LOGINAs always, Hugh skips any nice manners and stomps his heavy boots over to the counter. "Did your ears not hear the Alpha's mouth? Get your body over there right now!"With a quiet, hot exhale of frustration from my nose, I approach the wooden table, casually placing the paper menu right in front of his chest without saying a single word.Seth doesn't even bother looking down at the text on the menu. Instead, he leans his large frame back in his seat, watching my tracksuit with an unsettling ease—his dark stare slow, steady, and completely impossible for my mind to read.My pulse stumbles hard against my chest wall. That intense look—it almost feels like total recognition. Was his inner wolf starting to put the missing puzzle pieces together? No. I shut the terrifying thought down before it can grow roots in my brain. For fifteen long years, not a single soul in Valoria Ridge has laid eyes on my true, undisguised face. There is absolutely zero chance Seth can recognize my look.Across
RAPHA OKOYE POV"The back kitchen stoves are too hot, Hailee," I mutter, pulling my tracksuit away from the door of the boiling oven area.I want to run into the dark back room to escape the incoming dominion guards, but one single step into that fiery room makes my wolf retreat fast. Instead, I quietly slide my boots behind the old wooden counter, hoping my small frame stays completely unnoticed by the high-blood soldiers.The exact moment Seth Adebayo steps into the building, I drop my chin down toward my chest, letting my dark hair fall forward like a thick curtain to shield my face from his eyes. But my inner beast gets the better of my mind when my pupils catch a glimpse of a curvy, flashy woman hanging tightly off his heavy arm. Dressed in tailored black warrior trousers and a sleek silk shirt to match his dark fur, Seth moves through the door like a wild pack storm wrapped in pure silk. His tall silhouette and sharply cut alpha features carry an unmistakable, freezing chill tha
RAPHA OKOYE POV"Change of plans, Hailee—tell the driver to pull into the Valoria Pack Lodge right here," I say, my hand grabbing his wrist to point toward the large stone gate."Wait—why are our boots stopping at a high hotel?" Hailee asks, squinting his brown eyes in total confusion through the cab glass.I shove my fingers through the tangled mess of my rough rogue wig and let out a heavy sigh from my chest. "My wolf needs to pull himself together before we hit the kitchen. If your dad catches my frame looking like a wild swamp rogue, his brain is bound to think you are running around the territory lines with the wrong pack crowd."A bright grin tugs at Hailee’s lips. "Sure, my dad’s got some old-school ideas about the mafia world, but come on, Rapha—your beast has that cool but dangerous alpha vibe going for it anyway. His wolf will totally love you once his eyes see past the messy ink and dark mascara."Despite Hailee’s sweet words, my mind isn't taking any loose chances tonight—
RAPHA OKOYE POV"Is this billion-coin bid a joke, Elder Morgan?" I whisper, my eyes locking onto the skinny messenger wolf who just crushed the entire room's bank accounts.He does not look like a high mafia boss at all. He wears thick glasses, looking more like an old scholar from the pack library than a powerful alpha warrior from a top dominion. There is no heavy beast energy coming off his skin. My nose only catches the scent of cheap forest leaves on his simple wool jacket. He does not fit the picture of a titan who can throw a billion pack resources around like dirty water."The bid stands legal, Alpha Rosa," Clement Morgan says, his fingers trembling as he holds the microphone tight against his chest.The entire hall is buzzing like a nest of angry hornets. Every capo and fighter is dying to know whose shadow is behind those glasses. The skinny messenger stays completely cool like winter ice, a tiny smirk sitting on his lips. His boots do not walk with the heavy stomp of a pack
RAPHA OKOYE POV"Look at them go!" Clement shouts from the main stage.My eyes wide, I watch the two low-ranking wolves tumble across the floor of the Alpha Hall. They do not have their clothes on. They are just in their underwear. One guy grabs the other guy and screams like a mad wolf. He scratches his claws right across the other guy's chest. It leaves big red marks."They look like they are in love or something crazy!" a young wolf in the back row yells.Everyone in the crowd gasps. People pull their chairs back because they are shocked."Get off me!" the first shirtless wolf screams."I will kill you!" the second wolf howls back.They push each other away fast. Then they run out of the big doors. They howl the whole way down the road. The whole room bursts out laughing. My heart beats fast from all the entertainment. Amara Mensah is already gone, so everyone looks at the stage now."I am so sorry you had to see that, Rosa," Clement says to me. He wipes sweat off his head. He look
"Amara, get your dirty paws off that sacred stage right now!" someone shouts fiercely from the center row.The loud shout pierces straight through the air, and in less than three seconds, the whole crowd of warriors takes up the chant. Their voices rise together in a giant, unified alpha roar, demanding that Amara leave the building.If Luciano’s huge disgrace hadn't erupted first, Amara’s bad forgery might have drawn nothing more than a few mean smirks and side-eyes from the elders. But with everyone's tempers already flaring hot, the alliance audience turns completely vicious.Amara’s close connection to Alpha Merritt—the notorious underworld mafia leader of the city packs—usually keeps regular wolves completely quiet. No low-ranking wolf ever dares to stir up trouble with a pup who lives under Merritt's heavy protection. But Luciano’s total disaster stirred the crowd into such a crazy frenzy that their wolves do not care about Merritt's name anymore. They just want Amara out of the
“You think this dirty little street wolf can handle the weight of my silver fur?”Seth Adebayo’s dark baritone sliced right through the silk veil covering my face. He didn't use a gentle touch. His massive, scarred hand clamped hard around my throat, not enough to choke me, but just enough to force
RAPHA OKOYE"Rapha, close the heavy oak door and take a seat on the wolf skin chair right now," Elder Jabari says, waving his old wrinkled hand with a very strange look on his face.My boots hesitate for a quick second by the wall, but then my fingers pull the door shut until it clicks. I walk acro
“You think a little rough play gives you the right to put your claws on an Adebayo?”Seth’s voice rolled through the dark chamber like thunder before a storm. I didn't answer with words. The moment his massive palm scraped against the collar of my armored vest, my survival instincts overrode my bra
“Rapha, remember what I told you before my spirit joined the ancestors. Until your twentieth winter, never reveal your true form, your power, or your scent.”Rapha Okoye repeated his mother’s final words in his head as he stared at the cheap, mud-covered rags clinging to his body. For fifteen years







