Lethal Temptation

05 I Don’t Like You Either 1

Mara

“Mara!” my mother called from downstairs.

Since the day they dropped the bomb about the arrangement, I’d barely left my room. What was the point?

Everyone probably knew by now. The whole pack, maybe even the entire damn country. Mara Thornridge, gifted to Lucian Nighthorn like a prized lamb to the family wolf.

And just like that, the threats had started rolling in—anonymous messages from a number I didn’t need to trace.

I knew exactly who it was. Lucian’s little banshee. The same girl who’d parked in my driveway and tried to claw my face off with words she probably rehearsed in front of a mirror.

None of her threats got to me. Not one. If she ever followed through on a single one of them, I might actually respect her. But I knew the truth—lashing out at me was easier than facing Lucian or confronting Alpha Vander. I was the easier target. The quiet one.

The one who hadn’t asked for any of this.

I got out of bed wearing the same old pajamas I’d worn for two days. It was already afternoon. I didn’t care.

My hair was a mess, my eyes were swollen from days of crying, but the tears had stopped. I wasn’t sad anymore. Just empty. Numb. And numbness? It was better. Numbness didn’t ask questions or demand hope.

Darian and I still talked every night. His voice was soft, his words kind, and I hated every second of it. He meant well. He was trying. But I didn’t want kindness from him.

Not anymore. I wanted what I could never have. Every call was another reminder that I'd never be more than his best friend.

So no, the support wasn’t helping. Not even a little.

I shuffled downstairs, preparing to grab something quick and head back to my quiet cave of self-pity. But I froze at the bottom step.

Alpha Vander Nighthorn and Lucian were in my living room.

Just sitting there. Like this was normal. Like they belonged.

I felt my parents' disappointment immediately. The way they looked at my unwashed hair and oversized sleep shirt said it all. But maybe, just maybe, the Alpha would take one look at me and change his mind.

Maybe I looked pathetic enough to kill this deal.

I stepped into the room, lifting my chin, even though my body screamed to turn and run.

“Good afternoon, Alpha. Mr. Nighthorn,” I said evenly, voice dry but polite.

Alpha Vander sat upright on the couch, perfectly composed. For a man in his early fifties, he looked ten years younger.

Thick dark hair, sharp brown eyes, a well-groomed beard. He radiated power and vanity, and somehow it worked.

No wonder women in the pack still swooned over him. He had that whole silver fox, age-like-wine aesthetic locked down.

And Lucian?

He looked like sin incarnate.

Dark hair, frost-blue eyes that could pierce through bone, and a jawline that might have been carved from stone.

His shirt clung to his body like it didn’t want to let go—tattoos peeked from under his sleeves, tracing the edges of muscle sculpted to perfection.

He wasn’t bulky, not like some of the other warriors. He was lean, cut, deadly. His skin was sun-kissed and flawless, his stare unreadable and cold. Everything about him screamed danger, power, trouble.

Everything about him made my skin crawl.

And yet… he was undeniably beautiful.

If I hadn’t known what was behind that face, I might have stared. Might have been flattered. But now? All I saw was the cage I was about to be locked inside.

And he hadn’t even bothered to look at me yet.

I swallowed hard when I saw him.

It had been a while since I last saw Lucian Nighthorn in person, and I hated myself for even noticing how he looked. His presence was magnetic—he didn’t just walk into a room, he took it. He looked like something out of legend: all dark edges, piercing frost-blue eyes, and sculpted features that belonged on a statue. But no matter how stunning the exterior, it couldn’t mask the ugliness I knew sat underneath.

Looks didn’t make a man worth loving.

And I didn’t want this union. But what I wanted didn’t matter.

“Mara,” Alpha Vander said, dragging my attention away from his son. I stood upright and gave him the proper Gamma salute. My posture stiff, my insides screaming.

“Congratulations on your future position as Gamma. Mooncrest and Darian are blessed to have you in the ranks.”

“Thank you, Alpha,” I replied, my voice steady.

“Lucian,” he said, turning to his son, “get to know your mate. Take a walk while I speak with the Thornridges about the event.”

Lucian didn’t respond. He just stood and walked outside, offering no glance, no gesture, no courtesy. The kind of silence that dared you to follow—and warned you not to speak.

I didn’t want to go with him. He hadn’t asked. But I wasn’t foolish enough to disobey an Alpha’s command.

I followed him out.

He was sitting on the patio, staring down the street like the world bored him.

I didn’t sit.

“Don’t get any ideas, little girl,” he said finally, his voice deep, sharp, arrogant.

“This arrangement is a joke. An insult. I’ll never love you. You’ll never be my true mate. Let’s get that straight before the wedding so you don’t embarrass yourself hoping for more.”

I cleared my throat, keeping my voice even.

“Understood, Mr. Nighthorn. I’m not looking forward to the wedding either. If I had a choice, I’d have turned it down, but your father left me and my family with two options—accept or go rogue. I expect nothing from you. And I will give you nothing in return.”

He finally turned to look at me, eyebrows raised.

“You really have no pride, do you?” he said. “You think this is some noble sacrifice? My father’s paying your family a fortune for this. You and your parents—just more middle-class shovel-holders, ready to dig for gold.”

I inhaled sharply. My hand twitched. Don’t hit him, I told myself. Not yet.

His smirk widened.

“Feisty,” he said. “I like that. Quick-tempered too. I’m honestly surprised you made it as Gamma. What did you do? Sleep your way there? Must’ve been quite the climb—though Darian doesn’t fancy you, so maybe you figured you’d settle for the older brother. At least then you get the name, the money, the power. That’s what this is about, right? Being a Nighthorn?”

He waited for me to crumble.

I didn’t.

Instead, I leaned in, voice low and laced with venom.

“At least I earned my place in this pack. I’m Gamma because I bled for it, not because I was born into a name. You? You’ll always be the brother of the Alpha. Nothing more.”

That hit him.

His jaw tightened. His hand lifted halfway, shaking—just a breath away from slapping me. His eyes burned, not with fury alone, but with something deeper. Shame. Insecurity.



I flinched, but only slightly.