Alpha's Secret Bride

He caught her wrist gently before she could walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"My sunglasses."

His gaze drifted toward the window. Darkness had already settled outside, leaving only the glow of the lights inside the room.

"It’s moonfall."

"I know." She kept her eyes on the floor. "I just... want to cover them."

Evan watched her in silence for a moment, then spoke quietly.

"The last time you wore those sunglasses, did they stop anyone from staring?"

She pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head.

"No."

"Did they stop people from whispering?"

She gave another small shake of her head.

"No."

He let go of her wrist and gave her shoulder a gentle pat.

"Then forget the sunglasses."

She finally looked up at him, her eyes searching his face.

"Let them stare," he said. "Let them whisper. Let them make you the hottest topic in town if that’s what they want. People always move on to the next story. Sooner or later, they’ll find something else to talk about."

For the first time that moonfall, the corner of her mouth twitched, though the smile never quite appeared.

She quietly followed him outside.

As they walked across the driveway, curtains shifted behind several windows. A few neighbors stood watching from inside their homes, pretending not to stare.

Lunara noticed them immediately. Her steps slowed.

Evan noticed too.

Without saying a word, he walked ahead, opened the passenger door, and waited.

After a brief hesitation, Lunara climbed into the car.

He closed the door behind her, walked around to the driver’s side, and started the engine.

Neither of them spoke as the car pulled away, leaving the silent street and the watching eyes behind.

They walked into one of the smallest restaurants in the neighborhood. The moment they stepped inside, conversations softened, and heads turned in their direction. By the time the hostess led them to a table, almost everyone in the restaurant had recognized Lunara. Some people stared openly while others leaned closer to whisper to the person beside them. A few even pulled out their devices, pretending to check messages while secretly taking pictures. Lunara kept her eyes on the menu resting in front of her. She had expected this, but knowing it would happen did nothing to make it easier.

Evan looked around the restaurant before picking up his spoon after their food arrived. Without saying a word, he scooped up a bite and held it in front of her. She frowned at him, unsure what game he was playing. When he simply raised an eyebrow and waited, she realized exactly what he was doing. If people wanted something to gossip about, he was going to give them a completely different story. She opened her mouth and let him feed her. The whispers around them grew louder almost immediately, and several devices were lifted a little higher. Lunara wasn’t hungry, but she forced herself to keep eating. If she refused now, people would only invent another story by moonrise. Either way, she already knew she would wake up to another round of headlines with her name splashed across them.

After dinner, Evan drove her home, parked in the driveway, and followed her inside without asking whether he should. Neither of them mentioned the reason. They both remembered how close they had come to making a terrible decision earlier that moonfall. Leaving her alone didn’t feel right, and deep down, she was relieved he hadn’t simply dropped her off and driven away.

They settled into the living chamber, switched on the vision hearth, and watched a documentary in comfortable silence. Neither paid much attention until the program unexpectedly cut to an old news segment covering Emma’s book-signing event. The camera followed Emma as she smiled at readers, signed copies of her novel, and thanked everyone who had come to support her. Lunara’s chest tightened. She lowered her eyes and quietly clasped her hands together. That was the same book she had ridiculed and turned into a public joke. Watching Emma celebrate a dream she had worked so hard to achieve only made the shame sitting inside her grow heavier.

Hours passed before a yawn escaped her. She rubbed her eyes, stretched her stiff shoulders, and slowly rose from the sofa. Her eyelids felt too heavy to keep open much longer.

"I’m going to bed," she said softly.

Evan leaned farther back on the couch, stretched out his legs, and rested one arm behind his head as though he had already made up his mind.

"I’ll sleep here tonight."

She stopped halfway to the hallway and turned around.

"What? No. You can’t stay here overnight."

"We almost killed ourselves today," he replied calmly. "I don’t trust either of us to be alone tonight, and I doubt you trust me any more than I trust you."

She opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. Instead, she let out a long breath and looked away.

"The guest chamber has a vision hearth," she said at last. "You can stay there and keep watching the documentary if you want."

A faint smile crossed Evan’s face as he got to his feet. He followed her down the hallway without another word. When they reached the guest chamber, Lunara switched on the lights, opened the wardrobe, and handed him a clean towel before pointing toward the bathchamber.

"Everything you’ll need is in there," she said. "If you need anything else, my chamber is across the hall."

Evan accepted the towel with a quiet nod. "Thanks."

She returned the nod, stepped out of the chamber, and gently closed the door behind her. Only after she heard the bathchamber door shut did she continue to her own bedchamber, where the silence waiting for her felt much louder than the voices they had left behind.

After taking a warm bath, she changed into her nightclothes and slipped beneath the covers. She pulled the blanket up to her chest and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would come quickly. It didn’t. She turned onto one side, then the other, staring at the ceiling each time she gave up trying. The chamber felt too quiet. Too empty. More than anything, she wished her mother were still alive. Just hearing her voice for a few minutes would have been enough to make the moonfall feel a little less heavy.

Her device lit up on the bedside table with a soft chime.

She glanced at it, then looked away and fixed her eyes on the wall across the chamber. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. The silence returned until another notification broke it a few minutes later. This time, she reached for the device, unlocked the screen, and saw Evan’s name.

You okay?

She stared at the message for a moment before replying with nothing but a crying emoji.

His response came almost immediately.

"You’re not allowed to feel lonely while I’m under the same roof. Come here."

For the first time that moonfall, a faint smile touched her lips.

She climbed out of bed, slipped on her slippers, and quietly walked across the hallway to the guest chamber. She knocked once before slowly pushing the door open.

The chamber was dark. She reached for the switch and put the lights on. Evan, who was lying on his stomach unclad, lifted his head.

He gestured to her to join him, but she hesitated. She had made a lot of mistakes in her life and she was not ready to make another mistake.

"Oh, I forgot you didn’t come with extra clothes. I’ll get you something to wear," she said, and turned to leave the bedchamber.

"I sleep naked," he said.

"I’ll go then."

"Just switch the light off. You won’t see me," he said. She switched the light off and joined him. His scent was quite intoxicating and she began to desire him.

He took a deep breath and pulled her closer to his body. He put his strong arms around her waist and she felt a bit relaxed but still wanted him. He noticed and grinned.

"I can make you come without fucking you or touching you."

"How would you do that?" She turned around and asked.

"Just whispering into your ear," he whispered seductively into her ear. She almost lost her breath. No one had ever done that to her.

"Do you want me to try?" He whispered again. She nodded. She was so ashamed to say yes. He got down from the bed and put the light on. He turned her around and began to undress her.

"You said you wouldn’t touch me."

"Look at me," he said. She looked at him and slowly moved her eyes down to his hard body.

"What are you thinking right now?" He asked.

"Nothing," she smiled and shook her head.

"Be honest," Evan said.

"I’m imagining how this hardness would feel inside me," she replied. She felt a twinge of a contraction inside her cunt as soon as she said that.

"Good, keep looking at it. Do not take your eyes away. Allow your imagination to run wild," he said, staring seductively at her boobs.

"These round and soft boobs were meant to be sucked. Can you imagine how excited they would be to have a hard cock in between them?" He whispered again into her ear. Her body continued pulsating heavily. Her boobs demanded a hard cock in between them. Her nipples grew hard from his seductive voice. She almost begged him to come into her and she knew she must surely regret it when everything was over.

She sat on the edge of the bed, her hands clenched in her lap.

One memory after another crept into her mind. Every wrong choice. Every moment she wished she could take back. She shut her eyes and pressed her lips together, but the memories refused to leave.

Then another thought hit her.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head. "I won’t make this mistake."

She pushed herself to her feet, grabbed the first outfit she could find, and pulled it on with trembling hands. A moment later, she rushed out of the chamber without looking back.