Chapter 3

The impact knocked the access tablet out of my hands. It skidded across the stone floor, stopping several feet away.

"My bad. Didn't see a defect blocking the walk."

The nasty sneer scraped against my ears. The man looking down at me was an assistant director from the Sterling pack's logistics team. Behind him, a few young wolves traded amused smirks.

Dozens of eyes turned toward us, cold and hungry for a scene.

I set my jaw and ignored him. I bent down to retrieve my tablet.

A large, well-defined hand beat me to it, pinning the tablet to the floor.

A heartbeat later, thick cedar scent slammed into the hall. Heavy, unfiltered pureblood Alpha dominance. The temperature in the crowded lobby seemed to crash. The onlookers shut their mouths and took an involuntary step back.

Gavin caught the director's wrist in a vise grip.

The man doubled over, his face drained of color.

"Which hand hit her?" Gavin's voice was flat, totally devoid of emotion, but his eyes were bottomless pits.

"Alpha... it was an accident. I swear I didn't see Nadia—"

"This is your only pass," Gavin said, discarding him like a sack of trash. He pulled a pocket square, wiped his fingers clean, and tossed the cloth to the floor. Then he stepped in front of me, shielding me completely.

He shoved the tablet into my chest, his brow pulled into a dark line. "You deleted my text. You skipped the car. That desperate to prove a point?"

His palm pressed flat against my lower back. He shoved his way through the frozen crowd, flooding the space around us with his scent, locking out every prying eye. He escorted me straight to the VIP verification gate.

The gate scanner flashed green. He pinned me with a hard look. "Wait for me in the private lounge after you test. Do not wander off."

The tablet still carried his heat. An ache rose deep in my chest.

I let myself believe, just for a second, that he actually gave a damn.

By nightfall, that pathetic illusion was torn to pieces.

I had barely stepped into my apartment when an alert pinged on my feed. Tessa Sterling had posted an update.

It was taken backstage at a luxury press event. Tessa wore a crisp, tailored white suit, flashing an easy grin for the cameras.

Draped right across her collar was a charcoal silk-cashmere tie.

The silver wolf crest rested over her chest, catching the studio flashes.

My stitches. My sleepless nights. My own scent, woven into every thread.

The caption was short:

Rain ruined my scarf before the cameras went live. Big thanks to my best boy for the emergency assist. @Gavin_Silverthorne

My fingers went numb. The phone felt like lead.

It was my mating gift to him.

It held my confession. It held my whole heart. He never even opened the box. He threw it to another woman to accessorize her designer suit.

The blood rushed to my head. I dialed his private line.

It rang for a long time. When he finally picked up, the background was loud with rushed orders, system alarms, and deep Alpha snarls.

"Nadia? I'm buried in cross-border audits. Whatever it is, make it quick." His voice sounded dead on its feet.

"Why is Tessa wearing my tie?" I bit my lip, my voice shaking.

The line went silent for a second.

"What?"

"...Did you even know that was my gift to you?"

"I told my assistant to grab spare wardrobe from the apartment. It was an emergency swap." Gavin's voice sharpened with raw irritation. "How much was it? I'll wire you the money."

"That was your twenty-second birthday present, Gavin!" My voice cracked. "I spent a year getting that made! How could you let her put it on?!"

"Nadia, stop being unreasonable!" Gavin snapped.

A harsh, weary breath came through the receiver. "Regulators are crawling all over our Seattle shipping routes. The entire pack is running on zero sleep. It's just a tie. The floor is on fire here. Stop blowing things out of proportion."

Just a tie.

Blowing things out of proportion.

"Fine," I said, my voice terrifyingly calm. "Don't bother returning it. She can keep it."

I hung up before he could answer. Then I blocked his number.

Silence dropped between us like a stone.

For an entire week, I never stepped foot in corporate headquarters. He never showed up at my door.

Then came the offshore celebration. A luxury yacht party, thrown to celebrate the completed pack merger.

The elders came to my apartment in person. To save face for both bloodlines, I put on an evening gown and boarded the ship.

The deck was lit up like a casino. The sea wind was biting cold.

I found a dark booth in the far corner, holding a glass of soda, watching Gavin hold court under the crystal chandeliers.

He wore a tailored black tuxedo. Cold. In command. Moving pieces on the board with absolute authority.

His collar was open. Bare skin. No tie at all.

After enough scotch, the young heirs started getting reckless.

One of them clinked a silver fork against his champagne flute, grinning across the deck. His eyes tracked from my shadowy corner straight to Gavin in the center of the room.

"Hey, Gavin! Every time we throw a party, you clear out an entire soundproof suite just to lock Nadia away. You won't even take an extra drink without checking her pulse first."

The wolf laughed, loud enough to cut through the music, pulling every eye on deck.

"Seattle's running wild with gossip. Give it to us straight tonight, in front of everyone. Are you actually stuck claiming this broken mate for the rest of your life?"