The Indecent Proposal

Ryder ignored Sienna's vicious snapping in the corridor. Instead, his fingers dug painfully into Aria's bruised arm as he violently shoved her through the heavy oak door of the empty guest room. The moment she stumbled past the threshold, he kicked the door shut and slammed her back against the hard wall. The sudden impact knocked the breath from her lungs, pain flaring across her spine, but it was instantly swallowed by the treacherous spark of their fated mate bond.

The second his massive body pressed against hers, an electric jolt shot through her veins. He raised a large, calloused hand, his fingers trailing slowly down her pale cheek and lingering over the erratic pulse point at her neck. Aria's treacherous body reacted on pure instinct. A hot shiver raced down her spine, pooling heavy and warm in her lower belly. The physical urge to submit to her mate was agonizingly strong, pulling at every fiber of her being.

But her mind fought back with fierce resistance. This was wrong. She could not give in to a man who had publicly rejected her just hours ago. Biting down hard on her lower lip to stop a pathetic whimper, Aria turned her face away from him, disgusted by her own biological response.

Ryder’s eyes darkened with instant annoyance. He brought his hand up and pinched her chin in a tight, bruising grip, forcing her head back so she had to look directly into his predatory gaze. He locked her in place, caging her small frame with both of his arms. Moving with aggressive dominance, he forcefully wedged his muscular thigh right between her legs, pressing the hard muscle flush against her crotch to establish his control. He leaned his heavy frame over her, his hot breath brushing against her ear. "Aria, listen to me," he whispered.

Standing rigidly in the doorway, Sienna and Chloe watched the highly intimate display unfold.

"Ryder!" Sienna screamed, her voice cracking with tearful jealousy. "What the hell are you doing? Stop it!" Her eyes were bloodshot, her hands clutching her chest as if her heart were physically breaking in two. The sight of Ryder pressing his thigh between Aria's legs was tearing her apart. She wanted to lunge forward and violently wrench Aria away from him. How could he do this to her just because the Moon Goddess had cursed them with a mate bond?

"She's right, Ryder. This isn't right," Chloe chimed in, stepping up beside Sienna. Though her words sounded supportive, Chloe's heart burned with a toxic, consuming envy. She stared at Ryder's shifting muscles and wished with every fiber of her being that she was the one pinned against that wall. She wanted to feel his thigh between her own legs. She lusted after the future Alpha madly, but knowing she had no real claim, she chose to side with Sienna just to belittle her moron of an older sister.

Aria's breath hitched as an undeniable heat traveled all the way up her body. She clenched her thighs together, trying to fight the blast of raw desire, but the friction against Ryder's leg only made it worse. She hated him. She genuinely wanted to push his heavy body away and run. But when she caught a glimpse of Sienna's devastated face, a vindictive thought crossed her mind. Sienna had gleefully stolen her fated mate, parading him around to humiliate her.

Hoping to punish Sienna for all the torment, Aria stopped fighting. She deliberately leaned into Ryder's touch. She arched her back, pressing her chest flush against his hard torso, letting the mate bond sing between them.

Ryder let out a deep, guttural growl of sheer approval, his hands tightening on her waist.

Sienna lost her mind. "Ryder!" she shrieked, lunging forward in hysterics. Tears streaming down her face, she grabbed a fistful of Ryder's collar, desperately trying to yank him away from Aria.

Ryder snapped his head around, his eyes flashing feral. He peeled back his lips, baring his elongated, sharp fangs directly in Sienna's face. "Stay back!" he growled, the vicious Alpha command forcing a sobbing Sienna to stumble backward in terror.

Ignoring his crying chosen mate, Ryder turned his intense, desperate gaze back to Aria. He caged her in tighter, pinning her firmly against the wall. "Before you leave for the Lycan King," he murmured, his voice thick with a dark promise, "I have a proposition for you."

In the background, Chloe stepped closer to a weeping Sienna, gently stroking her back. "She is a wretched bitch," Chloe whispered poisonously into Sienna's ear, though her eyes never left Ryder.

For a fleeting second, Aria felt a brief spark of satisfaction at Sienna's breakdown, but it was immediately crushed by the sharp, biting reality of Ryder's betrayal. She didn't want his proposition. She just wanted him to take the mate he had publicly marked and get out of her sight.

"If you agree to be my secret mistress," Ryder stated smoothly, arrogance dripping from every word, "I will ask my father to stop you from being sent to Shadowwood."

Aria's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "What?" she rasped.

Sienna’s eyes bulged out in utter horror. Hearing the man she loved openly ask another woman to be his hidden side-piece was too much to bear. Letting out a choked sob, she covered her mouth with her hands and fled the guest room in tears, her footsteps echoing wildly down the hall.

Chloe stood frozen in the doorway, seething with a fresh wave of blinding jealousy. She would have happily stepped into the shoes of Ryder's secret mistress in a heartbeat.

Misinterpreting Aria's shocked silence, Ryder smirked, thinking she actually liked the humiliating offer. "Yes," he pressed, leaning closer. "I can easily convince my father to cancel the treaty documents with the Lycan King. I'll keep you here in the pack for myself, and Zane can go find some other bride to ruin."

A boiling heat of pure rage crept up Aria's throat. She felt so deeply humiliated, so utterly disgusted that her own fated mate viewed her as nothing more than a convenient, hidden toy. The absolute disrespect dealt a crushing blow to whatever was left of her pride. He didn't want to claim her, he didn't want to protect her—he just wanted to use her body in the shadows.

Mustering every single ounce of strength left in her frail body, Aria slammed both of her hands flat against his chest and violently shoved him away.

"No!" she shouted, her voice trembling with intense fury as tears threatened to burn behind her eyes. "I will never be your mistress!"

Ryder’s expression morphed instantly. His eyes darkened with pitch-black rage at the blatant rejection. He lunged forward, grabbing a thick handful of her red hair and violently yanking her head back. Aria cried out in shock, her scalp burning with sharp pain.

"Don't test me," he whispered dangerously, his face inches from hers. "You know that I can easily force you to submit to me."

"Leave me alone!" Aria whimpered, desperately trying to pry his crushing fingers out of her hair.

"Ryder!"

Alpha Roman’s furious snarl echoed through the room like thunder, startling them both. The Alpha stormed through the doorway, radiating lethal fury. He grabbed Ryder by the shoulder and violently pulled him away from Aria.

"Are you fucking mad?" Roman spat, his face turning a dangerous shade of red as he glared at his son. "If Zane discovers what you are doing, the Lycan King will slaughter our entire pack, and he will start with you! You are playing with our lives! Just let me deal with this problem in peace!"

Chest heaving with unresolved anger, Ryder threw one last, venomous glare at Aria. Without another word, he turned on his heel and stomped out of the room in a massive huff.

Alpha Roman instantly turned his cold attention to Aria. "You will remain in this room until evening. Do not even think about stepping out." He then slowly turned a lethal, threatening glare on Chloe. "And you. If she gets anywhere near Ryder again, I will personally skin you alive. Do you understand?"

Chloe started shaking uncontrollably in fear, all her previous jealousy evaporating under the Alpha's terrifying threat. "I will make sure she stays right here, Alpha!" she hastily promised, bowing her head.

Without another glance, Roman spun around and exited the room, the heavy door slamming shut behind him.

The moment the lock clicked, Aria’s emotional dam completely shattered. She was so emotionally strung out and physically exhausted that she simply collapsed against the wall, sliding down until she hit the floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest, buried her face in her arms, and began weeping in absolute, agonizing despair. Everything was ruined. She was trapped in a nightmare with no way out.

Chloe closed the door tightly and turned to look at her older sister. There was absolutely no sympathy in her eyes, only cold, bitter resentment. She slowly walked over and loomed over Aria's shaking form.

"What the hell is your problem?" Chloe snapped, her voice dripping with venom. "Do you want me to die? Can't you just leave and accept your fate without causing so much trouble for the rest of us?"

"But I—" Aria lifted her tear-stained face, trying to defend herself.

Before she could even finish her sentence, Chloe swung her arm and slapped Aria hard across the face.

Aria’s head snapped to the side. Her face twisted down as a sharp, stinging pain seared across her skin. The strike was so vicious she was absolutely certain Chloe’s fingers had left a bright red imprint on her cheek.

"Shut up!" Chloe growled viciously. Without a second glance at her sister's pain, she turned around, completely devoid of guilt, and walked straight out to the adjoining balcony. She picked up a glossy magazine from a small patio table and began to read, entirely unconcerned with Aria's suffering.

Aria touched her burning cheek, her chest heaving with silent, dry sobs. She needed to escape from this madness. She couldn't stay here to be a secret mistress, and she definitely couldn't let them send her to the Lycan King to be torn apart. She needed to get ahold of Mila.

Wiping her face, she shakily rose to her feet. She grabbed her small, battered bag from the floor and quickly slipped into the attached bathroom, locking the door quietly behind her. Her hands trembled violently as she dug past her few belongings and pulled out her phone.

Aria had very few contacts, but Mila was the only one who mattered right now. She tapped her friend's name and brought the phone to her ear, listening to the agonizingly slow ringing.

"Aria?" Mila answered on the very last ring, sounding breathless.

"Mila," Aria pleaded in a hushed, hoarse whisper, terrified that Chloe might hear her through the door. "I need to escape. They sold me. Can you please help me?"

There was a long, heavy silence on the other end of the line. "Where exactly are you right now?" Mila finally asked, her tone shifting to serious determination.

Aria quickly explained the layout of the Alpha's estate and the exact location of the guest room they had locked her in.

"I’ll see what I can do," Mila promised, her voice a steady anchor in Aria's chaotic nightmare. "Just hold on. I'll be there in an hour."

With trembling hands, Aria ended the call. She stashed her phone safely back into the bottom of her bag, a tiny, desperate sliver of hope igniting in her chest as she prepared to wait.