LOGINDARIUS’S POV"Hold it steady, Iris!"I lunged across the wet marble, my boots throwing up a spray of water and glass shards as I slammed my body against the black industrial crate. The smell of hot copper and ozone was suffocating. Through the smoke, I could see Iris’s face, tight with agony, her silver talons digging into the raw blue wire as three hundred volts of grounding current tore through her fingers. Her grey eyes were bright with a blinding, golden alpha light, her jaw clenched so hard a drop of blood trickled down her chin.Seven seconds.The digital timer on the demolition box was frozen, its green light pulsing erratically as the system struggled to read the spoofed bio-signature.My hands flew to the side panel of the machine, my fingers ripping away the protective plastic casing to expose the central data receiver. My father hadn't just wired this box to blow; he had linked the detonator’s internal hard drive to the tower’s primary administrative network. If the bomb we
IRIS’S POVThe vertical shaft was a dark, hollow throat that smelled of burning copper and grease.Darius went down the iron rungs first, his broad shoulders easily clearing the narrow steel frame as he guided my feet from below. My bare skin scraped against the cold metal, the tatters of my emerald silk dress catching on the rough bolts as we dropped through the floors with a frantic, rhythmic speed. Above us, the forty-fifth floor was already a roaring furnace, the orange light of the fire leaking through the cracks of the maintenance door and casting long, dancing shadows over our heads."Five floors down, Iris!" Darius’s voice came up through the darkness, a low, gravelly hum that stayed perfectly steady despite the smoke thickening around us. "Hold the line!"Every time the building groaned, the vibration traveled straight through the metal rungs into my palms. My silver wolf was completely focused now, her heightened senses tracking the distant, mechanical countdown echoing up f
DARIUS’S POVThe digital console let out a long, low chime that vibrated through the metal desk.The black progress bar on the main monitor broke into a thousand pieces, the red deletion script completely dissolving as the gold light of the Calder crest locked the files into place. The secondary backup vault let out a loud mechanical groan, the heavy magnetic seals releasing with a series of sharp pops that echoed through the smoke-filled server room. The steel door swung open an inch, revealing the cold, brightly lit interior of the data core where the physical drive sat perfectly safe."It’s secured," Iris panted, her shoulders sagging as she leaned against the shattered glass of the junction box.Her human face was pale, covered in fine gray soot, and the long claw marks on her bare shoulder were still pink and tender from the healing process. The emerald silk of her dress was mostly gone, hanging in wet shredded ribbons that barely covered her golden skin, but her grey eyes were b
IRIS’S POV"On three," Darius whispered, his fingers curling around the iron latch of the maintenance hatch.The heat radiating off the metal panel was intense, warming the skin of my bare arms as I crowded behind his massive shoulder. The narrow shaft was thick with the chemical stench of the welding torch and the unmistakable, oily smell of burning plastic. My silver wolf was scratching violently at the surface of my mind, her instincts demanding a direct path to the throat of whatever enemy was trying to melt our future."One," Darius counted, his muscles swelling beneath his wet leather coat."Two."I tightened my grip on the iron rung of the ladder, my silver talons extending slightly from my fingertips, ready for the impact."Three."Darius didn't just push the hatch. He hit it with the full weight of his alpha strength, his shoulder driving the steel door outward with a violent, earsplitting crash. The metal panel flew off its hinges, slamming directly into the back of the near
IRIS’S POV"The ledger isn't closed, Darius."My voice was a raw, breathless whisper against his chest as the computer screen behind us flashed with a sudden, violent error code. I was still clinging to his waist, my bare feet dangling off the edge of the splintered mahogany desk, but the sudden heat of our proximity instantly chilled. The green silk of my dress was in tatters, hanging off my shoulders in damp ribbons, but my attention was completely fixed on the red data lines expanding across the monitor.Darius didn't let go of me. His large, warm hands remained locked around my hips, his fingers digging into my skin with a desperate, possessive grip that told me his wolf was still fighting for control. His blue eyes, dark with the amber tint of our fated bond, narrowed as he looked over my shoulder at the screen."What did he do?" Darius growled, his jaw tightening so hard the muscle twitched beneath his dark stubble."The signature he just put on the abdication paper," I said, my
"Drop your weapons and step back from the door."My command wasn't loud, but it carried a sharp, cold finality that left no room for negotiation. The thirty council enforcers standing behind my father looked down at their locked automatic rifles, then at each other, before the front line slowly let the heavy straps slide off their shoulders. The metal weapons hit the damp carpet with a series of dull, heavy thuds. They were seasoned soldiers, but they were also pragmatists. They knew that without the Calder payroll accounts backing their families in the northern territories, they were just men standing in a broken room with no health insurance and no legal shield.My father stood completely frozen in the center of the hallway, his face a bloodless, pasty mask under the harsh fluorescent lights of the freight elevator bay. His hands were clenched into tight, trembling fists at his sides, his chest heaving as he looked at the row of his own men abandoning him one by one."You think you
DARIUS'S POVThe scent of my wolf’s triumph lingered in the sunroom.I had left Iris standing in the white silk, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and the nascent, dangerous hope that I was willing to risk everything for her. The public, coded claiming was necessary. She needed to know her prote
Iris POVThe Watchtower. Our place. The crumbling stone structure on the highest hill where, for a year, we were just two nameless, desperate animals. The thought of going there now, after Conrick’s warning, after seeing Venus’s needle-sharp focus, was absolute insanity. It was the last place I sho
IRIS'S POVI was a ghost.A walking, breathing shell of a woman whose entire existence had been reduced to a single, primal truth: I was claimed.I had showered three times, scrubbed my skin until it was raw, and used up half a bottle of my mother’s expensive, cloyingly sweet rose perfume—the one V
IRIS’S POVDarius’s hand was heavy on my thigh, his fingers curled into the fabric of my skirt. His eyes demanded a choice: duty or him. The scent of his dominance was choking me in the small vault."Beg," he repeated, his voice a low, rough command. "Beg for me to take the papers away. Beg to be j







