جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 16

Lycans can wear human skin, but the shackles of the human world always chafe. When their control slips, the beast bleeds through—a tail unspooling, ears flickering into points. These "partial shifts" are the Lycan’s only way to breathe in a world of concrete and steel."Lycans are creatures of instinct. They do not hide emotion; they act upon it."Chloe flipped through her old journals. The handwriting was childish, recorded years ago when she still thought being part of a "Hunter Dynasty" was a heroic calling. She remembered her mother pointing to old bestiaries, gently explaining the hierarchies of the wolf, the fox, and the stag.In the high-pressure environment of Holloway City, only the apex predators survived. The weaker shifters had been hunted to extinction long ago—a fact that had clearly haunted Chloe's mother. Her mother had secretly worked toward a vision of equality, though she died before she could reveal the "third way" to her daughter."I wonder when the old man will f

The entire ballroom fell into a sudden, suffocating silence as every camera lens swiveled toward Silas Sterling. Since his debut a few days ago, he had become the city's ultimate obsession—wealthy, mysterious, and lethally handsome.Silas took Tiffany Vance’s hand, his grip tightening as if to make a definitive statement to the world. He faced the crowd with a calm, dark composure and announced, "I will be appearing on the upcoming season of The Heartbeat Chronicles alongside Miss Tiffany Vance".A glass shattered somewhere on the floor as a wave of shock rippled through the guests. The Heartbeat Chronicles was Holloway City's most exclusive reality show—a "dating sim" program designed to build chemistry and public "shipping" for the elite. Silas had just announced he was going on a romance show with his wife’s sister, and he hadn't spared Chloe a single glance.To the public, Chloe—the "Lady of the House"—was now nothing more than a punchline, a mere substitute for the woman Silas ac

For a fleeting second, Chloe wanted to forget every title, every duty, and let her logic drown in the churning river beside them. Her fingers knotted into Julian’s dress shirt, the silk bunching beneath her touch. As she looked up at him, her lashes fluttered like the wings of a trapped butterfly.Julian looked down, the raw hunger in his eyes far from extinguished. But he was a man of cold calculation; he didn't throw away his reason."Let’s get you some shoes," he said, the vibration of his chest humming against her fingertips. His voice was forced into a casual tone, but the muscles in his arms were corded with tension, and his pace was intentionally slow—as if he were trying to stretch this embrace into an eternity.In the back of his Maybach, the air was suffocatingly close. Julian leaned over her to set her down into the leather seat, his gaze lingering on hers as his breath ghosted over her skin. Finally, with a visible effort of will, he pulled back and flicked on the overhead