CHAPTER ONE —"THE DEBT"

Aria Mendez stood beside the cracked window of their small living room, the thin curtains fluttering with the evening breeze. Her heart had been uneasy all day, beating in sharp, anxious pulses she couldn’t explain. Something felt wrong—too quiet, too still. Her father sat hunched on the sofa, wringing his hands so tightly his knuckles had gone white.

“Dad, you’re scaring me,” Aria whispered, stepping closer. “What’s going on?”

Before he could answer, heavy knocks thundered against the front door. The sound made Aria flinch. It wasn’t the knock of a neighbor or delivery man. It was deliberate—slow, powerful, and cold.

Her father’s face drained of color. “Aria… go inside your room.”

“No,” she said, fear rising like a wave. “Tell me what’s happening.”

The door burst open before he could respond.

Three men entered—large, dressed in black, their movements controlled and deadly. Their presence consumed the small house like a shadow devouring light.

And then he stepped in.

Luca DeLuca.

Aria had heard whispers of him—the leader of the most feared mafia syndicate in the city. A man of ruthless precision. A man people owed their lives—or deaths—to. But seeing him felt like facing a force of nature. He moved with silent confidence, every step echoing authority. His dark suit stretched over powerful shoulders, and the faint gold in his eyes flickered with something… inhuman. Something feral.

Her breath caught.

Luca’s gaze swept the room, assessing everything in a heartbeat before settling on her father.

“Mr. Mendez,” Luca said, voice calm but edged with lethal promise. “You know why I’m here.”

Aria’s father dropped to his knees instantly. “Luca, please… I just need more time. I swear I’ll pay—”

“You’ve had time,” Luca replied, his tone unchanging. “You made a deal with me. You broke it. Now the debt is due.”

Aria stepped forward, her fear drowned by a sudden surge of anger. “He said he’ll pay. You don’t have to threaten him.”

Luca turned his head slowly.

The moment his eyes met hers, something inside her snapped. It felt as if invisible hooks sank into her soul, tugging, pulling, binding her breath. Heat rushed through her body so sharply she almost staggered back.

He studied her—not with curiosity, but with recognition. As if he had been waiting for this exact moment.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

Aria swallowed. “Aria.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. Not a smile—something darker. “Aria,” he repeated, letting the name roll over his tongue in a way that made her stomach tighten.

Her father crawled forward. “Leave her out of this, Luca. She has nothing to do with my mistakes.”

Luca ignored him. His focus remained entirely on her.

“You feel it,” he murmured.

Aria blinked. “Feel what?”

“The pull.”

A shiver raced down her spine. She had no idea what he meant, but her body reacted to his presence in ways she couldn’t explain—every breath deeper, every heartbeat louder.

Luca stepped toward her, and the room seemed to shrink. His scent hit her—clean, sharp, dangerously appealing. His gaze didn’t waver.

“You smell like wolf,” he said softly.

Aria froze.

“My—what?”

Her father shut his eyes, pain and guilt written across his face.

Luca continued, “You’re not fully human. You have wolf blood. Rare. Valuable.”

Aria felt as though the world tilted beneath her feet. “That’s not possible. I’ve never—”

“You haven’t awakened yet,” Luca interrupted. “But I can sense it. My wolf can sense it.”

Her breath hitched at the word my wolf. Every story she thought was myth now stood before her in flesh and shadow.

“You have something I want,” Luca said. “And something I have waited a long time to find.”

Her father’s voice trembled. “Luca… please…”

Luca didn’t look at him. “Your debt is erased.”

Aria’s heart leaped with relief—until Luca added:

“On one condition.”

Her father shook violently. “No. No, Luca, please—don’t—”

“I want her,” Luca said simply. “She comes with me.”

Aria felt the world crash around her. “What? You can’t just take me—”

Luca’s eyes flashed gold. His wolf surged beneath the surface, a growl rumbling so low she felt it more than heard it. Her skin erupted with goosebumps.

“You’re mine,” he said, the words curling around her like chains. “Every instinct in me recognizes you. And soon, you’ll feel it too.”

“I don’t even know you,” Aria whispered.

“But your soul does,” Luca replied. “Your blood does. And your wolf—when it wakes—will answer mine.”

He extended a hand, not gently, but with absolute authority.

“Come with me.”

Aria shook her head, breath trembling. “You don’t get to decide my life.”

Luca leaned in until his lips hovered near her ear, his voice a dark whisper.

“I’m not asking.”

Her pulse hammered so violently she felt dizzy. She wanted to move—fight, scream, push him away—but her body felt caught between terror and something devastatingly magnetic.

Her father crawled to her feet, gripping her leg. “Aria, I’m so sorry… I never wanted this.”

Luca’s jaw flexed. “Stand up,” he commanded her father.

When he didn’t move fast enough, one of the guards pulled him up roughly. Luca’s tone was ice.

“I’m not going to hurt him. And I won’t hurt you. But you will obey me.”

He reached for her hand.

The moment his skin touched hers, heat shot through her veins like fire. Her breath left her in a soft gasp. Luca’s eyes darkened—hungry, claiming, certain.

“Do you feel that?” he whispered. “That spark? That bond? It’s the beginning.”

Aria’s knees trembled. She tried to pull back—but his grip tightened, not painfully, but possessively.

“You are coming with me. And your father lives because of you.”

Her chest tightened.

And she realized the truth.

She had no choice.

With trembling fingers and a racing heart, Aria stepped toward the man who controlled her fate. Luca pulled her close—not tenderly, but with the certainty of someone claiming what was already his.

The moment she crossed the doorway, leaving her home behind, she knew her life would never be the same.

The Alpha Mafia had taken her.

And something deep within her whispered…

She was never meant to escape.