RILEY'S POV
"You are a shame to this Pack, Riley Cooper." Alpha Nate's gruff tone, cold eyes searching my feeble frame made it clear this man didn't want me. Why humiliate me? "You don't want me. Why bother?" I dared not talk back to the Alpha of the southern territories, but not when I was on the brink of death. Stripped and bruised to the floor with nothing but a ripped brown dress and the ache in my soul to be freed from all this. "Why don't you just kill me?" I spat the blood in my mouth to the floor, pinning my gaze to the floor, not daring to look at Alpha Nate in his beautiful dark eyes. His commanders looked quite impatient, glancing at their wristwatches now and then with heavy sighs as though waiting for someone to meet them at the Pack borders. "I still think we should give her at least a last chance..." "Oh fuck it Lance," Nate snapped at his second in command, "This whore is plainly an impostor. She has no roots whatsoever to the Wyel bloodline..." He went abruptly silent, tossed his Cuban cigarette to the floor, stepped on it before taking large strides toward me. Nate took a fistful of my pecan hair yanking me to my feet. The pain it caused, inexplicable. "Did you offer the goddess some sacrifices just to get fated to me?" What? No! I fought to say but my body fought to overcome the pain his grasp rendered to me. "Fifty million dollars is what I'm making off of your goddamn head, you try to act smart then I'm not going to hesitate to send a silver bullet through your fuckin' head." "What if the Northerners realize we've fooled them?" Beta Lance tried to reason, "We lied she's a listener, it's why they're buying her but this runt has no wolf." "We didn't lie, Lance, the test results don't lie," a sly grin tugged the edges of Gamma Dane's lips, "The Northerners get to run preliminary tests. They have what they pay for, just that she'll never play the role because she has no wolf." "She becomes their headache." Nate chuckled amusedly. The Northern territories were known for their malevolence, cruelty, and barbarism. There certainly was no way the commanders of my Pack were heartless enough to want me off with them. This had to be another punishment. Nate hated to think I was fated to him. The hate and resentment I received from HornSide Pack members seemed to double the second they realized their Alpha had rejected me a few months ago. The moon goddess never missed a beat to be funny. How in the hell did she expect an ugly and unworthy runt to be accepted by this handsome and strong Alpha? And everyone thought the goddess was smart. The shiny cars zooming towards us at the border brought a sheer sense of accomplishment perceptible in Alpha Nate's bright eyes and broad grin. The commanders of the HornSide pack took on a more defensive stance, their hands surreptitiously on the concealed Glocks clipped to their waistband, with their jackets over it. My heart thumped wildly. Unsure of what was going on, with Nate's grip on my hair hardening, threatening to rip off my scalp. They waited until the two trucks came to a halt before them and three young men, not any older than Nate and his commander, came out of the car. The blazing sun highlights blinded my blurry vision making the approaching men appear like a perfect silhouette of three cowboys. Their hats, boots, and scarf gave an air of trouble around them. My eyes dropped on the duffle bags in their possession as they edged closer, standing right before us. "Prince Norman wants the girl." The man in the middle announced. His accent is quite sexy. "You have her," Nate tugged my hair painfully making me fight to break free. If I could escape this second then my freedom was guaranteed. But who was I kidding? "The money?" Nate asked, greed heavy in his tone. The guy with the duffle bags tossed them with great throws and they landed at our feet with a loud thud. Taking wary steps, Gamma Dane approached the Goyard duffle bags. He leaned slightly over to confirm the contents of the bags. He nodded to Nate and hoisted the bags with so much money in them one after the other to their car. The whistle from the man in the middle had Nate shoving me in their direction. They caught me. Before I could react, silver cuffs and chains to my neck seized and rendered me weak. "My regards to the Prince." Was all I heard Nate say before these men bundled me into one of their waiting cars. Whatever they were going to do me was up to the Goddess to decide. The phone in the car rang and chimed loudly in my ears but none of them cared to answer it. "Please don't hurt me." I sobbed in the backseat of the car, my heart thrashing erratically. "Just go to sleep, come morning light, you'll be safe and sound." Safe and sound? What the heck did that even mean? I glanced back to see if Nate and his commanders had a change of heart if they were coming for me. Every bit of hope in me dissolved as I saw their cars disappear from my vision in the opposite direction. They didn't care. They had quite a lot of money and they couldn't risk trouble with the Northern territories. Prince Norman wanted me? Whatever for? I knew who Prince Norman Edelman, son of the Lycan High King was. A brute and cruel ruler. This deception from Nate and his team was only going to cost me my life. They absolutely were going to pay back every bit of the money they just got because the Prince wanted a Listener. I came from the Wyel bloodline, a bloodline with extraordinary hearing humanoid ability. But I was wolfless and giftless but Prince Norman wanted me.Norman's POV “We head to the Pack hall,” I told the driver immediately as I settled into the car.The council of elders sent a notice for me to appear in the hall yesterday. I didn't know what they wanted to discuss, but I knew it had to be a serious issue.My bet was on Riley—they’d probably want to remind me of the need to discard her. If that was indeed what they wanted to discuss, I'd really prefer to sip a hot drink even on a hot Tuesday afternoon. None of their words could convince me from going back on settling with Riley.About fifteen minutes later, the car eased into the driveway of the large packing space of the pack hall. Glancing at my watch, I was right on time. The huge doors of the antiquated building were ajar. That could only mean one thing, the elders have already arrived.“Hang around,” I turned to Adrian, “Chadwick would be here in a few minutes, I need to meet some investors after this meeting.”“Yes Prince,” Adrian nodded, curtseying a little.I walked in huge
Kirk's POV The dim, smoky atmosphere of The Green Dragon was my usual refuge, a haven of shadows and hushed conversations. Peter sat across from me, his usual smirk playing on his lips, a stark contrast to the knot of anxiety twisting in my gut. Riley. She knew. She knew about the club, about the drug, about my pathetic attempt to manipulate her wolf. The thought sent a cold shiver down my spine. It was a chilling realization, a threat I hadn't anticipated."She's onto me, Peter," I said, my voice low, laced with a frustration that bordered on panic. "She knows about the club. She knows what I did."Peter leaned back, taking a slow sip from his drink. His nonchalant demeanor was infuriating, yet strangely reassuring. He always had a plan, a solution to every problem. He was the architect of my schemes, the mastermind behind my manipulations.“Relax, Kirk,” Peter said, his voice calm and steady, a stark contrast to the turmoil within me. “She’s just one woman. We can handle her.” He p
Riley's POV The flickering light cast long shadows across the living room as I stepped out of my room, the silk of my nightdress whispering against my skin. Norman stood by the window, his back to me, his silhouette stark against the city lights. His posture was tense, his shoulders rigid, a stark contrast to his usual controlled composure. He looked… worried. Or was it just my imagination, fueled by days of his cold silence?As the light fully illuminated him, I saw a flicker of something in his eyes – relief? He turned, his expression carefully neutral, but I saw it. That brief, almost imperceptible flash of worry before he composed himself. A subtle shift in his shoulders, a barely perceptible softening of his jaw. He was trying to hide it, to maintain his usual facade of impenetrable calm, but I knew him too well. That brief glimpse of concern, before he regained control of his expression, confirmed what I'd been desperately hoping for. He still cared.I took a deep breath, my he
Norman's POV The city lights blurred outside the window, their vibrant glow a stark contrast to the chilling update I was receiving from my private investigator. Kane’s accident. It hadn't been an accident at all.“The plate number, sir,” the private investigator said, his voice low and professional, “came back registered to a certain Peter Jones.” He slid a file across the desk, the crisp paper a jarring sound in the quiet room. Inside, a photograph. A man, mid-twenties, sharp features, a smirk playing on his lips. The smirk felt familiar, yet I couldn't quite place it.“I don’t recognize him,” I admitted, my brow furrowed in concentration. I scanned the photograph again, my eyes lingering on the man's confident posture and knowing smirk. I had a strange feeling that I knew him from somewhere.“I traced him to a bar across town,” the investigator continued, “The Green Dragon. He was there the night of the accident.”The Green Dragon. The name sparked a memory, a flicker of recogniti
Riley's POV The silence in the mansion was heavy, a suffocating blanket woven from Norman’s icy anger and my own gnawing guilt. Days had passed since his eruption, since the confession of my confusing attraction to Kirk. I had tried, repeatedly, to seek his forgiveness, to explain the turmoil within me, the involuntary nature of my wolf’s response to Kirk’s presence. But he refused to listen, refused to acknowledge me, refused to see anything beyond his own wounded pride and sense of betrayal. He shut me out completely, his cold silence a more potent punishment than any physical one.His anger, I realized, wasn't just about the wolf. It was about Kirk. About the fact that my wolf, against my will, had responded so strongly to another man, a man he considered to be lesser than him. The very idea seemed to enrage him more than the fact that I'd hidden the existence of my wolf. It was an assault on his ego, a disregard of his authority and control.The thought stung. It was true that I
Norman's POV The mahogany desk felt cool beneath my fingertips, a familiar comfort in the chaos brewing within me. Natural daylight streamed through the glass of my office window, a stark contrast to the storm gathering inside. Damon stood before me seething with fury that would have sent a chill across any other person, but not me. I knew him to be a dangerous man, even when calm, and now, unleashed, maybe he was a force to reckon with.“You think you’re so clever, Norman,” he spat, his voice sounding venomous. “So cunning. Manipulating Riley, making Walker induce her to awaken her wolf, ensuring it only recognizes you as her mate.”My brow furrowed. Damon’s accusations were absurd, and felt almost comical. But the rage in his eyes was genuine, undeniable. He wasn’t throwing a joke; he was genuinely enraged. This was… unexpected.“Damon,” I began, my voice calm, controlled, a stark contrast to his outburst. “What are you talking about?” I tried to keep my tone even, to maintain the