เข้าสู่ระบบ"The audit is closed, Ethan," Iris’s voice came loudly through the mind-link of every single wolf in the room. Her tone was cold and sarcastic, carrying the physical weight of a true Alpha that made the guards lower their weapons automatically. "And your position has just been declared completely insolvent. You have no money left, you have no men left, and your time is up."Ethan backed away fast toward the main elevator bank, his face turning a sickly, pasty white as the big silver wolf stepped slowly over the broken wood and glass of the security desk. Her muzzle was dripping with dark, wet blood, and her paws left heavy red prints on the clean marble floor. The sound of her claws clicking against the stone was loud and steady. He reached into his grey jacket, his hand shaking violently as he pulled out a small, black plastic remote control with a single red button on the top. He was sweating now, the drops rolling down his temple and staining his expensive silk tie."You think you
Darius-"Drop the weapons, Ethan."The roar that came out of my throat was completely raw. The loud sound cut through the sharp hum of the garage’s ventilation system and bounced off the high walls. My wolf was snapping wildly inside my head, his claws digging into my thoughts as the scent of my fated mate filled the small space between Iris and me. The marble lobby of the Wolfe tower felt just like a meat locker. The air was freezing cold and thick with the sour, chemical smell of twenty enforcers who were standing ready to kill us for a piece of my crown. They held their big silver guns tight, their eyes moving back and forth between my chest and the door."You always were a bad businessman, Darius," Ethan scoffed. His heavy leather boots made a loud clicking sound against the white stone as he took a slow step forward. He did not look like my uncle anymore. He looked like a hungry vulture waiting for the body to stop moving so he could pick it clean. He adjusted the lapels of his e
Iris pov"Are you going to look at me, or are you just going to stare at that glass partition until we reach Manhattan?"Darius’s voice was a low, gravelly rasp that cut through the steady hum of the SUV’s tires against the wet asphalt. He sat right next to me on the leather bench seat, his massive frame taking up more than his fair share of the space. The interior of the vehicle was dim, lit only by the green glow of the dashboard clock and the occasional flash of highway streetlights through the tinted windows. The air inside was warm, thick with the scent of wet leather, woodsmoke, and the heavy, intoxicating musk of his skin.I didn't turn my head immediately. I kept my eyes fixed on the reflection of my own face in the dark glass. I looked different. The pale, quiet girl who had spent the last year playing the part of the obedient younger sister was gone. My grey eyes had a permanent, golden ring around the pupils now, a constant reminder of the silver wolf that was currently res
I let out a long, heavy breath, resting my forehead against the leather seat for a second before I backed out of the vehicle. I looked down at Iris. She was still on her knees on the wet ground. The torn emerald silk of her dress was damp from the gravel, and her chest was rising and falling as she looked up at me through the gray morning light."That was too close, Mr. Wolfe," she whispered, a tiny ghost of her old, biting smile touching her lips."The audit is closed, Ms. Calder," I said, holding out my hand to her.She took it, her skin smooth and hot against my rough palm. I pulled her up with one strong tug until she was pressed flat against my chest. I did not care who was watching us right then—Conrick, the guards, or her broken father. I wrapped my arms tight around her waist, burying my face in the warm curve of her neck, breathing in the scent of vanilla and lightning. We had survived the fire, and we had survived the secrets.Her small hands gripped the shoulders of my leat
"Shut that thing down, Conrick!"The roar that came out of my throat was completely raw. The loud sound shook through the wet morning air and hit the stone walls of the courtyard. My wolf was snapping wildly inside my head, his claws digging into my thoughts as the mechanical countdown kept ticking from the truck's dashboard.Forty seconds. That was all the time we had left before twenty years of pack secrets were sent to every human news network on the planet. Twenty years of staying hidden, gone in a single second. The air smelled like wet dirt, hot metal, and old blood.I gripped the side of the truck, my knuckles turning white. We had worked too hard to let everything fall apart now. Every single asset, every single safe house, and the names of every hidden wolf in the city were loaded into that single data drive. Jerome had planned this perfectly. He knew that if he could not rule the territory, he would make sure nobody else could either."I can't get past the firewall, Alpha!"
The mechanical countdown echoed through the smoking courtyard, each second ticking away like a hammer hitting an anvil. Sixty seconds was all we had before the secret of our entire existence was blasted across every human television station and internet feed on the planet. The veil that kept the wolf-born hidden from human weapons would be ripped apart forever."Conrick! Smash the console!" Darius roared, his calm demeanor instantly evaporating into pure Alpha panic.Conrick didn't hesitate. He swung his heavy boot into the side window of the armored SUV, shattering the glass, and reached inside to tear at the dashboard wires. He ripped out bundles of colored plastic and copper, his teeth bared as he slammed his fist into the blinking red screen. The glass cracked, but the automated voice kept counting down with cold, digital indifference."Transmission progress: forty percent," the machine voiced chimed. "Signal encryption locked. Internal backup battery active.""It's a hardwired sa
Iris's povThe border crossing wasn't a clean break or a movie moment, it was just a loud and terrifying scream of metal-on-metal as the truck’s heavy bumper ripped through the chain-link fence like it was made of paper. Drones were buzzing all over the place like a swarm of angry hornets and their
IRIS’S POVThe ascent to the northern peak was a grueling test of iron and nerves. The armored van groaned as it climbed the narrow, crumbling switchbacks, the engine straining against the altitude. Beside me, Darius drove with a clinical, focused intensity. He didn’t have his wolf’s heightened sen
DARIUS’S POVI woke up with the sun hitting my face and for a split second, the weight of the world felt strangely light, and I actually forgot about the nightmare we had just escaped. I forgot about the White Vault, the Red Mist, and the fact that I couldn't feel the territorial borders humming in
IRIS’S POVThe motorcycle ride had been a blur of freezing wind and the bruising pressure of my body against Darius’s back. By the time we reached the secondary hideout—a small, windowless stone bunker buried under an old sawmill—my legs were shaking from more than just the cold.Darius didn't spea







