ANMELDENDARIUS’S POV"Get back to the vehicles, Conrick."The command tore out of my throat as a low, rumbling growl that rattled the heavy air. My eyes never left Jerome. My wolf was screaming at the boundary of my skin, his claws scratching to break through the flesh, completely pushed out of control by the raw scent of Iris’s awakening. The atmosphere was thick with the scent of ozone and burning pine, but beneath it all was the sudden, intoxicating bloom of her true nature. It was vanilla mixed with white lightning, a primal, ancient power that had been buried under a spell for twenty years."You really think you can hold this line alone, rogue?" Jerome mocked, his voice booming over the rumble of his armored trucks. He took another step forward, his enforcers fanning out behind him in a perfect crescent moon formation, their silver-tipped blades catching the harsh glare of the headlights. "The Council of Alphas has already signed your execution order. Look at you, groveling in the dirt f
IRIS’S POV"Get in the car, Iris."Darius’s voice was a low, gravelly vibration that rattled straight through my bones. He stood by the open door of the black SUV, his large frame silhouetted against the smoldering ruins of my family estate. The morning mist of the pack lands was thick, heavy with the scent of wet pine, burnt timber, and the unmistakable, metallic tang of spilled blood.I didn't move. My fingers tightly gripped the edge of my torn dress, the emerald silk stained with alpine soot and the dark residue of the structural blast we had just survived. My skin was burning from the inside out. The savage, feral pulse of my newly awakened silver wolf was scratching at the surface, her golden light vibrating beneath my skin, desperate to break completely free of the broken remnants of my father's binding spell."We aren't running, Darius," I said, my voice deceptively quiet despite the storm raging in my chest. "Look at what they did. Look at what Jerome's faction did while we w
IRIS’S POV"Hold on," Darius said, his large hand instantly locking around mine as the floorboards of the nursery began to shake. "This is going to be a very loud closing statement."The world went violently white.The mountain air outside the nursery window didn't just shatter the glass; it ripped the entire panoramic frame out of the stone wall. The shockwave from the high-altitude blast threw us backward into the center of the room, the heavy hand-carved rocking horse splintering into a thousand pieces as the ceiling plaster rained down around our heads like gray snow. The silver laptop on the table went flying, its screen cracking down the center as the blue light of the network feed blinked out into pitch-black darkness."Iris!" Darius’s voice was a raw, primal roar through the mind-link, a desperate current of panic that vibrated straight through my ribs.Before I could even hit the floor, his massive frame was over me. He shielded my body with his broad shoulders, his heavy lea
IRIS’S POVThe silence that followed the storm was the most dangerous part. I sat on the edge of the antique bed, the silk blanket draped over my shoulders, watching Darius as he moved toward the laptop. My body felt heavy, flooded with a warmth that defied the sub-zero temperatures outside these stone walls, but my mind was already shifting back into the cold, calculated rhythm of the audit.Darius was right. Ivy was watching. She had wanted to see us broken, or perhaps she had wanted to see us turn on each other under the pressure of the countdown. Instead, she had witnessed a total refusal to acknowledge her power."She’s going to move the deadline," I said, my voice sounding steadier than I felt. I stood up, letting the blanket slip as I reached for my clothes. I didn't care about the cameras anymore. If Ivy wanted to look at the daughter she had abandoned, she would see a woman who was no longer afraid of the dark. "She won't wait for the thirty minutes to expire. Not after that.
IRIS’S POV"Take off the dress, Iris."The words were soft, but they carried more weight than the mountain pressing down on us. Darius stood in the center of the nursery, his gaze dark and heavy. He wasn't looking at the security cameras or the legal documents on the glowing laptop. He was looking at me. The air in the room had changed. The fear of the countdown and the threat to Miller were still there, but they had been pushed into the background by a sudden, sharp heat that made the silk of my dress feel like a layer of sandpaper against my skin."Darius, we have fifty minutes," I whispered, my heart thudding a frantic rhythm against my ribs. "The feed, the money, the merger. we have to find a way to stop it.""We can't stop it from the keyboard," he said, stepping closer. He moved with a slow, predatory intent that made the hair on my arms stand up. "Ivy wants to see us break. She wants to see us crawl. She is watching that screen right now, waiting for us to panic or plead. She
DARIUS’S POV"Wake up, Darius"The voice sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a deep, frozen well. I opened my eyes, and the world tilted. My head throbbed with a rhythmic, pulsing heat that made every blink feel like a needle prick. The last thing I remembered was the blinding white flash in the snow and the sound of Iris screaming my name. Now, the cold mountain air had been replaced by the smell of old paper, floor wax, and expensive cigar smoke.I tried to move my hands, but they were bound tightly behind my back with heavy zip ties. I was sitting in a high-backed wooden chair in a room that looked like a library from a century ago. Walls of dark leather books stretched up into the shadows, and a green shaded lamp sat on a desk in front of me.Across from me, sitting in the shadows, was Ethan.He wasn't wearing the heavy coat anymore. He was in a simple black sweater, looking calm and composed. He held a glass of amber liquid in one hand and a fountain pen in the other.
CHAPTER 137DARIUS’S POVThe transport was a vintage, overhauled Land Rover that smelled like wet dogs and failed corporate dreams. Silas sat in the front, his posture so stiff he looked like he’d been taxidermied in his Sunday best. I was shoved into the back with Ethan—who was currently vibrating
IRIS’S POVThe electronic wail from the foyer hit my skull like a drill. I hurried to pull my gown back up. The silk caught on the rough edge of the desk. My fingers felt clumsy. My heart pounded hard and heavy in my chest now that the silver safety net was gone.Darius was already moving. He no lo
DARIUS’S POVThe silence in the Calder library felt rough. Now that the silver hum was gone from my blood, the house seemed more like a tomb than a safe place. I stood by the broken display case. My knuckles were raw. My head throbbed with a dull human ache that did not heal fast anymore.Iris stoo
IRIS’S POVThe screams started high and sharp, then turned into ragged snarls.The security guard on the intercom had barely finished his sentence about the perimeter breach before Darius was gone. He didn’t run; he simply moved, his speed tearing the air out of the office.I stood there, file still







