C7

Rowan Everly POV

I was nothing like Vivian Holloway.

Even with my heart torn into bleeding shreds, a foolish spark of hope still burned inside my chest for Grayson Ashbourne. I knew it made me look like an idiot, but after two agonizing years of giving everything to his pack, I could not just throw my mate bond into the trash. If I walked away now, what was all my suffering even for?

I watched Vivian pretend to lose her footing in the middle of the crowded Black Fang Lodge, falling right into the massive chest of a high-ranking wolf. I shook my head, fighting off another dizzy spell as I pushed myself out of the booth to leave.

Outside the main hall, Garrett Sterling handed his heavy keys over to the pack valet. The second he stepped inside the private corridor, his eyes caught my plus-size figure stumbling toward the exit with a blank, exhausted expression. He watched me leave before disappearing down the exclusive hall.

The VIP chamber inside the Black Fang Lodge was strictly reserved for the elite Alpha inner circle, far away from the regular pack courtiers. Heavy tobacco smoke rolled across the low table where cards were being slammed down, accompanied by loud laughter and rough male posturing.

Every single male inside this room held enough territory control to crush an entire bloodline with a single order.

Garrett walked straight toward the back corner where the room was dark. A tall, muscular shadow sat back against the leather seat, a red embers glowing bright at his lips before he blew a thick plume of smoke toward the ceiling.

Alpha Declan Hawthorne leaned forward, his black suit straining against the massive width of his chest. His intense, freezing gaze locked onto his second-in-command, making Garrett instantly drop his shoulders into a formal posture.

"Alpha Declan, we have officially locked in the three pack teams competing for the Silver Creek Pack Territory," Garrett reported fast. "It is Ashbourne Alpha Holdings, the Sterling Pack, and the Prescott Tribe."

Declan reached up, loosening his dark tie with long, thick fingers without saying a single word.

Callum Prescott threw his cards down on the table, glaring across the felt. "Declan, we came to this private lodge to celebrate your return, not to listen to territory contracts!"

They had all seen the broadcast interview this morning, using it as an excuse to drag the fierce Hawthorne Alpha out for a drink.

Declan crushed his cigarette out into a glass dish, his dark eyes fixing on Callum like a predator. "Your grand-matriarch called my pack line at sunrise, asking me to find a fertile she-wolf to take to your bed."

Callum choked on his breath, his face turning pale.

Everyone in the room knew how ruthless the Prescott matriarch was about bloodlines. She did not care who Callum slept with, as long as he produced a strong wolf heir immediately.

Preston Wolfe flashed a wicked grin, tossing an Ace onto the center of the table. "You lose another hand, Callum. Pay up!"

Callum groaned, shoving a stack of territory chips toward Carter Beckett before leaning back. "I am done playing with you monsters."

Carter smirked, pouring more dark liquid into his glass. "Then bring a mate next time."

Callum gritted his teeth, looking over at Declan's impassive, dangerous face. He slid closer to the Hawthorne ruler, lowering his voice. "Declan, you can bring your secret female here. None of us will touch what belongs to the Hawthorne Alpha."

Declan remained silent, taking a slow sip from his glass.

Callum lost his patience and turned toward Garrett. "Spill it, Garrett! Who is the female Declan has been keeping his eye on?"

Garrett rubbed the back of his neck nervously. She was not a free female—she was a married, plus-size human tied to the Ashbourne Alpha.

"Alpha Declan," Garrett cleared his throat quickly, changing the subject. "I saw Miss Everly at the front entrance a moment ago. Her face was completely pale, and she looked sick."

Declan's big hand froze right as he reached for his lighter.

Callum caught the sudden freeze immediately, his eyes lighting up with shock. "Declan! Who is this Miss Everly? Is she the human female from the broadcast?"

Declan narrowed his dark eyes, casting a look so sharp at Callum that it could slice through bone.

Normally, asking about an Alpha's personal business like that would get a wolf's throat ripped out. But Declan did not snap.

Something was definitely happening.

Before Callum could open his mouth to dig deeper, Declan tossed his empty glass onto the wooden table with a sharp clink, pushing his heavy frame up from the leather seat.

The freezing night air bit through my dress the moment I pushed through the heavy wooden doors of the Black Fang Lodge. My head felt like it was splitting in two, my pulse hammering wildly against my ears as the fever burned through my blood.

I stumbled toward my car, my hands shaking so badly that I dropped my keys onto the gravel.

"Look at what we have here. The rejected human Luna wandering around in the dark."

A harsh, taunting voice cut through the shadows. I snapped my head up to see Jocelyn Brooks leaning against a dark vehicle, flanked by two low-ranking Ashbourne pack courtiers. Her eyes locked onto my full-figured body with pure disgust.

"Jocelyn," I gasped, my throat feeling dry as bone. "Get out of my way."

"Why should I?" Jocelyn sneered, taking a slow step toward me. "Grayson is currently at the luxury boutique buying Cassidy a ruby necklace while you rot out here alone. You do not even have a wolf to protect you. You are just a fat, useless human holding back our Alpha!"

She shoved my shoulder hard, making my weak legs give out entirely. I crashed onto the cold stone ground, skinning my palms as a harsh gasp tore from my throat.

"You think you can design territories for Alpha packs?" Jocelyn laughed, stepping closer to kick my fallen purse across the gravel. "You are a disgrace to the Ashbourne name. Hand over your Silver Creek clearance pass right now, human."

"Touch her again and I will tear your throat from your neck."

The voice did not come from a normal wolf. It echoed out of the pitch-black shadows with a suffocating, lethal Alpha pressure that slammed every breath right out of my lungs.

Jocelyn and her two companions froze instantly, their faces turning ghost-white as their knees buckled under the sheer weight of the aura.

Alpha Declan Hawthorne stepped out from the darkness, his massive frame towering over the gravel lot. His dark suit coat was unbuttoned, his chest broad and imposing, while his eyes burned with a terrifying, golden fury that signaled pure bloodlust.

He did not even look at the trembling wolves. His dark gaze dropped straight down to where I was sprawled on the cold dirt, my plus-size body shivering from the fever and the humiliation.

"Alpha... Alpha Declan!" Jocelyn whimpered, dropping to her knees on the hard stone, her wolf instinct screaming at her to surrender. "We... we were just talking to Director Ashbourne's wife—"

"Silence," Declan growled, the low vibration rattling through the ground beneath us. "You put your hands on a female under my protection."

Before Jocelyn could even beg for mercy, Declan stepped right past her, completely ignoring the terrified pack courtiers. He stopped directly in front of me, bending his tall frame down until his shadow completely covered my body.

His large, calloused hand reached down, wrapping firmly around my waist to haul me up off the freezing ground in one effortless lift. The heat radiating off his massive body hit my feverish skin like a tidal wave, making my heart kick violently against my ribs.

"Can you stand, Rowan?" his deep voice whispered right against my ear, sending a sudden, electric heat shooting straight down to my wet core.

"I... I can," I stammered, my small human hand clutching onto his heavy arm just to keep from collapsing.

Declan did not let go of my waist. Instead, his grip tightened, pulling my soft curves flush against his hard, muscular chest. He turned his head slowly toward Jocelyn, his voice dropping into a lethal whisper that promised absolute destruction.

"Tell Grayson Ashbourne that if he cannot keep his pack dogs on a leash around my female, I will come to the Moonkeep and rip his territory apart myself."