Kidnapped

Chapter 5

He looked like a ghost. Not the scary kind, but the pathetic, fading kind.

Lucas stood in the doorway of my office, clutching a fedora that had seen better days. His blonde hair was dull, his shoulders slumped under a jacket that was slightly too big for him. He had lost weight. The vibrant, arrogant Alpha Heir who had sneered at me in the ballroom six years ago was gone.

In his place was a man drowning.

He took a hesitant step onto the plush white rug, looking around the room as if he had stepped onto an alien planet. His eyes landed on the Picasso on the wall, then the skyline view, and finally, me.

He blinked.

"I’m looking for Dr. Vale," he said, his voice raspy. "The Viper."

I didn't stand up. I didn't smile. I just watched him over the rim of my cup.

"You found her."

Lucas frowned, squinting at me. He took another step closer, and then he froze. His nostrils flared, trying to catch a scent, but I was wearing heavy blockers. To him, I smelled like nothing but expensive perfume.

But he recognized the eyes.

"Aria?" he breathed, the color draining from his face. "Aria... is that you?"

"It’s Dr. Vale to you, Lucas," I said, setting the cup down. "You’re tracking mud on my carpet."

He looked down at his boots, then back at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"You... you’re alive," he stammered. "We thought... Henderson said you ran into the Dead Lands. We thought the cold took you."

"Henderson was half-right," I said coolly. "Aria did die in the snow. I’m just the ghost she left behind." I leaned back in my leather chair, crossing my legs. "You have five minutes, Alpha Miller. My time is billed at ten thousand dollars a minute. I suggest you start talking."

Lucas flinched. The casual mention of money hit a nerve. Rumor had it the Silver Moon Pack was millions in debt.

"Aria, please," he said, walking to the chair opposite my desk but not sitting. He gripped the back of it, his knuckles white. "I didn't come here to fight. I came because I’m desperate. I’ve been to every healer, every witch, every hospital on the East Coast. No one can help her."

"Help who?" I asked, though I already knew.

"Chloe," he choked out. "She’s... she’s rotting, Aria. It started a year ago. A black spot on her chest. Now it’s spreading. Her skin is turning necrotic. The smell... it’s unbearable. She’s in agony every second of the day."

A dark satisfaction curled in my gut. Necrotic Rot. It wasn't a disease. It was a rejection. Chloe had used dark magic to steal my Wolf Spirit six years ago, I was sure of it now. But a stolen wolf couldn't live in a host it didn't choose. It was trying to escape, eating its way out of her body.

"And you want me to save her," I stated flatly.

"I heard about The Viper. They say you can knit flesh with a touch. That you can reverse death."

He rounded the desk, falling to his knees beside my chair. He reached for my hand.

"Aria, please. I know... I know I hurt you. I was young. I was stupid. I had to think of the pack."

I pulled my hand away before he could touch my glove.

"You didn't just hurt me, Lucas. You dragged me out by my hair. You threw me into the ice while I was carrying your child."

"Are you still going to stick to that? You and I both know it's a lie. You were never pregnant."

"Really?"

"Of course. I know I treated you bad and I regret my actions every day," He said, looking up with wet eyes. "Look at you, Aria. You’re stunning. You’re powerful. If I had known you had this magic... if I had known you would become THIS..."

"You would have kept me?" I finished for him. "Like an asset? A stock option that paid off?"

I stood up, towering over him in my stilettos.

"Get up, Lucas. You’re embarrassing yourself."

He scrambled to his feet, wiping his face. "Will you help her? Please. For old times' sake. For our love."

I walked to the window, looking out at the city lights.

"My consultation f*e for non-Syndicate members is five million dollars," I said to the glass.

I heard Lucas gasp. "Five... I don't have that kind of liquidity, Aria. The pack is..."

"Bankrupt?" I turned around, raising an eyebrow. "I know. I own your debt, Lucas. Who do you think bought the mortgage on your Pack House last month?"

His jaw dropped. "You?"

"Me." I walked back to him, stopping inches from his chest. I could smell his fear. It was intoxicating. "So, here is the deal. You can’t pay me in cash. But you have something I want."

"Anything," he breathed. "Name it."

"I will perform the surgery on Chloe," I said. "I will stop the rot. But in exchange... I want your title."

Lucas froze. "What?"

"I want the Alpha command," I said, my voice hard as diamond. "I want you to sign over the Silver Moon Pack to me. You will abdicate. Chloe will be stripped of her Luna status. And I will return as the Alpha Queen of the territory that threw me out."

"I... I can't," Lucas whispered, horrified. "It’s my birthright. The pack will never follow a Wolfless leader."

"Then Chloe dies," I said, shrugging. "And looking at you, Lucas, you’ll be joining her in the poorhouse soon enough. It’s your choice. The crown... or the girl?"

Lucas stared at me, trembling. He looked at my cold blue eyes, realizing there was no mercy left in me. He opened his mouth to speak, to beg, to bargain.

CRASH!!

The sound was deafening.

The floor-to-ceiling glass window behind my desk, a reinforced, bulletproof glass, didn't just break. It exploded inward.

Shards of glass rained down like jagged hail. The force of the blast threw Lucas across the room, slamming him into the far wall.

I threw my arms up, shielding my face, bracing myself against the heavy marble desk.

Wind whipped through the office, scattering papers and money. The alarms blared.

Through the cloud of dust and debris, a silhouette stepped through the broken window.

He was massive. At least six-foot-five, clad in black armor that emphasized the terrifying width of his shoulders. He looked like a god of war descending from the sky.

He walked into the room, his boots crunching on the glass.

Lucas groaned from the corner, trying to stand up. "Who... who are you?"

The intruder didn't even look at Lucas. He lifted a heavy, booted foot and kicked Lucas in the chest, sending him crashing back into the drywall with a sickening crack.

The man turned his gaze to me.

His eyes were glowing. Not the yellow of a normal wolf. Not the blue of an Alpha.

They were Red. The color of fresh blood. The sign of a Lycan King.

He stalked toward me, the predator closing in on its prey.

"Dr. Vale," he growled, his voice a deep rumble that vibrated in my chest.

I stood my ground, though every instinct in my body screamed Run.

"You broke my window," I said, my voice steady. "That’s going on your bill."

The Lycan smirked. It was a terrifying, beautiful expression.

"You’re the Viper?" he asked, stopping inches from me. He smelled of gunpowder, rain, and sheer, overwhelming power.

"I am," I replied, lifting my chin. "And you are trespassing."

"I’m not trespassing," he said, reaching out. His hand, large and scarred, wrapped around my upper arm. "I’m collecting."

"Collecting what?" I hissed, trying to pull away.

He leaned down, his lips brushing my ear.

"You."