Chapter 3: The Luna's Proposal

Kane's kiss is nothing like I expected.

I thought it would be rough, brutal, taking what he wanted without care for my response. Instead, his lips move against mine with surprising gentleness, coaxing rather than demanding.

For a moment, I forget where I am. Forget that he's my captor, my owner, the man who bought me like property. All I can think about is the way he tastes dark and dangerous and addictive and how my body comes alive under his touch.

Then Marcus's words crash back into my mind: He's going to claim you. Mark you as his.

I jerk away from him, my heart pounding with more than desire.

"Don't," I gasp, stumbling backward. "Please, don't."

Kane's eyes flash with something I can't identify anger? Hurt? "Don't what, little omega? Don't touch what belongs to me?"

"I'm not yours!" The words explode out of me, and I see his pupils dilate at my defiance. "You can't just buy a person and expect them to to "

"To what? Respond to me? Because your body seemed pretty eager just now." His voice drops to that dangerous whisper. "I can smell your arousal, Zara. Your body knows exactly who it belongs to, even if your mind doesn't want to admit it."

Heat floods my cheeks because he's right. Despite everything I know about his plans, my body still responds to him.

"That wasn't real," I whisper. "That was just... biology. Alpha pheromones affecting an omega."

Kane's smile is predatory. "Is that what you tell yourself?" He moves closer again, and I back up until I hit the wall. "Tell me, little omega when was your last heat?"

The question hits me like a slap. "What?"

"Your last heat cycle. When was it?" His voice is deceptively casual, but I can see the intensity in his eyes.

"I... that's none of your business."

"Everything about you is my business now." He cages me in with his arms, his massive frame blocking out everything else. "Four months ago? Five? Six?"

I don't answer, but something in my expression must give me away because his smile turns triumphant.

"Six months," he says with satisfaction. "Which means you're overdue. And being around a powerful Alpha like me..." He leans closer, his breath hot against my ear. "Well, that's going to trigger early onset, isn't it?"

Terror floods through me. He knows. Of course he knows he's been planning this all along.

"Stay away from me," I breathe.

"I don't think so." His nose traces along my neck, and I shiver despite myself. "I can already smell the change in your scent. Sweet, getting sweeter every hour. You have maybe a week before your heat hits, and when it does..."

"When it does, what?" But I already know the answer.

"When it does, I'm going to claim you. Mark you. Make you mine in every way that matters." His voice is pure sin and dark promises. "And you're going to beg me for it."

"Never."

Kane chuckles, the sound vibrating against my throat. "We'll see about that, little omega. Heat makes even the strongest wolves desperate. And you..." His hand slides down to rest on my hip. "You're already fighting a losing battle."

Before I can respond, he steps back and straightens his shirt.

"Go to your room," he says dismissively. "I have calls to make."

I practically run from the dining room, my mind spinning. He's right about the heat—I can already feel the first stirrings of restlessness, the subtle changes that signal what's coming. But I won't let him claim me. I can't.

Back in my tiny basement room, I pace like a caged animal until footsteps in the hallway make me freeze. But it's not Kane it's a woman's voice, cultured and commanding.

"Where is she?"

"The omega quarters, Luna Morrison. Third door on the right."

Luna Morrison? Kane's mother is here? But Marcus said she wouldn't arrive until tomorrow.

My door opens without warning, and a tall, elegant woman with silver hair and ice-blue eyes steps inside. She's breathtakingly beautiful despite her age, with the kind of regal bearing that speaks of absolute authority.

"You must be Zara," she says, her voice cultured and cold. "I'm Elena Morrison. Kane's mother, and Luna of this pack."

My blood turns to ice. "Ma'am," I say, dropping my eyes respectfully.

"Look at me when I speak to you." The command in her voice forces my head up. "Better. Now, we need to talk. Privately."

She glances at the door, and I hear footsteps retreating. When we're alone, her expression becomes calculating.

"My son bought you six days ago," she says without preamble.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Do you know why?"

I hesitate, unsure how much she knows about Kane's real plans. "Revenge. Against my former pack."

Elena laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Is that what he told you? Oh, my dear girl. You have no idea what you've walked into."

"I don't understand."

"Kane didn't buy you for revenge. He bought you because you look like her." Elena pulls out her phone and shows me a photo that makes my blood freeze.

It's a woman with long dark hair and green eyes features so similar to mine we could be sisters. But what makes my heart stop is the way Kane is looking at her in the photo, like she's his entire world.

"Sarah," I breathe.

"My son's dead mate, yes. You're not identical, but the resemblance is... striking." Elena puts her phone away. "Kane's been obsessed with finding a replacement ever since she died. You're just the latest in a long line of dark-haired, green-eyed omegas he's tried to mold into her image."

The room spins around me. "Latest? There were others?"

"Seven others, to be exact. All purchased at various auctions over the past three years. All roughly Sarah's age and coloring." Elena's voice is matter-of-fact, like she's discussing the weather. "Would you like to know what happened to them?"

I can barely breathe. "Yes."

"The first three he released when they failed to... meet his expectations. The fourth tried to escape and ended up in the pack hospital for two months. The fifth went insane from the psychological torment. The sixth..."

"What about the sixth?"

Elena's smile turns cruel. "She actually managed to trigger his protective instincts. Kane became quite attached to her. So attached, in fact, that when she tried to leave, he killed her rather than let her go."

The words hit me like a physical blow. "You're lying."

"Am I? Ask Marcus about Rebecca if you don't believe me. She lasted eight months before Kane decided she was becoming too independent." Elena moves closer, her pale eyes studying my face. "The seventh girl, Emma, is still here. Would you like to meet her?"

"I... Marcus said she was in the west wing..."

"Completely catatonic, yes. Kane's attempt at psychological conditioning went a bit too far." Elena's voice is conversational, like we're discussing the weather. "But you—you might actually have a chance to survive this."

"What do you mean?"

"Kane's heat suppressants have been failing lately. His body is demanding he find a true mate, not just another replacement. If your heat triggers his rut..." She shrugs. "Well, either you'll survive the claiming and become his actual mate, or you'll die from the intensity of it."

Terror floods through me. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I have a proposition for you." Elena sits on my narrow bed, crossing her legs elegantly. "I can get you out of here. Tonight. Before your heat hits, before Kane can claim you."

Hope flares in my chest. "What's the catch?"

"Smart girl. The catch is that you'll be helping me destroy my son's obsession once and for all." Elena's smile is sharp as a blade. "Kane needs to let Sarah go and find a real mate. As long as he keeps trying to replace her with broken omega girls, he'll never heal. And this pack needs a strong Alpha, not a grief stricken shell of a man."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Exactly what you've been doing. Let him think he's winning you over. Get close to him, make him trust you." Elena's eyes glitter with cold calculation. "And then, when he's at his most vulnerable, you're going to break his heart so completely that he'll never try to replace Sarah again."

The proposal hangs in the air between us. Help Elena destroy Kane emotionally in exchange for my freedom.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you'll end up like the others. Dead, insane, or worse." Elena stands to leave. "You have until tomorrow night to decide. After that, Kane's security measures will make escape impossible."

She pauses at the door. "Oh, and Zara? Kane's been taking heat suppressants for three years to avoid accidentally claiming one of his replacement Sarahs. But I've been gradually replacing them with placebos. His rut is going to hit at the same time as your heat."

The door closes behind her, leaving me alone with the most terrifying choice of my life.

Help Elena destroy Kane and gain my freedom, or refuse and face a claiming that might literally kill me.

Either way, I'm running out of time.