Chapter 6

KEAL

I had not intended to walk into Blood Claw Pack’s office quietly. Yet my feet slowed the moment raised voices filtered through the thick doors, sharp and heated enough to cut through the air. I stopped just outside, my hand hovering near the handle, instincts telling me to listen.

“You lie!” a woman screamed, the voice I instantly recognized. Her voice was raw, cracked at the edges. “I’m nobody’s slave!” She yelled more.

I stopped.

Something about that voice; defiant, wounded, furious made my hand curl slowly into a fist.

“Sorry, that’s already done,” Darius shouted back. “Get the hell out of my office. Keal’s guards are waiting for you outside.”

My jaw tightened.

So this was how he handled it. Like a transaction. Like throwing scraps to a dog.

I stayed still for a brief second longer, letting the weight of his words settle, letting my anger cool into something far more dangerous than rage.

Then I opened the door without even knocking.

The room fell into instant silence.

I stepped inside, one of my guards flanking me, my presence sucking the air out of the office. Darius was standing behind his desk, his expression twisted in irritation. Gina stood a few steps away from him, her posture rigid, shoulders squared even though her hands trembled.

Her head snapped toward me.

Shock crossed her face first, pure, unfiltered shock followed swiftly by recognition. I saw it settle in her eyes, sharp and unmistakable.

She remembered me.

I didn’t need to ask. I didn’t need to say anything clever. The way her breath hitched told me everything.

“I’ll take her myself,” I said calmly.

Darius scoffed, folding his arms. “Be my guest. She’s your problem now.”

I turned my gaze to Gina.

“I told you,” I said evenly, a mirthless laugh escaping me, “you knew me.”

Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

“Now, let’s go.” I said.

She didn’t respond. Didn’t move.

Confusion clouded her face, warred with anger and disbelief. She looked like someone who had been pushed too far, too fast, with no room left to breathe.

One of my guards stepped forward slightly, gesturing toward the door, not touching her, not forcing her.

She hesitated, then followed.

Good.

I turned and walked out without another word, my patience stretched thin but controlled. Her footsteps in front of me were slow, and reluctant. I could feel her resistance without looking into her eyes like a weight pressing against my back.

Outside, the sunlight was harsh.

My car waited at the front, the Silvercrest insignia gleaming faintly against the hood. I dismissed the guards with a sharp wave of my hand.

“Leave us.”

They obeyed immediately.

I moved to the passenger side myself and opened the door.

Gina stopped short.

For a moment, she stared at the open door as though it were a trap. Her jaw tightened, pride flaring even in the middle of her exhaustion.

She had no choice.

She got in.

Slowly. Carefully. Like someone walking into something she didn’t trust but couldn’t escape.

I closed the door and circled the car, sliding into the driver’s seat.

********

GINA

Keal started the car engine. The engine hummed softly, but he didn’t drive off immediately. The silence pressed down on my chest until I felt like I would suffocate if I didn’t speak.

“Why are you doing this?” I finally asked, my voice coming out rougher than I intended.

He turned his head slightly, acknowledging me without fully facing me.

“What do you have to gain by making me your slave?” I added, the word tasting bitter on my tongue.

For a moment, he stared straight ahead. Then unexpectedly he laughed.

Not mockingly. Not cruelly.

It was low, almost quiet, and when he turned to look at me, there was something in his eyes I hadn’t seen before.

Warmth.

“I want to help you,” he said simply.

I blinked.

Help me?

The words didn’t make sense. Nothing about my life lately involved help…not without a price, not without humiliation attached.

“Help me… how?” I asked slowly.

Keal exhaled, then finally turned fully toward me. His posture shifted, the rigid Alpha presence easing just slightly, as if he were laying something heavy down between us.

“I want a contract marriage with you,” he said.

My breath caught.

“And I want to make you my Luna.”

The world tilted.

“What?” I whispered.

“My pack, Silvercrest needs a Luna,” he continued calmly. “Not a decoration. Not a silent shadow. A real Luna. One who understands politics, strength, sacrifice. One who can stand beside an Alpha without breaking.”

I stared at him, my heart hammering wildly in my chest.

“And you think that’s me?” I asked incredulously.

“I know it’s you,” he replied without hesitation.

My throat tightened.

“I’ve seen your records. Your business achievements. Your years holding Blood Claw together behind the scenes while Darius took credit. I know how you were treated. I know how you were discarded.”

My fingers curled slowly into my palms.

“You… you know my story?” I asked.

He nodded. “Very well.”

The car suddenly felt too small.

“And that’s not all,” he continued, his voice lowering. “I’m also willing to help you take revenge.”

My breath stuttered.

“On Darius,” he said. “On everyone who hurt you, humiliated you, and stripped you of your dignity.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

Revenge.

The word echoed loudly in my head.

“You should fight back,” he said quietly. “You shouldn’t have to walk away with nothing while they live comfortably on the ruins of your life.”

I didn’t know what to say.

No one had ever said that to me before.

I had been taught to endure. To sacrifice. To stay quiet and dignified while being torn apart piece by piece.

And now this man; this Alpha from an enemy pack was offering me power… and vengeance.

“Why?” I whispered. “Why would you do this for me?”

His gaze softened further, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.

“Because I don’t believe broken people should stay broken,” he said.

My head spun.

A contract marriage.

Another Luna position.

Revenge.

Everything was too much. Too fast. Too unreal.

I turned my gaze away, staring through the windshield at the familiar surroundings of Cold Claw Pack’s premises. The place that had once been my home… and then my prison.

Was this another trap?

Another deal that would end with me being used and thrown away?

Or was this… an opportunity?

I was confused.

My chest felt tight as different thoughts collided in my head; fear, hope, anger, disbelief, all tangled together.

I was still lost in my thoughts when his voice pulled me back to the present.

“So,” Keal said quietly, watching me closely, “what do you say?”