Lethal Temptation

03 An Unfortunate News

Mara

“This must be a joke,” I whispered, barely recognizing the sound of my own voice. My eyes burned, and the tears wouldn’t stop. My mother shook her head slowly, her face soaked with grief.

“It’s not a joke,” she said, broken.

I choked on a sob. “Lucian? Lucian?! He’s a monster. A cruel, vicious bastard. He lies, cheats, bullies anyone weaker than him—and he killed someone, an innocent person. And now you want me to what? Play house with the devil?”

I knew they didn’t have a choice. I knew it wasn’t really their fault. But I needed someone to blame, and they were standing right in front of me, and I was drowning.

“We had no say,” my father said, voice low and defeated. “They said you’re the strongest female of your generation. They believe you’ll match him. Tame him.”

“Enough!” I snapped, standing up so fast the room spun. “You can’t tame people, Dad. You don’t ‘fix’ someone like Lucian. He’s not broken. He’s rotten. He was born that way.”

My breath came fast, too fast. My chest felt tight like I was suffocating.

“I’m supposed to be Darian’s Gamma! That job—our futures—they’re built on trust, on teamwork. How am I supposed to do that while being shackled to a psychopath?”

They had no answers. Just silence. My mother’s silent weeping. My father’s helpless stare.

“I’m done. I’m leaving. I don’t want the Gamma position. They can keep it—and let them gift someone else to that monster.”

I turned, storming toward the stairs. I didn’t know where I’d go, but anywhere was better than here. Anywhere but thislife.

“You can’t leave, Mara,” my father called after me, voice desperate. “If you refuse the bond, Alpha Nighthorn will cast us out. We’ll become rogues. Once the mark of Mooncrest fades, we’ll lose everything—our protection, our humanity. You know what happens to rogues. You’ll turn feral. We all will. They rule this entire country, Mara. There’s no where for you to go,”

I stopped in my tracks.

Feral. Cast out. Doomed.

I turned slowly and looked at my mother. Her shoulders were trembling. She couldn’t even look me in the eyes.

“Do you know what you’re asking me to do?” I said, my voice shaking with fury and despair. “You’re asking me to throw my life away. You’re asking me to bind myself to someone who might kill me in my sleep.”

She nodded through her tears. “I’m sorry.”

Lucian wasn’t just cruel—he was dangerous. Even Alpha Vander didn’t trust him to lead, which was why Darian had been groomed from day one to take over.

Darian, with his calm and strength and sense of duty. Meanwhile, his older brother was out there, spiraling, and now they wanted me to steady him.

They wouldn’t have picked me if I wasn’t so perfect—so well-behaved, so disciplined, so obsessed with Darian that I molded myself into the model warrior.

Maybe if I’d been reckless, mean, or a bitter b***h, they wouldn’t have even considered me.

But no. I had played the part. And now, this was my reward: unrequited love, a forced marriage, a future I couldn’t escape.

I hated my life in that moment.

I was about to turn away again when the doorbell rang.

We all froze.

My mother rose to answer it, and the scent hit me before she opened the door—him. Darian.

He stepped inside, and I almost didn’t recognize him. His eyes were red, brimming with tears. His hands trembled. He looked like someone had carved a hole into his chest and left it gaping.

“Mara,” he said softly, his voice cracked and hoarse.

He opened his arms.

He didn’t need to say anything else.

I walked into him, into the arms I had longed for more than I ever admitted, and he held me—tight, like he was the one about to fall apart.

My parents quietly stepped away, leaving us in the silence of shared pain.

And I broke.

I cried, and this time, it wasn’t quiet. It wasn’t polite. It was everything I had been holding in—fear, betrayal, grief, hopelessness—all pouring out while he held me.

And still, I knew… even this wouldn’t change anything.

“I’m sorry, Mara,” Darian whispered against my hair, his voice thick with something heavier than guilt. “I didn’t know they would do this. I didn’t know he would do this.”

And I broke again.

“I don’t want to be with Lucian,” I cried, clutching his shirt like it was the only thing anchoring me. “I hate him, Darian. I can’t do this. Please… help me.”

His arms tightened around me like he wanted to, like he wished he could fix it all with the way he held me—but he didn’t answer right away. When he did, it was barely above a whisper.

“I’m not Alpha yet, Mara. My key mark isn’t active yet. I don’t have the power to stop this.”

And that—that—hurt more than I expected. Not because he admitted he was powerless but because of the way his voice cracked. There was grief in it. Regret. Something deeper than duty.

“I thought…” he started, then paused. “I thought we had time. I thought there’d be more time.”

I pulled back just enough to look at him. “Time for what?”

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Mara. I didn’t know.”

I stared at him, trying to piece together what he meant. Time for what? Was he finally saying what I’d always hoped he felt?

But now wasn’t the time. Not with everything crashing around us.

The hug faded. Slowly. Reluctantly. We stood there, inches apart, staring into each other’s tear-streaked faces, both too full of words we couldn’t say.

“Listen to me,” Darian said, his voice low but firm. “I will always be there for you. I won’t let him hurt you, Mara. I swear it. If you ever feel unsafe, if he crosses a line—call me. I don’t care what I’m doing. I’ll come. I will come. You are not alone in this.”

I blinked back another wave of tears. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to thank someone for a promise that shouldn’t have to exist.

“I wish I’d never trained to be your Beta,” I muttered, my voice barely a breath. “If I’d just taken medical classes instead… Alpha Vander wouldn’t have noticed me. He wouldn’t have picked me for his deranged son.”

I looked at Darian again. My heart swelled painfully, and I opened my mouth. “Darian…”

He met my eyes, hope flickering there. “What is it, Mara?”

I hesitated. I wanted to say it. Gods, I wanted to scream it—I love you. I’ve always loved you.

But I didn’t.

Because now he wasn’t just the boy I trained beside. He was about to become my brother-in-law. And whatever chance there might have been, it had died the moment his father bound my future to Lucian’s.

“Nothing,” I said instead. “Nothing but fear.”

He pulled me back into his arms without hesitation. I buried my face in his chest and breathed in his scent one last time like it might be enough to last me forever.

I didn’t dare ask for more. I didn’t dare reach for what I truly wanted. Not now. Not when I was about to be forced into the hands of someone I despised. Not when Darian had no power to save me.

He held me tight, as if letting go would break him, too. Then he kissed the top of my head—soft, lingering—and pulled away.

“We’ll still be best friends,” he said gently. “I don’t care what the pack says. You’re still my best friend, Mara. No one’s replacing you.”

And there it was. The final nail.

Best friend.

The words were supposed to be comforting, but they landed like a blade in my chest. His father thought that same friendship was the key to taming Lucian—like I was a tool, a bridge, a sacrificial peace offering.

I didn’t want to be Darian’s best friend. I wanted to be his everything. His Luna. His love. His home.

But instead, I got Lucian.

Unwanted. Unchosen. Trapped.

Maybe being feral wouldn’t be so bad. At least then I’d be free. I could run, disappear, let the wilderness swallow me whole. Anything would be better than this slow suffocation.

I wanted to leave.

I needed to leave.