She Cured My Insomnia

Kaelen's POV:

The heavy oak doors of the estate shut behind me. I tossed my keys onto the marble console. The sharp clatter echoed through the empty foyer. It was well past midnight. My muscles ached with a dull, persistent burn. To sharpen my Alpha instincts, my grandfather had handed over the Zenith Pack's core responsibilities and the massive management of our capital expansion to me long before I was ready to take the official title. I spent my days swimming in corporate negotiations, pack disputes, and endless paperwork. It was my duty. I accepted it.

But this sudden arranged marriage? I despised it.

My phone buzzed in my pocket again. Grandfather. I ignored it, just like I had ignored his calls all afternoon. Eighteen years ago, he made some ridiculous pact with his old friend Desmond from the extreme north. Now, that promise had arrived at my doorstep. An unknown girl from the Winteredge territory of the Obsidian Pack. Valerie.

She was just a distraction. A pawn in a game I had no desire to play.

My fated mate was supposed to be *her*. The girl from my past. The one who marked my soul. Definitely not this stranger my grandfather was forcing down my throat. I stalled today, burying myself in meetings and dodging the duty of picking her up from the station, forcing him to send a family driver instead. I had no interest in her.

I trudged up the sweeping staircase. The alcohol from a late dinner date with investors hummed in my veins. My wolf, Darian, paced in my mind, urging me to just shut down and rest.

I pushed open my bedroom door, shedding my suit jacket and tie in the dark. I didn't bother hitting the lights. I stepped under the cold spray of the shower to wash the day off, dried off fast, and collapsed face-first onto my mattress.

The plush sheets felt heavenly against my exhausted body. I let out a heavy breath, sinking into the dark.

Then, my muscles locked tight.

I was not alone.

The mattress dipped. A steady heat radiated against my side. I froze, my alcohol-laced brain struggling to process the intrusion. In the pitch black of the room, I couldn't see a face, but the soft curve of the hip brushing against my thigh belonged to a woman.

Before I could shove myself upright and demand answers, the woman shifted. She rolled over, the blankets rustling, and her arms draped over my chest. She pulled me into a soft embrace.

"Kae, be good," she murmured, her voice a groggy, sleep-heavy whisper. "It's time to sleep."

My breath hitched. My entire body went rigid.

Why did this feel right?

I should have thrown her off. I should have summoned the guards. But then her scent hit me. It was faint, buried under the crisp smell of my own sheets, but it sharply pierced my senses. A clean, earthy fragrance that tugged hard at something buried deep inside my chest.

She smelled exactly like *her*.

I waited for Darian to bare his teeth, to reject the intruder, but my wolf was silent. He offered no resistance. The alcohol blurred my better judgment, wrapping my mind in a thick fog. I found myself unable to pull away. Slowly, the tension leaked from my shoulders. My arm moved on instinct, wrapping around her waist, pulling her soft warmth closer against my chest.

I closed my eyes and surrendered to the dark.

For the first time in ten years, I slept deeply. No insomnia. No restless tossing.

The familiar dream claimed me. The small, dark room. The cold concrete floor. I was a child again, shivering and broken. Then, a tiny body curled around mine, shielding me from the shadows. Her soft voice echoed in the cramped space, a beacon of hope. *Don't be afraid. I'm strong. I'll protect you.*

*I've been searching for you,* I called out to her in the dream. *Ten years.*

I hugged her tightly in the dark, and she smiled, holding me just as fiercely. The sensation of her arms was incredibly real.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The peace shattered.

"Kaelen! Breakfast is ready! Don't you have a morning meeting? Get up!"

I jolted, my eyes snapping open as the rapid knocking rattled my bedroom door. Daphne's shrill, anxious voice pierced through the heavy wood.

I rubbed my face, groggy and disoriented. Daphne never woke me up. Why was my cousin pounding on my door?

My mind was hazy, but the physical reality of my surroundings crashed into me. A faint, lingering scent hung in the air. My arms were wrapped around something warm and soft. Silky strands of hair were tangled around my neck, brushing against my collarbone.

My heart slammed against my ribs. Who the hell was I holding?

I shot up, ripping the blankets back, the remaining fog of sleep vaporized. I turned to look at the other side of the bed.

A pair of large, light brown eyes stared back at me, wide with raw shock.

She scrambled backward, her hands clutching the sheets to her chest to put distance between us. She wore only a thin nightgown that slipped off one shoulder, highlighting the frantic rise and fall of her chest.

"Who are you?" she demanded, pointing a trembling finger at me.

My eyes narrowed, adjusting to the morning light filtering through the blinds. It took only a fraction of a second to place her face. Grandfather had shoved her photograph in front of me a dozen times this week.

My expression soured. A cold fury bubbled up in my chest as I glared at her.

"Valerie?" I spat out the name like a curse.

The panic in her light brown eyes vanished the moment I said her name. It was replaced by a sheer wall of indifference. She had figured out who I was.

My fists clenched the sheets. How did my unwanted fiancé end up in my personal bed on her very first night in the Zenith Pack? The pack rules were absolute. As a guest, she was supposed to be at the other end of the estate.

I let out a harsh laugh. "You couldn't wait, could you? Tried to seduce me the moment you stepped foot in the Vance household? Hah. The women of the Obsidian Pack sure are bold."

Valerie stared at me blankly, her face devoid of the shame I expected.

"First of all," she said, her voice dropping to a freezing tone, "I didn't seduce you. Daphne led me to this room yesterday. She told me this was my quarters. Mr. Vance, let me make this crystal clear—I am not interested in you in the slightest."

She tilted her head, her gaze sweeping over my bare chest before meeting my eyes with a challenging glare. "Second, I was dead asleep when you stumbled in last night. Didn't you notice someone else occupying the bed? You were the one holding me hostage in your arms all night. How do you explain that? Could it be you've had your eye on me all along and used the alcohol as an excuse?"

Daphne's knuckles continued to hammer against the door outside. "Kaelen! Are you awake?"

The pieces clicked together in an instant. Daphne's anxious tone. The misdirection. Daphne had set a trap, tossing this girl into the Alpha heir's private room to humiliate her. Valerie was telling the truth.

Even so, her icy tone grated on my nerves. She should be mortified, yet she sat there dissecting my actions with sharp precision.

I narrowed my eyes, leaning forward to study her face. Despite the deep irritation flaring in my chest, I couldn't ignore it. Her large, light brown eyes. The defiant tilt of her chin. They resembled *hers* so much it made my chest tighten.

Valerie caught me staring. The corners of her lips curled into a smug smile.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice dripping with mock innocence. "Mr. Vance, do you have something you want to say? Or are you simply bewitched by me?"

The audacity left me speechless. She had the face of an angel but the tongue of a viper. Every word out of her mouth pushed my buttons.

"Get out," I growled. I threw my legs over the side of the bed, stood up, and marched toward the door. I grabbed the brass handle and yanked it open, fixing her with a lethal glare. "Get out of my room and never come back."

Valerie didn't flinch. She let out a soft sneer, slid off the mattress, and gathered her belongings with maddening slowness. She walked past me without a second glance, stepping out into the hallway.

She nearly collided with Daphne.

Daphne stood frozen in the corridor, her fist raised to knock again. Her mouth fell open in a pathetic display of shock as Valerie emerged from my bedroom. Her exaggerated wide eyes and terrible acting confirmed everything. She had orchestrated this mess.

I stepped out into the doorway, my oppressive Alpha aura radiating into the hall, watching to see how the Obsidian Pack girl would handle my cousin's blatant sabotage. Daphne shrank back slightly at my presence.

Valerie didn't miss a beat. She didn't look flustered or ashamed. Instead, a radiant, triumphant smile bloomed across her face.

"Good morning, Daphne!" Valerie chimed, her voice loud and cheerful. "Just as you wished, Kaelen held me all night long. We got along just perfectly."

Daphne's fake shock dissolved into instant rage. Her face turned beet red. "You're lying!" she screeched, her hands clenching into fists.

Valerie merely chuckled. "You can ask him."

Daphne whipped her head toward me, her eyes frantic. "Kaelen, what is she talking about? What's going on?!"

I stared back at my cousin's panicked face. I could easily expose the trap. I could tear Daphne down for disrespecting my space. But the words died in my throat. If I untangled this mess right now, the entire pack would know that I, the future Alpha, had shared a bed with this frustrating woman and actually slept like a rock. I refused to let that detail spread.

I clamped my jaw shut, offering Daphne zero explanation.

Valerie didn't stick around for the fallout. She turned on her heel and walked down the grand sweeping staircase, her head held high.

I watched her retreating figure, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the doorframe. Daphne was furious, her mouth opening to hurl insults down the stairs, but I wasn't listening. A massive wave of irritation washed over me, burning hot in my chest. Daphne had ruined the morning, but Valerie had ruined everything else. Our first impression was a complete disaster.

We couldn't possibly dislike each other more.