Your Alpha King Father's My Husband Now-Back Off, Ex!

Ava's pulse jumped.

"Miss Bennett." Damon's voice rang out, low and unhurried. "We need to talk."

Damon Sterling.

The name alone carried weight across the entire werewolf continent. He ruled the Royal Pack, and through it, every pack in the North bent the knee to him. He was the Alpha King-the apex predator in a world where strength decided everything.

Victor was his adopted son. Ten years separated them, but the gap in power was a chasm.

Ava's mind raced. Why would the Alpha King come to her door?

She knew the basics. Damon had taken Victor into the Sterling family years before and groomed him as a potential heir. But Damon himself had always kept his distance, a figure shrouded in rumor and reputation.

Cold. Ruthless. Untouchable.

Victor had mentioned him occasionally, always with a mix of reverence and fear. "He doesn't care about anyone," Victor had said once. "Not even his own wolf. He's been broken since the war."

The war. Six years ago, Damon led the Royal Pack against a massive rogue invasion. He won, but barely. His wolf, Ragnar, was critically injured in the final battle, wounded so badly that the bond between man and beast fractured. Ragnar had lost the ability to sense a fated mate.

For a wolf, that was a death sentence for any hope of true love.

But Damon hadn't seemed to care. He'd thrown himself into building his empire, expanding his reach until he controlled half the continent's resources. A legend. A king without a queen.

Until now, apparently.

Ava forced herself to meet his gaze. Those silver-blue eyes were unreadable, but they held her in place, and something in her chest quickened despite itself.

"Miss Bennett," Damon said again, his voice dropping lower. "May I come in?"

Ava stepped aside.

Damon moved past her into the living room, his presence filling the space, thick and electric. He didn't sit. Instead, he stood by the window, hands in his pockets, looking out at the city lights. For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he turned to face her.

"You rejected Victor," he said. Flat. Certain.

Ava's eyebrows lifted. She'd broken up with Victor for less than twenty-four hours. How did he already know? Did news travel that fast in the packs?

She could guess why he was here. Like every wealthy family with a spoiled heir, he'd come to clean up his son's mess. To make sure the discarded ex wouldn't come sniffing around again.

"Yes. If you're here because you're worried I'll cling to him, don't be. Victor and I are done. I won't be causing any more trouble."

Damon watched her, his eyes dark and unreadable. "Miss Bennett, I'm not here for him. I came here to offer you a deal."

Damon pulled a folder from inside his coat and set it on the coffee table. "A marriage contract."

Ava thought she'd misheard. "Alpha Damon, that's not a joke."

"I don't joke about contracts, Miss Bennett. I need a Luna," Damon said. "I imagine you've heard the rumors. The Elder Council has been pressuring me for years to marry and produce an heir."

"Then why choose me?" Ava asked.

Damon's gaze held hers a beat too long. Her pulse skipped.

"I've investigated you thoroughly because of Victor, Miss Bennett. You're suitable. Intelligent. Beautiful. Well-educated, with an impressive resume. And I'm interested in you. I admire your clarity and ambition-your ability to leverage every resource at your disposal."

Ava's heart gave a heavy thump.

"I don't make decisions blindly." Damon moved closer, closing the distance between them until she could smell the faint scent of cedar and winter air clinging to his coat. "I'm offering you a partnership. A mutually beneficial arrangement. You get resources, protection, and the satisfaction of making Victor regret every choice he made. I get a Luna to silence the elders."

Making Victor regret it. The thought was tempting.

Ava thought of Victor's words. "A blind girl can't be Luna." She couldn't help asking, "If I were still blind, would you bring this contract to me?"

"If you were still blind," he said quietly, "I would choose you as my Luna, then everything about you would be my responsibility. Your safety. Your well-being. Your future. An Alpha who can't protect his mate's eyes, or heal them, has failed her. If I chose you, everything about you would be mine to carry."

Ava's hands trembled. She clasped them together to hide it. "And what if I say no?"

Damon's expression didn't change, but his voice dropped lower. "Then I'll respect your decision and leave. But I think you're smarter than that."

He gestured to the folder on the table. "Read the contract. You'll find the terms more than generous."

Ava picked up the folder with shaking hands and flipped it open. Her eyes scanned the pages.

A generous monthly allowance.

Full access to Sterling Holdings' resources.

Support for establishing her own architectural firm.

Complete autonomy over her professional life.

The list went on. It was absurd. It was more than she'd ever dreamed of.

And then she reached the clause near the end.

[Physical Intimacy Clause: This marriage shall include all rights and responsibilities of a traditional mate bond, including but not limited to shared living arrangements and physical intimacy. The Alpha does not accept a sexless union.]

Ava's face flushed. She looked up at Damon, who was watching her with an unreadable expression.

"You're very direct," she said.

"I'm a man with normal needs, Miss Bennett." Damon's voice was matter-of-fact, almost clinical. "I can restrain myself or take care of things on my own before marriage. But after? I see no reason to continue that way. I don't accept a sexless marriage."

"But you're thirty-five. I'm twenty-five." Ava's voice came out smaller than she intended. "We're ten years apart. That kind of gap... it affects compatibility."

Damon's eyebrows arched, a flicker of amusement crossing his face. "So you're saying you think I'm too old? That I can't perform?"

Ava's mouth opened, then closed. Heat flooded her cheeks. How did every conversation with this man veer into dangerous territory?

Damon's gaze darkened as he watched the flush spread across her face. He took a slow step forward.

"Let me be clear, Miss Bennett." His voice dropped, velvet-edged and dangerous. "Age has nothing to do with stamina. Experience, on the other hand, has everything to do with knowing exactly how to satisfy a woman."

Ava's throat went dry. She tried to step back, but the edge of the sofa hit the backs of her knees.

Damon closed the distance between them. He didn't touch her, but his presence surrounded her, heavy and electric.

"You're overthinking this," he murmured, his eyes locked on hers. "A marriage contract doesn't mean I'll demand anything from you on day one. But I won't pretend I don't want you, either."

Ava looked at the man standing so close in front of her. He was better than Victor in every way. All she had to do was sign this contract, and everything would be hers.

But the price? She'd be marrying a man ten years older than her. A man she barely knew. A man who was technically her ex-boyfriend's father.

It was destined to be an unequal relationship. The gap in status. The gap in life experience.

Was it worth it?

She thought of Victor's face when he'd shoved her. Of Stella's smug expression as she clung to his arm. Of her mother's voice on the phone, demanding money.

She thought of the job she'd have to quit because she couldn't stand running into Victor at pack events. The humiliation of being the rejected ex-girlfriend everyone would pity.

Then she thought of the contract in front of her.

Financial independence. A title. Power. Respect.

Should she sign?