Chapter: 11She offered me a wide, crimson-stained grin while Mason murmured something low against her ear. I managed a hesitant curve of my lips in return, which earned me a wink and a blown kiss.Her energy was like a physical hum in the room. Despite the chaos, I found it impossible to dislike her."Who is she?" I whispered, unable to look away."Sierra Aldridge," Julian said, his tone laced with a specific kind of weariness. "My brother’s favored... distraction. One of many, though she’s lasted longer than most."Sierra finished her morning ritual with Mason and sauntered toward our table on her way out."This little wildflower must be Rowan," she said, her voice dropping into a sultry, melodic purr. She didn't have a human accent, but she spoke with a rhythmic confidence that made her seem larger than the room."It’s... a pleasure," I said."Oh, darling," she said, wrinkling her nose at me. "I’ve heard the legends already. The High Alpha over there spilled every secret," she added, jerkily n
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-03-19
Chapter: 10"Like each other? Julian, you like—""Quiet!" He threw his hand out, eyes darting to the heavy oak door with a flash of genuine anxiety. "Rowan, be careful. The walls in the Cross Estate have ears, and my brother’s are the sharpest."I looked at the door, my skin crawling. "He bugs the guest suites?""He doesn't need tech. He has Enforcers and his own instincts," Julian murmured. He turned back to me, his expression softening. "Are you furious with me?"I exhaled, sitting up on the silk duvet. My first love had been a lie, a shield he used to hide his true nature from a hyper-masculine Syndicate. Now, he was asking me to step back into the cage."I'm not mad, Julian," I said softly. "I’m just... tired. I want a mate who chooses me. Not an Alpha who claims me because our fathers signed a blood-treaty twenty years ago. And certainly not someone who—"He winced, and I bit back the rest."—someone who isn't wired to want me," I finished.He sat on the edge of the bed, tentatively reaching
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-03-19
Chapter: 9A sharp rap on the oak followed. "Time to go, little wolf," the woman said, giving me a firm nudge toward the hallway.I didn't even know her name, but I nodded as a massive Enforcer fell into step beside me, guiding me down the cold stone stairs of the Cross Estate. My heart was a frantic bird against my ribs. When we reached the main floor, he swung open the double doors to a sun-drenched parlor.I was the final piece of the puzzle."Rowan!" Harper gasped. My eyes locked onto hers. She was huddled on a low leather sofa, her party dress shredded at the hem, mascara tracking dark canyons down her cheeks.I started toward her, but a sharp, warning cough from Mason—standing by the hearth like a shadow made flesh—stopped me cold. I centered my weight, remembering the script. This was the only way they walked out of here alive.I looked from my sister to Samuel, who sat rigid beside her."Rowan," Samuel breathed, his eyes taking in the blood-red silk, the polished skin, the heir I had bec
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-03-19
Chapter: 8My mother’s face in my mind was always a blur of laughter and copper hair just like mine. How could that woman—the one who tucked me in with stories of old forests—be the mistress of a Syndicate shark?"This is... mine?" I rasped, taking the parchment from Mason’s hand.The clinical black ink was a death warrant for my old life. Subject A: Rowan Blake. Subject B: Victor Aldridge. Match: 99.9%. Paternity Confirmed."You're lucky I'm the one who tracked you," Mason said, his arms folding over his massive chest, the fabric of his shirt straining against his shoulders.I looked up, a bitter laugh bubbling in my throat. "Lucky? To be hunted in a den, tossed over an Enforcer's shoulder, and bled like a lab rat? You have a twisted definition of luck, Cross."A ghost of a smirk twitched at his mouth. He didn't deny it."Information is the only currency that matters, Rowan," he continued. "If a scavenger like Dean had sniffed this out, he wouldn't be giving you a room with a view. He’d be mail
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-03-19
Chapter: 7The sting at my fingertip snapped me back to the surface. I lurched, my arm jerking away from the phantom pressure."Easy now," a woman’s voice murmured, receding into the background. "It’s over."Then, a lower vibration—a voice that sat like iron in my gut. I knew that resonance. I’d heard it in the silver-lined echoes of the Unit."...straight to the specialists. I want a high-speed sequence. Run it against the Northern bloodlines. Every single one."I groaned, my head thumping as I forced my eyes open. I wasn't in a cell. The room was vast, filled with the scent of expensive cedar and the distant, rhythmic roar of the Pacific. I was sprawled on a velvet chaise lounge, still trapped in that shimmering silver rag Harper had put me in, but someone had draped a heavy, white button-down over my shoulders. It smelled of woodsmoke and salt.My finger throbbed. I looked down. A small bandage was wrapped around the tip.The memory hit me in a jagged flash: a needle, a vial, and Mason Cross
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-03-19
Chapter: CHAPTER 6"Grab her," Mason barked.Nikolai, his Enforcer, didn't hesitate. He stepped into the strobe lights, snatched me by the waist, and heaved me over his shoulder like a kill from a hunt."Let go! What the hell? Mason!" I thrashed, my fists drumming against Nikolai’s back. My silver silk dress rode up, exposing the pale skin of my thighs to the crowded club. "Please! My sister!"Mason didn't even look back. He carved a path through the sea of shifters, his presence so suffocating the crowd parted like a wounded beast. Nikolai gave me a sharp, bone-rattling shake. The air left my lungs in a pathetic whimper. I went still, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his shoulder blades.Not a single soul moved to stop the King of the West Coast from dragging a female out into the salt-thick night.His black SUV sat idling at the curb. Nikolai tossed me into the leather interior—hard—and slammed the door. The locks engaged with a heavy, metallic snick. Mason rounded the hood, his movements f
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-03-12
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