登入Penelope POV
“S-class mercenaries.”
Axton drops the tablet onto the glass desk. The plastic cracks against the surface.
“Do we know who sent them?”
I do not look up from the monitor. My eyes track the red lines on the digital map. The warmth leaves my skin. It starts at my fingert
Julian POV"Do not move."I stood in the sterile white hallway. The scent of bleach and stale sweat clung to the walls. Khalani and Marcella hovered by the double doors of the emergency room. Marcella was a wreck. She sat on the cold floor, her shoulders shaking in jagged, rhythmic jolts."What happened."My voice dropped, flat and hollow.Khalani jerked his chin toward the girl on the floor. His jaw was set tight."Ask her."Marcella whipped her head up. Her eyes were bloodshot."It is not my fault."She scrambled to her feet, hands clawing at the air.
Julian POV“She went to a sales office to buy a place?”I do not look up from the leather folder on my desk. My index finger taps the polished mahogany wood. One. Two. Three.Ethan shifts his weight near the door. “Yes, sir. And the receptionist, Alya, was fired on the spot for being rude to her.”My finger stops. The wood underneath feels ice cold. I close the folder with a sharp snap that echoes off the concrete walls of the office.“Fired.” I stand up and pull down the cuffs of my shirt.“The manager did it personally,” Ethan says. He takes half a step back, his eyes fixed on the floor. “To please her.”“I wi
Penelope POV“S-class mercenaries.”Axton drops the tablet onto the glass desk. The plastic cracks against the surface.“Do we know who sent them?”I do not look up from the monitor. My eyes track the red lines on the digital map. The warmth leaves my skin. It starts at my fingertips and crawls up to my collarbone.“We captured three of them at the border,” Axton says.His boots shift on the floorboards. The leather squeaks. His shadow stretches across the desk, blocking the fluorescent light.“Based on the interrogations, the handler leaked a specific name.”“Who?”
Melvin POV"Handle it however you see fit."I drop my chin into my palm and stare at the mahogany desk. My fingers trace a deep scratch in the wood."Father, you cannot be serious," Marcella says. Her boots click against the stone floor as she steps forward. "He is giving away our leverage. He is throwing the family name into the dirt."Julian does not turn around. He stands by the heavy oak door, his shoulders completely rigid. "Marcella, you will shut your mouth.""Do not speak to me like that," she snaps. Her chin jerks up. "I am still your older sister.""You are a liability," Julian says. His voice hits the room like ice. "You lost the Ancestor Fang. That mistake alone cost us three territory l
Melvin POV“He still has the nerve to be out wandering around?”I slam my cane into the floor. The heavy wood cracks against the marble.“He was married to Penelope for three damn years.” I grind my teeth until my jaw aches. “He noticed nothing.”The main hall is freezing. The lights blaze overhead. They do not warm the air.My inner Wolf claws at my chest. It wants blood.I look at the empty doorway. My son is not there.“It was Penelope.” Chloe steps forward. Her voice shakes. “She tricked everyone.”“Shut up.” I point my cane at her chest.
Julian POV"Look at her, Julian."Khalani rammed his elbow directly into my ribs, his breath smelling of stale gin and panic.I did not want to look. I did not want to follow his shaking finger toward the glass partition of the private VIP booth, but my eyes moved anyway.Down there, right in the thick of the neon-soaked dance floor, a woman was cutting through the crowd.Penelope.She was not wearing the heavy, suffocating silk gowns I had paid for during our three years together. She wore a tight black leather outfit that caught every strobe light, outlining the sharp curve of her hips and the long, pale line of her throat. Her dark hair whipped through the air like a loose banner. She was laughing. She was laughi
Penelope POV"You think a piece of silk makes you a queen, Penelope?"The voice slices through the humid air of the car park.I stop dead on the tarmac. My heels dig into the dark stone just outside the Moon Goddess temple arches.Beside me, Cooper freezes. His entire frame locks up. The air around
Penelope POV“You are the one who is the least innocent of all.”My own voice rings out through the Moon Goddess Gala Hall. It sounds detached. It sounds like ice scraping over stone.Julian flinches as if I just shoved a silver blade between his ribs. The look on his face is pathetic. His jaw drops
Penelope POV"Say it again," I said.Marcella gasped for air on the marble floor. Her chest heaved. Her face twisted into a smug, ugly smile. She actually thought she had won."You heard me, you bitch," Marcella spat.I took one slow step forward.The heavy crystal chandeliers above us flickered. Th
Marcella POV“Julian actually marked that bitch!”My teeth click together so hard the bone aches.My hands curl into fists. Nails dig into my palms until the skin splits.Penelope stands under the bright lights of the Gala Hall. The faint, silver glow of my brother’s accidental mark shimmers on her







