C2

Rowan Everly POV

"Why is the bed completely empty?" I say out loud to the big, quiet room.

Yesterday I turned twenty-four years old. Grayson did not care. He forgot it was my birthday, or maybe he just hates me too much to care. He took those pretty blue roses to another woman. He stayed out all night with her while I sat alone in the dark.

I pull a simple green dress over my plus-size body. I walk down the big stairs of the Moonkeep.

"Rowan! Sit down and eat some breakfast with me!" Autumn Hayes calls out with a big, happy smile.

Autumn is Grayson’s mother. She is the only person in this scary pack family who is nice to me. I do not want her to see how sad I am, so I sit down at the long wood table.

"I know Grayson was very mean to you last night," Autumn says, and she looks at me tight. "Do not cry, Rowan. I am always on your side. One day that boy will see that a sweet girl like you is the mate he needs for the rest of his life."

My eyes get very hot. I want to cry so bad, but I keep my mouth shut.

Autumn sighs and puts a silver fork right into my hand. "You have to eat, sweetie. Grayson left very early to go do pack work at the Alpha Holdings. I will tell the pack driver to take you to the Citadel later."

Right then, Hazel the nanny walks into the big dining room. She has the daily pack paper in her hand. "Madam, here is the morning news you wanted."

Hazel puts the paper down on the table. Autumn looks at the front page, and her face goes totally white. Hazel tries to grab the paper back real fast, but it is too late. I already see it.

My whole body goes stiff. The big black headline hurts my eyes.

Right under the words is a big picture of Grayson. He is standing outside a big hotel in the town, and he is kissing Brielle Thorn right on the mouth. He never came home last night because he was sleeping with her.

"Rowan—" Autumn starts to say.

"Thanks for the food, Mom, but I have to go to the Citadel now," I say fast.

I pop up from my seat before she can stop me. I grab my bag and run right out the big front doors. Autumn stands on the porch and watches my white car drive away fast into the trees.

Hazel walks up behind her looking very sorry. "I am so sorry, Madam."

"It is not your fault," Autumn sighs, and her face looks very mad. "Call Grayson on the pack link right now. Tell him if he does not come back to the Moonkeep tonight, I will kick him out of this pack forever!"

"Yes, ma'am," Hazel says fast.

My wedding with Grayson was very quiet. Nobody in the human world or the wolf world really knows that the human girl from the Everly family married the big heir of the Ashbourne pack. Even the people working at the Ashbourne Alpha Citadel do not know who I really am. To them, I am just Rowan, the girl who runs the Moon Design Team A.

"Rowan, I am so sorry, but I cannot eat lunch with you today," Cassidy Vale says, but she sounds like she is bragging. "I have a big meeting with Alpha Grayson at noon."

Cassidy spent a whole hour fixing her face in the bathroom. Her lips are painted super bright red. My heart squeezes, but I do not say anything to her.

She grabs her bag and walks away, swinging her hips high as she goes to the special elevator that only the high pack wolves can use.

"Why does she look so happy?" a girl next to me scoffs loud. "Everyone knows she only became the leader of Team B because she flirts with the Alpha, not because she is good at drawing designs!"

My face goes white. I do not say a single word. I just grab my bag and walk fast toward the regular elevator.

After lunch, all the pack courtiers stand around in small groups, talking and whispering before they go back to work.

"Rowan! Look at this!" Piper Collins runs over and slams a big pack magazine right on my desk. "The big young alpha of the Hawthorne pack is back! He is taking over the Hawthorne Mooncrest Dominion today!"

Piper is the new young human intern in my department. She is the only one who stays nice to me after the big mess at the Crimson Moon Banquet Hall last night.

She sighs like she is dreaming. "Declan Hawthorne is a total legend! He left the territory when he was eighteen. By twenty-two, he got two huge degrees in Pack Management and Territory Growth. He built his own giant pack business called the Hartwell Group when he was twenty-six, and no wolf has ever done what he did! Now he is back to rule the whole Dominion. And oh my gosh, he is so handsome and never has any bad rumors! He is almost thirty-five and he does not even have a mate yet!"

I look at Piper's happy face, and I feel a little bit better. "Are you going to make him love you, Piper?"

Piper scratches her ear and looks down. "No way. Big Alphas like him are just for looking at from far away. A human girl like me could never touch him."

"So you are just screaming for nothing?" I tease her.

I look down at the picture on the paper. I know about the Hawthorne pack because they are one of the strongest wolf families around here. Declan has three older brothers and sisters. His sister married a big alpha, and his brothers are high up in the pack military. He is the only one who wanted to do trade and pack business.

Old Sebastian Hawthorne loved Declan the most. But I heard Declan was a wild boy who ran away because he did not want the family pack power. I wonder why he came back to rule the Mooncrest Dominion now.

I can see why girls go crazy for him. He is the next big ruler, so he is super rich and powerful. He is also very tall, dark, and good-looking.

But when I look at his eyes in the photo, they look strangely familiar.

They look cold and hard, just like Grayson's eyes. Thinking about Grayson makes me think of Cassidy's happy face when she went to see him.

My breath stops for a second, and I have to push the angry feelings back down into my stomach.

"Looking at beautiful Alphas makes life better, Rowan! Everything is too hard right now, we need some happy moments!" Piper says.

I laugh and gather up all the big project folders from my desk. I slide them right into Piper's arms. "Come on then. Let us go over to the Hawthorne Dominion Hall and get you those happy moments."

Piper stares at me like a silly goose, then her mouth opens into a huge smile. "Rowan! Are we going to the Hawthorne pack to talk about the Silver Creek Pack Territory project? The big luxury housing community?! I thought you were going with Miss Foster!"

"She is not coming back today," I tell her, feeling a bit sad inside. "You can take her place."

Miss Foster is probably busy playing around with Grayson anyway, I think to myself.

"Awesome! I will do my best!" Piper cheers.

I drive my white car down into the dark basement garage of the Hawthorne Dominion Hall. Just as I pull in, two huge, fancy black cars drive past me toward the street.

The very first car is beautiful and super rare. It is a special custom model that was made across the sea last year. There is only one car like it in the whole world, and people said a secret, ultra-powerful pack lord bought it.

As the big car rolls past my window, I look into the back seat. The lighting is very dark, but I can see the shape of a man sitting there. He looks very still, cool, and grand.

The man in the back seat suddenly opens his sharp eyes like he feels me looking. But my car already drives past him into the dark.

I drive around the garage until I find a small parking spot for regular visitors.

Piper and I walk into the elevator. The heavy doors start to slide shut, but a big arm suddenly reaches in and stops them.

"Excuse me, do you mind if we ride up with you?" a voice asks.

I look up fast. A whole group of big men is standing right outside the door. I did not see them before. They all wear very expensive suits and shiny leather shoes, and their faces are very serious. You can tell just by looking at them that they are the highest-ranking wolves in the whole territory. The man who spoke to me has a nice smile, and he is waiting for me to say yes.

I blink my eyes and shake my head to say it is fine.

The man smiles, then he steps back to let the other men go first. He looks like a pack assistant.

Then, I hear Piper gasp super loud behind me. She hits my back with her finger.

I lift my eyes, and I run right into a pair of deep, pitch-black eyes.

The man with those eyes is the most beautiful and scary wolf in the whole group. He looks about thirty-five years old, and his black suit fits his huge, tall body perfectly.

His white shirt looks so clean against his dark skin. He walks with so much power, like a king. He does not say a word, but his eyes stay locked right on me.

I swallow hard. This is Declan Hawthorne, the brand new Alpha director of the Hawthorne pack.

He looks at my plus-size body for one short second, then he takes a long step into the elevator.

He is so cold it makes me want to sigh.

"D-D-Dec—" Piper starts to stutter like crazy.

I hit her right in the stomach with my elbow to make her stop talking. Oof! I pull her two steps to the left so the rest of the big wolves have room to stand.

We stand in total silence while all the men fill up the elevator.

"Rowan, look! It is Alpha Declan!" Piper whispers right into my ear, but her voice is way too loud and sounds like a shout.

My whole face turns bright red. I hear the pack assistant clear his throat like he is trying not to laugh at us.

I feel so embarrassed. I turn my head a little bit to look at the quiet, scary Alpha next to me to show I am sorry.

Since we are standing right next to each other, I can only see the side of his face. His jaw is so sharp it looks like a knife. He looks freezing cold and dangerous.

But one big question keeps turning around in my brain. A great Alpha lord like Declan should be using the private royal elevator, so why is he riding in this regular public lift with a human like me?