Chapter 1 – The Night That Changed Everything

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The city at night was a living, breathing predator — all teeth and temptation. Glass towers glimmered under the streetlamps, every lit window another set of watching eyes. Down below, black cars purred along rain-slick roads, carrying people who had the money and power to bend the city to their will.

Serena Ward didn’t belong here. Not really. She told herself that as she slipped past the velvet rope and into The Orchid Room, the most exclusive lounge on the east side. She wasn’t here for its cocktails or the celebrities that hid in the shadowed booths. She was here for the noise, the distraction — anything to keep her mind from looping back to the past she worked so hard to bury.

The music was low and smooth, wrapping around her like warm smoke. Crystal glasses clinked under dim golden lighting, and the faint scent of high-end perfume battled with something sharper… something primal.

Alpha scent.

It prickled her senses, making her Omega instincts stir restlessly. Serena exhaled slowly, centering herself. She was weeks away from her next heat — she could handle this. She always did.

She moved toward the bar, ordering a drink without looking up. If she kept her head down, if she stayed quiet, no one would notice her.

Except someone did.

She felt it before she saw it — the weight of a gaze that didn’t waver, didn’t flinch. The kind of attention that burned hotter than the whiskey in her glass.

Serena lifted her eyes.

And there he was.

Lucien Vale.

Even from across the lounge, he dominated the space. Tall, broad-shouldered, tailored black suit hugging a body built from discipline rather than vanity. His hair was dark and immaculately styled, his jaw sharp enough to cut glass. But it was his eyes — a deep, storm-gray — that caught her. They didn’t just look at her; they assessed her, stripped her down to the truth she tried so hard to hide.

She knew that name. Everyone in the city did. Lucien Vale, heir to the Vale Corporation — a dynasty of shipping, finance, and political influence. The kind of Alpha who could end careers with a word and sign billion-dollar deals before breakfast.

So why was he watching her?

Serena’s pulse quickened, but she kept her expression neutral, lifting the glass to her lips just slowly enough to study him out of the corner of her eye.

Lucien stepped closer, effortlessly commanding the small space between them, his voice low and smooth when he finally spoke.

“Not often I see someone hold their own in a room full of Alphas.”

She raised a brow, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. “I’m not here to compete.”

He chuckled softly, the sound a velvet threat. “Neither am I. But sometimes, even the most cautious get drawn in.”

Serena met his gaze steadily. “What’s your game, Lucien Vale?”

He studied her like she was a puzzle missing a piece — intriguing, complicated. “No game. Just… curiosity.”

The conversation flowed easily after that, surprising her. With every word, every look, the barrier she’d built around herself chipped away, just a little.

Hours slipped by like minutes, the world outside fading until it was just the two of them — laughter mingling with whispers, shared secrets in a crowded room.

When the lights dimmed and the crowd thinned, Lucien’s hand brushed hers, a spark igniting where skin met skin. Serena didn’t pull away.

“Stay with me,” he murmured, voice rough with something deeper than desire.

For once, Serena let herself believe in a night without consequences.

The elevator ride up was charged with silent electricity. Lucien’s hand found her waist, steadying and possessive. The penthouse door closed behind them, shutting out the city’s chaos.

They moved like a tide, drawn inevitably together. Each touch was fire; every breath, a promise.

Lucien’s lips brushed the shell of Serena’s ear. “You’re dangerous.”

Her laugh was a breathy tease. “So are you.”

They tumbled into the night — raw, urgent, and desperate. Hours dissolved into a fevered haze of skin and whispered names, a night neither wanted to end.

But dawn always comes.

Serena woke to the pale light filtering through silk curtains, Lucien already gone. No note, no goodbye — just the faint scent of cedarwood and something she couldn’t name, lingering on the sheets.

She dressed quietly, heart pounding. She had made her choice.

Leaving behind a world of power and privilege, Serena slipped out as the city stirred awake, determined to disappear.

Little did either of them know, that night had already written the first line of a story neither could escape.

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