~~ANIKA VALERION~~

~~THE ECLIPSE PACK~~

I twisted on the bed, reaching for Nana, only to be met with empty space. I frowned. Our bed was a thin mattress on a creaky frame. This felt... different. Luxurious.

 

I blinked my eyes open. Instead of the rotting wood of Nana’s cottage, I was met by high ceilings and a sparkling chandelier. My pulse quickened. Where was I?

 

I tried to sit up, but a sharp ache between my thighs made me gasp. Then, the memories hit me like a ton of bricks. The empty street. The agonizing heat. The betrayal. Joana.

 

And then… Him.

 

The way I had clung to him. The way I had begged him to take me.

 

My cheeks burned. I looked down and realized I was stark naked under the covers. My torn dress was folded on a nearby chair.

 

"You’re awake."

 

I whipped my head toward the window. I hadn’t noticed Xander Mortain standing there, dressed in a black shirt and leather trousers.

 

He wasn't the distant Alpha I was used to seeing. His expression was surprisingly soft, his eyes searching mine with something that looked almost like… concern.

 

"Here," he said, his voice gentle. "Drink this. It will take the edge off."

 

He walked toward the bed, extending a glass.

 

I scrambled back instinctively, pulling the sheets up to my chin.

 

"I... I shouldn’t be here. Last night was a massive mistake. Lord Xander, I’m getting out of here."

 

"You're in no shape to walk," he said, frowning. He reached for my forehead, likely to check for a fever. "You're still shaking. The fallout of the root hasn't faded—"

 

"Don't touch me!" I snapped, shrinking away from his hand like it burned.

 

Xander’s hand lowered. The softness in his gaze hardened. "A mistake?" he repeated, his voice dropping. "It didn't feel like a mistake when you were screaming my name."

 

"It was the drug!" I cried out, desperate to wipe the memory of my own desperation. "I wasn't myself! It was the Lilitu Root. That’s the only reason I let you touch me. If I were in my right mind, I would never..." I bit my tongue, realizing too late how harsh my words sounded.

 

But the damage was done.

 

I managed to stand up, wrapping the sheet around me, though a wince escaped my lips as my feet hit the floor.

 

"You are still hurting. Don’t be a fool," he stated.

 

“I don’t care,” I snapped, heat rushing to my face as humiliation morphed into anger. I couldn't look him in the eye.

 

I stole a glance and caught him staring at the glass in his hand.

 

I stooped to grab my torn dress, clutching the covers with one hand. "Nana will be worried."

 

"She isn't home," he scoffed, standing up and setting the glass down. The softness from earlier vanished. "Your grandmother collapsed. Neighbors found her in the street, calling for you. She's in the infirmary, but Nulls aren’t a priority for the healers, and they don’t work for free. Without care, she won't last a week."

 

“My grandmother isn't a Null! She has a wolf!”

 

“But her grandchild is.”

 

Tears stung my eyes. "What are you getting at?"

 

"I'm saying you're out of options. You are a Null in a pack that hates you. And I..." He paused, his jaw tightening as he looked me over. "I have a use for you."

 

My jaw dropped. "A use for me?" I repeated.

 

He nodded. Hot humiliation shot through me. Did he think I’d just keep warming his bed?

 

"Is that what you call it? You think you can call the shots because you're an elite and I'm a nobody?"

 

"I’m being practical," he said with chilling indifference. "I don't sugarcoat things."

 

"You’re a monster," I spat.

 

"Cut the tantrums," he growled. "Be reasonable. You have zero money and zero allies. I am throwing you a lifeline. Do you think a Null will find work anywhere else that pays enough to keep an old woman breathing?"

 

The sheer arrogance in his tone made my stomach churn, mostly because he hit the nail on the head.

 

"I might have let you take my virginity because of a drug," I whispered, trembling with shame, "but I'm not a cheap thrill, Lord Xander."

 

He turned his back like I wasn't worth the breath. I let the blanket drop and yanked on my torn dress. I didn't care if he watched.

 

"I wasn’t talking about sex," he said. "Be my assistant. Work for the medicine Nana needs. The ball is in your court."

 

I froze. Heat flooded my face, hot enough to burn. The embarrassment was so thick I felt like I was choking.

 

He hadn't been talking about my body; he meant an actual job.

 

It was almost a joke to think I was worth more than a one-night stand to a guy like Xander.

 

I actually thought he wanted me back in his bed, when all he wanted was a glorified secretary.

 

“No deal," I snapped, clinging to the last shred of my dignity. "I’ll find work. I'll hustle three jobs if I have to, but I won't be your assistant."

 

My words hit a brick wall of silence.

 

"Point me to the door. I'm out of here."

 

He gestured toward the door without turning around. "A guard is waiting to show you out. My offer stands. Come back whenever you're ready to face reality."

 

"When hell freezes over," I retorted, even though deep down, I knew the ugly truth. He was the only one who could help Nana, and I’d sell my soul to keep her alive.

 

~~XANDER MORTAIN~~

 

The silence was the greatest blessing I had experienced in decades.

 

For as long as I could remember, my head had never been this quiet. The simmering rage, the agonizing pain…. It had always been there, eating me alive.

 

But last night flipped the script. The second we slept together, the pain vanished. For the first time, I could actually breathe.

 

I had held her in my arms, soaking up the rare comfort her presence offered. As if that wasn’t enough, I crashed for six hours straight without a single nightmare.

 

But now, the peace was cracking. I watched her scramble for her torn dress, noticing the way her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she lashed out.

 

When she accused me of using her for a quick fix, annoyance flared in my chest.

 

That was a flat-out lie. It was pure survival. Only her presence offered the cure I desperately needed!

 

“No deal!” she had shouted, her attitude completely fiery.

 

My annoyance spiked. I just handed her a golden ticket to save her grandmother—the same “Nana” I’d tracked down this morning and pulled from the gutter—and she threw it in my face?

 

Most girls in this pack would kill for that kind of setup. Yet, she looked at me with pure loathing.

 

"When hell freezes over," she had snapped when I told her the door was always open.

 

The instant she walked out the door, the familiar ache stirred in my gut, a bitter reminder that my fleeting peace was over.

 

She thought she was off the hook.

 

I would let her walk. I’d let her learn the hard way just how brutal the world was to a Null. And when she realized she had zero options left, she would come crawling back.

 

And when she did, I’d make sure she never walked away again.