Chapter 1: Blood Debt

Liana pov

The glass shattered against the wall beside my head.

I did not flinch. Years of living with Vincent Moretti had taught me that showing fear only made things worse.

"Where is he?" The enforcer's voice was gravel and violence. He stood in the doorway of my bedroom, blocking my only exit, his eyes flickering between human brown and wolf gold.

"I do not know what you are talking about." I kept my voice steady, my hands loose at my sides.

 The self-defense instructor Father hired had drilled into me: never show weakness, never give them a reason to escalate.

Three more wolves entered behind him, filling my bedroom with testosterone and barely contained rage. The largest one, built like a freight train with scars tracking across his jaw, stepped forward. "Vincent Moretti betrayed the Voss pack. Twelve of our wolves are dead because of information your father sold."

My stomach dropped. Father had been tense lately, disappearing for days at a time, but betraying Dominic Voss? That was suicide. The Voss Alpha did not forgive, and he certainly did not forget.

"My father does not involve me in pack business." That much was true. Vincent kept me isolated, a pretty ornament in his cold mansion, useful only for managing his legitimate fronts. "I have not seen him in three days."

"Convenient." The scarred wolf grabbed my arm, his grip bruising. "Then you will come with us. Blood for blood. That is pack law."

They dragged me from my bed, not giving me time to change from my silk nightgown. The pre-dawn air bit through the thin fabric as they shoved me into a black SUV. I calculated my chances of escape: four trained enforcers, no weapons, and I could not even shift like a normal wolf.

 Whatever accident had damaged my memories at twelve had also left me unable to access my wolf.

Zero chance.

The drive through Crimson Vale's dark streets blurred past. We left the relatively civilized north side, where Father's estate maintained its respectable facade, and descended into the industrial south where the Voss pack ruled absolutely. 

Their compound rose like a fortress, all stone walls and iron gates, a monument to power built on blood and fear.

They hauled me through corridors of cold marble, my bare feet silent against the floor. Guards watched with flat, predatory eyes. We stopped before massive oak doors.

"Alpha is waiting," the scarred wolf said, and pushed me inside.

The war room was exactly what I expected: dark wood, weapons mounted on walls, maps of territory marked in red. A dozen wolves surrounded a central table, all of them radiating the kind of danger that made normal people cross the street.

And at the head of the table stood Dominic Voss.

I had never seen him in person. Father made sure of that, keeping me away from pack politics, away from danger. 

But I had heard the stories. The Alpha who took control at sixteen after his father's mysterious death. The man who expanded Voss territory through strategic brutality. The wolf who showed mercy to no one.

The stories had not prepared me for the reality of him.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a black shirt that did nothing to hide the predator underneath. 

Dark hair, sharp features, a jaw that could cut glass. But it was his eyes that stopped my breath. Ice blue, cold as a winter dawn, fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

"Liana Moretti." His voice was dark silk wrapped around steel. "Do you know why you are here?"

"Blood for blood," I said, lifting my chin. "Pack law demands payment for the twelve wolves my father killed."

Something flickered in those ice-blue eyes. "And you accept this?"

"I do not have a choice." The words tasted bitter. I had never had choices. "But I am not my father. I had nothing to do with his betrayal."

"No." Dominic moved around the table with lethal grace, each step measured, controlled. "But you are all he left behind. Vincent Moretti disappeared like the coward he is, leaving only one thing of value."

He stopped three feet away, and the air changed.

It hit me like lightning, a physical jolt that raced down my spine and exploded in my chest. Every nerve ending came alive. My vision sharpened, my hearing amplified, and beneath it all, something inside me reached toward him with desperate hunger.

Dominic's eyes flashed amber, his wolf surging forward. His entire body went rigid, muscles coiling with tension.

No. This could not be happening.

"Mate." The word tore from his throat, raw and unwilling.

The war room erupted. Wolves jumped to their feet, shocked voices overlapping. I stood frozen, feeling the invisible chain snap into place between us, binding us in a way that was older than pack law, older than anything I understood.

Dominic's lieutenant, a blonde wolf with a vicious scar, recovered first. "Alpha, this is impossible. She is."

"I know what she is." Dominic's voice cut through the chaos like a blade. His eyes never left mine, burning now with amber fire. 

The muscle in his jaw ticked as he fought whatever instinct the bond demanded.

When he finally spoke again, each word was forced through gritted teeth. "Liana Moretti, you will remain my captive until your father surfaces to face justice. 

Then you will both pay for what was taken from my pack."

He turned away, dismissing me, but not before I saw it, the war raging behind those ice-blue eyes. The mate bond demanded protection. His need for vengeance demanded blood.

I had just become the Alpha's greatest weakness and his perfect revenge, all at once.