Stranger in the Dark

The world stopped.

Emily stared at him, sure she had misheard. "What?"

"You heard him," Claire hissed, her eyes flashing green with jealousy. "A half-human abomination? It would be a stain on the Evans bloodline. An Alpha can't have a weakling mongrel as his firstborn."

"Ryan, please," Emily stepped forward, reaching out a trembling hand. "You don't mean that. This is your child!"

Ryan slapped her hand away. The force of it sent her stumbling back, tripping over the hem of the white rug. She fell hard, her elbow cracking against the floor. Pain shot up her arm, but it was nothing compared to the agony shredding her heart.

Ryan loomed over her. The handsome billionaire she knew was gone. In his place was a cold, calculating monster.

"I am the future Alpha of the Ironmoon Pack," he growled. "I will not have my authority questioned because I sired a bastard with a human pet. You will go to the clinic tomorrow. Claire will arrange it. And then, you will leave Seattle and never return."

Tears blurred her vision, hot and blinding. She looked up at him from the floor, seeing the utter lack of mercy in his eyes.

"No," she whispered.

Ryan’s brow furrowed. "What did you say?"

"I said no," Emily said, her voice shaking but gaining strength from a sudden, fierce wellspring of maternal instinct. She scrambled to her feet, backing toward the hallway. "I won't let you touch this baby. I won't let you near us."

Ryan’s lip curled. "You think you have a choice?"

"I'm leaving, Ryan. And if you come after me... I'll go to the press. I'll tell everyone what you are." It was a bluff, a desperate, stupid bluff, but it was all she had.

Ryan threw his head back and laughed—a harsh, barking sound. "Who would believe you? You’re nobody, Emily. A penniless orphan against a billionaire. I could snap your neck right now and tell the police you slipped in the shower. Who would question me?"

He took a menacing step toward her, his hands curling into fists. "Rejection is too good for you. Maybe I should just solve this problem permanently."

"Ryan, wait," Claire said, stepping forward with a malicious glint in her eyes. "Let her run. It’s more fun that way. Besides, the storm is terrible tonight. If she has an 'accident' on the road... well, tragedy strikes."

Ryan paused, considering. He looked at Emily with pure disgust. "Fine. Run, little mouse. Run as fast as you can."

He pointed a finger at her, his voice booming with Alpha command. "I, Ryan Evans, reject you, Emily Reed, as my partner, my lover, and the mother of my child. You are nothing to me. If I see you in this city by sunrise, I will kill you myself."

Emily didn't wait for him to change his mind. She turned and sprinted.

She ran through the foyer, snatching her wet sneakers but not stopping to put them on. She slammed her hand against the elevator button, sobbing as the doors took an eternity to slide open. When they finally did, she threw herself inside, pressing the button for the lobby repeatedly.

As the doors closed, she saw Ryan standing in the hallway, watching her. His eyes were glowing amber again, predatory and cruel.

"Run, Emily," he mouthed.

The elevator descended, plunging her down from the heights of luxury into the cold reality of her life. She collapsed against the metal wall, sliding down to the floor, clutching her stomach.

He wanted to kill them. He wanted to kill her baby.

The elevator dinged at the lobby. Emily didn't stop. She burst out of the doors, sprinting past the startled security guard, pushing through the heavy revolving doors and out into the deluge.

The rain was freezing, hitting her skin like shards of ice, but she barely felt it. She ran barefoot onto the pavement, her socks soaking instantly in the puddles. She didn't know where she was going. She just knew she had to get away from Evans Tower. Away from the monster she had loved.

She turned down a dark alleyway, looking for a shortcut to the subway station. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her lungs burning.

Thump. Thump.

Heavy footsteps echoed behind her. Not the rhythmic click of shoes, but the heavy, padded thud of paws.

She froze, glancing over her shoulder.

At the mouth of the alley, silhouetted against the streetlights, stood a massive grey wolf. Its lips were pulled back in a snarl, saliva dripping from jagged fangs.

Ryan hadn’t waited until sunrise. He had sent his enforcers.

"Oh god," Emily whimpered.

She turned and ran, adrenaline flooding her system. She scrambled over a chain-link fence, tearing her coat, and landed in a puddle on the other side. She could hear the wolf growling, the sound of metal bending as it threw itself against the fence.

She stumbled onto a side street, waving her arms frantically. "Help! Somebody help me!"

The street was empty, the rain driving everyone indoors.

Except for one car.

A sleek, black limousine was idling at the curb a block away, its engine purring like a dormant beast. It looked like a hearse, ominous and dark, but to Emily, it looked like salvation.

She didn't think. She just ran toward it.

The wolf was over the fence now. She could hear its claws skittering on the pavement, gaining on her.

Emily reached the limousine just as the rear door opened. A man stepped out, unfurling a black umbrella with a calm, fluid motion. He was tall, dressed in a suit that cost more than her entire life’s earnings, his back to her.

She didn't stop. She couldn't.

"Please!" she screamed, hurling herself at him.

The man turned, startled, just as Emily collided with his chest. She grabbed the lapels of his trench coat, her wet, muddy hands staining the pristine fabric.

"Help me," she sobbed, looking up into his face.

And then, her breath caught.

He was devastatingly handsome, with sharp, aristocratic cheekbones and hair as black as a raven's wing. But it was his eyes that stopped her heart. They were a piercing, impossible shade of violet, glowing with a power that made Ryan’s amber gaze look like a flickering candle.

He looked down at her, not with disgust, but with a strange, intense curiosity. He didn't push her away. His arm went around her waist to steady her, his grip firm and warm.

"Please," she begged, her voice a broken whisper. "They're going to kill me. Do whatever you want with me... just save my baby."

The man looked over her shoulder. The grey wolf had skidded to a halt ten feet away. It snarled, pacing back and forth, but it didn't attack. It seemed... afraid. It whined, dipped its head, and backed into the shadows.

The violet-eyed stranger looked back at Emily. His gaze dropped to her stomach, then back to her eyes. A spark of something dangerous ignited in his gaze.

"You are being hunted by the Ironmoon Pack," he stated. His voice was deep, smooth, and terrified her more than the wolf had.

"Yes," she wept. "Please. I'll do anything."

The stranger tilted his head. "Anything?"

"Anything."

He smirked, a dark, predatory expression that promised both salvation and ruin.

"Get in the car," he commanded. "But know this, little human. If you step inside, you belong to me now."

Emily looked at the empty street where the wolf waited in the dark. She looked at the man who radiated a power she couldn't comprehend.

She didn't hesitate. She stepped into the darkness of the car.