe, I told him, forcing my breathing to remain even. River is bringing her home. She’s safe.

Need to touch, Titus snapped back. Need to scent. Too far away.

I ignored him, turning away from the window to check my watch for the tenth time is as many minutes. River was efficient. They should have been here five minutes ago. Had she bolted? Had she realized that the money wasn’t worth the danger of being in my orbit?

The intercom on my desk buzzed, shattering the moment and snapping me out of my thoughts.

I hit the button instantly. “River?”

“Not quite,” my secretary’s voice came through, sounding strained. “Mr. DeLuca, I’m so sorry to interrupt, but…Mr. Thorne is here. He insists on seeing you. He says it’s urgent pack business regarding the shipping lanes.”

I froze. A cold, deadly calm settled over me, silencing Titus’s whining.

Marcus Thorne.

He was one of the oldest members of the Council of Elders, a man who had survived four different Alpha reigns by being as slippery as an eel and twice as venomous. He was also Delilah’s father.

“Send him in.”

I barely had time to button my suit jacket before the double doors swung open and Marcus strode in like he owned the place. He was a man in his sixties who wore his age like armor - silver hair slicked back, a suit that cost more than most houses, and eyes that were cold, calculating chips of flint.

He smelled of expensive cigars, old parchment, and the syrupy, metallic scent of ambition.

“Alexander,” Thorne greeted, his voice smooth and oily. He didn’t bow. He barely nodded. A subtle insult that didn’t go unnoticed. “I trust I’m not interrupting anything vital? You’re usually buried in acquisitions at this hour.”

“Marcus.” I kept my reply short and to the point, staying behind my desk to maintain the barrier of power, since he was clearly in a mood to be reminded who was in charge. “To what do I owe the pleasure? My secretary mentioned shipping lanes.”

“Ah, yes.” He sat in the leather chair opposite me without being invited. He crossed his legs, dusting an imaginary speck of lint from his trousers. “There have been whispers. Rumors of the Triad encroaching on the Jersey docks. I wanted to ensure you were…handling it.”

“The Triad knows their boundaries,” I said flatly. “Elijah Zhang and I have an understanding. If that’s all you came for, you can tell the Council that my territory remains secure.”

Thorne smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Of course. You’ve always been efficient, Alexander. Ruthless, even. It’s why we tolerated your…unconventional rise to power.”

He paused, letting the silence stretch. I knew he was fishing, circling the bait.

“However,” he continued, inspecting his manicured fingernails, “efficiency isn’t everything. Stability is key. Especially with the Blood Moon approaching.”

Here it f*****g comes.

“I’m aware of the calendar, Marcus.”

“Are you?” He looked up, his gaze sharpening into a predator’s stare. “Because my daughter came home the other night in quite a state. She was distraught and she mentioned something about a woman. A ‘fiancée’, I believe she said.”

I leaned back in my chair, keeping my expression bored. “Delilah has always been prone to dramatics. But in this case, she heard correctly.”

Thorne lett out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Come now, Alexander. We both know that’s impossible. You haven’t courted anyone. You haven’t presented a female to the Pack. And suddenly, weeks before the deadline, you have a fiancée? It smells like…desperation.”

“It smells like fate,” my voice came out stern and steady. “I met her. I claimed her. The details are none of your concern.”

“It becomes my concern when the fate of the East Coast Pack is at stake,” he snapped, the veneer of politeness cracking. “Delilah said she smelled human. Tell me, Alpha, is it true? Do you intend to seat a fragile, breakable human on the Luna’s throne? A woman who will die of old age before you even have gray hair?”

Titus snarled in my head, a sound like tearing metal. KILL HIM. She is eternal. She is ours. Rip his throat out.

“She is my choice,” I said and let my voice drop to a lethal whisper that vibrated through the room. “And if the Council has a problem with who I choose to warm my bed and wear my crown, they can come tell me themselves. I suggest they bring an army.”

His eyes narrowed. He was measuring me, calculating the odds. He opened his mouth to speak, likely to threaten me with the Ancient Laws, when the elevator doors at the far end of the office chimed.

Marcus and I, both, turned at the same time.

River stepped out first, his massive frame blocking the view. He scanned the room, saw Thorne, and stiffened, his hand drifting toward his holster.

Then, he stepped aside, allowing Lilian to walk in, and for a second, my heart stopped.

She was wearing the same worn-out jeans and that thin coat that enraged my protective instincts, carrying a cardboard box filled with books. Her hair were slightly windswept, and her cheeks flushed pink from the cold or the nerves. She looked small, out of place, and utterly terrified.

And she was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

The scent of moonflowers and rain hit me like a physical blow, washing away the tench of Thorne’s cigar.

MATE! Titus roared as he slammed against my ribs with enough force to make me sway. SHE IS HERE. GO TO HER. CLAIM.

Lilian froze when she saw us and her blue eyes darted from me to Thorne, sensing the tension in the room immediately.

“Am I…interrupting?” she asked, her voice breathless.

Thorne stood up slowly, turning to face her. He looked her up and down with a sneer of undisguised disgust as he analyzed her, dissecting her poverty, her humanity, her weakness.

“So,” he drawled, “this is the girl.” He took a step in her direction. “Tell me, child. How much did he pay you?”

Lilian blinked, clutching her box of books tighter, “Excuse me?”

“Don’t play coy,” Thorne spat, advancing on her. “You reek of humanity and cheap soap. You are no Luna. You are a wh*re he picked up to-”

ENOUGH!

I didn’t think. I moved.

I was across the room in a blur of motion, moving faster than any human eye could track. I stepped between Thorne and Lilian, my chest heaving as a low, menacing growl ripped from my throat and shook the glass windows.

“One more word,” I promised, staring down at the Elder with eyes that I knew were glowing solid gold. “One more insult, Marcus, and I will forget that you are an Elder. I will tear your tongue out of your mouth right here in this room.”

The room went deathly silent.

Thorne paled and took a stumbling step back in fear. Good. He had forgotten, perhaps, why I was King. He had forgotten the violence that lived just beneath my bespoke suit.

Behind me, I felt Lilian’s heat and I could hear her heart racing like a hummingbird’s wings.

“Alexander?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

Fighting for control, I took a deep breath, forcing air into my lungs. I couldn’t kill him. Not yet. It would start a war before I was ready.

I turned my back on Thorne, a sign that I dismissed him as a threat, and faced Lilian.

She looked up at me, craning her neck as far as it would go to make eye contact, and I took note of her wide, yet still beautiful eyes. She had heard the growl. She’d seen the speed. But, instead of running, she was looking at me with confusion…and that strange, magnetic pull, that felt like something more that the mate bond.

“You’re late,” I said softly, my voice rough with the beast’s need.

“T-traffic,” she managed to say. “And River stopped to…buy a pretzel.”

A smile almost took over on my lips. Almost.

I looked over my shoulder at Thorne, who was watching with narrowed eyes, his suspicion clear as day. He didn’t believe it. He thought this was a charade. He needed proof.

If he left here thinking Lilian was just a paid actress, he would have her killed by sunset just to spite me. He needed to believe she was mine. He needed to believe I was obsessed with her.

Which wasn’t hard. I was godsdamned obsessed with her.

“River,” I commanded without looking away from Lilian. “Take her box.”

River moved in an instant, gently taking the cardboard box from Lilian’s hands. She let it go, crossing her arms in front of her body.

“Lilian,” I murmured and stepped into her personal space.

“What’s going on?” she hissed under her breath, glancing at Thorne. “Who is the old guy giving me the evil eye?”

“An audience,” my whisper fanned across her face, my gaze dropping to her lips. They were parted, pink, and inviting. “Play along.”

“Play along with wh-”

I didn’t let her finish. I couldn’t.

My hands came up to cup her face. Her skin was soft, so impossibly soft, and the moment my palms made contact, the static snap of the Bond flared between us, louder this time, a crack of thunder in my veins.

Her breath hitched, her pupils blew wide.

“Forgive me,” I whispered.

And then I devoured her.

It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It wasn’t polite. It was a f**king collision.

I slanted my mouth over hers, and the explosion was instantaneous. Heat, pure and whit-hot, flooded my system, scorching away my logic, my restraint, my plans.

YES! Titus howled in ecstasy. TASTE HER! CONSUME HER!

A groan left me, a guttural sound that vibrated against her lips, and I deepened the kiss. I didn’t ask for permission. I took it. My tongue swept into her mouth, tasting the sweetness of her, the hint of coffee, the intoxicating flavor of Mate.

Lilian gasped, her hands flying up to grasp the lapels of my jacket to keep from falling.

I expected her to push me away, to fight.

She didn’t. Instead, she melted.

The magic of our Bond arced between our bodies, welding us together. I felt her small body shudder, and then she was pressing back, her tongue shyly meeting mine.

That small action snapped the last of my control.

I growled again, abandoning all pretense of a ‘performance’, as I slid one hand into her hair, gripping the back of her head to angle her better, while my other arm wrapped around her waist like a vice, crushing her flush against my hard body. I needed her closer. I needed to merge with her.

Mine, Titus chanted, delirious with the contact. Bite her. Mark her. Let the old dog smell our claim on her skin.

My hips ground against her, letting her feel the undeniable ridge of my arousal. I was like a man starving and she was the only sustenance in the world. I kissed her until we were both gasping, until the air in the room grew heavy and thick with the scent of aroused Alpha and yielding Mate.

I wanted to lift her onto the desk. I wanted to tear that cheap coat off her and sink my teeth into the soft curve of her neck until she screamed my name.

For a moment, I forgot about Thorne. I forgot the office. I forgot the contract. There was only fire. There was only her.

“Ahem.”

The sound of someone clearing their throat was sharp, cutting through the haze of last like a knife.

I broke the kiss, but I couldn’t let her go. I physically couldn’t, so I kept my arm clamped around her waist and buried my face in the crook of her neck for a second to inhale her scent, trying to calm the roaring beast in my blood.

Lilian was panting, her chest heaving against mine. Her lips were swollen, red, and slick, and her eyes were glazed over, staring up at me with a look of utter, beautiful ruin.

I slowly lifted my head and turned to glare at Thorne, my eyes burning with my Alpha power, daring him to make one wrong move.

The Elder looked…shook. The disgust was gone, replaced by genuine alarm. He’d seen the sparks. He’s felt the power rolling off me in waves. He knew you could fake a smile, fake a date, but you couldn’t fake the kind of hunger that looked like it wanted to swallow a person whole.

“Well,” he said, his voice tight. He cleared his throat, adjusting his tie nervously. “I see…I see you’ve made your choice.”

“I have,” I rasped, sounding wrecked. “Now get out of my office, Marcus. Before I decide to finish what I started.”

He nodded stiffly and with one last, lingering look at Lilian, he turned on his heel, marching out of the double doors.

The heavy click of the latch echoed in the silence and, for a moment, nobody moved.

Then, Lilian blinked. The daze began to fade from her eyes, replaced by a sharp, dawning realization of what had just happened.

She shoved herself away from me, stumbling back a step. Her hand moved up to touch her ravaged lips, her eyes brimming with shock and accusation.

“You…” she stammered, her voice breathless. “You just…”

“I told you.” I leaned back against my desk because my legs felt like water. “It’s a performance, Lilian. He needed to be convinced.”

“A performance?” she shrieked. “You practically swallowed my soul! That wasn’t a performance, that was…that was carnivorous! You used tongue! Lot’s of it!”

My voice came out clipped and strained, as I fought to remain calm and not f*ck her over the desk like I really wanted. “It was necessary. That man is dangerous. If he thought for a second you were just an employee, you’d be dead by morning. He needed to believe I’m obsessed with you.”

“Well, congratulations! I think you convinced him! You certainly confused the hell out of me!”

She turned away, pacing a small circle and looking flustered and angry. But I saw the way her hand lingered near her mouth. I smelled the change in her scent - the arousal was still there, spiked beneath the anger, sweet and heavy.

She felt it too. She just didn’t know what to call it.

“River,” I said, harsher than intended.

River was standing by the elevator, staring studiously at a potted fern. “Yes, Boss?”

“Take her bag down to the car. We’re leaving.”

“On it.” He vanished into the elevator with impressive speed, clearly wanting to escape the pheromone-heavy air of the office.

I looked back at Lilian. She was glaring at me, her eyes blazing. “Don’t ever do that again without asking,” she warned and pointed a shaking finger at me.

“I can’t promise that.” I took a step closer to her and she held her ground, though her breath hitched.

“You’re my fiancée now, Lilian.” I tucked a stray strand of her behind her ear. The magic sparked again, a tiny zap against my knuckles that made Titus purr in satisfaction. “And if you think that was intense…you have no idea what you’ve signed up for.”

Lilian snapped again, but her voice lacked its usual bite. “I’m sure ‘french kissing in front of geriatric villains’ isn’t listed under duties.”

“It’s implied,” I mumbled. “Under ‘Duties of the Luna.’”

I placed a hand on the small of her back, ignoring the jolt of electricity, and guided her toward the elevator.

I’d survived one encounter with Thorne. I’d secured the contract.

But as the taste of her lingered on my tongue, addictive and sweet, I realized the hardest part wasn’t going to be fooling the Council.

It was going to be keeping my hands, and my teeth, off my own wife for the next six months.