CHAPTER 1: Dangerous Grounds

 Laura Sam Halewood’s POV

 “Keep your heart out of this, Laura.”

 The words were low, rough, carved into the quiet space between us before anything else had even happened. Alpha Zed stood closer than he needed to, one hand braced on the wall beside my head, the other resting light but heavy at my waist. His scent wrapped around me thick and warm: cedar, rain, something wild and unbroken that lived right beneath his skin. He looked down at me, eyes dark and burning, like he was already fighting something he knew he’d lose.

 “I mean it,” he murmured, his thumb sweeping slowly over my hipbone through the thin fabric of my dress. “This stays physical. This stays between us. You give me what I need, you get exactly what you came for. That is all.”

 I knew exactly what he wanted. My body. He only wanted my body, and the heir it could give him. Nothing more.

 I should’ve stepped back. I should’ve held my ground and kept the line sharp and clear. But his heat was seeping into me, steady and overwhelming, and every breath I took tasted like him. When he leaned in, when his other hand came up to cup the back of my neck, I didn’t pull away. I leaned in.

 Everything shifted fast, too fast, exactly how it always felt with him. His mouth found mine, and it wasn’t gentle. It was hungry, claiming. Like he’d been holding back for so long, the second he touched me all that control just fractured straight through. He touched me like he was fighting a war he knew he’d lose; every brush of his skin screaming hunger he refused to name, every caress contradicting every rule he’d laid down. His hands moved everywhere at once: my back, my ribs, the curve of my thigh, pulling me tight against him until there was no space left between us, no air, nothing but the hard, heavy weight of him and the fire spreading through every part of me.

 I arched into him, fingers tangling in his hair, and he groaned, a raw, broken sound right against my throat that went straight through me. He walked me backward slowly until my back hit the wall, his body pressing fully into mine, and I could feel exactly how much he wanted me: hard, thick, unmistakable, and it made my head spin. Everything blurred: the rules, the deal, the world outside this room. There was only him — the way he touched me like he owned every inch even though he swore he never would, the way he looked at me like I was something dangerous he couldn’t stay away from.

 His mouth dragged down my jaw, my neck, the hollow of my collarbone, and I tilted my head to give him more, breath coming fast and shallow, heart hammering so hard I thought it might break through my ribs. I felt his fingers slide to the hem of my dress, lifting it slow, and for a second nothing existed but the heat and the want and the certainty that I’d let him do absolutely anything he wanted.

 And then, just like that, I leaned the top of my head to his chest, quiet, clear, the only way I knew how to stop us both right there.

 Everything caught in my throat all at once: the fear, the doubt, the weight of what I was actually doing. I froze up hard, my hands pressing against his chest, and when he didn’t stop right away. I said it firm, clear, meeting his eyes straight on.

 “Stop. I can’t do this anymore.”

 He didn’t pull away right then. But he felt it too, that sharp, terrifying pull that went way beyond the deal. His grip loosened slowly, as it cost him something to do it.

 “I’m not going anywhere,” he said quietly.

 Alpha Zed stopped instantly.

 He pulled back just enough to look at me, his chest still heaving, eyes dark and blown wide, every line of him tense and coiled like he was still holding himself back by a thread. He didn’t argue. He didn’t reach for me again. He just stood there, waiting, watching me like he was trying to read every single thing going on inside my head.

 I couldn’t hold his gaze. Not then. I turned away fast, grabbing for my dress, pulling it down tight over my hips, covering myself up like I could put all those walls back up as fast as they’d fallen. My hands were shaking. Everything felt too hot, too exposed, too tangled up in something I’d never meant to feel. I grabbed my things: my jacket, my bag, fumbling to get them together, heart still slamming against my ribs, every inch of me still burning from where he’d touched me.

 I was halfway to the door when my phone rang.

 The sound cut through the thick, heavy silence sharp and shrill, and I knew. Before I even looked. Before I even answered.

 I fumbled it out of my pocket. Hospital number.

 “Laura?” The nurse’s voice was tight and urgent, with no extra softness. “We need you to come in right away. Chloe’s dropped. Her pressures spiked hard and fast this morning; her lungs aren’t keeping up. We’re moving her to ICU for stabilization. Doctor says you need to be here.”

 The world tilted.

 Everything went quiet for one long, terrible second: the room, the heat, the man standing behind me, all of it fading out until there was only those words ringing in my ears. ICU. Pressures spiked. Right away.

 “I’m co

ming.” My voice barely worked. “I’m on my way.”