Reborn To Claim The Ruthless Alpha King

Adrienne POV:

The head maid was already gone.

The corridor was dark. I stood in the servant quarters, my fingertips brushing over the white silk—cool, so fine it would not survive any force.

When the head maid had pushed the fabric into my arms, she had offered no explanation. She had only lowered her voice and said one thing: "Someone wants to see whether that face of yours can make him break his rule." Then she turned and left.

Someone wanted an heir. Someone wanted to see whether my face could make her grandson break his rule. The head maid was testing me, and she was also pushing me toward death. Either way, I needed this dress.

I stripped out of the gray servant tunic and pulled the white dress on. The cut hugged my waist, the hem falling to my ankles. I let my pale blonde hair down, and in front of the cracked mirror I adjusted my expression. Softer, gentler, with a trace of melancholy. Like a woman about to break.

The clock in the central courtyard chimed midnight.

Tonight was the union ceremony of Benjamin's distant cousin. My memories of the past life told me he would be forced to drink large amounts of silver-treated wolf-bane liquor to hold down his sensory overload in a political setting. Right now, he should be alone in his private top-floor study, suffering it out with his suppressed wolf.

I slipped out of the servant room. The wolfless have no inner wolf, and our scent is so faint it barely exists. In this den full of sharp-sensed predators, having no presence at all was my best camouflage.

Relying on my memories of the past life, I avoided the Gamma patrol shift routes, circled behind the western library, and slipped into that narrow spiral staircase. The higher I went, the thicker the air became. Pine needles, bitter wolf-bane fumes, and scorching cedar pheromones pressed against the walls. My chest tightened, and my legs grew heavier.

The double oak doors of the master suite were right in front of me.

I drew a breath, stopped the trembling in my fingers, and turned the brass handle.

The door opened.

The room was swallowed in darkness, with only moonlight coming in through the floor-to-ceiling bulletproof window. On the leather sofa in the corner sat a massive silhouette.

Benjamin had torn off his tie, his black shirt half unbuttoned. His chest was broad, and a jagged, pale scar ran along his collarbone—left by pure silver. His right hand gripped a half-empty glass of amber liquor, his knuckles white, and low, ragged panting rolled from his throat. The air was full of his pheromones, so thick it was almost suffocating.

I stepped onto the rug. My bare feet made no sound.

But the moment my shadow crossed the moonlight, his head snapped toward me. His cobalt-blue eyes were bloodshot, glowing in the dark with a feral, predatory hunger.

"Get out."

Alpha's Command hit my chest like a wall. My knees went weak and my vision blurred. But I had no inner wolf to force me into submission. I bit the inside of my cheek, and the taste of blood steadied me.

I did not run. Instead, I took a step forward.

Benjamin stood up, and the crystal glass shattered against the armrest. In less than a second he was in front of me. His tall body blocked out the moonlight, and the scalding heat coming off him was like a furnace. His hand clamped onto my throat, his fingers sinking into my flesh, forcing my chin up.

"I said, get out." He snarled through clenched teeth, a dangerous flash of gold in his eyes.

I did not struggle, and I did not claw at his wrist. I let my head tilt back and let the tears float in my honey-amber eyes. The moonlight lit my soft face, and the white dress clinging to my trembling body.

"Ben..." I called softly, my voice breaking into a soft sob. "It hurts."

He went completely still.

His pupils contracted violently, the gold in his eyes wavering, terror and disbelief colliding. The hand on my throat loosened, then seized my shoulder in desperation.

"Serena?"

His voice was hoarse, torn open by grief and confusion. The alcohol, the silver fever, the five years of guilt—all of it collapsed in that moment.

I did not correct him. I leaned my cheek gently into his burning palm, like a frightened small animal seeking warmth.

The last thread of his reason snapped.

A low, hoarse roar came from deep in Benjamin's chest. He yanked me against his hard chest, both arms wrapping around my waist with enough force to almost crush my ribs. His face buried into the crook of my neck, and he inhaled deeply. His hot, ragged breath seared my skin. Before coming up I had deliberately used clean pine soap, covering the scentlessness of a wolfless and giving him an illusion of peace.

"Don't leave again." He growled against my ear, his lips grazing my jaw.

He scooped me up and threw me onto the huge bed. Before I could catch my breath, his heavy body pressed down, pinning my wrists against the dark velvet sheets above my head.

His mouth came down on mine with brutal, desperate hunger.