C9 Nine

Selena’s POV

The first thing I registered was the blinding, rude light, which was aimed straight at my face.

I groaned and rolled to the side, burying half my face into what had to be the softest pillow I’d slept on since leaving my dead husband’s pack. The mattress beneath me felt like a freaking cloud, way too comfortable to be my stiff, lumpy one at home.

Holy hell… did I die or something? Did the Moon Goddess finally throw me a bone and send me upstairs?

Because damn… I slept like a newborn pup without a single worry.

Just… peace.

A very questionable kind of peace.

I blinked my eyes open, only to freeze when cold grey eyes stared right at me. Adrian was lounging on a black-and-gold couch, legs crossed, looking way too relaxed.

“Oh, good. You’re finally up,” he drawled. “I was starting to think you were dead or something. Not that I’d mind if you were.”

I blanked for a moment before shooting upright so fast my head practically bounced off my skull. “WHAT-how-why are you in my—”

Except this wasn’t my house.

I took in the room. Big windows let in the harsh sunlight, with gold curtains pulled to the sides. The walls were black, and the huge bed under me looked insanely expensive. Even the black-and-gold rug on the floor probably cost a fortune. Come to think of it, everything here had some black and gold.

Then every single thing came rushing back, like a jolt straight to my brain. The party, the chaos, him.

I shoved the covers off and looked down at myself–still wearing his shirt, thank Goddess. My hair was probably a bird’s nest, and I was pretty sure I looked like a complete mess. But thankfully, one of the perks of being a werewolf is skipping the whole hangover thing.

I glanced at him. His chest was covered now with a plain black shirt, but he still looked effortlessly breathtaking. Goddess Selene sure does have her favorites.

Swallowing hard, my cheeks heated up. “Did we-did we…?”

His expression turned sour like the very thought disgusted him. Rising slowly like even the air offended him, he scoffed, “Please. As if I’d ever fuck my father’s whore.”

Ouch.

But wait… if we didn’t, then what happened after?

I tried to remember past the bathroom scene, but my mind kept coming back blank.

As if he could read my thoughts–or just noticed the confusion on my face–he said, “You passed out, so I laid you on the bed. Guess all that… thirstiness finally caught up with you.”

Thirstiness? No way… did he just call me thirsty?!

‘He did,’ Issa whispered, and I felt my face ignite. “So glad to see you’re still a—”

“I’ve come to a decision,” he interrupted, rude as ever, cutting off the insult that was on the tip of my tongue.

If looks could kill, he’d probably be six feet under, because I was throwing one of my deadliest glares his way, my eyebrows pulling together. “Which is…?”

My glare barely did anything to him as he let my question hang, studying me in the pregnant silence that had suddenly taken the room hostage.

“I’m going to reject you,” he said finally in a controlled voice. “And you will accept my rejection.”

My entire body went numb.

“I’m sorry… what?” I choked out, just as Issa let out a furious, disbelieving snarl.

“You heard me,” he said.

“That’s–no, wait–Adrian, what the hell—”

“There is no version of reality,” he said coldly, “where I take you as my fucking mate. The Moon Goddess, as I've clearly stated a thousand times, made a damn mistake.”

I knew I had no right to feel hurt. If anything, I should be relieved to finally rid myself of this arrogant brat. But instead, I felt sick to the stomach, and the mate mark throbbed, burning from the inside out. I clutched my neck with a gasp.

“What about last night?” I eventually managed.

“What about it?”

“You kissed me,” I whispered. “You—”

“That wasn’t me,” he snapped. “Whatever happened was the mate bond messing with my head. My wolf pushing me. I would never, ever, touch you in my right mind.”

Pain watched each word burn me alive.

“Rejecting you is the only way to stop this nonsense,” he finished.

Issa screamed inside me and I felt myself breaking as he stood there like a statue, completely expressionless. I searched his face for any hint of hesitation or guilt, anything, but found nothing. So I nodded weakly. “Fine.”

His shoulders eased a little. “Good.”

Pushing forward to me, his voice was cold and formal as he began, “I, Adrian Holt, Alpha of Frostfang Pack, rej—”

But his words never finished before agony pushed me from the bed to my knees on the rug-covered floor. My chest felt crushed. My bones felt like they were breaking. Issa shrieked inside me, then her voice flickered, like she was dying.

Adrian went down too, groaning in pain and clutching his chest. It lasted just a few seconds, but it felt endless.

Then everything fell into a pregnant silence before we both gasped for air like drowning people.

“What the fuck was that?” Adrian rasped.

“Did you… feel that?” I pressed a hand to my chest. “Issa–Issa, talk to me, Issa!”

There was no answer from her.

Panic hugged me tightly. “Issa! Please!”

Finally, a faint, broken whisper came. ‘I’m here… I almost… died.’

I sucked in a trembling breath. “What the fuck just happened?”

Adrian wiped sweat from his forehead. “I have no fucking idea. My wolf, he almost died. He feels… weak.”

“Same,” I breathed.

We stared at each other, still shaken, trying to grasp what had just happened, when a gut-wrenching scream echoed through the house. It was so loud and raw it made us freeze for a moment before we dashed out of the room.

Down the hall, we passed a couple half-asleep and cuddled together. We reached Ethan and a blonde girl by the staircase, both of them looking equally terrified.

“What the fuck was that?” Adrian demanded.

“We don’t know,” Ethan answered. “But it’s coming from outside.”

We pushed past them, ran down the stairs, through the trashed living room, and out the front door.

Another scream tore across the yard as we sprinted toward the parking area. By a silver Honda Civic, a girl stood frozen, pale and trembling, staring at the ground.

We reached her, and the terror in her eyes sank my stomach. Then we looked down.

A lifeless body lay on the frosty pavement with dried blood spread around it. Huge bite marks and deep claw marks decorated the flesh like something had savaged him.