"You know, Ivy. I heard that outdoor s*x can be extra stimulating. Do you want to try something new?" Sebastian smirked.
He pulled off his red T-shirt, tossing it carelessly to the floor. I took in the lean muscles of his body and wondered how someone could be this handsome and not be naked all the time. But then again, I was glad that no one else saw him as I did. His body was marred with overlapping pink marks from my dull nails and the hickeys he encouraged me to leave, as though secretly claiming what was mine.
"Sebastian, do you think we can just cuddle this time?" Biting my lip, I lowered my head.
He paused his movements, his fingers gripping the edge of his pants, about to unbutton them. I knew he would be confused by my sudden desire not to have s*x right now.
"Why? Are you on your monthly cycle?" he asked, as he continued to unbutton his denim pants, dropping them to his ankles.
"No, it's not that." I rushed out. Today, several of his friends had come camping together, and we were still pretending to be friends. I whispered shyly, "The others will hear us."
The other reason was that I was pregnant with his pup.
"I'll be gentle and promise not to make a sound. Besides, our tent is far enough away from the others; they won't hear," Sebastian's fingertips combed through my soft, long hair, pressing his forehead to mine, his voice husky, "Ivy, please?"
Like always, I caved.
Quickly, the tent began to shake. The sounds of our slick skin slapping against one another, the scent of our fluids mingling in the air.
The black bunny bodysuit Sebastian asked me to wear was torn on the floor. Sebastian loved me in a prey costume the most.
An hour later, Sebastian, who had quickly wiped himself down and redressed, kissed my forehead, "I'm going out for a cigarette. Don't leave the tent. Later, I'll take you to the RV to shower, okay?"
I felt both touched and shy. He was always so attentive, and he always helped take care of me afterward.
A few minutes after Sebastian left, I received a friend request from an unknown person.
The request content was: ‘Ivy, I have something important to tell you.’
The other person knew my name, so I accepted the request out of curiosity.
In the next second, the unknown texter sent a photo, which was Sebastian's marriage certificate! It contained the official seal of the Whispering Willow’s pack at the bottom. That seal was designed to confirm the legitimacy of the pack documents.
The bride’s photo and information were blacked out, but the date was a month and a half ago!
My family, the Alpha family of the River’s Run pack, had strict rules against me dating. I was the only wolfless member of the family, always referred to as the other daughter since birth, but I fell in love with Sebastian.
My sister, Danielle, hated Sebastian more than anyone I had ever met. She had taken a minor territory dispute ages ago between our father, Alpha Roger Hillbrook and Sebastian's father, Alpha David McGregor, and weaponized it to undermine them during Alpha Summit meetings as an example of distrust, and Sebastian has made it a point in response to undercut Danielle and our pack in a great deal of pack projects with prospective alliances.
They'd become rivals seemingly overnight. Because of this rivalry, I couldn't tell my family that my boyfriend, whom I talked incessantly about, was Sebastian.
However, to pull my hand and force me to reveal the mystery, my family gave me an ultimatum just under two months ago: if I didn't bring my boyfriend home to meet them and gain approval, then they would force me into an arranged marriage.
When I told Sebastian, he started preparing for our engagement party. He refused to lose me over pettiness.
He also said that he would reconcile with Danielle and promised to accompany me to my pack and propose in person.
Despite seeing this photo, I refused to believe that Sebastian would marry someone else that same day he made all these promises to me!
I needed answers, so I pushed myself up from the sleeping mat and got dressed.
When I stepped outside, it was already dark, but I could see a few red cigarette butts flickering beside the RV, so I walked over.
The closer I got to the gathered group, the clearer Sebastian’s friends' conversation became.
"I called it. He was in there for exactly an hour! Is it true that Sebastian has been sleeping with her for two years? Could it be that he's fallen in love with her?"
“Hell no! She begged to have a pup with Sebastian, so he reversed his vasectomy. With Sebastian's stamina, she's bound to be pregnant by now. Sebastian is determined to win, so he'll definitely get his wish. Hopefully, when she gets pregnant with his bastard pup, she miscarries; it'd break the River's Run powerful pack image.”
All the blood in my body froze! Miscarry?
My hand instinctively went to my slightly swollen belly. I knew my parents wouldn't agree to us being together, but I figured with a pup from our love, they would look past pack drama and see a chance to reconcile.
Their laughter spiked again.
"Don’t worry so much, Sebastian only sees her as prey. Sebastian already has a wife. I'm looking forward to the mock engagement party he's planning. After Sebastian dumps her, I also want to give her a try."
"I'm excited to see the costumes he makes her wear in the videos. Sebastian has promised to show us all of them once he has edited them. This is the best way to get back to Danielle! Danielle is too ungrateful. Sebastian offered her love, but she rejected him coldly. Once Danielle sees her naive little sister being so easily manipulated by Sebastian, she'll learn her lesson!"
My face turned pale, my fists instinctively clenched, causing my nails to almost dig into the soft flesh of my palms.
I thought no one knew about our relationship. I didn't want to believe the pack marriage certificate, but I heard his friends talk openly. His friends already knew about his wife, making me the other woman, but also a punchline to them all.
And he made videos? Were all the cosplay suggestions intended to mock me?
I have travelled with Sebastian a lot. To satisfy him, under his guidance, I had worn hundreds of different kinds of provocative costumes.
I thought it was our little secret. It turned out... I was just a big joke!
The laughter continued, but I couldn't listen anymore. My throat burned with the tears I swallowed back, and I could barely stand. The man I loved so deeply only saw me as a tool for revenge.
He had wanted Danielle.
I was so stupid, thinking that he would see me. No one ever saw me as anything more than the other daughter.
I went back to the tent in a daze and turned off all the lights inside. I had seen online that some hotels install cameras to make money, and had paid attention to the inspection methods, using a mobile phone's flashlight for reflection testing.
I took out my phone, turned on the flashlight, and scanned the tent. There were no metal decorations or glass products in the tent, so I quickly found the camera.
Every cell in my body was frozen in disbelief.
He really did take videos, and the camera was installed on the string of the fairy lights!
Every time we were together, he would turn on the string lights. I thought it was a romantic gesture, but it was ammunition for him. Not romance.
My body shook with rage and pain. How could someone do this to an innocent human being?
Thinking of that marriage certificate and our engagement party coming up, my heart felt like it had been ripped away.
My body tensed at the familiar sound of footsteps coming towards the tent.
My eyes narrowed as I swallowed back the tears that were threatening to unleash. I had to pull myself together. Otherwise, if all this were made public, not only would I be ruined, but my pack would also suffer public embarrassment.
I couldn't risk his suspicions; I had to play oblivious…
For now.