“You’re really going through with this?” I asked myself aloud, glancing at my reflection in the café’s window. The question carried a mix of amusement and skepticism. “Why not?” I answered myself with a smirk. “It’s just a party. A chance to have a little fun, shake things up, and maybe learn something useful.” “Or make a spectacle of yourself,” I countered in a dry tone. “Hardly,” I said with a flick of my hair, my voice dropping to a confident whisper. “I don’t make mistakes.” My wolf stirred at the edge of my consciousness, her energy sparking like static electricity. She wasn’t speaking, but her restlessness was enough to catch my attention. “Don’t start,” I muttered under my breath. “I don’t need your commentary right now.” Her response was a soft growl, more inquisitive than combative, like she was teasing me for my flippancy. I sighed, straightening my posture and brushing imaginary lint from my jacket. “Fine, fine. I’ll admit it—tonight is… important.” ---Toni
Lucas POV I forgot I had a goal and a mission to catch up with when I saw Lila; even the thought of confronting Fidel faded away.“She’s not like the others,” I murmured to myself, my voice low and gruff, nearly drowned out by the hum of the crowded bar.“What are you talking about?” my wolf replied, its deep voice echoing in my mind.I leaned back in my seat, my sharp gaze fixed on the woman at the far end of the room. “Her,” I said simply. “The one with Fidel.”My wolf growled in response, a sound both possessive and intrigued. “She’s ours.”“Don’t,” I muttered, my jaw tightening. “We don’t know anything about her.”“I know enough.”The claim in my wolf’s voice sent a shiver through me. I shifted uncomfortably, unwilling to acknowledge the truth behind the statement. My instincts were screaming, a primal recognition surging through me the moment I saw her.But I wasn’t ready to accept it.From my vantage point in the dimly lit corner, I could see everything. The way her laughter li
The next day was another day like the previous day, having fun out with Fidel.“Is this really the best use of our time?” Lila muttered to herself, her fingers absently tracing the rim of her coffee cup as she sat across from Fidel at the café.“You’re wasting energy on trivialities,” her wolf growled, its voice distant and strained, as though speaking through layers of static.“What’s your problem?” Lila hissed back under her breath, her frustration mounting.“You’re not listening,” her wolf snapped. “Something’s wrong.”“You’ve been saying that all morning,” Lila replied sharply. “Care to be more specific?”Silence.Lila sighed, gripping her cup tightly. Her wolf’s unusual behavior had thrown her off balance. Normally, the creature was a steady presence in her mind, guiding her with clarity and purpose. But today, it felt erratic, agitated—almost disconnected.“Lila?” Fidel’s voice broke through her thoughts, pulling her back to the present.She looked up to find him watching her wi
Lucas’s piercing gaze burned into her, the weight of his presence suffocating. Lila’s breath hitched, her heart hammering against her ribcage as her wolf howled in elation. “It’s him! Our mate!” her wolf cried, its voice filled with uncontainable joy. Lila froze, the words echoing in her mind. Her mate? Lucas King? Her stomach churned as if the ground had been pulled out from under her. “No,” she whispered to herself, a sharp denial that her wolf ignored. “The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes,” her wolf said softly. Lila clenched her fists, desperate to quell the storm rising within her. She wasn’t overjoyed—far from it. The man standing before her wasn’t the kind, nurturing mate she’d always dreamed of. He was Lucas King: ruthless, domineering, and the reason for so much pain in her life. ---Lucas took a step closer, his towering frame seeming to consume the space between them. The intensity in his eyes only deepened, and Lila could feel his wolf’s dominance pressing a
His jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond. The flicker of anger in his eyes was all the confirmation she needed. “Fidel’s my boyfriend,” she said casually, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms. The reaction was instant. Lucas’s entire body tensed, his fists clenching at his sides. His wolf growled audibly, the sound echoing in the small room. ---“Your boyfriend,” Lucas repeated, his voice low and dangerous. “Funny, considering he works for me.” Lila raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise. “Does he? He must not think much of you if he’s willing to cross that line.” Lucas took another step toward her, his movements slow and deliberate. “Don’t test me, Lila,” he warned, his voice a growl. She held her ground, refusing to let him see her nerves. “What are you going to do, Lucas? Fire him? Threaten him?” His eyes bore into hers, the fury simmering just beneath the surface. “If he lays another hand on you, I’ll do more than that.” ---Lila’s wolf purred at the p
Lila POVThe door clicked shut behind Lucas, leaving an eerie silence in the room. My chest rose and fell as I tried to steady my breathing, my mind racing with conflicting emotions. My wolf was unusually quiet, simmering with a sense of satisfaction that only irritated me further. “He won’t back down,” she finally murmured, her words tinged with amusement. “He’s arrogant,” I snapped aloud, pacing the room. “He thinks he can just walk in, claim me, and expect me to fall at his feet.” “Because he’s your mate.” I stopped in my tracks, glaring at the empty air as though my wolf stood before me. “He’s not my mate. He’s a monster, a tyrant. And you’re supposed to be on my side.” “I am,” she replied calmly. “And so is he, even if you won’t admit it.” ---My fingers curled into fists as I wrestled with the undeniable truth I was trying so desperately to ignore. The bond was there, humming like a taut string between me and Lucas, pulling me toward him no matter how hard I resisted
Jake POV The night air was thick with tension, a strange hum of unease I couldn’t shake. I prowled the edges of the city, my wolf restless beneath my skin. Something was off, though I couldn’t pinpoint what. The usual sounds of the bustling nightlife seemed muted, as if the city itself was holding its breath. “Dammit,” I muttered under my breath, my frustration mounting as my search yielded nothing useful. I’d spent hours trying to dig up anything on Riley—the elusive rogue who had been a thorn in our side for weeks—but the trail was colder than I’d anticipated. My sources had little more than whispers, rumors that amounted to nothing concrete. “Another dead end,” my wolf growled in my head, his irritation matching my own. Leaning against the hood of my car, I stared out over the city skyline. “We’re missing something,” I said aloud, the words breaking the silence. My voice was low, barely more than a rumble. “Riley’s too smart to leave a trail, but there’s always a crack. We
Jake POVThe faint click of the study door closing behind me did little to dispel the weight of the conversation I’d just had with Lucas. My brother, the unflinching Alpha who rarely let anything slip past his control, was now thrown into turmoil over a woman—his mate. The bond was relentless, and its power was clear in every strained line of his face. Yet, as much as I wanted to help him, the unease gnawing at my gut wouldn’t relent. Something about all of this felt… wrong. --- By the time I reached my own suite, my mind was racing. Lucas had shown me just enough of his hand to spark questions he probably didn’t want me asking. This woman—Lila—was clearly no ordinary mate. She had Lucas, of all people, tied in knots. And from what little I’d gleaned, she wasn’t exactly forthcoming with her own story. Slumping into the chair by the window, I pulled my laptop onto my lap. If Lucas wasn’t going to dig deeper into who Lila was, then I would. He could focus on wooing her or whatev
Lila’s lips parted slightly, but no words came out. That sentence—so personal, so venomous—stuck in her like a blade wedged between ribs.Arika didn’t wait for her to recover. She turned and walked slowly toward the edge of the clearing, her fingers brushing the frost-covered rail of a long-abandoned cargo lift. The silence between them thickened.“I had a guest once,” Arika called over her shoulder, too casual. “You might know him. Salicus Grante.”Lila’s body snapped to attention.The name landed like a hammer.“You’re lying.”Arika looked back, one eyebrow raised. “Am I?”“Salicus is dead.”Arika gave a mocking little shrug. “Is that what you tell yourself to sleep at night? Or just what you hope is true?”Lila took a shaky step forward. Her pulse thundered in her ears. “Where. Did. You. See. Him.”“Here. There. Doesn’t matter,” Arika said. “He’s a wanderer. A very persistent one. Had a few... interesting stories about you, too. I see where you get your taste in men.”Lila’s hands
Chapter Title: Blood Tides and Buried Truths"You look older than I imagined. The cold's not kind to you, huh?"Lila’s voice cut through the air, sharp as shattered ice.Arika smirked, slow and poisonous. “And you still greet people like you’re handing out ultimatums.”“I only greet the ones who fake their deaths and sell lies for a living.”Arika’s eyes flicked down her nose, unfazed. “Still bitter, I see. At least that hasn’t aged.”The wind between them twisted, biting through cloth and bone alike. They stood ten paces apart in the heart of the abandoned clearing, surrounded by cracked concrete and frost-covered crates. The silence of the ruin only emphasized how violently the past clawed its way into the present.“You died,” Lila said, voice low now. Controlled. “That’s what they told me. What you let them tell me.”“They weren’t wrong,” Arika replied smoothly. “Not entirely.”Lila scoffed. “You faked your death and vanished. What else was I supposed to believe?”“That I had a rea
The cold gnawed at Lila’s exposed cheeks as she emerged from the warehouse’s side exit and stepped into the clearing.A vast, open yard stretched before her.Flat, white, endless.The area must have once been the central cargo bay—a wide slab of cracked concrete now buried beneath ice and powdery snow. Massive tracks were etched faintly beneath the layers, ghost-lines of long-dead machinery. Here, where shipments had once been loaded, goods transferred, and orders barked, now only wind howled and silence ruled.She stepped forward slowly.Her boots sank with every crunching step, leaving deep impressions behind her. The expanse was so open, it felt vulnerable. Naked. No cover. No shadows to slip into. Just the broad chest of the clearing exposed to the grey sky overhead.Lila exhaled through her nose, eyes scanning left to right, then back again.No movement.No signs.And yet her pulse wouldn’t slow.Something didn’t add up.If this was Arika’s meeting point, where the hell was the e
The snow swallowed their steps as they began to move again.None of them spoke.The world had gone eerily still, as if holding its breath. Lila led the way, eyes narrowed against the wind, with Jake close behind her left shoulder and Lucas covering their right flank. Their boots crunched against the crusted snow, the only sound in an otherwise dead landscape.With every step forward, the forest behind them shrank, consumed by the encroaching white.“This is madness,” Jake muttered under his breath, his voice muffled beneath his scarf. “Visibility’s garbage. We’re tracking straight into open ground. Arika wants us blind.”“She wants a meeting,” Lila shot back, not looking over her shoulder. “And I’m not turning back.”Lucas scanned the tree line one last time before sighing. “Yeah, well, if we die out here in the snow, at least it’ll be poetic.”The wind howled in answer.Their pace slowed as the ground sloped downward, snow now knee-deep. Every few steps, one of them stumbled. Lila’s
Lila froze.The crimson dot shimmered against her coat, small but deadly. Her breath caught in her throat, her muscles wound tight. Not a single sound echoed behind her—no footsteps, no shouts, no signs of the guards or her brothers intervening. Just that quiet, icy stillness and the whine of wind over rusted steel.Where are you, Arika? she thought, pulse hammering.She didn’t raise her hands. She didn’t flinch. Instead, she stared up at the ridge. “You’re not going to shoot me,” she said, her voice even despite the cold in her spine. “If you were, you already would have.”A long beat of silence. Then a laugh—faint, hollow, metallic.The laser dot vanished.Lila exhaled slowly. Her hand dropped to her side, fingers brushing the outline of her weapon, but she didn’t draw it. That would only escalate things. She was here for answers, not war. Still, her unease grew by the second. Not because of the target on her chest.But because her wolf was silent.Utterly.Painfully.Silent.Why ar
Through the Snow:"You're seriously doing this now? In this weather?" Jake's voice was low but taut, his breath misting in the cold air.Lila didn’t flinch. "The message said tomorrow. It’s already morning. Waiting is not an option."Lucas glanced toward the gray sky, his jaw flexing. "Visibility’s down to nothing. If this is a trap—""Then I’d rather spring it on my terms," Lila cut in, her arms crossed beneath her coat. The biting wind whipped strands of her dark hair across her face, but she stood her ground at the mouth of the estate garage, eyes fierce beneath the gloom."You’re making a mistake," Jake muttered, zipping up his jacket. "We could wait an hour. Maybe the snow will break."Lila turned to him. "Or maybe Arika will take the servers offline in that hour. We don’t know what she’s capable of anymore. We can’t afford to gamble."The heavy garage doors groaned open behind them, revealing three armed guards preparing the convoy. The steel-blue SUV at the front revved to life
Lila's fingers twitched restlessly against her thigh, the room tightening around her as the conversation spiraled deeper into familiar but no less agonizing territory."If you come," she said, her voice breaking against the lump in her throat, "if either of you are seen—Arika could destroy everything. She won't hesitate, Lucas. You don't know her like I do."Lucas exhaled sharply through his nose, leaning forward, elbows braced on his knees. His gaze cut into her with razor precision, but there was no anger there. Only relentless, painful patience."I know you think she's a monster," Lucas said slowly. "But even monsters hesitate when they have something they value."Jake nodded, standing just behind Lucas like a second pillar of quiet strength. "She won't destroy the servers. She’s desperate for them. She made that clear when she sent you that message.""You’re wrong," Lila whispered, shaking her head. Her heart banged painfully against her ribs, desperate to be heard. "You’re both w
The clock ticked forward, dragging them closer to sunset, closer to whatever fate waited at the abandoned harbor.---"You’re not going alone," Lucas said flatly, his voice sharp enough to slice through steel.Lila flinched at the force of it but said nothing, fingers tightening around the hem of her jacket."I second that," Jake added, stepping in front of her, effectively boxing her between them. His expression was grim, his posture bristling with protective energy. "This isn’t up for negotiation, Lila."She opened her mouth to argue but found no words ready on her tongue. Their eyes burned into her, filled with something fiercer than anger—fear. Not for themselves. For her."I have to go alone," she whispered hoarsely, but it sounded weak even to her own ears.Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, a living wall of defiance. "Over my dead body."Jake didn’t speak this time—he didn’t have to. His glower said it all.Lila bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste blood, frustr
The trap was set.Whether it was theirs—or Arika’s—only time would tell.---"Show us the message," Lucas said sharply, cutting through the heavy silence as they trudged through the abandoned streets.Lila hesitated, her hand instinctively brushing over the inside pocket where the device lay warm against her chest. She could feel their eyes on her—Jake’s heavy with concern, Lucas’s sharp with suspicion. The instinct to protect her secret, to keep the message to herself just a little longer, clawed at her gut.But they deserved to know.They were risking everything with her.With a reluctant sigh, Lila pulled out the device and held it between them. The cracked screen flickered to life under her thumbprint, revealing the first part of Arika’s reply.A simple map blinked into view—a set of old coordinates plotted across a gray, frozen landscape.Lucas leaned in immediately, his eyes narrowing. "That’s... north of the city," he muttered. "Past the trainyard."Jake scowled. "Way past. Tha