Chapter 5

VERLIN

He was my bully and first mate who rejected me at 18.

I still saw it when I closed my eyes.

Xaden, 21 and already wearing his brother’s blood on his hands, looked at me like I was a mistake.

“Not you. Not ever.”

The bond snapped and burned, and he walked away without looking back.

That was five years ago.

Now I was standing on the ridge with nothing but a ruined jacket, a busted phone, and a secret that could get me killed.

My borrowed car was a smoking crater 200 yards down the road.

His car was the only way off this lonely road.

I watched him walk away from me, shoulders tight, jaw set. He didn’t offer his hand. Didn’t say a word. Just left me with the bodies and the smoke.

Fuck him! Let him go.

I told myself I didn’t need him for exactly thirty seconds.

Then I remembered the envelope.

It was in my jacket pocket, damp from the rain.

I'd taken it out to have a glimpse of it.

Inside was a list of names, dates and offshore accounts.

All tied to the virel family. Xaden's family. Blackmail materials. The kind of things that could burn the council, the elders and half the old guard.

If that list got out, the virel and mende pack would fall. And Xaden would fall with them.

I gasped, darting my gaze to xaden if he saw as I went breathless but he didn't and so I placed the envelope back, feeling watched.

If he knew I had it, he’d kill me before I could blink. He only protected his own.

But I knew his past. I knew he was regent when his brother died. I knew he carried that failure like a chain around his neck.

And I was suddenly desperate enough to use it because I was an omega with a target on her back and a throne she couldn’t hold.

Cade was gone. The pack loyal to me could be counted on one hand.

And the people who wanted me dead knew I had nothing.

Except Xaden.

He was the only alpha in this territory the council feared.

He was the regent. The enforcer. The man who could walk into a room and make grown wolves shut up.

If he was on my side, no one would touch me.

I hated that it made sense but I couldn't think of anyone else.

I found him at his car, keys in hand, not looking at me.

“Xaden.”

He stopped. Didn’t turn around.

“What.”

I swallowed and my pride burned.

“I need you.”

That made him turn. Slowly. Like he didn’t believe it.

And gods, I hated that even after five years, he still looked like that.

Tall. Broad in a way that made the mountain feel smaller. Rain plastered his dark hair to his forehead, cut sharp angles across his jaw.

Eyes too cold, too controlled. The kind of face that made people forget to breathe before they remembered to be afraid.

Breathtaking.

Wasted on a man who’d made a sport of breaking me.

“Get in line,” he said.

“I’m serious.” I stepped closer, rain soaking through my hair. “Someone tried to kill me tonight. They’re coming for Kieran next. You know what happens if they get to him. You were there when it happened to your brother.”

A muscle jumped in his jaw.

"What makes you think they'd come for him?" He responded, one brow lifting "You're their target... remember?"

"Because wolves don't stop" I cleared my throat, appearing more bold. "you helped me and you know how it goes. They finish the bloodline"

I got lost for a moment as his eyes scanned me like a tiger watching a bunny do its thing and ready to strike.

Silence.

"I have proof" I said, tensed "one name, one detail that you thought died with your brother"

Let this work please.

"Try it"

I lowered my voice. The harsh wind was loud enough to cover it.

“Rylan Korr,” I said. “He didn’t die in the border raid. He’s been on the Mende payroll since month six. Check the offshore account under Vance Holdings. Month six. Amount twelve thousand. Paid weekly.”

His hand stopped on the car door.

For three seconds, he didn’t breathe.

“That’s impossible,” he said dryly as though convincing himself.

“Check it,” I pressed on. “If I’m lying, you walk away and kill me yourself.”

He stared at me like I’d grown a second head.

“What do you want?"

“Thirty days,” I offered, my legs wagging. “Public only. Marry me. You get a legal claim as my consort. The council can’t touch Kieran without touching you. I take the political heat. You keep him alive.”

He scoffed unbelievably at me, ran his tongue on his teeth and studied me.

“I don’t want the throne,” he confessed.

“I know,” I mused. “You don’t have to want it. You just have to want him alive.”

He crossed his arms and the way his muscles rippled left me breathless.

“What’s in it for you?”

“Survival,” I countered. “And a chance to keep Kieran from ending up like his father.”

He went still. For a moment, I thought I’d reached him.

Then he shook his head.

“No.”

That one word cut deeper than the rejection eight years ago.

“Xaden, don’t throw this away,” I snapped feeling more desperate. “It’s thirty days. You verify the name tonight. You see, I'm not bluffing. And you keep Kieran safe.”

“No.”

He turned his back to me and kicked his tire. Ran a hand through his hair and let out a low, frustrated sound.

“You failed him, Xaden,” I stated. The words came out before I could stop them. “You failed Kieran’s dad.”

He stopped moving.

“If you walk away now, Kieran dies too. Is that another failure you can live with, Regent?”

He pivoted. When our eyes locked, his face was blank.

Then fury.

He stepped forward. I didn’t back up, but I wanted to. His fingers curled into a fist at his side like he wanted to hit me to shut me up.

“You don’t get to use that against me,” he barked dangerously. “You have no right to throw his death in my face to get what you want.”

“I’m not—”

“You are.”

I shook as he held my gaze. I forgot how to breathe. His dark eyes absorbed the light, pulled me under. Even from this distance, I felt his heat, smelled his cologne under the rain and blood.

“You think I don’t see it?” he accused. “You show up bleeding, with nothing, and suddenly you remember I’m the regent? You want me to clean up your mess because I couldn’t clean up theirs.”

“That’s not fair,” I whispered.

“Fair?” He leaned in, and I stepped back. “Nothing about this is fair. Kieran’s dad is dead. I rejected you. And now you’re trying to manipulate me into being your shield because you’re scared.”

I flinched. Because he was right.

“I’m not scared,” I said instead.

“You are. And you should be. But I’m not dying for you. Not again.”

He paced around me, opened the car door.

“Don’t involve my nephew in this,” he added, not even looking at me. “He’s all I care about. You’re on your own.” He got in. “Find yourself another alpha.”

He glanced at me one last time, then slammed the door.

Xaden drove off, leaving me in the rain with a secret that could burn his family to the ground, and the worst kind of helplessness.

He turned me down.

And he saw right through me.

I wanted to use his guilt to make him mine. Instead, I proved him right.

I was still the girl who used people to survive.

Fuck. What was I thinking? Getting back with that horror, Xaden? Never.

I stood there, shaking with anger and regret. I still didn’t have the strength to fight back. I never did.

The envelope in my pocket felt heavier.

And somewhere in the dark, I heard a phone camera click.

Someone was watching.