Chapter 4

Eleanor POV:

That night, I fled to the human world. I found the loudest, darkest bar I could and tried to drown the agony in my soul with cheap whiskey. The burn of the alcohol was a welcome distraction from the hollow ache in my chest.

After my fourth glass, my stomach rebelled. I stumbled to the restroom, my body heaving until there was nothing left inside me but bitterness.

I pushed the door open, my head spinning, the world tilting violently. My legs gave out, and I pitched forward, bracing for the impact of the sticky floor.

It never came.

An arm like steel clamped around my waist, steadying me with effortless strength. I looked up, my vision blurry, and into the most intense pair of eyes I had ever seen. It was him. Darren, the Alpha King of the Bloodmoon Pack.

His voice was a low rumble, laced with an authority that vibrated through my very bones. "Where is my Beta?"

He was asking about Brendan. The man who was supposed to be with me.

My drunken mind registered something else. A scent. It cut through the stale beer and smoke of the bar, overwhelming my senses. It was the smell of a coming snowstorm and the sharp, clean fragrance of pine trees in a frozen forest. My inner wolf, silent and dormant for so long, stirred within me, letting out a soft, desperate whine of longing.

Fueled by whiskey and heartbreak, a reckless impulse took over. I wrapped my arms around his thick neck, my fingers tangling in the hair at his nape.

"He doesn't want me anymore," I slurred, my lips brushing against his ear. "Alpha, do you want me tonight?"

His dark eyes flared, a storm gathering in their depths. I felt a tremor run through the powerful body pressed against mine. A single word echoed in my mind, a possessive, primal roar that wasn't my own.

*Mine!*

The silence stretched on, and a wave of humiliation washed over me. I had just offered myself to the most powerful werewolf on the continent, and he was rejecting me. I started to pull my arms away, my cheeks burning.

Then, his deep voice broke the silence. "Alright."

*But before I could react, he swept me off my feet, carrying me out of the bar as if I weighed nothing. The moment we were inside his car, his control shattered. His mouth crashed down on mine in a kiss that was pure possession, a branding of ownership.*

*The instant our lips met, a jolt, sharp and powerful as a lightning strike, shot through my entire body. The Electric Touch. The pull between us was a physical force, an irresistible tide dragging us under. Years of repressed loneliness and a night of fresh betrayal erupted into a storm of desperate need.*

*That night, I gave myself to the Alpha King, a man who was my fated Mate.*