NIKOLAIFUCK. PAIN RIPPED through every inch of my body, a deep, burning ache that made it hard to breathe. My head pounded, my ribs screamed, and when I shifted, something sharp tore at my wrist. Restraints. Fucking metal.I forced my eyes open, the dim light cutting through the haze of unconsciousness. Concrete walls. Bloodstained floors. The bitter taste of iron on my tongue. And then—footsteps. Slow, heavy. Someone was coming.I swallowed back the pain and lifted my head, a sharp grunt leaving my lips as I forced myself to focus.Surrounded.Fuck.“I see you’re awake.”The voice was smooth, almost amused. My eyes locked onto the bastard standing in front of me. Not some lackey. Not Antonov’s right-hand. No—Ivan Antonov himself.A sharp laugh tore from my throat. Out of all the people, I hadn’t expected this prick to show his face. His uncle was dead. He should’ve been thanking me.“Of all the people, I thought you’d benefit most from your uncle’s death,” I said, my voice hoarse an
CLAUDE I FLEXED MY shoulders as I approached my fathers office. He had called for me about twenty minutes ago. I placed my balled fist on the door to his office, ready to knock but before I did, he muttered a “Come in.”I pushed the door open and my father was seated behind his desk, a smile playing on his lips. “Son, take a seat.” He said and I did.“You called.” I said curtly and his smile wilden. “Ahh, yes. I will just get straight to the point.” My father cleared his throat and placed his intertwined fingers on the desk. “There is a very important meeting that would be going on in Green Hill Pack—after the war and them helping us reclaim our pack, we have been offered a chance to —- and now that’s you’re no longer a kid, I want you to go to the meeting in place of me.”I swallowed harshly at the mention of the war, the same war that I had been rape by that—I pressed my eyes closed and puffed out a shaky breath. No, I couldn’t think of it. It h
CLAUDE TO BE HONEST, I couldn’t concentrate on what was being said throughout the conference meeting. A set of eyes lingered on my body, and I tried my hardest to ignore her. As soon as the meeting ended, I jumped out of my seat, avoiding mingling with the other ranking members, and made my way to the double doors. At the top of the stairs, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I forced myself not to curse. I turned around and sucked in a breath. The woman, gripping her knees and breathing heavily, looked up at me. She stood to her full height, glaring at me while dangling her nude heels between us. “I had to embarrass myself in front of everyone downstairs to catch up to you. Why are you running away from me, my mate?” I could only stare at her. When she reached out and touched my arm, I jumped back as if burned. The tingle where she touched me made it all too real. “I’m not ready,” I blurted out. She frowned, looking at me like I was mad—maybe I was. “W-what?” she choked, stepping clo
CLAUDE THE COOL AIR against my warm skin was a blissful invitation. I tucked my hands into the pocket of my jeans as I walked down a silent path. I noticed a stone chair in front of me and quickly made my way towards it. From a distance, a couple was approaching my way. He had his nose pressed into the woman’s neck, scent-marking her. I frowned watching them and my heart clenched for what I knew I couldn’t have. My phone dinged, and I had half expected a message from my father, but was surprised when it was from an unknown number. “Dear Tate Frank, your application has been well received and we are glad to let you know that you have been selected to join the Luxemar Yatch as a pet. Click the button below to confirm and the time and location for your pickup will be shown. Link expires in fourty eight hours.” I blinked in confusion, reread the message, and looked at the button to see that the timer was counting down. Clearly, the message wasn’t meant for me since my name wasn’t Tate
CLAUDEI sat across from my father, the room thick with the silence of the lies I was about to spin. He leaned forward, eyes narrowing as he studied me.“So, you’re saying Alpha Landon wants you at this meeting with the Federal werewolves… government officials?” His voice carried doubt, his fingers tapping the edge of the table.“Yes,” I replied, gripping my phone a little tighter.“And he didn’t think to tell me first?” His brow furrowed deeply.I met his gaze without flinching. “No.”He rubbed his beard—a beard I couldn’t seem to grow no matter how hard I tried. “It sounds suspicious.”“We’ve grown closer since our last meeting at his pack. He said he sees great potential in me as a future Alpha.” I spread my hands across the table, forcing myself to relax, or at least appear relaxed. “Don’t you think I have potential?”My father cleared his throat, a faint smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Of course, son. This could be a big opportunity for our pack.” His tone was clipped,
CLAUDEThe yacht jolted to life the moment the clock hit six, and I felt it in my bones. Turning to my side, I caught Amelia’s gaze already locked on me.“Come on, Tate, get that chain around your neck,” she grinned, slipping out of the short black dress she’d been wearing, leaving only the barest pair of matching black underwear.“What the hell are you doing?” I asked, my eyes widening, glancing around. Everyone else? Half-naked.Amelia laughed softly, pulling my attention back to her. “Oh, you didn’t know what you were getting into?” She gave me a light pat on the arm, her gaze turning almost sympathetic. “Relax, it’s just for show. No one’s asking you to strip completely. Just the shirt.” I exhaled hard, fingers gripping the cool metal chain in my hand. There was no reason to panic. No one here knew me, and if something went south, I could easily take any one of these humans. I was stronger. Better.“Oh, God, you’re like a lost puppy,” Amelia’s voice pulled me back, her hands on my
NIKOLIAThere was something about this boy—something that kept me from walking away. I hadn’t come here to take someone. My only objective was finding information about my missing cargo—twelve containers, worth over a billion dollars. Yet here I was, tugging at my tie, my eyes trained on him—Tate.Or at least, that’s what he wanted to be called.“Before we start anything, I think it’s best we get to know each other first.” My voice was calm, controlled, as I slipped my hands into my pockets and leveled my gaze on him. He was watching me with wary eyes, like he wasn’t sure if he should trust me. Smart.“How about we start with your name?” I added, keeping my tone neutral, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—hesitation, uncertainty.“But you—”“Your real name,” I cut him off, watching the way his breath hitched, the way his chest rose and fell a little quicker now.“How did you—”“I didn’t,” I said with a small shrug. “You just don’t look
CLAUDE“CLAUDE. WAKE UP.”The command cut through my hazy dreams, and I opened my eyes, instantly aware of Nikolia’s gaze boring into me. That look alone was enough to sharpen my senses.“Christ, that was fucking weird,” he muttered, his eyes flicking over my face.I blinked, sitting up slowly and raking a hand through my hair. “What?”“Your eyes.” He gave a frustrated sigh, one hand lifting as if to explain, then letting it drop. “Forget it. Afternoon now. Figured I’d wake you for—” He looked at the clock. “Lunch,” he corrected, sinking onto the bed’s edge with a smirk.I froze as Nikolia’s hand found the back of my neck, his touch warm, possessive. He pulled me in, close enough that our breaths mingled, and he watched me like he was cataloging every flicker of my expression.“When I came out of the bathroom last night, you were already out cold,” he murmured, low and gruff, his voice tickling my ear. “It was that good, huh?”I felt a surge of hea
NIKOLAIFUCK. PAIN RIPPED through every inch of my body, a deep, burning ache that made it hard to breathe. My head pounded, my ribs screamed, and when I shifted, something sharp tore at my wrist. Restraints. Fucking metal.I forced my eyes open, the dim light cutting through the haze of unconsciousness. Concrete walls. Bloodstained floors. The bitter taste of iron on my tongue. And then—footsteps. Slow, heavy. Someone was coming.I swallowed back the pain and lifted my head, a sharp grunt leaving my lips as I forced myself to focus.Surrounded.Fuck.“I see you’re awake.”The voice was smooth, almost amused. My eyes locked onto the bastard standing in front of me. Not some lackey. Not Antonov’s right-hand. No—Ivan Antonov himself.A sharp laugh tore from my throat. Out of all the people, I hadn’t expected this prick to show his face. His uncle was dead. He should’ve been thanking me.“Of all the people, I thought you’d benefit most from your uncle’s death,” I said, my voice hoarse an
NIKOLAITHE DOOR SLAMMED open, rattling against the wall, and Andrie stood there, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. His face was tight, his jaw locked, and his eyes—fuck, his eyes told me everything before he even spoke. Something was wrong.“Pakhan.” His voice was tight, his jaw locked and I already knew it wasn’t going to be good.“What?” I snapped, trying to push myself up, but a sharp, burning pain tore through my side. My muscles locked up, breath catching as I swallowed down the groan threatening to escape. Fucking wound. It felt like someone had ripped me open all over again.“It’s… that boy.”My fingers twitched. Not at the way he said it, but because I already knew exactly who he was talking about.Claude.Here.Back in Russia.When I fucking told him not to be.“Where is he?” The question came out like a hiss, my throat tightening as my pulse slammed against my skull. I shoved off the bed, pushing past the pain, but the moment my foot hit the ground, my body betra
CLAUDE “YOU CAN’T JUST leave.”Ava’s voice was tight, the kind that dug under the skin. I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand over my face before turning to her. She stood by the bed, arms locked over her chest, her eyes glaring holes at me.“You’re going to him, aren’t you?” She stepped forward, her nostrils flaring. “That human I smelled on you?”I tightened my grip on the bag’s handle but didn’t say a word.Her lips curled, but there was nothing soft about it. “My heat is close, and you want to run off? Like a fucking coward?”I turned for the door.“Use the drug, Ava.”I barely got the words out before she was on me, pressing against my back. Her nails dug into my arms, not enough to break skin, but enough to make her point.“Why do you keep pushing me away?” Her voice had dropped, but I knew that edge. That push. And I knew what she was going to say next—“I’m your mate. Your true mate.”My muscles coiled tight.“Ava.” A warning.She inhaled, slow and deep, like she could taste the f
CLAUDEHOW LONG HAD it been since I mated my mate? Three months? Four? Fuck, I wasn’t even sure anymore. Time blurred when every day felt like this, a cycle I couldn’t break no matter how much I wanted to.On the surface, everything was going well. The pack was thriving, stronger than ever. Since my mating with Ava, our lands had merged, resources had doubled, and we had secured our place among the top ten most powerful packs in the world. The borders that once separated us had been brought down, our people moving freely between both territories, the unity strengthening us in ways I couldn’t deny.But none of it meant anything to me.Being mated to Ava was hell. Every chance she got, she tried to pull me into bed, her hands wandering even when I made it clear I didn’t want her touch. She tried to mark me, tried to get me to mark her, her heat rolling off her in waves like it was some kind of weapon meant to force me into submission. It was suffocating, and no matter how many times I
CLAUDEIT WAS TIME.My stomach churned, tightened, and I had to swallow the bile rising from the pit of my stomach.A week. That’s all it took for them to prepare for this damned mating ceremony. Held right under the full moon, at the heart of the pack, like some kind of joke.The whole pack was buzzing, full of excitement, but for me? This felt like my funeral.“I can smell your nervousness, Claude,” my father’s voice broke through the fog of my thoughts and I flinched, but I didn’t bother to glance at him. I just kept watching the world blur past me.The car screeched to a stop in front of the packhouse. I didn’t waste a second, throwing open the door and stepping into the cool night air, my feet hit the earth with a soft thud.Around us, I could hear everything—the chattering voices, the sizzling meat somewhere in the distance, the heavy buzz of excitement.My father stood beside me as we both stared at the double doors of the packhouse. He sighed, like he had something wise to say
NIKOLAITHE BASTARD WASN’T even shaking.His hands were tied behind his back, knees pressed into the cold concrete, a gun to his skull—and he still had the audacity to look me in the eye.I should’ve killed him already. The second they dropped him in front of me—blindfolded, gagged—I should’ve pulled the trigger. But I didn’t. Not yet. Because I wanted him to see me. I wanted him to know exactly who was taking his last breath.“You’re quiet,” he rasped, his voice barely recognizable after the screaming. “Expected more from you.”I crouched in front of him, tilting my head. “Like what?”“A speech.” His mouth twisted into something that might’ve been a smirk if his face weren’t so fucked up. “Something poetic. Revenge always brings out the theatrics in men like us.”I let the silence hang between us for a moment, just staring at him. Then I smiled—barely, but enough to show him I wasn’t fazed.“He was weak,” he spat. “Would’ve never made it in this world, and you know it.”The word hit
CLAUDEI PRESSED MY palm flat against my tie, smoothing out invisible wrinkles as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My own eyes looked foreign—empty, like I’d already been hollowed out.A sigh slipped from my lips. Too quiet. Too weak. I clenched my jaw, forcing my expression into something passable before turning away to my nightstand. My fingers curled around the drawer handle pulling open the drawer.Lupenol. The small, familiar bottle sat at the top, right where I’d left it. I picked it up, rolling it between my fingers before twisting the cap off.It wasn’t real medicine—not even registered. Just something my father forced on me, a chemical solution to my problem. The first time I’d asked where they came from, I was nine. He’d ignored me. By the time I was twelve, I’d stopped asking altogether.Now, I just swallowed.The pills hit the back of my throat, bitter as always. I didn’t bother chasing them with water, just shoved the bottle back into the drawer and slammed it sh
CLAUDE I COULD TELL something was wrong the moment they told me to step out of the car. The way they moved, the way they avoided my gaze—it was all wrong.You’re being detained. Shit.So here I was, pacing in a small, dimly lit room, waiting for something to happen, and I knew exactly what that something would be—my father.My jaw clenched as I turned to the two men standing guard. "Why are you holding me here when I should be on my way back to my pack?" My voice came out sharp, a growl filled with frustration.They exchanged a glance before one of them finally spoke. "You’ve been reported missing—"My heart dropped."By the Alpha of Rising Moon Pack."Of course.I dragged a hand over my face, trying to keep calm. With what had happened the last time, of course he would be worried, but I didn’t think he would actually report me missing. Not when he was the kind of man who preferred handling things alone.I didn’t know how long I sat there, pacing, waiting, feeling the minutes stretc
CLAUDE“YOU CAN LEAVE.”The words didn’t make sense.I blinked at Nikolai from where I sat on the bed, my head still hazy, heavy, like I’d been drowning in a dream for too long. My body felt sluggish, my limbs heavy by sleep that shouldn’t have lasted this long. Even when I looked out the window, the sky was dark. A full day—I’d slept for a full day.But that wasn’t what made my chest go tight.It wasn’t the exhaustion, the disorientation.It was him.Standing there, hands shoved into his pockets, looking around his own bedroom like he was seeing it for the first time. Like he didn’t recognize it. Like he didn’t recognize me.“Nikolai…” My voice was hoarse, my throat tight. “Why?”I shouldn’t have asked. I should have just taken my chance, grabbed my things, and gone. I’d been telling him that I needed to leave. That I had to leave. Go back to my pack, to my family.But I never thought he’d let me go.Not like this.Not when just last night, he had held me so tight, his breath warm ag