C4

Zaria

"Let us get inside the main estate, Kofi," Amara Mensah murmurs, completely blind to the rot hidden beneath her new mate's skin. "The pack elders are waiting for us, and I will not waste my time on a low-ranking stray who smells of nothing but stale herbs."

Kofi's scent spikes with sudden, violent anxiety as he glares at me. Is this bitch trying to blackmail me in front of my new alpha line?

He doesn't say another word, turning on his heel to guide Amara through the heavy oak doors, trying desperately to keep his tail tucked.

"You should leave the Shadow Den before the guards mistake you for an intruder, Zaria," Selene Mensah warns, glancing between me and the retreating couple with a tight jaw.

"I am going," I reply coldly, adjusting my medical bag and heading for the outer gates.

By six in the evening, after a quick meal with Nia and my twin alpha heirs back at our hidden apartment, I return to the Adebayo Dominion stronghold. I figured the happy new couple would have cleared out of the territory by now. But the moment my boots crunch against the gravel of the outer courtyard, a shadow breaks from the stone pillars.

Kofi grips my upper arm before I can shift or draw a weapon, his fingers digging into my skin like iron claws as he drags me behind the massive stone fountains. "Are you out of your fucking mind, you crazy bitch? What are you doing back here?"

"Let go of me, you psychotic bastard!" I snarl, wrestling against his grip, but my female frame is at a disadvantage against a beta enforcer, and the sharp pressure on my bruises makes my inner wolf whine in raw pain.

Kofi freezes for a second, his eyes widening. It is the first time he has ever heard me use street tongue. Then, a look of pure disgust washes over his face. "Look at you, Zaria. Cast out for five minutes and you already speak like a degenerate rogue from the slums."

"I speak exactly how you made me speak, Lord Mensah," I mock, a bitter laugh tearing from my throat. "You should be proud. Congratulations on your new mate bond, by the way. Sucking up to the High Alpha Council's favorite daughter must feel great. If you hadn't dumped your fertile lies on me and thrown me to the waste, you'd still be scrubbing the lower dens instead of playing prince."

"You chose to keep those bastard mutts!" Kofi snaps, his scent turning rancid with defensive rage as he pushes me against the stone wall. "I gave you a clean out. I told you to purge the clinic pregnancy. Whatever happened to your name after that is your own fault, not mine!"

"So that gives your mother the right to tell the entire dominion that I cheated on the mate bond?" I hiss, my fangs slipping out as my vision edges with red. "You let the whole pack believe I was a whore just to cover up your own useless, barren wolf!"

"I never told them you cheated," he mutters, looking away.

"No, you just sat there in perfect silence while they ruined me!" I bark, wanting nothing more than to rip his throat out right here. "Your silence cost me my rank, my family, and my pack rights."

"Get out of this estate right now," Kofi threatens, his yellow eyes flashing. "If you breathe a word of the clinic to Amara or her father, I will hunt you down myself."

"Are you sweating, Kofi?" I laugh, leaning into his space. "Then give me back my territory rights. My twin heirs and I are living in a cramped rental on the border. Give me the deed to the lodge we bought, and maybe I'll stay quiet."

"Never," he snarls. "If I give you that land, the pack law judges will know I lied. Amara will see me as a fraud."

"Then get ready for a messy public execution of your new marriage," I whisper, shoving his chest with enough force to make him stumble. "Because if my life is hell, I am dragging you straight down into the abyss with me."

I turn toward the master suite entrance, ready to treat Kael Adebayo's legs, but Kofi lunges forward, grabbing both my wrists and pulling me backward toward the iron gates. "You aren't going anywhere near the inner circle. Healer? Don't make me laugh. You're here to ruin me. I'll give you the goddamn lodge deed, just get the hell away from the Adebayo family!"

He thinks I am here for his scraps. He thinks I am playing a game. I struggle against his hold, my boots sliding on the damp cobblestones, desperation starting to choke my throat until a chilling baritone cuts through the dark courtyard.

"Dr. Okoye."

Kofi drops his hands instantly, backing away as if he's been burned.

Tade Mensah steps out from the shadows of the arched doorway, his golden enforcer eyes locking onto Kofi with lethal intensity. "Brenda is sorting the pack feast supplies. She asked me to come down and ensure our guest wasn't being harassed by low-ranking guests."

Kofi's face drains of color. He recognizes Tade as Kael Adebayo's right-hand executioner. Even though Amara's family has status, they are only bloodline relatives adopted into the dominion after an old war—they carry no true claim to the High Alpha Council's throne. Kael Adebayo controls every single illegal market, smuggling route, and enforcer squad in the northern hemisphere. Kofi had spent the entire afternoon trying to catch a glimpse of the dark alpha, hoping to secure a slot in his inner circle, and now he is caught handling Kael's personal healer like a common captive.

The hideous snarl on Kofi's face twists into a sickening, submissive smile within a fraction of a second. "Greetings, Commander Tade. We were just catching up on old pack business."

Tade doesn't even look at him. His focus remains entirely on me. "Master Kael is waiting for the silver treatment. Follow me inside."

"What does the Dark Alpha want with you?" Kofi whispers frantically the moment Tade turns his back, his voice trembling with sheer terror.

"None of your fucking business, Kofi," I say, smoothing down my cloak and adjusting my medical kit.

"If you open your mouth about our past, Zaria, I will show you how ruthless a Mensah can be," he mutters, a final, desperate threat.

I shrug, a small, dangerous smile touching my lips as I step past him into the light. "I am counting on it."