LOGINLet them come. The sun’s gone predatory by the time I hit my office. It edges past the neighboring tower, scrapes a single beam through the half-closed blinds, and paints the carpet with the kind of hard shadow that only happens when the day is almost over. My chair is turned slightly from the desk
But between my eyes, fractured by the spiderweb in the table’s finish, there is the faintest hint of something wild. The pupil is still a circle, but the color around it is wrong: darker, thicker, almost gold. I watch myself for ten full seconds. I hold the gaze. I do not blink. Then I square my s
When the door finally seals behind the last suit, the hush is absolute. I count three, then five, then seven heartbeats before the footsteps fade down the corridor. Just as quickly as it arrived, the pressure bleeds from the room, and I am alone with the mess that nearly undid me. The conference ta
I can. I do. The door hisses shut behind me, and the sound is a relief so complete it almost floors me. The corridor outside is low-lit, hushed, a world apart from the glass box I’ve just escaped. LEDs run the length of the baseboard, cold blue-white, washing the marble in the kind of glow that tu
But the victory is cut short when the light from the projector passes through my fingers. For a split second, I see it—my nails are too long, the tips gone sharp, the cuticles retreating. It’s not a trick of the light. It’s the thing inside me, crawling toward the surface. I press down harder, feel
He interrupts, smiling, “It’s not the resumes, it’s the retention.” I smile back, but it’s a trick. “We retain better than anyone in this zip code. Anyone on this floor, even.” Trent snorts. “That’s not what LinkedIn says.” The wolf in me bares its teeth, just behind the mask. “If you believe eve
I gather the pieces of myself and leave the office. My own intentions are as fractured as his. I cannot think straight with the scent of him so fresh, so insistent, so much like a promise. The door swings shut behind me, cutting off the warmth and memory of Derek's presence with surgical precision
I stiffen, a snarl forming at the back of my throat, before I manage to smooth it into something more civil, more human. This is not what I expected, not what I am prepared for. I should have known. I should have known he'd come. "Mara," his voice drawls, easy and confident, but I hear the challeng
The lock clicks behind me as I slip into the office. I am the wolf, even in tailored business attire. Even with it all wrapped up so tight. The edge of my existence cuts deep. The aftertaste of the night clings to my senses, a raw, metallic tang that I cannot swallow away. My steps falter, then re
There is a freedom in it, a temptation that digs claws deep into my resolve and leaves it ragged and bleeding. I have spent a lifetime restraining the urge, tightening the leash until it bites into my own flesh. But the promise of release is a seductive whisper, its breath warm against my neck, its







