THE OFFER

CHAPTER 1

The letter sat on our kitchen table like a loaded gun.

I dropped my bag by the door.

"Mom?"

She didn't look up.

Her hands were shaking so badly that the paper between them rattled.

My stomach tightened.

"Mom, what happened?"

"They came again," she whispered.

I crossed the room in three steps. "Who? The collectors?"

"Worse."

She pushed the letter toward me.

The envelope was thick, expensive, and sealed with black wax. Stamped into the wax was a crest I didn't recognize a wolf's head surrounded by a circle of thorns.

I stared at the name printed beneath it.

DRAVEN.

Something inside my chest went cold.

"Draven?" I whispered.

Mom's face was drained of color.

"That's what I said."

I reached for the letter.

The moment my fingers touched the paper, a strange tingling shot through my knuckles.

I jerked slightly.

It felt like static before a storm.

I flexed my fingers and stared at them.

Nothing.

Just nerves.

I forced myself to look back at the letter.

"Alpha Roman Draven," I read aloud. "Requests a meeting regarding a surrogate arrangement with Mira Calloway"

I stopped.

My eyes moved back to the words.

"Wait."

I looked at Mom.

"Me?"

"Put it down."

"Mom."

"Put it down, Mira."

I slowly placed the letter back on the table.

"Somebody tell me what's going on."

Mom closed her eyes.

"The Dravens want you to carry his child."

The kitchen went silent.

I stared at her.

"What?"

"They're offering money."

"How much?"

"Mira"

"How much?"

She swallowed.

"Enough to pay off the house."

I didn't breathe.

"All of it?"

"Every debt."

She looked toward the hallway, where Toby's old school shoes sat beside the radiator.

"Enough to pay the collectors. Enough for Toby's schooling. Enough to replace the roof before winter."

I pulled out a chair and sat down.

For months, I'd watched my mother stretch every bill until there was nothing left to stretch.

I watched her turn off the lights to save electricity.

I'd watched Toby pretend he didn't need new shoes because he knew we couldn't afford them.

And now one letter could erase all of it.

"That's..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

"Mira, no."

I looked up.

"You haven't even heard what I have to say."

"I don't need to."

Her voice cracked.

"I know exactly what you're thinking."

"Then you know why I have to consider it."

"No."

"Mom"

"Roman Draven is not a man you owe anything to."

"We owe the bank three months."

"I know."

"We owe the leasing office."

"I know."

"Toby needs new boots."

"I know!"

Her voice broke across the room.

She pressed both hands against the table.

"I know everything we owe."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"But I will not sell my daughter to pay our debts."

My chest tightened.

"It's not selling me."

"You don't know that."

"I would be a surrogate."

"For Roman Draven."

The way she said his name made the room feel colder.

I leaned back.

"What exactly do you know about him?"

Mom hesitated.

That hesitation told me enough.

"They call him the Butcher of Ashcombe," she finally said.

I'd heard the name.

Everyone had.

Roman Draven was the Alpha of one of the strongest packs in the region. His reputation had been built on power, control, and an ability to make enemies disappear from his path.

But I'd never heard anything personal about him.

"He hasn't started a war in five years," I said.

"Because no one is foolish enough to challenge him."

"Maybe people exaggerate."

Mom gave me a look.

"You really believe that?"

I didn't answer.

She lowered her voice.

"Men like Roman Draven don't make offers like this because they're desperate for money."

I looked at the letter.

"Then why me?"

"Exactly."

That question had been sitting in my mind since the moment I'd read my name.

Why me?

There were wealthy women who could afford to become surrogates.

There were registered candidates.

There were agencies.

Why would a man like Roman Draven know my name?

Before I could say anything else, someone knocked on the door.

Three sharp raps.

Even.

Unhurried.

Mom went completely still.

"That's not the collectors," she whispered.

I stared at the door.

"No."

"Then who is it?"

I already knew.

I walked toward it.

"Mira, don't."

I ignored her.

My hand closed around the handle.

I opened the door.

A man stood on the other side.

He wore a charcoal coat that looked more expensive than everything in our house combined. His dark hair was perfectly arranged, his posture straight, his expression unreadable.

He didn't smile.

He didn't need to.

"Miss Calloway."

Not a question.

"I'm here on behalf of Alpha Draven."

My fingers tightened around the door.

"How do you know my name?"

"I know a great deal about you."

Something about the way he said it made the hair on my arms rise.

He glanced past me.

"I trust you've read the letter."

"We haven't decided anything," Mom said from behind me.

The man stepped inside.

He didn't wait to be invited.

"There isn't much time for deciding."

"How much time?"

"Tonight."

I frowned.

"The letter just arrived."

"The offer has been open for some time."

"Then why are you here now?"

For the first time, his expression changed.

Barely.

"Certain circumstances have accelerated the Alpha's schedule."

"What circumstances?"

"I'm not authorized to explain."

Mom stepped beside me.

"Why her?"

The man's eyes settled on me.

"Because Miss Calloway was specifically requested."

My heart skipped.

"By who?"

"The Alpha himself."

Silence.

I stared at him.

"Why?"

"A compatibility assessment identified Miss Calloway as a match."

Mom's face went pale.

"What assessment?"

The envoy didn't answer.

Mom stepped forward.

"She's never been tested."

"Are you certain?"

The question was quiet.

But it hit harder than a shout.

Mom froze.

I looked between them.

"What does that mean?"

The envoy's attention returned to me.

"It means the Alpha has his reasons."

"What reasons?"

"That isn't mine to explain."

I hated the calmness in his voice.

"Then explain the assessment."

"I cannot."

"Who performed it?"

Silence.

"When was it done?"

Nothing.

I stepped closer.

"Was I tested without my knowledge?"

The envoy's jaw tightened slightly.

That was the first real reaction I'd seen from him.

"You should ask the Alpha."

A chill crawled down my spine.

Before I could respond, my eyes dropped to the letter.

Something pulled at my attention.

I reached for it.

The moment my fingertips touched the paper, that strange tingling returned.

Only this time, it was stronger.

It raced from my fingertips to my wrist.

I sucked in a breath and pulled my hand away.

"Mira?"

Mom grabbed my arm.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

But I wasn't sure that was true.

The envoy was staring at my hand.

His expression had changed.

Not surprising.

Recognition.

Like he'd just seen something he'd been waiting to see.

"You felt it," he said quietly.

My stomach dropped.

"Felt what?"

He said nothing.

"Tell me."

His face became unreadable again.

"I need your answer."

Mom grabbed my arm harder.

"Don't do this."

I looked at her.

"Please," she whispered. "We'll find another way."

"We've been looking for another way for months."

"We'll find one."

"The bank won't wait."

"We'll lose the house."

"I know."

"I would rather lose the house than lose you."

Her words broke something inside me.

I looked toward the hallway.

Toby's schoolbag was lying against the wall.

I thought about the overdue bills hidden in the kitchen drawer.

The phone calls Mom stopped answering.

The nights she pretended she wasn't hungry so Toby and I could eat.

Then I looked at the contract.

One signature.

One decision.

One chance to save all of us.

"How long would I have to stay with the Dravens?"

The envoy answered immediately.

"Until the child is born."

"And after?"

"You return home."

"Nothing else?"

"Nothing beyond the terms of the agreement."

I studied his face.

"And Roman Draven?"

"What about him?"

"Will I have to see him?"

A pause.

"Yes."

Something about the way he said it made my pulse jump.

I looked at the contract again.

There was something wrong with this.

I could feel it.

But whatever the Dravens wanted from me, they had chosen me for a reason.

And I needed the money.

I reached for the pen.

Mom's fingers closed around my wrist.

"Mira."

I looked at her.

"I'm doing this for us."

"You don't know what you're agreeing to."

"I know what we're losing if I don't."

Her eyes filled with tears.

I gently pulled my hand free.

Then I signed my name beneath Roman Draven's.

The instant the ink touched the paper, the tingling exploded through my arm.

I gasped.

For one impossible second, the room seemed to disappear.

A flash of silver.

A howl.

A pair of golden eyes.

Then everything vanished.

I stumbled backward.

"Mira!"

Mom caught me.

The envoy hadn't moved.

But his face had gone completely pale.

"What did you see?" he asked.

I stared at him.

"Nothing."

His eyes narrowed.

He knew I was lying.

He folded the contract and slipped it into his coat.

Then he walked toward the door.

Mom followed him with a desperate look.

"When will she leave?"

"At dawn."

Mom's face crumpled.

"Tomorrow?"

"The Alpha doesn't like waiting."

He opened the door.

Then stopped.

He looked back at me.

For the first time, I saw something almost like sympathy in his eyes.

"Miss Calloway."

"What?"

His gaze dropped briefly to my hand.

"If I were you, I wouldn't touch anything in the Draven house until you know exactly why the Alpha chose you."

My blood ran cold.

"What does that mean?"

But he was already walking away.

The door closed behind him.

I stood there, staring at it.

Mom wrapped her arms around me.

Neither of us spoke.

The clock on the wall ticked loudly in the silence.

Midnight.

One.

Two.

Every second brought me closer to dawn.

Closer to Roman Draven.

Closer to the house of the most feared Alpha in the region.

And somewhere beneath the fear twisting through my stomach, one question refused to disappear.

What did Roman Draven know about me that even I didn't know about myself?