CHAPTER FIVE — “THE BARGAIN OF SHADOWS”

Aria’s pulse hammered as Luca stood in front of her like a living wall, shoulders tense, his wolf prowling just beneath the surface. Elena waited silently, watching him with the caution of someone who had seen him lose control before.

Luca finally tore his gaze from the tracker and turned to his second-in-command.

“Find out who planted it. I want names within the hour.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Elena bowed and hurried out.

The room fell into charged silence.

Aria felt Luca’s gaze shift back to her—slow, intense, unsettling.

“They’re tracking me?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

“Why? I didn’t do anything. I don’t even know who they are.”

“That’s exactly the problem,” he said, stepping closer. “There’s no reason for anyone to target an ordinary girl who walked into a building by mistake… unless she isn’t ordinary at all.”

She flinched. “Don’t start that again. I’m not special.”

His eyes darkened. “Everything about you says otherwise.”

He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. The touch was gentle—too gentle for a man covered in blood—but it sent a shiver down her spine.

“Your scent… your energy… the way my wolf reacts to you.”

His voice dropped, dangerous and low.

“It isn’t normal.”

Aria swallowed. “You’re imagining it.”

His thumb grazed her jaw. “I don’t imagine things, Aria.”

Her heart raced. She stepped back… but Luca followed, crowding her against the glass wall.

“Tell me,” he murmured, “has anything strange happened to you lately? Anything unusual? Nightmares? Pain? Sudden fear? Loss of time?”

Her stomach twisted.

Yes.

All of those things.

But she shook her head.

“Nothing,” she whispered.

His eyes searched hers, sharp and unconvinced.

“You’re lying again.”

“I’m not.”

He stepped even closer, his breath warm against her skin. “You think I can’t smell when your heartbeat changes?”

Her cheeks heated. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Getting… too close.”

He smiled faintly—slow, wicked, knowing.

“That’s the only way I get answers.”

Aria pushed past him, furious at how easily he flustered her.

“Fine,” she snapped. “Even if something ‘unusual’ happened, that doesn’t make me important. It doesn’t explain why someone planted a tracker.”

“It explains everything,” Luca growled. “It means someone knows something we don’t.”

She turned to face him. “Like what?”

“That you’re connected to a threat bigger than my enemies.” His jaw tightened. “And that whoever wants you… isn’t human.”

Her breath hitched. “That’s impossible.”

“Tonight proved nothing is impossible.”

She paced away from him, her mind spinning.

“This is insane,” she whispered. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“And yet it’s yours,” he said softly.

Aria pressed her palms to her face. “I need air.”

“You’re not leaving this room.”

She dropped her hands. “Luca, I’m suffocating—”

“You’re safer suffocating than dead.”

His tone was final.

Aria stared at him, anger and fear twisting inside her like a storm. “You can’t keep me locked up like some prisoner.”

“You’re not a prisoner.”

His jaw flexed.

“You’re bait.”

Her stomach dropped. “Excuse me?”

“To draw out whoever is hunting you. They made their move too quickly. They’ll try again. And when they do…” His eyes gleamed with predatory darkness.

“I’ll be waiting.”

Aria shook her head violently. “No. Absolutely not. I’m not letting you use me like some trap—”

“You already are one,” he said, stepping toward her. “Your presence here changes everything. My enemies are moving because of you. My wolf is restless because of you. Nothing about you is simple.”

“I never asked for attention from a mafia alpha,” she burst out. “I don’t want any of this!”

Luca stopped right in front of her.

His voice dropped to a near-whisper.

“You think I wanted it?”

She froze.

His eyes were raw. Shadowed. Tired in a way she had never seen.

“My life was calculated. Controlled. Every move, every ally, every enemy.”

He touched his chest.

“And then you walked into my world and nothing made sense anymore. My wolf responds to you in ways I can’t command. My enemies are circling because of you. And now someone wants your life.”

He exhaled shakily.

“So no, Aria. I didn’t want this either.”

The confession shifted something inside her—something soft and frightening.

“I didn’t ask to be part of your world,” she whispered.

“And I didn’t ask to want to protect you.”

The air thickened.

His hand rose slowly, brushing her cheek again.

Aria didn’t move.

His touch was warm. Human.

But his eyes were wolf.

“You’re staying beside me,” he said quietly. “Until I find out who’s after you.”

She swallowed hard. “And if I refuse?”

A dangerous smile curved his lips.

“Then I’ll pick you up and carry you, kicking and screaming.”

Her pulse stuttered.

Before she could speak, a knock echoed through the room.

Luca stiffened.

Elena entered once more, holding a tablet. Her expression was tight.

“Alpha… we found surveillance footage.”

Luca straightened instantly. “Show me.”

Elena tapped the screen and turned it toward them.

Aria stepped closer.

The footage showed a dark figure approaching the mansion gates hours before the attack. Hooded. Fast. Too fast. It moved like a shadow given flesh.

But when the figure lifted its head—

Aria’s breath vanished.

It was a woman.

Tall. Pale. Eyes glowing faintly silver.

And then—

Aria grabbed the edge of the table.

“Luca…” she whispered.

The woman’s face—

It was sharp. Angular. Beautiful in a cold, unnatural way.

But it was the scar on her cheek that made Aria’s knees weaken.

A scar Aria had seen before.

In dreams.

Nightmares.

And then the woman spoke in the footage—her voice faint but clear:

“Find the girl. Bring her to me alive.”

Luca turned to Aria, eyes wide with shock.

“You know her.”

Aria’s lips trembled. “I’ve… seen her. In my nightmares.”

Luca stepped forward, grabbing her shoulders.

“What else? Tell me.”

Aria whispered the words as they fell from her memory—fragile and frightening.

“She calls me… daughter.”

Luca’s grip tightened.

And his wolf roared through his eyes.