Mag-log in"Pack your things," Rowan commanded, his voice a low, terrifying growl that rattled the glass displays. "You're moving to the subterranean vault right fucking now.""No," I snapped, stepping back from his reach. "I am not hiding in a cellar, Rowan.""It wasn't a request, Veda!" he roared, slamming his heavy fist against the iron console. The display cracked under his knuckles. "Did you read the damn screen? They are targeting our child!""And moving me into a dark hole tells them they've rattled us!" I shouted back, my hazel eyes flashing with a fierce, stubborn iron. "If I go into hiding, we lose the upper hand!""I don't give a fuck about the upper hand!" Rowan bellowed, closing the gap between us in a single, terrifying stride. He grabbed my arms, his fingers trembling against my skin with a desperate, wild intensity. "I care about your breathing! I care about keeping you alive!""Rowan, listen to yourself!" I pressed, placing my hands flat against his heated
The glowing red line across the screen burned into my eyes.I couldn't look away from the single crossed-out name. Rowan leaned over my shoulder, his massive body freezing into a wall of pure iron."Who the fuck is that?" Marcus demanded, his voice a tight, harsh wire."Captain Renee," I whispered.The name hit the small room like a dead weight.Rowan’s rain-and-ash scent turned instantly toxic, filling the cramped quarters with a heavy, suffocating cloud of rage. "Renee was crossed out.""Because he refused to join them," I realized, my heart hammering against my ribs. "He caught Davies in Sector Four. That’s why Davies had to run.""Or Renee is playing us," Marcus spat, his hands shaking as he adjusted his tactical belt. "Fuck, Boss! We can't trust anyone in this damn house!""Get Renee in the command room," Rowan growled low, his deep voice carrying a lethal, terrifying edge. "Quietly. If he breathes wrong, put a bullet in his head.""On it," Marcus snapped, turning sharply on his
The cold metal door of Officer Davies’s quarters slid open with a sharp, heavy hiss.I stepped into the room right beside Rowan, my hand firmly tucked into his elbow. He had tried to order me to stay behind three separate times in the hallway, his rain-and-ash musk swirling in a suffocating, possessive storm. I had ignored him every single time."You shouldn't be down here, Veda," Rowan growled low, his slate-grey eyes scanning the dim room. His hand rested flat on his holstered blade, his entire frame coiled tight as a wire. "The air down here is fucking stale. It’s not good for you.""I have two legs and a working brain, Alpha," I replied sharply, matching his heavy stride. "I'm not sitting in the bedroom like an invalid while a traitor sells us out.""She’s got a point, Boss," Marcus muttered from the doorway, holding a flash scanner. "Besides, her eyes pick up details my scouts miss.""Shut up, Marcus," Rowan spat under his breath, though his arm tightened instinctively around my
I woke slowly, my skin warm and heavy under the duvet. Rowan’s massive arm was draped over my waist like an iron bar, his broad, calloused palm resting flattened directly over my lower belly. His dark, cedar-and-bourbon musk wrapped around my senses, completely untamed, carrying a quiet, possessive heat that made my inner wolf let out a helpless, liquid sigh.For the first time in my life, the future didn't feel like a bloody execution ledger. It felt like something I actually wanted."I know you're awake, little wolf," Rowan rumbled softly against the back of my neck, his gravelly morning voice sending a delicious, electric jolt straight down my spine. His thumb traced a slow, agonizingly tender circle over my stomach. "Your heart rate picked up the second the sun hit the terrace.""I was enjoying the silence, Alpha," I murmured, turning in his arms to look up into the rugged topography of his face. I reached up, my fingers tangling in his dark, messy hair. "Before Marcus comes knoc
The pale winter sun dragged itself across the library floorboards, but the warmth never reached my skin.Every single hour of the day felt like a countdown toward an execution. I spent the entire afternoon staring at the encrypted asset registries, my fingers hovering uselessly over the glass interface while Marcus and the secondary vanguards ran defensive sweeps through the western sectors. The secret beneath my heart felt heavier than the titanium reinforcement plates locking out the world. Twice, Marcus had walked into the room to deliver resource manifests, and twice I had forced my scent into a flat, clinical wire to hide the golden, molten sun density blooming in my vanilla frequency."The northern ravine is sealed, Luna," Marcus said, stepping into the room as the dusk began to bleed a bruised, deep crimson across the terrace glass. His beta scent was laced with a sharp, high-stakes panic. "But the southern maritime lines are blinking. The rogue coalition is pool
"Alpha, I need you to step out of the library immediately," Dr. Susan said, her voice trembling slightly as she dropped the digital probe onto the table.Rowan didn't move. His towering, muscular frame turned into a wall of solid granite. "No.""Rowan, please," Susan insisted, her mountain-pine scent spiking into an intense, frantic pitch. "Let me speak to the Luna privately.""The hell I will," Rowan growled low, his deep voice a guttural, terrifying vibration that rattled the glass cabinets. His midnight-black irises flared to a feral peak. "If my wife has been targeted by an execution vector, I am standing right here.""I am not going to ask you again, Alpha," Susan snapped, her hands shaking as she packed her tools. "Step behind the threshold."I looked up at his rigid, terrifying jaw. "Rowan. Give us a minute.""Veda—""Go," I urged softly, my hazel eyes flashing with a desperate, sharp clarity. "Just stand by the door."With a low, guttural grun
Veda’s POV My room in the East Suite was a gilded cage, silent enough to let the echoes of Julian’s rejection play on a loop in my head."Veda? Please, it's me."A soft scratching at the door broke the silence. I sat up, my bandaged hand thumping against the heavy duvet. Lila slipped into the room
Rowan’s POV My eyes didn't leave the silhouette stumbling through the rain toward me.I leaned against the matte-black hood of my SUV, the cold drizzle soaking into my tactical shirt, but I didn't feel the chill. I felt her. Veda Bennett was a flicker of dying light in the middle of a graveyard, h
I stood at the threshold of the Grand Ballroom, the heavy oak doors feeling like the gateway to a dimension where I no longer existed. The air inside was a suffocating blend of expensive lilies and the sharp, metallic tang of Alpha power. Only twenty minutes ago, I was the girl in the white dress
The iron gates of the Kingsley Enforcer Estate hissed shut behind us, a jagged line of black steel separating Veda from the world that had just flayed her alive.Most omegas expected a dungeon when they heard my name. They expected chains, the smell of old blood, and a man who took pleasure in the







