Defying the Rogue Alpha-Chapter 22: Appearance

It didn't work.

Ava had shopped until she literally dropped.

And yet—nothing.

She collapsed onto her bed and let out a muffled scream into her pillow. The audacity. The nerve. The complete lack of reaction.

Zari walked in with a small army of six others, dragging in an obscene amount of shopping bags.

Zari stopped, took one look at Ava's dramatic position, and let out a slow whistle. "So... that went well?"

Ava flipped onto her back and groaned. "He didn't come."

Zari snorted. "Of course he didn't. He's an Alpha, not your sugar daddy."

Ava grumbled and flopped back onto the bed.

She had planned this perfectly.

By the third shop, when she was buying a TV for her room, she was sure he would show up.

She had deliberately stared at the entrance. Waited. Checked the time. Hell, she had even bought a ridiculously overpriced coffee and sipped it obnoxiously slow just to buy more time for his dramatic entrance.

But did he come?

No.

Did he even send a warning message?

No.

Did he so much as acknowledge the fact that she had used his black card like a toddler with no impulse control?

No.

Ava grabbed the phone he had given her, half-hoping for an angry, rage-filled message.

Nothing.

Not even a passive-aggressive emoji.

This was unacceptable.

She needed a new plan.

"You catch more flies with honey, right?" she muttered, more to herself than anyone.

Zari, already half-buried in bags of luxury nonsense, peeked up. "What?"

Ignoring her, Ava quickly typed out a message:

I'm coming over tonight. No surprises.

She hit send and tossed the phone onto the bed with a satisfied smirk.

Let's see him ignore that.

*****

Lucas stared at his phone. Again.

He still hadn't responded. Not because he didn't want to, but because he was enjoying this way too much.

Breaking Ava was turning out to be more fun than expected. Sure, she was defiant, but that only made the game more interesting. And frankly, it was doing wonders for his self-control—or rather, what little of it he had left.

It wasn't that he couldn't have her. He could. Right now. However he wanted.

But where was the fun in that?

If she truly had ideas that could help him seize control of the Crimson Pack, then she was far more useful alive than maimed or dead.

So he ignored her message. Let her stew. Let her wait. Let her wonder.

But when she got her wolf?

Oh, then—then he'd claim her in a way that would leave her screaming his name for days.

She'd understand why they called him the Silver Pack Butcher.

Lucas exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair.

The worst part? He could still remember her scent that night, the way she smelled like temptation itself.

Except that shouldn't have been possible. Not without her wolf.

Which meant he was the one projecting it on her.

That realization sent an annoyed growl rippling through his chest. He had three concubines, for fuck's sake.

Three.

Yet here he was, acting like a starved, desperate man.

Pathetic.

Just as he was about to shove the thought from his mind, a knock came at the door.

"Alpha, Ava has arrived."

Lucas stilled. That little piece of shit.

Would she ever listen?

"I didn't summon her. Tell her to leave."

The guard bowed and turned to go, but Lucas sighed. "On second thought, let her in."

Why he changed his mind? No idea. But he wanted to see what ridiculous stunt she was pulling this time.

A few minutes later, she walked in looking like an actual dream.

Lucas exhaled through his nose. Of course.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

She had clearly put effort into this. Hair cascading down, walking toward him.

"I warned you not to visit my quarters without being invited," he said.

Ava said nothing.

She wasn't leaving. Not tonight.

Not until she got exactly what she wanted.

She shrugged off her robe, exposing her bare shoulders, and stepped closer.

Lucas kept his face blank, but internally, alarms were going off.

This was a setup. He knew it.

And yet... he couldn't look away.

Then she spoke.

"You will fuck me, Alpha Raventhorn. And you will fuck me tonight."

Lucas blinked.

He tilted his head, watching her. "Why do you want to be fucked so badly?"

She didn't hesitate.

"Because it's time I stopped feeling useless."

Lucas laughed. Actually laughed. A dark, low chuckle that filled the space between them.

"Oh, but you are useless, my little virgin." His voice was silk, but his words cut. "At least sexually. What am I to do with you?"

That should have deterred her.

It didn't.

Ava squared her shoulders and reached out, her fingers brushing his chest.

Lucas stilled. Fuck.

One touch and his control teetered dangerously.

She let her hand drift lower, slow, deliberate.

Lucas couldn't move.

Couldn't breathe.

Inches away from disaster—

His hand snapped around her wrist.

Her eyes narrowed.

"You will leave," he said, voice edged in warning. "And when you find your wolf, we can revisit this."

"No."

Her defiance was immediate, sharp. She wasn't backing down.

Lucas gritted his teeth. That damn mouth of hers.

"Ava, get your tiny self away from here right now, or—"

"Or what, Alpha?"

The challenge hung in the air between them.

Lucas's grip tightened.

*****

His wolf made a slight appearance at the challenge. His eyes glowed dangerously and what did she do, she smiled.

Was she mocking him?

Manic, Lucas's wolf fought for control to rip the little thing in front of him into little pieces from her inside out, she wouldn't walk out of that building on her own.

Lucas gave her one more chance to give up on this journey of self-harm. He grabbed her arms and tried to lead her out the door but she shoved him hard, making him lose his balance for a second.

Then he lost control. he grabbed her by the throat and pulled her back into him, his claws extending.

Then he smelled it again, that delicious mind numbing scent. With hands still around her throat, he kissed her. His growls, guttural as he poured his struggle into the kiss.

Ava moaned.

The little bitch moaned... when she should fear for her life. He tore her dress off her and twined his other arm around her waist, claws digging into her back, drawing blood.

Lucas had gotten to the point of no return. He roughly threw her on the sofa and pulled down his shorts.

"Open your mouth."

Ava was afraid, yes.

But was she going to stop? No.

She locked her eyes with his as he stood there, cock absolutely erect. She reached for it and guides it slowly into her mouth. He pushed forward and stilled basking in the glorious warmth of her tongue which flicked gently around its head.

Then he grabbed her hair in his hand, holding her in place and moved back and forth. She could barely take in a quarter of him but he didn't care. He sped up, abusing her mouth not caring that she was barely breathing.

His eyes flashed those wicked gold as he threw his head back. This was unbelievably good, the innocence of it, the amateurish way she tried to hold on, the glimpse of fear he caught in her eyes and the insane need to be stubborn. It drove him further into madness.

On the edge of explosion, he picked her up much like a rag doll and sat, positioning her on him, getting her ready for him to fill her.

In one yank down, the barriers in her gave way painfully. She screamed in a gut wrenching pain.

He turned her face to look at him, a wicked grin on his face. "I warned you."

He held her hip in place, the sheer strength of the grip drawing more blood. He tunneled into her repeatedly with the drive of a crazed man - a picture of the beast and the delicate beauty.

Lucas knew he should stop. He really should stop.

But the problem was—he didn't want to.

Ava was a storm, and he was caught in the middle of it, fighting between his primal instincts and his own damn sanity. She had pushed him, challenged him, mocked him. And now, there she was, above him, breaking apart and yet still glaring at him like she had something to prove.

His grip tightened on her hips, his claws threatening to extend again, but he forced himself to keep them at bay. Barely.

"Ava." His voice was rough, strained. A warning.

She was breathless, her body trembling, but her eyes—those defiant, reckless eyes—burned with something fierce. "What?"

His wolf rumbled, deep and insistent, pressing against his control. Say please, he urged. Beg. Manic would hand the reins over to him if she would just admit defeat.

"Beg." The word left his lips like a command.

Ava, predictably, did the exact opposite.

Her gaze flickered gold for a second, the briefest hint of something wild and familiar surfacing, and then she had the audacity to growl at him.

"Never."

Lucas froze.

His heart slammed against his ribs, his wolf howled in response, and for the first time in his entire life, he felt something close to awe.

That wasn't just defiance. That wasn't just stubbornness. That was—

Her wolf.

Something inside Ava was waking up, fighting to the surface, clawing its way into existence. And for all the control Lucas thought he had, for all the discipline and calculated patience he had mastered over the years, that tiny glimpse of gold in her eyes nearly broke him. they were familiar. He had seen that exact shade before. In the eyes of his own fated mate. The one who broke him.