Chapter 2: The Fall

Maya

For one terrifying second, my mind refused to process what I was seeing.

Brian Silverman, the Alpha every werewolf in this company respected without question, lay crumpled beside his desk, looking nothing like the composed, untouchable man I had spent the last three years working for. 

The sight sent a wave of cold panic crashing over me, because Brian wasn't a man who lost control. He was the kind of man who walked into a room and owned it, whose calm authority alone was enough to silence an argument. Seeing him sprawled across the hardwood floor made my heart stop.

"Mr. Brian!"

My clutch slipped from my shoulder as I hurried across the room, dropping to my knees beside him so quickly that the impact sent a sharp sting through my legs. My hands hovered uncertainly above him, torn between the desperate urge to touch him and the irrational fear that the moment I did, everything happening before me would become undeniably real.

A thin line of blood trickled from a cut near his temple where he'd struck the edge of the desk, but it wasn't the injury that made my stomach twist.

His entire body was trembling.

Not the faint shiver of someone who was cold, but violent, uncontrollable tremors that seemed to ripple through every muscle. His breathing came in harsh, uneven pulls, each breath sounding more labored than the last, while sweat soaked through the collar of his crisp white shirt and dampened the dark strands of hair falling across his forehead.

"No..."

The word escaped me before I could stop it.

I reached for his wrist, pressing trembling fingers against his pulse, and the frantic rhythm beneath my fingertips stole what little composure I had left.

It was racing, far too fast. 

I'd spent three years working alongside werewolves. While I was human, I had learned enough to know that they healed from injuries that would put most people in the hospital, rarely caught illnesses, and possessed strength that made ordinary medical emergencies almost unheard of. Alphas, especially, were on an entirely different level.

Brian shouldn't have been lying unconscious on the floor.

And he certainly shouldn't have collapsed after drinking a little whiskey.

Something had happened to him.

With shaking hands, I fumbled for my phone and immediately called the one person who would know what to do.

Ethan.

The ringing echoed through the silent office. Once, twice,three times, then it went to voicemail.

My heart sank.

"No..."

I hung up and called again, gripping the phone so tightly my knuckles turned white, but the result was exactly the same. Nothing.

Trying to force myself to stay calm, I opened our message thread instead and typed as quickly as my trembling fingers would allow.

Brian collapsed in his office. Something's wrong. Please come upstairs NOW.

I hit send and stared at the screen for a brief second, silently praying he'd see it before it was too late.

A low groan broke through the silence.My head snapped toward Brian.

His fingers twitched against the floor before suddenly wrapping around my wrist with astonishing strength, making me gasp as the unexpected grip stopped me from pulling away.

His eyelids fluttered.

Slowly, impossibly slowly, they opened. Golden eyes met mine.

Not the familiar amber I saw every day across boardroom tables and office meetings, but a brighter, almost luminous gold that seemed to glow against the darkness surrounding us. They looked wild and unfocused,

He stared at me without speaking.

The seconds stretched endlessly between us before his lips finally parted.

"Maya."

My name rolled from his throat in a deep, rough voice that sent an involuntary shiver racing through me. I'd heard Brian say my name hundreds of times over the years during meetings, contracts, or impossible deadlines, but never like this. There was no authority in his voice now, no polished professionalism, only something raw that settled somewhere deep inside my chest.

"I'm here," I whispered, forcing myself to stay calm despite the way my pulse hammered in my ears. "What happened?."

He didn't answer, instead, he drew in a slow breath.

His nose twitched ever so slightly, then a low growl vibrated through his chest.

"Brian?"

Without warning, he tried to stand.

"Wait."

I barely got the word out before his knees gave way beneath him, and I instinctively threw my shoulder beneath his arm to stop him from crashing back onto the floor. Most of his weight settled against me, nearly knocking the breath from my lungs, and I had to brace myself to keep us both upright.

He was much taller than I was, broader through the shoulders, solid with muscle, and supporting him should have been impossible.

Yet somehow, step by unsteady step, I managed to guide him toward the private lounge connected to his office.

The distance wasn't more than a few feet, but it felt endless.

By the time we reached the bed, my breathing had become uneven from the effort, and my arms were beginning to ache beneath his weight.

He stumbled again.

This time, we both landed awkwardly on the edge of the mattress.

I caught myself with one hand against his chest, instantly feeling the frantic pounding of his heartbeat beneath my palm.

It was still racing.

My eyes swept around the room until they landed on a bottle of water sitting on the bedside table.

"Stay here," I murmured, though I wasn't sure he could hear me.

I quickly unscrewed the cap and poured a little water into my palm before gently dabbing it across his forehead and cheeks. A few droplets rolled down the side of his face, and after another moment, his breathing eased ever so slightly.

Relief loosened the knot in my chest.

"There you are," I whispered softly. "Just breathe."

I held the bottle toward him.

He didn't reach for it.

Instead, his gaze settled on me with an intensity that made the room seem to disappear.

The tension in his face slowly eased.

Without taking his eyes off mine, he lifted one hand and carefully brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear, his fingertips lingering against my skin just long enough to make my breath catch.

I had imagined Brian touching me more times than I cared to admit.

None of those daydreams had prepared me for how it actually felt.

"You need to lie down," I said quietly, trying to ignore the frantic rhythm of my own heartbeat. "I'm going to get Ethan."

I had barely begun to stand when his hand closed around mine. I looked back.

Those luminous golden eyes were fixed on me.

"Maya."

He said my name so softly it barely sounded like a whisper.

Then his free hand rose to my face, his thumb brushing lightly along my cheek before his fingers slipped into my hair and rested gently against the back of my head.

I couldn't move.

Every instinct told me I should pull away, call Ethan again, do something, anything, but my body refused to cooperate beneath the weight of his gaze.

For a long moment, he simply looked at me.

The wildness hadn't disappeared completely, but something else flickered beneath it, recognition and awareness. 

"Maya," he murmured again.

The sound of my name on his lips unraveled something inside me.

Slowly, almost cautiously, he leaned closer.

My breath caught as the distance between us disappeared, and for one suspended heartbeat, the rest of the world simply ceased to exist.