Chapter two

Ray's POV

“Sir, to the city house or…” my driver's voice sounded as he lifted his eyes to meet mine through the rearview mirror.

I nod, not letting a word leave my lips.

I relax my back on the perfect leather seat of my 2025 BMW 7 series allowing the low hum of the car engine, the only sound in the cabin, save for the occasional splash of tires against wet asphalt, to penetrate my ears. The streets are nearly empty, the city still half-asleep in the early morning haze. But no amount of silence can drown out the chaos inside my head.

I adjust against the leather seat again, arms crossed, jaw clenched so tight my teeth ache.

Her face.

It won’t leave me.

Those soft, dark lashes brushing against flushed skin. The curve of her lips, swollen from my kiss. Her skin — a warm, golden brown that still lingers on my fingertips like a phantom sensation. The scent of her hair, lavender and something uniquely her, haunts the air in my lungs no matter how deeply I breathe.

I snort, grinding my molars together.

Pathetic.

I’ve been with plenty of women before I fell in love and got my heart broken. Casual, forgettable. None of them ever followed me home in my thoughts. None of them ever clawed their way into my mind like this. And yet, here she is — an unnamed stranger tangled in my head like a curse I can’t break.

“Damn it, Jeff.” I cursed, blaming my friend for my current predicament.

Trying to distract myself, I glare out the window, watching the blur of passing streetlights, my fists tightening against my thighs.

“I should’ve known better than to let him talk me into drinks at that hotel bar.” I reprimand myself, my palm still shaped in a fist.

Jeff’s always had a twisted sense of humor. Always meddling where he shouldn’t. And this — this has his signature written all over it.

The way the drinks kept coming. The sudden disappearance halfway through the night. The strange hotel suite key that “accidentally” landed in my pocket. It was no coincidence. I know him too well.

A low growl rumbles in my chest. Leo, my wolf, stirs inside me — not in anger, but in restless, eager excitement.

You felt her too, Leo murmurs, his voice a seductive purr beneath my skin. She’s ours. I can't stop thinking about her too.

“No,” I mutter under my breath in response to my wolf, leo, glaring harder at the glass. “Not like that.”

But he just like my mind refuses to listen.

Without my permission, my mind replays for almost the fifth time the night in vivid, merciless detail.

Her body beneath mine, soft and warm. The way her lips trembled when she whispered please. The heat of her skin against my palm. Her breathless moans, the desperate way she clung to me, as if nothing else in the world existed.

My stomach tightens, heat surges through my veins.

I drag a hand through my hair, snorting again, irritated by my own weakness. “Enough,” I growl to myself, but the memories keep coming, relentless, stubborn.

Leo lets out a contented growl, lounging in my mind like a beast freshly fed. I could feel him grin.

She’s perfect, Ray. I’ve waited years for this. You can pretend all you want, but we both know the truth. She’s our mate.

I bare my teeth, my jaw ticking. “She was drunk. She doesn’t even know what happened.”

She called to us. You felt it. Every inch of her body begged for us. Don’t deny it.

I slam my palm against the car door, the sharp sound cracking through the heavy air. My driver who got startled glances up in the rearview mirror but knows better than to speak.

The car turns a corner, the soft sun glow casting its morning rays on the trees, creating a dark shadow of them as we leave the streets behind.

The scent of her still clings to me.

Faint lavender. Sweet sweat. Warm skin.

I can’t shake it. Even now, my fingers ache to touch her again, to trace the curve of her waist, to bury my face in the crook of her neck and inhale like a starving man.

I hate it.

I hate how my pulse quickens at the thought. How my skin prickles when I remember the way her hips moved, the needy sound of her voice.

This isn’t me. This shouldn't be me. I can't and won't trust any one of that gender ever again.

I close my eyes, grinding my teeth, forcing my thoughts to other things. Business matters. The upcoming deal with the Silverclaw group. Our new product launch ceremony in a week. Anything but her.

But the images crawl back in, uninvited and cruel.

Her lips on my chest. The way her nails dug into my back. The look in her eyes when our gazes locked, like something ancient and fated pulled between us.

I growl low in my throat.

Leo chuckles darkly. I should thank him.

“Shut up,” I mutter.

I force deep, steady breaths, counting them out. Five in. Five out.

After several long, agonizing minutes the reel of last night finally starts to fade, the heat in my veins cooling just enough to think straight.

“Good job, Ray,” I praised myself, glad I had won the victory over my mind and Leo.

I turn to the other side of the car, happy, as I watch the city lights disappear behind us and the familiar shadow of my family’s estate springs ahead, dark against the heavy sun's intense light. The car slows, tires crunching over gravel as we pull closer to the gates.

Leo for a moment remained quiet, brooding in the back of my mind until like a switch he began to grow restless, growling in anger.

I could feel his rage, his urge to protect something, no, someone dear to him.

As I struggle to grasp Leo's sudden shift, his restlessness erupts, and he seizes control.

"She's in danger!" he snarls, his voice rising to a command. "Turn the car around, now! We are heading back."