Semua Bab Beast Billionaire Claim : Bab 1 - Bab 10

Zara Cole had been warned. Whispers drifted through every lecture hall at Blackridge Law like ghost stories: Don’t look Vale in the eye. Don’t linger in his elevator. Don’t speak unless spoken to—and even then, only if you want to be eaten alive. She never thought she'd be on the same floor as Maxim Vale, let alone in the same elevator. But here she was—first day at Silver & Vale, the city's most brutal legal empire—clutching a manila folder full of nondisclosure agreements and merger proposals, all stamped confidential in blood-red ink. Literally. She squinted. No, not blood. Probably just dramatic formatting. Right? The elevator to the top floor dinged. Her fingers flexed around the folder. This was fine. She was fine. Her blazer was cheap but clean, her résumé edited until her eyes bled, and her heels—well, they were currently digging into her Achilles like punishment, but fashion hurt. Confidence hurt more. She stepped in, spine straight. Her reflection in the mirrored elev

Zara hadn’t meant to climb the corporate ladder quite so fast.One minute she was triple-checking contract citations. The next, she was seated at the obsidian boardroom table of Silver & Vale, surrounded by men in thousand-dollar suits who spoke like gods and glared like wolves.The merger was tense. House Virex and Blackclaw Industries—two names she’d only seen in Maxim’s private case files—sat across from one another, spitting veiled threats in polished legalese.Zara had been asked to attend only to transcribe and observe. Nothing more. She kept her head down and typed with quiet precision, avoiding eye contact, blending into the periphery like well-trained shadow.Until one of the executives leaned back in his chair and sneered directly at her.“And who’s this one?” he said, voice thick with disdain. “Pretty little coffee runner lost on the wrong floor?”Snickers. Low chuckles. A few murmured comments she couldn’t catch.Zara stiffened. Her fingers paused above the keyboard.Her m

Zara had been through a lot of firsts in the past few weeks.First elite internship. First magical hex. First time watching her boss torch a death curse mid-air.But nothing—nothing—prepared her for the gold-embossed invitation that landed on her desk like a hammer.It read:> “Council of the Five Clans: Lunar Gala & Mate Presentation Attendance Mandatory for Trial-Bound Alphas and Their Chosen.”She blinked. Then reread it.Mate presentation?Her door opened before she could process it. Of course.Maxim.As always, tall and composed, but this time, tension bristled along his shoulders like a second skin. He looked like a man seconds from war—and she was starting to realize that wasn’t a metaphor with him.“You got the invitation,” he said, closing the door behind him with a click.“No ‘good morning’?”He didn't rise to the bait.Instead, he walked over, silent and dangerous, and picked up the envelope. His jaw flexed.“They moved the gala forward. To test me. To test us.”“There is n

The next morning, the firm’s marble floors were unusually quiet.Zara walked with her blazer clutched over her chest, not because of the AC—but because of the weight of watching eyes. Whispers followed her like perfume, sliding through corridors and brushing against her skin.They weren’t just looking at her anymore. They were calculating.She was no longer just an intern.She was the Luna.And somehow, that made her dangerous.Ruby caught up with her at the stairwell between the Alpha floor and legal arbitration. Her hair was tied up in a severe twist, her face tight with concern.“Something’s wrong,” she said without greeting.Zara sighed, “Can you narrow that down?”Ruby didn’t smile. “You have a visitor.”Zara stopped walking. “What kind of visitor?”Ruby hesitated. “Maxim’s brother.”Zara blinked. “Victor?”Ruby gave a short nod. “He’s waiting in the glass conference room. Said you’ve been avoiding his calls.”“I never gave him my number,” Zara muttered.“Well,” Ruby said, “he go

The Council’s amphitheater wasn’t made of stone—it was bone.Zara hadn’t expected the air to feel this cold, like something ancient had drawn its last breath and lingered. The curved chamber was sunken into the earth beneath the Silver & Vale tower, its walls made of calcified remains—ribs shaped into arches, skulls embedded in the columns like forgotten witnesses.Maxim stood beside her, dressed in formal black, every inch the prince. His hand hovered at the small of her back but never touched. Not here. Not in front of them.“The Council has summoned all claimants,” he murmured, eyes scanning the wolves gathering below. “You stand beside me as my mate. Which means they’ll look for weakness.”Zara swallowed hard. “Then they’re in for a disappointment.”She wore silver today—not because it was tradition, but because she wanted to reflect every gaze that tried to cut her down. Her dress shimmered like a blade. Her wolf mark, faint but glowing, pulsed just above her collarbone like a de