Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Enzo

The room was large and dim, lit only by a few scattered lamps that threw a weak, yellow glow against the dark walls.

I sat in my high-backed chair, the weight of the day resting heavily on my shoulders. In one hand, I gripped a glass of whiskey, the amber liquid catching the light. A cigarette burned slowly between my lips, a single point of heat in the gloom.

All around me, several women moved to the low, pulsing beat of the music. They were beautiful, their bodies swaying with a practiced grace, but as I watched them, I felt a strange, hollow emptiness.

I let out a quiet chuckle that didn't reach my eyes. I didn't say a word; I just watched the movement and felt the bite of the whiskey in the back of my throat.

One of the women, seeing my movement, broke away from the group. She walked toward me with a confident, playful smile. She didn't hesitate as she sat down on my lap, her weight light but her presence intrusive. She pressed close to me, her skin warm against mine, and leaned in as if to whisper a secret.

A heavy scent of flowery perfume filled the space around us, thick and sweet. She was trying to seduce me, her eyes searching mine for any spark of interest.

I looked back at her, but I felt nothing. No heat, no spark, just a cold indifference that had become my constant companion.

The heavy doors at the end of the room swung open suddenly, hitting the wall with a sharp crack.

My beta, Ren, stepped inside. He didn't look at the dancers or the half-empty bottles on the tables. He walked straight toward me and stopped a few feet away. He stood perfectly straight, his shoulders square and his expression hard. He looked like a man who had important news and was simply waiting for the right moment to speak it.

I looked at the men standing near the walls, my personal guard. I gave a short, sharp wave of my hand.

“Take the ladies out,” I ordered. My voice was rough from the smoke and the silence. “I need to talk with my beta alone.”

The men didn't hesitate. They moved quickly, gathering the women and guiding them toward the exit. Some of the women looked disappointed, whispering to each other, but they knew better than to argue.

The music was cut off, leaving a silence so sudden it felt like a physical weight. The heavy doors closed again, leaving only Ren and me in the quiet room.

I stood up, the movement slow and deliberate. I still held my drink, and the cigarette smoke curled around my head like a grey ribbon. I walked over to the large window that took up most of the far wall. Outside, the night was a vast, dark expanse.

I took a slow drag from the cigarette, feeling the heat in my lungs, before I finally spoke.

“What message do you bring?” I asked, my back still turned to him.

I heard Ren’s boots move across the floor as he stepped behind me. He bowed his head slightly, a gesture of respect I could feel even without looking.

“Alpha,” Ren said, his voice steady. “The old man refused to pay his debt again. He claims he has nothing left to give.”

As the words left his mouth, a sudden, searing anger surged through me. It felt like a flash of fire running through my veins. Without thinking, my hand tightened around the whiskey glass.

The pressure was too much. The glass shattered into a dozen sharp pieces.

I felt the jagged edges cut deep into my palm, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the rage. Inside me, I could feel my wolf, Moses, waking up. He pushed hard against my mind, his claws scratching at my consciousness. He wanted to take control, to leap out and destroy anything in his path.

I could feel my teeth ache and my vision sharpen. I forced the animal back down, taking deep, heavy breaths until the world stopped blurring.

I turned around slowly to face Ren. I took a step closer to him, my boots clicking on the hard floor. I reached out with my bleeding hand and placed it firmly on the side of his face. I felt the warmth of my own blood as it smeared against his skin, a red mark of my fury.

“Whatever it takes,” I said. My voice was low and cold, a dangerous whisper right next to his ear. “Make sure the debt is paid. In any way necessary. Do you understand?”

Ren didn't flinch. He met my gaze with a sharp nod. “Yes, Alpha. I understand.”

He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. He didn't look back. He knew exactly what “any way necessary” meant.

I stayed by the window, the broken glass still scattered at my feet. I pulled another cigarette from my pocket and lit it, trying to use the smoke to calm the storm still brewing in my chest. I watched the tiny orange cherry burn down slowly between my fingers, a small light in the darkness.

The silence was broken by the soft rustle of fabric. A hand, soft and delicate, slid around my waist from behind. I didn't have to turn to know who it was.

One of the women had stayed behind, or perhaps she had slipped back in. She wore a thin, silk robe that did little to hide her shape. She stepped around me so she was standing between me and the window, looking up at me with eyes that tried to look concerned.

“Why do you look so pissed off?” she asked. Her voice was gentle, almost a coo. She reached out, her fingers tracing aimless patterns on the center of my chest, right over my heart.

I didn't want her touch. I didn't want her voice. I grabbed her hand firmly and pulled it away from my body.

“Leave,” I said. The word was flat, lacking any emotion.

She didn't move. Instead, she laughed softly, a sound that grated on my nerves. She seemed to think I was playing a game, that my anger was just a prelude to something else. Slowly, she reached for the tie of her robe. She let it fall open, revealing her body in the dim light.

“Don’t you like what you see?” she whispered. She took a step closer, her breath warm against my neck.

A sound started deep in my chest. It wasn't human.

I growled, a loud, vibrating noise that echoed off the walls of the room. It was deep and threatening, the sound of a predator losing his patience.

“Get out,” I repeated. My voice was hard as stone.

The playful look vanished from her face instantly. Real fear flashed in her eyes as she realized I wasn't joking. She nodded quickly, her hands shaking as she fumbled to pull her robe back together.

“Okay… okay,” she mumbled, her voice trembling.

She turned and hurried away, her bare feet padding softly on the floor as she vanished through the door.

The room fell silent once more. I walked back to the window and stared out. High above, dark clouds were gathering, blotting out the stars. They looked like bruises in the sky.

Inside me, Moses stirred again. He wasn't angry this time; he was restless. His voice was a low rumble in the back of my mind.

“When will we find our mate?” the wolf asked.

The question sent a dull ache through my chest. It was the one thing my power and my position couldn't give me. I lifted my hand—the one that wasn't bleeding—and took a slow sip of the remaining whiskey from a fresh glass I had poured.

I stared into the blackness of the night, watching the clouds move.

“Soon,” I replied quietly.