CHAPTER 12: Whispers Beneath the Leather Sky

Alaina

I froze the moment I saw him.

There he stood—Adrian. Towering in the entryway of the hotel. The cheap linoleum floors beneath his polished shoes seemed unworthy. He looked like a storm that had no business blowing into a place like this, wild, powerful, and somehow still unnervingly controlled.

"Well," I whispered to myself, feeling a strange twist of bitter satisfaction as I wiped my hands on the hem of my dress, "I was right after all."

Adrian's gaze swept over me, unreadable, sharp as shattered glass. His jaw clenched, but his lips tilted into a cold smile.

"So this is what victory looks like to you," he said, the disdain in his voice too subtle to be called cruelty, but too pointed to ignore.

My heart beat faster. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. The way he said it, like I’d won some unspoken war neither of us had agreed to fight, made my spine straighten.

"You look... stunning, Alaina," he added, and my breath caught. His tone softened only slightly, but the sound of my name on his lips was a strange and dangerous comfort.

I stared at him, blinking back the burn that had nothing to do with emotion and everything to do with confusion.

"You said my name," I murmured, almost accusingly. "You already used it in the message, but hearing it now..."

His eyes narrowed. "Did I say something wrong?"

I shook my head. "No. I just didn’t expect it to feel so... real."

He smirked, stepping aside and gesturing toward the sleek, black car parked just outside. The door stood open like a silent invitation.

"Get in," he said.

There was no warmth in the command. No threat either. Just inevitability.

I hesitated. This was the opportunity I had been waiting for. A way out of this stale air, out of this tiny room where every breath tasted like failure and spilled cleaning fluid. I wasn’t proud of how far I’d fallen, but I wasn’t ashamed either. Survival had taught me humility in cruel doses. Still, I wasn’t meant for scrubbing floors and serving coffee to people who never looked me in the eyes.

I nodded once, stiffly, and walked to the car. The interior smelled of leather and something darker, more masculine. The cold air from the vents wrapped around my skin like silk, soothing in ways I hadn’t known I needed. I pressed my hands to my arms, letting the sensation ground me.

Adrian entered on the other side and shut the door. The click echoed like a lock being sealed on a decision I couldn’t undo.

"Seatbelt," he said without looking at me.

I fumbled awkwardly with the strap and fastened it. A strange silence stretched between us as he pulled the car onto the road. The engine roared to life beneath us, and the smooth power of the Lamborghini Aventador thrummed like a predator beneath our feet.

He didn’t speak again until we were well out of the city.

"You responded to the message about the Pack Games," he said, his voice low and unreadable.

I nodded. "It's happening tomorrow."

He snorted, almost amused. "Impressive. You’ve managed to stay more informed than most of my inner circle. I didn’t expect that from a rogue living under the radar."

I turned to him, meeting his gaze with quiet defiance. "There’s a lot you don’t know about me."

"Is that so?" he said, glancing sideways with a raised brow. "Then what are you, Alaina?"

I forced a breath through my nose. "Just a woman trying to survive in a world that turned its back on her."

He didn’t answer right away. The tension between us thickened.

"I don’t take advantage of women," he said suddenly.

I blinked, startled by the abruptness of his words. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I don’t manipulate women into my bed. I don’t need to." His tone was clipped. Firm. But beneath it, something cracked—an old wound, perhaps, or a belief he was trying to reinforce for his own sake.

"Then stop acting like you're doing me a favor," I replied, my voice calm but laced with steel. "You messaged me for a reason. You needed help, and I was the only one who answered. So let’s be clear, Adrian. I’m not here to play games. I’m here to survive, and if working with you ensures that, I’ll do what needs to be done."

He glanced at me, his expression unreadable. I saw something flicker in his eyes—respect, maybe. Or curiosity.

"You don’t trust me," he said.

I laughed softly. "I barely trust myself. But I do believe in following instincts. And right now, mine says that I should be cautious."

He brought the car to a stop on a quiet road that cut through a cluster of pines. The hum of the engine quieted into a low purr. Outside, the world felt still. Isolated.

Adrian turned to me fully. "Are you hiding something from me?"

I tilted my head. "Why ask a question you already think you know the answer to?"

"Because you’re too composed for someone who supposedly lost everything. You speak like someone who still has secrets, someone who knows a lot. And that makes me... uneasy."

I looked him in the eyes, swallowing the truth I wasn’t ready to reveal.

"You’re not wrong," I said finally, my voice barely more than a whisper. "But trust goes both ways. You want to know what I am? Prove you're not just another Alpha who sees me as a tool. Or a liability."

He stared at me for a long moment, eyes dark and stormy.