Contracted to the Uncrowned King novel Chapter 2

Violet

“Another, please.”

I slid the empty glass forward, waiting for the bartender to refill it and sighed. I didn’t want to look at it, but my eyes kept drifting to the mark burning on my wrist. Unwanted. I was the Darkmoon heir, and not even my fated mate wanted me. My eyes pricked. Was I really that defective? Maybe Father had a reason not to want me to lead the pack. Perhaps he'd seen something I hadn't.

This is not the time for a pity party.

I scoffed, dragging the refilled glass back toward me. I drank it. Maybe I was defective in that I couldn't even make my fated mate love me, but my father didn't have the foresight to figure out what kind of person Lucas was before happily blessing the union.

He could have spared us both all of this trouble if he'd been focused on anything but his misogyny.

Lucas was a spendthrift, arrogant at the best of times, and childish. I had loved him, but I kept a close eye on everything because I knew he'd ruin my pack if I didn't. He might still if he managed to out me from it.

I pushed a hand through my hair, glaring at the ring on my hand. My own personal feelings aside, there was the pack to think about. The quietest way to do all of this would be let Lucas have Nora as his mistress and stay on as luna despite the betrayal. The social and political issues around splitting us up would be a headache, but I didn't want to still be tied to him.

I didn't want him tied to Darkmoon and benefitting from me just so I could be comfortable. He was probably banking on it.

I needed to kick him, his first love, and his small pack out of Darkmoon as soon as possible. The how of it was still too fuzzy for me to feel confident that it would happen. The only good thing about all of this was that we didn't have children. A custody battle would only complicate things further.

A warm body drifted behind me. A spicy, musky scent and something sharp like ozone reached my nose.

Then, he spoke. "A beautiful alpha like yourself shouldn't be nursing a cut with a bar towel."

I looked up, but before I could say anything, a large warm hand had taken mine. The man lifted my hand, unwrapping the towel. He tutted and pulled out a small vial, dropping a few drops into my hand. The wound started to close as he massaged the liquid into my palm, but I was distracted.

He was taller than me with eyes like the sun, a strong jaw, and the presence of the kind of alpha Lucas wished he could be. Broad- shouldered, heavily muscled, and dangerous-looking in his suit: he reminded me a bit of my father when he went to Gatherings.

It made me smile, a bittersweet and vicious thing. My father had never been so large, and Lucas had tried to put on muscle for years and failed no matter how much he trained with me. He'd always be pissed off that he couldn't keep up, rejected my advice and just generally made it clear that he didn't value my opinion.

I hated that I had been too blind, too complacent, to see the signs for what they were. He may have played a good husband, but it had been a shallow act relying on my willingness not to see to carry on. Stupid, Violet, I thought. I turned, prepared to ignore the man, then, I remembered the other amenities Midnight Park offered. They had sex workers on staff for the bar and club attached to the hotel. The place was more of a one-stop resort of revelry than a hotel. For that reason, the alpha king liked to host gatherings here.

"Better?"

I blinked down at my hand. "Yes… Thank you…"

"Call me Theo'." He licked his lips. "I had hoped you smelled as good as you looked before I came over here. It's better than I imagined." My face heated. "Uhm… well… I didn't think men really cared about perfume."

"You're not wearing any." I blinked. He smiled and winked. "Unless you're counting blood."

That much was true, but most people assumed I was… Most people also didn't know that my mother was a breeder, and that's why I smelled the way I did.

I cleared my throat. "How much for a night of your time?"

He smirked. "A beautiful woman never has to pay for sex, let alone with me."

He cocked an eyebrow and looked down at my hand. "How's your husband feel about it?"

I looked down at the ring, but my eyes were drawn to the mark on my wrist. I could hear him panting her name, and I yanked the ring off. His hand fell on mine.

"Leave it," he said, his eyes twinkling as he leaned closer. "Consider it a prop."