Chapter 4 The Contract

Lucian's POV “A Luna shall rise, marked by love but bound by fate. Her heart holds the power to shatter the darkness or drown the world in ruin. Two alphas will claim her, one by betrayal, one by destiny. Should she embrace her true mate, the curse shall break, and the wolves shall know peace. But if she falters, chaos will reign, and the werewolf world will burn." The words rang in my ears, jolting me from sleep. My heart beating fast, I scanned the surroundings and when I realized I was still in my room, I let out a huge sigh of relief. “The dream had come again, to torment and give me sleepless nights..”. I became Alpha at the age of nineteen and, since then, I have been saddled with a lot of responsibilities which I have carefully handled without any mistakes. But one thing wasn't right; my mate. After I cheated on my first mate, and she left broken, my life took a drastic turn. Seers had prophesied that I had a second chance mate, but our mate bond comes with larger sacrifices. I tried my best to search for her but to no avail. I had called for meetings, ordered urgent searches, but I could barely find her. I had already stopped believing in the so-called mate bond. It was just a mere sham to trap one with a single partner for life. Freedom was having multiple partners and that's what I wanted, reasons why I would never stop buying sex slaves. And if there was another thing I needed, then that was a she-wolf who would give me pups, but the curse? It couldn't allow me to do that. I stared at Alison, who was still in bed even after hours of making love. “It's time to leave”, I tapped her gently before hitting her more violently. Alison snapped her eyes open, and then looked at me. “Are you sending me away already?” “Don't tell me it's because of that slave girl. I heard she is your mate”. “Shut up!” I flared at her immediately, my eyes burning with fury. I can never be a second-chance mate to anyone other than a sex slave to talk off. “Alison, leave now!” I ordered already, getting irritated by her presence. When she left, the silence in the room loomed over, the same sentence which had always tormented me still echoing in my head. I rolled up my sleeves and headed to go see her. I glanced my eyes through the room, but I couldn't see her. Panic rose in my chest, my heart skipping a few beats. “Where was she and had she managed to escape?”. “Aldric!” I shouted loudly to the gamma who I entrusted her with. “Where is this girl I kept in your care?” “Where is she?” I yelled loudly, my palms already wet with heat. Celestine, my wolf, growled in discomfort as I yelled. He always seemed uncomfortable when I was uneasy, but I ignored him. This wasn't the right time to take things easy. “She is in the pack training ground,” Aldric responded, his tone firm. A muscle in my jaw twitched as I turned sharply on my heel and strode toward the training grounds. My wolf, Celestine, prowled restlessly inside me, his presence a constant irritation. The closer I got, the stronger the pull in my chest became, a force I had spent years believing would never come. Just then my eyes caught sight of her. Selene. She stood in the middle of the training grounds, sweat glistening on her skin as she threw a punch at the training dummy. Gavin barked orders beside her, watching her every move like a hawk. Her stance was off, her strikes unrefined, but there was something about her, maybe an unyielding fire, that made my wolf restless. My jaw clenched. The mate bond was suffocating, like it was forming an invisible chain, tightening around my soul, demanding I acknowledge her. My breathing turned ragged for a moment before I forced it under control. I can't accept her, I can't accept this cruel joke from the Moon Goddess. I can't let her suffer a curse she knew nothing of! I refused to let my second chance mate suffer the same fate as the first. I refused to let this bond dictate my life again. “End the session. "Bring her to me.” I mind-linked Gavin, my fist balling at my sides. Gavin nodded through the mind-link before barking out, “That’s enough for today.” I heard him say to Selene Selene shot him an irritated glare. “I can keep going.” “You heard me.” Gavin's voice was more stern now, and I almost chuckled at Selene's facial expression. I watched as she wiped the sweat from her brow, muttering something under her breath before following Gavin toward the packhouse. She walked with too much confidence for a sex slave. Too much defiance. I returned to my office, sitting behind my desk as I tried to silence the pounding in my skull. The prophecy rang in my head again, those damned words refusing to leave me in peace and I couldn't deny the relief when a knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. “Come in.” The door swung open, and Selene walked in with her head held high, her eyes burning with a challenge I didn’t appreciate. Gavin followed behind her, but I barely acknowledged him. “Leave us,” I ordered. Gavin hesitated for a fraction of a second before bowing his head and stepping out, shutting the door behind him. Silence. I was expecting her to be scared like any other girl, any other wolf, kowtowing before my feet, but she stood still. She didn’t fidget, neither did she lower her gaze into submission. I exhaled through my nose, rolling up my sleeves as I leaned forward. “Sit.” She raised her brows, crossing her arms in arrogance. “I’d rather stand.” I let out a low chuckle, though there was no humor in it. “Did I give you a choice?” She held my gaze but didn’t move, and I felt my anger slipping out of control. "I had neither the time nor the patience for her defiance. “Sit.” Something in my tone must have cut through her stubbornness because she reluctantly sank into the chair across from me, her expression unreadable. I studied her for a moment. Despite her thin frame, there was strength beneath the surface. A kind of resilience that made her stand apart. That would have annoyed me. Instead, it intrigued me. “I won’t waste my time,” I said, my voice cold. “When I bought you, it was for one reason; to be my sex slave.” She flinched and I almost chuckled yet again. Good. Let her remember what she was. I continued. “But things have changed.” I leaned back, watching her carefully. “The Moon Goddess, in her cruel sense of humor, decided to tie us together. Unfortunately, now you are my mate.” Selene's body tensed, but she didn’t look surprised. “But don’t mistake this for fate,” I said, my voice dropping lower. “I don’t want you. I never wanted a mate, at least not a sex slave like you. "I don’t believe in bonds, and I won’t be trapped by one.” Her lips curled into a smirk. “Then reject me.” I exhaled sharply. “You don't know how badly I want to do that, but on a second thought…” My hands curled into fists. “I won’t reject you. But I won’t accept you either.” A flicker of something crossed her face; confusion, maybe. Or anger. I didn’t care. “You will not warm my bed,” I continued. “You will not be my mate in any way that matters." But this pack needs a Luna. And I will give them one.” Her jaw clenched. “You got guts, I love that…what gave you the audacity to expect me to just accept that?” She slammed her hand hard against my desk. I think the roles are being reversed here. Should those be my words? “You don’t have a choice.” I muttered calmly, trying to make her seem even more stupid. Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. She exhaled sharply, tilting her chin up. “And what if I refuse?” I smirked, though there was nothing pleasant about it. “Then you can warm my bed, while I find someone else” Her fingers twitched, curling slightly. “So I either become your puppet or your prisoner?” I ignored the bite in her words and slid a document across the desk toward her. “Here’s a contract dictating our contract marriage, I wouldn't want any problems in the future.” Selene's eyes flickered down to the paper, but she didn’t move to take it. “What's the contract about?” “You will be my Luna in exchange for your freedom,” I said. “You will lead the pack beside me, but we will never be bonded, never be lovers and ever be mates.” She didn’t react right away and didn’t even look up. Finally, she let out a quiet, bitter laugh, but I could see the tears she was trying hard to fight…was she praying to be sold? “And if I sign this?” she asked. “You’ll have power, but you’ll never have me,” I said flatly. “You will be my wife in title, but that’s it.” Selene's gaze lifted to mine, searching for something in my expression. If she was looking for kindness, I definitely didn't have to give out. Then, slowly, she reached for the pen. “I have conditions,” she said. I arched a brow. “You’re in no position to make demands.” She smirked. “If you want me to be your Luna, then you’ll respect my boundaries. No marking. No claiming. And no control over my personal life outside of pack duties.” My wolf growled in protest. The thought of her roaming freely, unclaimed, unprotected… “Fine,” I joked, pushing the pen closer. “Sign it.” Selene hesitated only for a second before pressing the pen against the paper. With a swift motion, she scrawled her name, sealing her fate as I leaned back, watching her. She had no idea what she had just agreed to. And there was no way out.