After being told that Lucas was a Lycan and that she was his mate, Harper hadn’t left the guestroom, where she temporarily resided, while they wait for Mira all day long. As she was told, the mage had to recover first from the exertion of creating the shortcut. When night fell, a man in a black suit knocked on her door with her dinner and a bottle of wine, courtesy of Lord Aleister, as it said on the note on the bottle.
And for the next hours, she had entertained herself with Lord Aleister’s fine red wine.
When the bottle was half empty, and she felt her body had warmed up, Harper decided for a walk in the hallway. Anything to past time. Quietly, she threaded a dim-lit corridor, chewing on the side of her cheek as she peered through the oriel window.
"Harper," a voice whispered. At once, a shiver traveled down her spine at the sound of her name escaping his lips.
She turned around to see his warm smile. “Alex.”
Alex quickly closed the distance between them. "I need to talk to you," he said quietly. The urgency was clear in his voice.
“Alex, I don’t think there’s a need to―” Harper didn't have time to get the sentence out before he effortlessly scooped her up, hefted her over his shoulder, and carried her back up to her room.
“So stubborn,” Alex murmured.
“What are you doing?” She hissed, hitting his back with her tiny fist. “Let me go.” But her silent plea fell on deaf ears.
“Watch your head,” he simply said as he carried her through the silent corridor. His hand rested on her rear, supposedly to steady her.
“Stop!” She squirmed, wiggling her hips to get free. In response, he smacked her backside, earning a gasp of surprise from her.
"Just hold still and shut up, Harper."
Yet she continued to squirm, and he spanked her once more. She then heard her bedroom door creak on its hinge. “This is ridiculous!”
"You don’t really know how to shut up, do you?" Alex smacked her bottom one more time before kicking the door shut and putting her down.
Harper immediately pulled herself away from him and gazed up at him.
“You’re not going anywhere. Not until we’ve talked.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door.
She sat on the bed, looking at him with fear and guilt in her eyes. “Alex, I don’t think you should be here. Mira won’t be too happy to know you’re in here.”
But instead of listening to her, he walked over to her and cupped her face between his hands. And before she could say another word of protest, he lowered his head and gave her a ravenous kiss.
Harper had tried so hard to resist him, but bit by bit, standing on her tiptoes, his kiss had chipped away at her defenses. She tensed but then soon relaxed. And when she opened her mouth, he didn’t waste a second and slipped his tongue in. He kissed her with so much passion it scared her.
Alex pulled her up to wrap her legs around his waist and tangled his hands in her hair. He groaned and lay her down on the bed. Without breaking the kiss, he climbed on top of her and edged himself in between her legs. Then his mouth broke away from hers to kiss her neck and collarbone while his hands roamed her entire body. Her scent was driving his wolf mad and pushing them both over the edge.
“Alex…” Harper moaned.
“Tell me, Harper,” he sucked on her earlobe, “Tell me they’re lying.”
“Alex, I’m―ah,” she bit her lip, trying to suppress another moan.
“I missed you being this close to me,” his voice was turning into a hypnotic purr in her ears. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you after that night. Your scent…you were so fucking wet for me. You were so ready.”
He began peppering kisses on her neck, licking her earlobe again as he went. Harper’s breath caught in her throat, and her eyes flickered shut as he began biting and sucking the crook where her shoulder met her neck.
“Alex…please…we can’t…” she whispered, her body telling him the opposite.
With one hand supporting his weight, the other soon disappeared under between her legs. Soon, his fingers fumbled with the button of her jeans and zipper.
Harper sucked in a breath as soon as she felt his thumb lightly brushed against the fabric of her panties. She waited. Then Alex’s mouth moved back to cover her lips with his and plunged his tongue deep into her mouth. His fingers moved up and stroked her belly and hips.
“Alex…please…” she moaned when he released her mouth.
Their breaths rose and fell together in an uneven rhythm. Heat pulsed and pounded between Harper’s thighs. Her breath hitched as he rubbed her on top of her panties.
Alex smirked at her body’s response to his touch. “Tell me they’re lying, Harper.” His breath felt hot against her ear.
He liked Harper’s stubbornness and the fact that she tried so hard not to wrap her arms around his neck; he took it as a challenge to make her moan for more of him and to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear. He started to kiss her cheeks, right at the center, then he moves to her jaw, kissing the edge from left to right before he began to bite and suck the crook where her shoulder met her neck. While his mouth was busy, his other hand rubbed her on top of her panties, teasing her.
Harper held back a whimper at the sensation, fisting her fingers as she gripped the sheets. A breathy moan escaped her lips next to his ear. “Alex…please…don’t do this.”
“Tell me they’re lying,” Alex whispered deeply into her ear. “Tell me I’m yours, and you’re mine, and I’ll believe you.”
“I…”
“Yes, Harper. Tell me…” He swiped a tongue down her neck. “I’m begging you.”
“Alex…” She spread her legs a little wider and arched against him. She immediately felt his erection underneath his pants.
“I need to know the truth.”
The truth.
She whipped her head to one side, refusing to meet his eyes as she said in a shaky voice, “They’re telling the truth.”
At once, Alex broke all contact and propped himself up.
“I’m sorry, Alex,” Harper said, and with bated breath, she waited for his reaction.
He rolled off of the bed and stood up, his blue eyes not leaving her.
She zipped her pants up, took a deep breath, then sat up. “I’m really sorry.”
“Are they making you say this to me?” he asked huskily.
She silently shook her head before saying, “No one’s making me say or do things.” She turned her head away. “It’s the truth. We’re not engaged. You’re not my fiancé, and I’m not yours either.”
For a few moments, they said nothing to each other as they both try to examine what was going on and as they came down from the intoxicating scent of each other’s arousal.
“Why did you do it?” Alex spoke again. “Why the fuck then did you lie to me?”
Harper slowly stood up from the bed. Her pulse raced, and she let out a shaky breath. “I…”
He grabbed her arm forcefully, pulling her toward him. “I…” he took in a breath and said through gritted teeth, “I trusted you.”
She shook off his grip on her arms and took a couple of steps back until her thighs hit the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry.”
He stared up at her for a moment before he shoved her to the bed. Without saying anything else this time, he walked out and slammed the door behind him.
Harper watched, trying her hardest to blink back the tears that were suddenly welling up in her eyes. She was suddenly caught in a storm of emotions that she had to press her hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. Surprised by her conflicting feelings, she burrowed in a cocoon of pillows and blankets. She lay in bed in silence and quiet sobbing.
* * *
Alex’s blue eyes flashed open. He was drenched in sweat, and his face was white with concern. Oddly enough, his dream felt so real and exhausted him enough to do anything just yet. He looked around the room and then placed his head back on the pillow, looked up at the ceiling. His thoughts crawled back to Harper.
She lied to me.
He still couldn’t believe it. A lot of things just didn’t add up. Why would she lie to him in the first place? What was it for her? And how could Lucas be her―
His heart immediately pounded in his chest when a sudden knock at the door interrupted his thoughts completely. His first thought was that Harper had come to her senses and she had come to tell him the lie was a lie, that she was, in fact, his fiancée.
Alex rolled over onto his side, got up, and made his way to the door. He paused before opening the door as he was only wearing his pants, but then he decided that he didn’t really care. Stifling a yawn and trying to look unexpecting, he slowly opened it and blinked.
“I knew you would―you.”
Lord Aleister smiled. “Good morning, Alexander. Expecting someone else?”
“No. Wait―is it?” Alex looked out the window and saw that it was still dark outside.
“It’s already 3 A.M.”
“Already? Why? Do you usually wake up earlier than 3 A.M around here?” he raised a carefully arched eyebrow.
Lord Aleister before him blinked then smiled again. “May I come in?”
He wanted to say a flat no, but the lord had slightly pushed him to the side and walked in. He sighed and closed the door. He thought it was rather rude of Lord Aleister to come knocking on his door at the wee hours of the night, and his wolf thought so too, but he knew he had no choice as he was nothing but a guest.
“Have a seat, Alexander,” Lord Aleister pointed toward the settee.
Alex rubbed his hair and sat down on the other end of the seat.
Lord Aleister took a deep breath. “To answer your question, we wake up anytime we want or need around here. We could be wide awake all week long or asleep all day long. But today, we needed to wake up early to prepare.”
“To prepare for what exactly?” he asked testily.
“Harper’s departure to the other world.”
“What?!”
“We already told you. Your fake fiancée is the only one who could bring Lucas back. Mira hasn’t really rested much; she needed an extra push to open the doorway for your fake fiancée. For some bizarre reason, her power is quite potent between three and four in the morning. Your fake fiancée should be on her way to the labyrinth now.”
Alex shut his eyes and took in a long deep breath. He let it out slowly and opened his eyes. "You’re sending Harper to someplace where she has no idea even existed. Will she be safe there?”
“That I cannot guarantee. Right now, Nibiru is pretty much divided between Lycans and Vampires―”
“Are you fucking with me right now? She’s a human, for Pete’s sake. What are her chances of surviving a place swarmed with creatures like you and me? You can’t seriously send her there just to bring that criminal back here for you. Why don’t you send someone else?”
“Alexander, your fake fiancée is the only―”
“Stop calling her that!” Alex snapped. “She has a fucking name.”
Lord Aleister raised an unimpressed eyebrow and pursed his already thin lips, and then another smile spread across his face. “I understand that you’ve already formed some bond with your―with Harper, Alexander, but remember, Mira is your mate and Harper…”
“What about her?”
“She’s Lucas’ mate, Alexander.”
It took him several seconds for the words to register.
*Harper is mated to a Lycan?* he thought to himself over and over again.
“Alexander?”
His very heart was put into the next words he whispered, “But…but she’s human.”
“That’s right. And don’t worry. She knows that already, and she’s fully aware that she needs to come back as soon as she could.
“She knows?”
“I told her what she needed to know, Alexander.”
“She knows she’s mated to a werewolf?”
Lord Aleister nodded casually. “That’s right. She knows everything.”
“And?”
“She’s aware that being a human, she has the upper hand. She could either accept Lucas or reject him. Either way, being Lucas’ mate, she’s fated to die with him.”
“Better take that back, Aleister!”
“Lord Aleister, Alexander,” he quickly corrected him. “And as I have told you, Lucas has committed a crime. He’s already sentenced to die when he fled to Nibiru with another criminal. The only reason we want him back is so we can carry out the death sentence. If Harper chooses not to reject him, she will die with him.”
"S-she will die with him?" Alex asked, his voice shaking with barely-controlled anger.
“If she will make that choice…”
He glared at Lord Aleister for a brief moment, studying him. Then he stood up and walked to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To stop this madness,” he answered, although uncertainty was evident in his eyes. And for the first time in a long time, he felt a surge of desperation. He was still angry at Harper for lying to him, but he just couldn’t let ker walk to her own demise.
“Alexander, leave it. You are mated to Mira, and Harper is mated to Lucas. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
Before he made it through the doorway, he looked over his shoulder at Lord Aleister yet said nothing.
“Where are you going?”
He didn’t say anything and instead stormed out of the room.
“Alexander! Come back here! It’s pointless!”
His heavy footsteps echoed throughout the castle, trampling anyone who got in his way.
"Hey!" One of Lord Aleister’s men yelled as he spotted him. He moved towards Alex with haste.
Alex turned a corner and ran, only for his steps slowly came to a halt. A dead end.
"Come back here!" Lord Aleister’s voice echoed.
“Don’t move,” Alex heard one shouted.
His hulking figure turned around to come face to face with four men with the barrels of guns all trained on him. He sniffed the air. “Silver bullet. Sweet.”
“Hands in the air!”
When he didn’t make any move, two of the men ran to restrain him, which had easily proved to be a bad mistake on their part as Alex swiftly leaped at them before they could react and slammed his shoulder into them. With one swift motion, he pushed the gun out of the way with his left hand and turned the man, so he was standing in front of him. He grabbed both the men by the necks and tossed them hard against the stone walls. They lost their consciousness at the sudden and hard impact.
Cracking his knuckles, Alex walked toward the remaining two men who were looking at him with dazed and fearful eyes. “Come on. I don’t have all day.”