Connor’s POVI shot up with such force the dining table nearly flipped, glasses clinking violently, a knife clattering to the floor. The guests yelped. My chair skidded halfway across the marble.“Connor?” Dorothy's voice rang, half-laugh, half-concern.“Mr Thompson—what’s wrong?” Ryland rose slowly, face drawn with polite alarm.But their voices—those useless, irrelevant sounds—faded into fog.I was already moving.Fast.Too fast.Stupid, Connor. Not human. Don’t blow it. Zik hissed at me, but I didn’t care.Not now.I sprinted past the table, down the corridor where the maids had exited. My shoes slammed the polished floors, echoing like gunshots in the hall.“Connor!” Dorothy’s heels clicked behind me. “What’s going on?! What are you—someone stop him!”Didn’t matter.None of it mattered.All that mattered was her.I tore past three maids in uniform, all squealing as I pushed them aside.Then I saw her.Ivy.Her back to me, carrying a tray like it weighed a thousand pounds.My hand
Connor’s POVMorning came cold and colorless.I hadn’t slept. Not really. Just like every night since Ivy vanished, rest was something that was teased but never delivered—like a mirage in the desert. Guilt clung to me like a second skin. I could function through the day, wear the face, smile when needed. But those hours between midnight and dawn? That’s when regret slithered in. Whispering all the things I should’ve done, all the ways I failed her.So when the knock came—sharp, polite—I was already dressed, fixing the last cufflink on my charcoal suit. The maid poked her head in, eyes low, voice soft.“Mr. Thompson, Mr. Ryland is waiting downstairs.”I didn’t even look up. “Thanks,” I muttered, grabbing my phone and leaving the room without a backward glance.They’d tried earlier to coax me to breakfast. I hadn’t opened the door. Just said flatly, “I don’t do breakfast.”I descended the marble stairs like I’d done it a hundred times before, finding Ryland standing beneath one of tho
Connor's breath caught.Something flickered across the edge of his senses—fast, familiar, confusing. It was there, then gone before Zik could even sink his teeth into the scent.What was that?He spun mentally, scanning for the source—but the disturbance evaporated, leaving only an aftertaste of shadow and silence.“Connor?” Dorothy's hand tugged his arm, soft and coaxing. “Come inside. It’s too hot out here.”Still on edge, he let her lead him into the mansion. His instincts screamed, but logic shoved them down. He needed this deal. He needed to keep his focus. Still, his mind kept circling that strange sensation.The mansion opened up before them—gilded edges, grand staircase, portraits in thick golden frames. It was the kind of place people described as "elegant" or "tasteful." But to Connor, it just felt like a performance. All shine, no soul.He didn’t care about hand-carved panels or imported Italian marble. He just wanted to get this over with and go back to his pack—back to th
Connor stood at the edge of the wreckage he'd just left behind—Elizabeth sobbing, Tom bloodied and unconscious, warriors scrambling to obey his orders—and for once, he didn't feel better after the rage passed. He just felt… hollow.His mind spiraled in a storm of furious flashbacks. Every memory of Ivy—every bruise she hid behind a forced smile, every cold shoulder she received—hit him like a punch to the gut. She had been rejected by everyone… including him.She carried it all alone. The guilt. The pain. The constant abuse. Hell, she’d been treated like the pack’s personal maid since she was a child, stripped of dignity and purpose before she even had a chance to find it.And for what? Because of that manipulative bitch, Lila?Connor’s breath caught in his throat. Fury licked at the edges of his control like wildfire. Zik snarled beneath the surface, ready to tear through bone and lie altogether.A growl echoed inside him—low, deep, angry."This is your fault," his wolf snarled. "You
Meanwhile, Alpha Connor had been amongst most men most miserable.There wasn’t a day that passed that he didn’t think of Ivy—her scent, her eyes, the look on her face the last time he ever saw her. Regret sat on his shoulders heavier than any armor he had ever worn in battle.He had stood beside Alpha King Leo Ashton in the search, tearing through forests and rogue dens across the realm—but Ivy had vanished like smoke through his fingers. Gone. And it was his fault. Every aching second since, he had buried himself in business, in war preparations, in pack expansions—anything that could keep him from drowning in guilt.Now, he knew who he was up against. Leo Ashton was no ordinary man and he was no match for the Alpha King.If only he had claimed her when he was supposed to. If only their bond had been sealed.She’d be alive. She’d be safe. She’d be his alone.Today was no different. Another flight, another high-level meeting for the sake of his pack’s investments. Something to keep hi
Richard’s POVThe air shifted before the knock ever came.A tension—like a blade pressing lightly to the throat—settled in the room.We’d just begun to digest Daniel’s bombshell when the sound reached us.Knock.So soft it could’ve been the house settling. But it wasn’t.It was careful. Fearful.Like whoever was on the other side didn’t want to be heard but needed—desperately—to be let in.We all turned to the door at the same time, and I saw it in Marcus’s eyes: the unspoken agreement. Brace yourself.Daniel turned to the door, his eyes narrowed into slits. “It’s her,” he said, stepping forward just as the timid knock echoed through the room again. Daniel moved to open it. His fingers barely brushed the brass handle when the door creaked inward.And in stepped Eva.She looked like a ghost of herself—no clipboard or tablet in hand, no usual briskness to her step. Just hesitation. And fear. Her hair, usually pinned back with perfect precision, hung in soft waves around her face. She s