Chapter 2: Ghosts in the Machine

Adrian Blackwood stood in the lobby of Chen Tech Industries, his enhanced hearing picking up the soft hum of Zara Chen's heartbeat twenty-three floors above. For three years, he'd been watching over her through digital surveillance, ensuring her safety while she unknowingly created technology that could either save or damn his kind.

Tonight, she'd come dangerously close to uncovering the truth about supernatural beings living among humans. Her AI's behavioral recognition was too sophisticated, too intuitive. If the wrong people got access to her algorithms...

"Sir?" Marcus Steele, his Beta and Chief Technology Officer, spoke through the nearly invisible earpiece. "Building security shows she's heading to the elevator."

"I'm aware." Adrian's voice was carefully controlled, but his wolf was restless. Three years of protecting her from a distance, and he'd never been this close. Never allowed himself to be in the same building when she was present.

But Dr. Kyle Harrison's message had changed everything. Adrian had been monitoring Harrison's communications for months, waiting for him to make his move. The man had been systematically stealing Zara's research prototypes, selling them to hunter organizations who used her brilliant algorithms to track and eliminate werewolves.

Harrison didn't know about Adrian's true nature, but he knew enough to be dangerous. And now he was positioning himself to manipulate Zara directly.

The elevator chimed, and Adrian's entire world shifted when Zara Chen stepped into the lobby.

She was smaller than he'd expected from years of surveillance photos, maybe five-foot-four in her sneakers, with long black hair pulled back in a messy bun and dark-rimmed glasses that made her look younger than her twenty-eight years. She wore jeans and an MIT sweatshirt that had seen better days, and she was beautiful in a way that made his wolf want to claim her immediately.

The mate bond hit him like lightning.

Adrian had been prepared for many possibilities tonight, but not this. Not the overwhelming certainty that crashed through every cell in his body, the instinctive recognition that this brilliant, naive human was his other half.

She was his mate. His Luna.

And she had no idea supernatural beings existed.

Zara walked past him toward the exit, close enough that he could smell her shampoo - something floral that made his wolf whine with the need to bury his face in her hair. She glanced up at him as she passed, and for one heart-stopping moment, their eyes met.

Zara froze mid-step.

Adrian watched awareness flicker across her features - confusion, recognition, attraction she couldn't explain. Her pupils dilated slightly, and her pulse quickened in a way that had nothing to do with fear.

She felt it too. Not the full mate bond, since her werewolf genetics were still suppressed, but something. A pull she couldn't understand or resist.

"Sorry," she said softly, voice slightly breathless. "I was... do I know you?"

Every instinct screamed at Adrian to claim her, to tell her the truth, to protect her from the dangers she couldn't see. Instead, he forced himself to smile politely.

"I don't think we've met. Adrian Blackwood." He extended his hand, knowing he was playing with fire.

When her fingers touched his, the mate bond flared so intensely that Adrian had to fight not to let his eyes flash gold. Zara gasped softly, jerking her hand back as if she'd been shocked.

"Zara Chen," she managed, rubbing her palm against her jeans. "I... that was strange. Static electricity, I guess."

"Must be." Adrian's voice was rougher than he'd intended. "You work late hours."

"Occupational hazard. I'm a programmer." She adjusted her glasses nervously, and Adrian found the gesture endearing. "What about you? I haven't seen you in the building before."

"I'm considering some investments in the area. Your building has an impressive security system."

That was true, though Adrian's interest had nothing to do with real estate and everything to do with the woman standing in front of him.

"Oh." Zara seemed to be struggling with something, torn between polite small talk and the inexplicable attraction she was obviously feeling. "Well, I should... I should get going."

"Of course. Drive safely."

She nodded and headed for the exit, but turned back when she reached the door. "This might sound crazy, but... have you ever felt like you were meant to meet someone? Like fate or destiny or whatever?"

Adrian's wolf howled with triumph, but he kept his expression neutral. "I think some connections transcend logic."

"Yeah." She smiled, and it was like sunrise after the longest night. "Maybe I'll see you around, Adrian Blackwood."

After she left, Adrian stood motionless in the lobby for a full five minutes, processing what had just happened. His mate was brilliant, beautiful, and completely human. She was also in mortal danger from the very people who claimed to mentor her.

"Boss?" Marcus's voice crackled through the earpiece. "Everything alright? Your vitals spiked pretty dramatically."

"Schedule a meeting with our legal team," Adrian said, walking toward the private elevator that would take him to the helicopter pad on the roof. "I want to make Zara Chen an offer she can't refuse."

"What kind of offer?"

Adrian smiled, and it wasn't entirely human. "The kind that saves her life."