All Chapters of One More Hot Contract with the Shadow Alpha: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

AUTHOR'S POV ​The old Master chuckled dryly, misinterpreting Coralina's silence as the shyness of a new bride. "He really likes you, doesn't he?" he asked, his voice rough with age. "To propose so fast, to keep you hidden until now…" ​Coralina felt a flicker of guilt, but she swallowed it. She knew the "affection" the Master saw was just a combination of benefits: Clyde needed a partner who couldn't be easily intimidated, and she needed a shield. ​"I like you, Coralina," the Master said, tapping his cane with a sharp crack against the marble floor. "You know where to be modest and where to speak up boldly. That is the mark of a true Luna.” ​He acknowledged her with a sharp nod—a gesture of acceptance into the lineage that she once would have died for. But right now, it just felt like another piece of the bargain she had agreed to. ​He stood, offering his arm. "Come. It's time the family knows that the Shadow Alpha wishes to step into the light." ​As they re-entered the ballroom,

CORALINA'S POV The harsh morning light cuts through the heavy velvet curtains of the Nightshade manor, stinging my eyes as I reach for my phone. My head feels like it’s filled with wet wool, a lingering fog from the sedative I had taken last night. I blink, trying to clear the haze, when my thumb brushes the call log. ​My heart stops for a fraction of a second. ​Maximus Philip. 2:04 AM. 45 seconds. ​I sit up with the jerk. What the hell? I clutch the silk sheets as the memory of the call remains a total blank. Did I answer? I must have. Forty-five seconds is a lifetime when you’re talking to a man who knows how to twist every word into a weapon. ​For a moment, I feel a hot wave of panic. Why did I talk to him? What did I say in that semi-conscious state? I didn't… I didn't give him an opening to crawl back into my life, did I? But after a few seconds, the panic cools into something brittle and indifferent. ‘Relax, Coralina… you're not under his thumb anymore.’ That's right.

​Dianne Halloway stepped off the Gulfstream G650, her heels clicking against the tarmac. Draped in a tailored cream trench coat from a boutique in the Place Vendôme, she adjusted her oversized sunglasses. Her eyes scanned the perimeter of the landing strip, searching for the familiar silhouette of a black obsidian sedan, and the man who should have been leaning against it. ​She expected Clyde Everest, the Shadow Alpha to be standing there, at least with a bouquet of rare black baccara roses to acknowledge that his fiancée had finally returned to claim her throne. ​Instead, she saw a single, silver-haired man standing beside a standard executive town car. ​Thomas. ​Dianne’s lips thinned into a sharp, bitter line. She didn't wait for the attendants to gather her Louis Vuitton trunks; she marched toward the butler, her silk scarf fluttering behind her like a battle flag. ​"Thomas!" She snapped, her voice carrying the practiced edge of European aristocracy. "Where is he?" ​Thomas

CORALINA'S POV .The silk sheets of the master suite feel like a shroud. I stare at the intricate molding of the ceiling, my heart hammering a frantic, uneven rhythm against my ribs. It is barely dawn, the grey light of a Delhi morning bleeding through the heavy velvet curtains, but the restlessness in my marrow is a physical ache.Beside me, Brielle is a dead weight. Her arm is draped across my chest, her fingers curled into the fabric of my undershirt. Usually, this proximity is what I crave—the soft scent of her expensive perfume, the quiet affirmation that she is mine. But today, her skin feels like molten lead. Each breath she exhales against my neck makes the room feel smaller, the air thinner. I feel suffocated.With a sharp, impatient movement, I catch her wrist and push her arm away. It isn't a gentle nudge. I need the space. I need the cold."Max?" she mumbles, her voice thick with sleep. She shifts, her hair spilling over the pillows like a golden stain. "What is it? Is it

CORALINA'S POV The silence that followed Maximus’s outburst was not empty; it was pressurized, like the air before a devastating storm. I felt Clyde’s hand shift from the table to the small of my back. It wasn't a romantic gesture—it was a grounding force, a reminder of the contract I had just signed.Clyde turned slowly. He didn’t roar. He didn't even raise his voice. He simply looked at Maximus, and the air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. The frantic, desperate light in Maximus’s eyes flickered and died. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing painfully as he took a subconscious step back. His legs were visibly trembling, his knees knocking together under the weight of the Shadow Alpha’s absolute suppression."I warned you, Maximus," Clyde rumbled, his voice a low-frequency vibration that rattled the inkwells on the table. "I told you that the next time you stepped into my space, there would be no ground left for you to stand on."Maximus opened his mouth, but no sound