001 - Ashina

Fire roared around me, licking at my skin. The acrid scent of burning flesh filled my lungs, thick and suffocating. I thrashed, but the fire clung to me, searing into my bones. A voice whispered my name through the smoke, low and taunting—dragging me back to the place I swore I’d never return to.

I gasped, jerking upright in bed.

Sweat clung to my skin, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might crack my ribs. My hands clenched the sweat-damped sheets as my wolf clawed at the edges of my mind, restless, agitated.

Five years. Five years and everything still haunted me, growing worse with each cycle.

My hands darted instantly to my bedside table, reaching for the suppressants I had been taking. I didn’t pay any attention to the sharp bite of the capsules against my palm before I chugged two pills down my throat, swallowing dry.

I wasn’t a wolf anymore. That life was not for me. I was human. I was normal. Nothing could take me back there.

And yet, my hands still shook as my eyes landed on the glowing red numbers of my alarm clock.

Shit! I was late.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

My heels clicked against the polished marble floor of Orsa & Winston as I stepped in, and the blast of air-conditioning engulfed me and sent a shiver down my spine.

I exhaled slowly. Get it together, Ashina!

Being late wasn’t like me. But the nightmare had shaken me more than I wanted to admit. Even now, the phantom scent of smoke clung to me, refusing to fade.

I took in a deep breath choosing to ground myself in the wealth and exclusivity that the restaurant reeked of, with its velvet-draped booths and golden chandeliers that cast pools of warm light over the polished tables.

The hostess at the front smiled in that polished, professional way, but my stomach twisted with something else entirely as she gave me a once-over. It was as if she could see me for what I was.

A wanna be human.

As I approached her, I squared my shoulders, I adjusted the strap of my black sheath dress. Modest, professional, the opposite of what my best friend, Maya, had wanted me to wear. She’d practically begged me to wear the wine-red dress with a slit that would have made even an experienced seductress blush, convinced that Mr. Cormac hadn’t invited me here just to discuss a grant.

I’d brushed her off. I wasn’t here to play games.

I was here to secure funding. My job needed the money and Mr. Cormac could offer us and I wasn’t about to screw that up.

“Ashina Kai. I have a reservation under the name Cormac.”

The hostess glanced down at her computer and then up at me with a signature smile. 

"Right this way, Miss Kai." 

I swallowed down the unease I was feeling as she led me through the restaurant. The weight of lingering stares pressed against my back. This wasn’t the kind of place people held casual business meetings. It was all power plays and whispered deals.

And I was about to walk straight into one.

She led me toward a secluded table in the back.

The moment I spotted him, my stomach twisted.

Mr. Cormac sat there in the back with his broad shoulders straining against his navy suit, thick fingers drumming against a whiskey glass. But that wasn’t the part that made uneasy. It was the fact that he wasn’t seated at a regular table but a booth, which would force me to sit beside him and not across from him.

His gaze lifted the second I approached and his sharp eyes raked over me. He didn’t smile. He didn’t stand, he just watched me like a hunter assessing its prey.

I forced a polite smile and hurried forward. “Mr. Cormac, I’m so sorry for—”

He raised a hand, cutting me off. His gaze narrowed. “Tardiness isn’t an attractive trait, Miss Kai.”

My stomach twisted. I opened my mouth, ready to explain, when he suddenly chuckled and I stiffened, not expecting that at all. Not the rumbling sound and definitely not the way it curled around me in the worst way.

“Relax. I’m teasing. You’re right on time,” he purred.

I exhaled, forcing a polite smile and ignoring the way my pulse kicked uncomfortably.

He stood and gestured to the booth. “Please sit.”

I hesitated but there really was no other option so with my smile still in place, I slid in, trying to keep as much distance between us as possible. But when he sat down, he moved in closer.

“Thank you, sir,” I murmured, but something told me he wasn’t the type to appreciate formality.

He smirked, eyes gleaming. “Sir. I like that.”

I barely resisted the urge to stiffen.

Maya’s voice echoed in my head. There’s no way he invited you here just for a business meeting.

I pushed the thought aside, straightening as a waiter approached, and before I could glance at the menu, Cormac ordered for both of us.

My stomach twisted tighter.

I smoothed my napkin over my lap, ignoring the way his gaze lingered on the motion. “I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me. I know you have a busy schedule.”

His smirk deepened. “I always make time for things that interest me.”

I didn’t miss the way his eyes dragged over me, assessing, lingering at my neckline before flicking back to my face.

I reached for my bag, ready to pull out the proposal and steer the conversation to business before any unpleasant conversation can arise, but his hand landed on my knee.

I jerked at the subtle motion, my eyes widening a bit. The touch was subtle, but the heat of it burned through the fabric of my dress.

“Miss Kai, you’re so tense. You need to relax,” he murmured. “We can’t talk money on an empty stomach. Let’s enjoy ourselves first.”

My stomach soured, but I nodded willing myself to endure it. I needed this grant, if waiting a few more minutes meant getting it, then fine. I had fought through worse. I could do this.

I plastered on a polite smile. "Of course."

The wine arrived, and he poured us both a glass.

“To ambition,” he murmured, lifting his glass. “This should help loosen you up.”

I swallowed down the revulsion rising in my throat as my fingers tightened around the stem of the glass. I clinked my glass against his and took a sip.

Cormac leaned closer, voice dropping. "A woman like you must have plenty of suitors." His knee brushed mine beneath the table.

I nearly choked as I sucked in a sharp breath and subtly shifted away.

He smirked.

“I—I don’t really—”

“Come now,” he murmured, lips curling. “Intelligent. Stunning. Independent.” His fingers drummed lazily against the table. “That combination can be… intoxicating.”

My pulse thudded and I went rigid as he shifted even closer, his legs pressing against mine and his hands sliding up my thigh. Slowly, deliberately, and teasingly. The hem of my dress lifted as his fingers moved higher.

I exhaled sharply and jerked to move away but his other hand held me in place pressing down with a quiet strength.

He leaned in, his breath warm against my ear as his voice rang with power and warning. “We’re alone,” he whispered, his hot breath making my stomach churn. “You know that, don’t you? And you know that I have power. So be a good girl and behave.”

My chest tightened as my breaths came in too fast. The world around me blurred as the past filled with helplessness filled me. The humiliation clawed at me reminding me of the day I lost everything—my mate, my pack, my identity. And now again, I was trapped, powerless. A caged animal.

His lips hovered near my neck, a hair’s breadth away. I wanted to scream!

A sharp crash rang out startling us just as the table before us was wrenched apart and an overwhelming presence invaded the space.

Cormac was instantly ripped from my side with an inhuman force and his body was slammed into the opposite wall.

He let out a strangled yell, but his protest was drowned by deep, guttural snarls of the men who had stormed in with undeniable raw power rolling off them in waves.

I gasped, stumbling back at the sight before me. The men were too large, too predatory. Their presence reeked of something not human. 

My hands trembled. This wasn’t possible. This was a human world. Why were they—

Cormac’s furious voice through all the chaos chokingly. “Do you… know who I am?! You’re making a mistake!” He let out a choked groan as the sickening thud of fists meeting flesh punctuated his words. “Let me go!”

I clutched at the edge of the chair as I trembled.

“Little wolf.”

I froze.

That was a voice that shouldn’t exist anymore. My lungs locked and my entire body was aralyzed as the world turned around me.

No.

My gaze lifted slowly, piecing him together bit by bit—the sharp cut of his jaw, the cruel beauty of his mouth, the unyielding darkness in his eyes. He looked different but still familiar. Impossible.

Kael.

A broken scream tore from my throat as I scrambled backward, knocking over the chair, my vision swarmed by flames licking at his skin.