Masuk"I’m serious, Brooke. I’ve been your friend for ages, and there was a time I actually thought I had feelings for you, but now you just terrify me. You’re acting like a rogue wolf with no leash."Brooke went silent on the other end, her breathing ragged. "What did you just say to me?""Nothing that isn’t the truth. I have to go. I’m occupied with something more important than your vanity."I ended the call and tossed the phone onto the velvet cushion beside me. I ignored the immediate barrage of follow-up pings. My focus was on the small boy sitting across from me, methodically working through a plate of breakfast sliders while watching me with those piercing, analytical gold eyes."Was that your mate?" Langston asked, his voice startlingly mature for a pup."Moon, no. Just a delusional woman who thinks she has a claim to be your step-parent. She isn’t even part of the inner circle, no matter what she tells the lawyers."Meanwhile, back in the quiet sanctuary of Havencrest, Silverwood,
"What did you just mutter, Alpha?"Kevin’s voice crackled through the comms, barely audible over the roar of the wind hitting the balcony of the Pacific Crest Resort. I shook my head, my eyes fixed on the distant outline of the Silverwood canopy."It was nothing, Kevin. Just get some rest. We move at dawn."I cut the link and threw the phone onto the bed. My mind was a chaotic storm of scent and silver. Sleep was a physical impossibility now. Every instinct in my wolf was screaming at me to reach the Walker Enterprises Tower, to see if this child was a haunting coincidence or a blood reality that changed everything I knew about my past.Jeffrey, for all his flaws, was an obedient sentry when it came to direct Alpha orders. He’d cleared the office and ushered the pup toward a secure wing of the city’s high-end lodging."So, Grant Walker really is your sire, huh?"Jeffrey patted the boy’s head as they walked toward the hotel entrance. Langston looked up, his eyes blinking with a sharp,
Grant, for the love of the moon, look at your screen! I’ve been howling at your line for an hour!"I stared at the device in my hand, watching Jeffrey’s messages flood the interface. We were in a high-tier suite at the Pacific Crest Resort, and the silence of the Silverwood was being shattered by the frantic vibration of my phone.[Where have you shifted to? Answer me, Grant!][Look, you have a pup at the Tower. He’s sitting in your chair, and he’s claiming to be your blood! A literal heir just walked through the front gates!][Well, well. Look who’s been marking territory in secret. You better have an explanation for this when you get back!]A son?I felt my brow knit together in a sharp line of irritation. Jeffrey’s sense of humor had always been erratic, but this was crossing a line. In my entire life, there had only ever been one wolf I had shared a bed with—Mars Reed. There was no mathematical or biological possibility of an illegitimate pup.I was about to delete the thread when
"Grant Walker and Kevin might as well be the true guardians of the Reed Walker Twins at this point. They show more raw dedication to those pups than even their own mother can manage from across the territory. If there’s anyone to blame for this disaster, it’s Mars. He hasn’t paid enough attention to them. He hasn’t spent nearly enough time in their presence. That’s exactly what drove a boy like Langston to vanish into the night.""Jessa, stop the lecture. I'm already drowning in self-reproach. Just tell me Kenneth is making progress.""Kenneth is determined, Mars. He won't stop until Langston is back in the pack. But you need to keep your head on straight."I gripped the phone until my knuckles turned white. I didn't switch it off, even as the flight crew began the final safety checks at the Pacific Crest terminal. I watched the signal bars dwindle, desperation clawing at my throat. Just before the connection died, I refreshed every feed, looking for any trace of a small boy with gold
"Are you certain the Legal Department is so devoid of tasks that you have time to track my every heartbeat?"I didn't even look up from the terminal as Brooke Caldwell’s shadow fell across my desk. It had been forty-eight hours since I had seen Grant Walker in the halls of the Tower. For a wolf whose entire identity was forged in the fires of his work, his absence wasn't just a curiosity—it was a vacuum."I am merely ensuring the West Coast interest remains protected," Brooke replied, her voice like polished silver over a whetstone. "If the CEO is neither at the Ridge Estate nor in his office, one wonders which stray has caught his eye.""Your concern smells like desperation, Brooke," I muttered, finally shifting my gaze to the polished menace standing before me.She had called Grant a dozen times. He had ignored every single one. Eventually, her frustration had led her to me. As the corporate elder and his most trusted advisor, I was the only one who might know where the Alpha had va
"Do you understand him at all, Lang?""I do," Victor countered, his voice steady despite the Alpha pressure radiating from the man in front of him. "Tell me, Grant, what man doesn't crave to be truly seen? When Mars goes out, I’m the one willing to wait for him at the base of the ridge just to ensure he's safe. I bet you haven't done that once in four years, right?"In Victor’s eyes, Grant Walker was a titan of industry, a wolf forever buried under a mountain of pack ledgers and territorial disputes. How could a man like that ever spare the hours required to simply be present?What Victor failed to realize was that Grant would burn his entire legacy to the ground, cancel every Council summit, and sacrifice his own sleep just to ensure Mars had a moment of peace. Even now, he had moved his entire base of operations to a hidden link just to stay within scent-range of Havencrest."He won't choose you," Grant said, his gold eyes piercing through Victor's posturing. "You’re just another wo
I knew the depth of the shadow my father had cast over my mother’s soul.Did I carry my own scars? You bet I did. My father hadn't just left; he had systematically bled our family dry, shifting our pack assets into hidden accounts and using psychological warfare to push my mother toward a breaking
When Grant emerged from his quarters, he had shed his formal Alpha regalia for a casual white tunic and loose trousers. The change was startling; he looked years younger, like a high-ranking initiate ready to blow off steam on the training grounds.I, however, was busy calculating my escape. Being
I propped myself up on my elbows, staring at him. "You’re saying I’m moving into the Ridge? Permanently?""Is there a dispute?" he asked, his voice level.There was a massive dispute. Moving in meant our lives would be completely entwined. Every time I finished a rotation at the Walker Enterprises
"I’m serious about this, Grant," I said, unable to mask the hunger in my voice. "Team 3 took a massive hit after the Westline Holdings disaster this cycle. Our end-of-year tributes and bonuses are basically non-existent. I see the SinoSuccess lands as our only path to redemption, and I want to be t







