Raven's POV:
Lucian's gaze lingered on me for what felt like an eternity. The air between us grew thicker, more suffocating. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him, even though every cell in my body screamed at me to look away. His eyes were sharp—cold, calculating, like he was trying to dissect me from the inside out.
And then, just when I thought things couldn't get worse, he did the unthinkable.
Lucian Blackhart, the walking embodiment of arrogance, removed his t-shirt.
What the hell?
I froze, my entire body locked in place as my mind tried to process what was happening. This was… not what I had expected. My first instinct was to look away, but my eyes betrayed me, drawn to him against my will.
He was shirtless.
Okay, okay—work with me here. All my life, I've been locked up. No socializing, no real contact with any males except my father and the jerk of a stepbrother Mark. And no, before you even ask, I have not seen them naked. Not once. So, Lucian—Lucian Blackhart—undressing right in front of me?
It was the first time I had ever seen a shirtless guy.
And I certainly hadn't seen a guy who looked like Lucian Blackhart. His chest was sculpted, muscles rippling beneath his pale skin. A few scars here and there that only added to his tough, untouchable image. The way his body was built... it was as though he was carved from stone. I couldn't look away. I couldn't move. Every part of my body was locked in place. He looked like some kind of god carved from stone. My brain short-circuited as I tried to look away, but my eyes kept betraying me, glued to him against my will.
Oh, jeez.
I had no idea what was happening to my body. It was like something inside me was waking up. Was it my wolf? But that couldn't be right, could it? She had never stirred—not once in my entire life. Not even on my eighteenth birthday when I thought she might finally make her presence known. So, no way could it be that I was reacting to a stupid naked alpha. I couldn't be. Could I?
The heat in my cheeks was unbearable, and my heart started racing faster than I could process. My body was betraying me in the worst possible way. Was it the proximity to his nakedness, or something else? My wolf—if I even had one—had never responded to me before, but now there was this intense pull, this sensation I couldn't explain, and it was all because of him.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
I had always been told that I was nothing but an omega, that I didn't fit in with the rest of the pack, especially alphas like Lucian was this my omega side reacting because of alpha power lucian was emitting. But standing there, watching him shed his shirt like it was no big deal, everything inside me felt off in a way I couldn't explain. It was confusing. It was overwhelming.
I tried to shake it off. This is Lucian Blackhart. He's an arrogant, cruel alpha, and I hate him. But the more I tried to convince myself, the harder it was to ignore what was bubbling beneath the surface.
No. No way was this about him. It couldn't be. It had to be something else. Something wrong with me.
But as he stood there—shirtless, towering over me with that cold, detached expression—I couldn't help but feel… something. Something I didn't want, didn't ask for, but couldn't push away.
And that thought terrified me.
Then came the strangest feeling—a weird, electric pull that tingled across my skin. My heart skipped a beat. I felt a warmth spread across my chest, the kind that made me flush and fidget. Something stirred deep inside me, like a sleeping beast waking up for the first time.
My wolf? No, it couldn't be.
But still… something was changing inside me. Could it be because I was standing so close to a naked alpha? Was this what it felt like? Was this… my wolf?
No. I shook my head, trying to snap out of it. This was just the effect of being close to a guy like Lucian. It had to be.
"Stop drooling, Blackwood. It's disgusting."
The sound of his voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I blinked, realizing I had been staring at him like an idiot. My face flushed with embarrassment, the heat spreading from my cheeks to the tips of my ears. The words came out in that same biting, mocking tone, and I wanted to crawl into the nearest hole and never come out. Was I actually drooling? Was I that obvious? Was I really reacting like some hormonal idiot omega in front of this cold, arrogant alpha?
Before I could even process what had just happened, Lucian tossed his sweaty, smelly t-shirt on top of my head.
My mind went blank. The fabric of his shirt was still warm from his body, and I could feel the weight of it on my head as though he had just thrown a pile of garbage on me. I stood there, frozen, as Lucian gave me one last dismissive glance and walked off without a care in the world.
What the actual hell?
I couldn't believe it. He treated me like some filthy animal, like I was beneath him. Like I was something to be discarded, to be ignored. But I didn't even have a chance to protest, to tell him off, because the shock of it all had left me speechless.
I stood there for a long moment, just... standing there, with his stinking shirt on my head like I was his personal trashcan. His scent lingered in the air, mixed with the sharp tang of sweat and the faintest trace of something colder.
Did he really think I was that worthless? That small?
I wanted to rip the shirt off my head, throw it back at him, and scream at him to go to hell. But I couldn't. I didn't have the courage. I felt too… weak. So instead, I just stood there, my hands trembling as I pulled the shirt off and stared at it, my mind spinning with a thousand thoughts.
But one thing was clear: I hated him. I hated the way he treated me. The way he looked at me like I wasn't even worth his time.