Red Dress Revenge: The Alpha's Obsession

SELENA

 The pain hit like a blade through my ribs.

I staggered. Clutched my chest. The bond snapped.

"Did you feel that?" My sister's voice, soft and shaking, from the other side of the bedroom door.

Then his. My mate. My ex mate now. Guilt thick in his throat. "It had to happen, Selena."

Had to. Because he chose her.

I sank to my knees on cold tile. My wolf tore at me from inside, claws raking bone. Mate bond broken. She betrayed us. He betrayed us. Blood for blood.

"Selena!" Someone pounded the door. "Open up!"

I didn't answer. Couldn't. My throat was full of glass. My heart was full of nothing.

The agony wasn't just emotional. Werewolf mate bonds weren't metaphor. When they broke, they burned. It felt like my veins were filled with ice and fire at the same time. Like someone ripped a piece of my soul out and set it on fire.

My nails dug into the tile. "No," I whispered. "No, no, no..."

The door crashed open. My best friend Mara stood there, eyes wide. She took one look at me and went pale.

"Your eyes," she breathed.

I touched my face. Wet. My pupils were blown wide, ringed with gold that shouldn't be there. The bond-break always showed. A mark of failure. Of rejection.

"He slept with her," I said. My voice sounded wrong. Hollow. "My sister. My own blood."

Mara knelt, wrapped her arms around me. I didn't cry. Crying would mean it was real.

Inside, my wolf howled. Not grief. Rage. Revenge. They must pay. Make him kneel. Make her bleed.

I closed my eyes. The plan formed, sharp and cold as winter.

Revenge wouldn't fix the hole in my chest. But it would stop the bleeding.

There was only one way to break him the way he broke me. One man in this pack who could make my ex, Damian, drop to his knees and beg.

The Alpha. His father.

Alpha Kieran Voss. Forty-two. Single. Abandoned by his mate ten years ago. Rumors said his gold eyes saw everything and his silence was a weapon. No one seduced the Alpha. No one dared.

Perfect.

I stood. My legs shook but held. Mara caught my arm. "Selena, don't-"

"I have to." I shrugged her off. Walked to my closet.

The red dress hung there. Silk. Backless. The color of blood and warning. I'd bought it for Damian once. For a mating ceremony we never had.

Now I had a better use for it.

"Your wolf-" Mara started.

"My wolf wants revenge," I cut her off. I pulled the dress on. Zipped it up myself. The fabric clung like a second skin. "So that's what we'll give her."

"You can't seduce the Alpha, Sel. He's... he's not like Damian. He's dangerous."

I painted my lips red. Looked at myself in the mirror. The girl staring back had hollow cheeks and gold-rimmed eyes and a smile that wasn't a smile.

"Good," I said. "So am I."

The Alpha's office was on the top floor of the packhouse. Black doors. No guards. Everyone knew better than to interrupt him.

I knocked once.

"Enter," his voice came. Low. Controlled. Like a blade wrapped in velvet.

I pushed the door open.

He didn't look up at first. Kieran Voss sat behind a desk of dark wood, reading something. Black shirt. Sleeves rolled to his forearms. Leather gloves on the desk beside him. Sharp jawline. Stubble. The kind of man who didn't need to raise his voice to make a room go quiet.

Gold eyes lifted to mine.

For a second, nothing. No reaction. Like I was just another report on his desk.

Then his gaze dropped. Took in the dress. The skin. The way I stood.

He set his pen down. Slow.

"Miss Callahan," he said. My name on his tongue did something to my spine. "To what do I owe this... visit?"

I crossed the room. Each step deliberate. My wolf paced behind my eyes, nervous but hungry.

I stopped in front of his desk. Close enough that he could smell my scent. The faint trace of Damian on it, old and sour now. Broken.

Close enough that when I spoke, my breath brushed his jaw.

"I heard you were lonely, Alpha," I purred. My fingers touched his throat. Felt his pulse jump once. Just once. "I thought I'd fix that."

His hands came up. Not to push me away. To my waist. His grip was firm. Hot through the silk. Like he'd been waiting for me to touch him first.

His gold eyes locked on mine. Dark. Heavy. Patient.

For ten years, rumors said, he'd been waiting.

He leaned forward an inch. His voice dropped to a whisper only I could hear.

"I know why you're here, Selena."

My breath caught.

Outside, thunder rolled. The lights flickered.

He knew.