Leah's POV"We have collected some information about Miss Clara Farrow," Gean said. "It turned out that she does have a below-average IQ and used to struggle with all her academic subjects at school. She is also diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It may lead to a series of symptoms, including extreme happiness and irritability at the same time, poor concentration and judgment, paranoia, as well as setting unrealistic goals."Then, he took a pause and said, "Apparently, this wasn't the first time she got into trouble because of stealing. She has been arrested multiple times for misdemeanors like shoplifting, joyriding, vandalizing, and trying to set a garden shed on fire.""A garden shed?""Yes, with explosive chemicals, fertilizer, and compost inside. If that plan went well, the whole house would be ruined by a blast which is equal to a small-scale hydrogen bomb.""And the police label this as 'misdemeanor'?" I raised my eyebrows."She was only five at that time. So...""A bipolar she-wo
Lucas' POV"Alpha, we've got a situation here..."Jorah's voice was intentionally suppressed when he greeted me. He only talked to me in that voice when he messed up something.I fell to the chair, all deflated and worn out, loosening my tie a bit.I need to change for a new tie. Probably a new Beta. I thought to myself, looking at the obviously panicked young man standing in front of me. Jorah was qualified for his job in every way, but there was just something about this guy. He was driving me mad in a very subtle way and I wasn't even sure what the heck was wrong with this guy.I guessed it had something to do with his standing posture. He always looked painfully miserable when he was around me as if he was suffering from a chronic ulcer in his stomach. Neither he nor I could do anything about it to end his misery because we both knew I was that damn chronic ulcer.If only Basil was still alive! When Basil was my Beta, I led the army and conquered the whole north. Together, we built
Lucas' POVAs I stepped into the living room, tensions were running high.The air was thick with anger and everyone was on edge.My father, a stern and imposing man, glared at me with unconcealed fury, disappointment, and disgust.I ruined his pack, his company, and his life.And my father used to kill someone because a bar attender ruined his whiskey cocktail."Do you have any explanations for your ex-mate sending the divorce papers directly to me, bypassing you entirely?! I'm going to be very frank with you, son. I take this as a personal affront and it only adds to my already simmering anger." My father approached me and said with his hands strangling an invisible neck in the air."I have no explanation. I never expected Leah would do something like this..." I said.My mother cut me short by screaming at the top of his lungs, "That bitch! That horrible, shameless, filthy bitch! She's doing this to humiliate us! She's doing this intentionally to sabotage our family tie! She's a manip
Lucas' POV"Who... Are... You...?" I asked.I could barely recognize my voice. My vocal cord must have been torn.The little white wolf took a glance at me as if it was checking if I was alright, but it didn't answer my question.Instead, it lowered its head to get closer to my father while stomping on his spine again, triggering waves of my father's scream again. It seemed that this tiny little thing was determined to torture my father before killing him."Don't hurt my husband!" My mother pleaded in tears. She wanted to protect my father, but she also wanted to hold me in her arms. I could tell she was torn.The little white wolf heard my mother's voice and raised its head abruptly, staring at me.At that time, I recognized its olive-green eyes."Leah...?! Is that you...?" I asked.Leah's POVLucas' voice brought me back to sanity.I looked down at the giant grey wolf twitching under my claws."You damn old fool!" I snarled in anger. "Are you crazy?! Why did you try to kill your own
Leah's POV"And you're also a loud, loud person, Jorah," Lucas said in a low voice.I lifted my head and saw Lucas looking down at me with a half-smirk on his face.For a person whose throat almost got slashed by his own father, he looked way too happy. And I knew he was happy because he was holding me in his arms.I immediately stood up, shaking my fur and trying to walk away, but he caught me."Where do you think you are going?" He taunted me, holding me in his giant hands while sitting up."Urrrgh!" I turned my head, trying to bite him. Wolves don't like being caught. It was almost a reflex.But on that day, I ended up holding his hand in my mouth, scratching my teeth against his long, slender fingers.He tasted so good. I thought to myself. If I was in human form, I would definitely be blushing."Alpha! You're still alive! Oh, my Goddess! I haven't killed you! Great!" Jorah clapped and jumped up while clapping his hands."And praise the Moon Goddess for me not being killed by my Be
Leah's POVLucas pulled my wolf closer and tilted his head."Are you sniffing me before eating me alive, little she-wolf?" Lucas' voice was enchanting, tilting his head to sniff me back.My wolf didn't answer but licked his face."Ahh. It's so tickling." Lucas grinned, but he didn't flinch a bit.My wolf started at him with her giant eyes wide open for a brief second and licked him again.Lucas didn't move. He just sat there and let my wolf lick him.When she eventually decided to stop, Lucas held her up with both of his hands in the air and gave her a twirl."Are you done sniffing me?" Lucas asked.My wolf nodded with great satisfaction."So, it's my turn!" Lucas smirked and buried his face in my wolf's soft, fluffy fur.The tip of his nose triggered a wave of shivering all over my body. If I was in human form, I would be giggling and tittering.But at that time, my wolf suddenly took over and she sounded very grumpy, "You know what? You always take Leah for granted. For example, Leah
Leah's POV"Lucas, I..." I whispered, lowering my head."Leah, please don't go away. Please come back to me. I will give you everything you want. I will make it right this time. Lucian is a Lycan prince. Do you know what kind of danger you're going to go through to be in the company of a Lycan prince? I'll give you a hint. He rejected his last Luna and killed her by himself..." Lucas said.I immediately got cross because my elder brother's good name was insulted."Stop saying things like that! It's just a rumor. You know nothing about Lucian..."Lucas interrupted me and said, "Neither do you. Actually, nobody knows anything about that guy.""If you don't know anything about someone, then don't rush to your judgment," I said in a cold voice. "Lucian is a great person and he takes care of me..."Lucas got irritated even when I mentioned Lucian's name. He had that jealous look on his face again and stared at me.I turned my head away from him, but he grabbed my shoulders and forced me to
Leah's POV"Lucas, what have I ever done to you to make you treat me like this?" I whispered after he got off my body.Lucas didn't answer me. I wondered if he had heard my voice after all.He was still furious, panting and roaring like an agitated beast. I wouldn't be surprised if he killed me in the next second.Obviously, the rough sex we had just had didn't calm him down.Whatever he wanted to get, he didn't get from me.His fluid was still all over my body, and so did the bruises and cuts. It was a mess.I could wipe myself clean and heal the bruises and cuts, but the excruciating pain in my heart never went away.I thought Lucas would have walked away and left me alone as he did in the past, but he didn't.Instead, he shifted his hands into giant wolf claws and approached me.I looked at him with horror.Was he going to rip my heart out with those claws?!But he didn't.Instead, he used his razor-sharp claws to cut the tie to cut loose from the bed.Having regained the freedom of
Leah's POVI nodded, keeping my face smooth, blank - a perfect little mirror for the director's pride. Inside, my blood roared. These bastards had turned on Liam's father the second his body was cold, carved up his legacy, and handed it to Al Cosa on a silver platter. Everything Liam should've had—stolen. But I kept my claws sheathed, my fangs hidden. Not yet.Dinner came next, the shift announced by a waiter's clipped voice. I'd spent the earlier hours letting the deputy mayor fleece me at cards, folding my hands with a shy smile while his stack of chips grew. By the time we sat down to eat, he was rosy-cheeked and beaming, drunk on victory and wine. He clapped a meaty hand on my shoulder, his breath sour. "Leah, you've got to come to the seafood charity dinner next weekend. Big fundraiser for the Pier 16 Free Trade Zone. It'll be a hell of a show."I smiled, soft and apologetic. "I'd love to, but I'm flying to California next week. My company's got an ev
Leah's POVHours bled into each other. The party grew loud, sloppy. I slipped away to the pool terrace, heels dangling from my fingers, the night air sticky with salt and regret. The water shimmered like broken glass.Josephine used to fling herself into a pool to play damsel on my wedding night to get Lucas' attention. And that happened like in my my last life. And Darren - my shadow, my sword, the man who'd bled for me in alleys and ballrooms alike. Where was he now? Dead, surely. He'd have torn the slave market apart otherwise.The champagne bubbled bitter on my tongue. A tear fell - weakness - but the night hid it."Mrs. Winters." The deputy police chief staggered over, tie undone. "You're missing the fun.""I was just admiring the view," I lied. "I was just thinking to myself, you must be very good at your job. So young for a deputy chief."His chest puffed. "Beginner's luck.""Luck favors the bold," I said, leaning clos
Finn's POVI let him paw at me, a doll in his grip, his anxious eyes boring into me. It stirred something - anger, maybe, or worse, something soft I couldn't stomach. I shoved him back, sharp and sudden. "I'm fine," I snarled, turning to walk away.The flowers hit the ground behind me, petals scattering like spilled guts."Pick them up," I ordered, my tone cold.He immediately obeyed, bending down to gather the mess, his muscles flexing beneath the suit. I watched him, my mind a battlefield of desire and disgust. He was mine, bought and owned, yet with every touch, every glance, I felt like I was the one being claimed.I stepped on his back. Hard.Kairo scrambled on all fours before me, fingers trembling as they snatched at scattered petals - crimson on stone, like the blood already smearing his split lip. His haste amused me. The way his breath hitched, the way his shoulders tensed when my shadow fell over him.I let him hope for a s
Finn's POVI hated clinics. It stank of antiseptic and rotting blood, a paradox that clung to my tongue like acid eating through rot. Dr. Jafar's shadow pooled beneath the flickering fluorescents as he blocked the hallway - a vulture in a stained lab coat, wings spread to guard carrion."His lungs collapse twice daily now," the doctor said, teeth yellow as old piano keys. "The machines breathe for him. You understand? No more speeches about sensative topics here."I stared at him with a blank face. "Move."The ward beyond was a cathedral of dying. Monitors chirped hymns. Tubes coiled like sacred serpents around my brother's skeletal frame. Lucas' chest rose in mechanical spasms - a marionette jerked by invisible strings. I'd seen livelier corpses in the slave pits.His hand felt paper-thin when I took it, veins mapping failures under cold skin. "Brother," I said, savoring the word's rancid sweetness.Eyelids peeled back like fresh wounds. Re
Finn's POVThe dungeon stank of piss and rot, the air so thick I could taste it - bitter, sour, like the inside of a grave. A slash of crimson moonlight cut through the wall, spilling over the stone like blood from a fresh wound. My scars itched, a map of every bastard who'd torn me open and left me hollow. I needed it tonight, that sharp, searing proof I wasn't just a ghost rattling in this fucked-up shell.He was there, the slave, strung up like some beast, chains gnashing at his wrists and throat. Wolf poison hissed on his skin, blistering it raw, but he didn’t flinch. Those eyes - wild, molten - locked on me, burning with a love so desperate it could choke us both. He lunged as I got close, chains screaming, his voice a ragged snarl. "Alpha!"I saw his skin searing as it touched the chain.I tilted my head to look at the guard standing next to me.He panicked and said, "Sorry, Alpha! He has broken so many chains... We have to dip th
Leah's POVLater, they dragged me to the monitoring room, a sterile cage of flickering screens and stale air. The video looped endlessly - Antonio's fall, a silent plunge into the dark sea, over and over like a sick ritual. I sat there, wrapped in a scratchy blanket, shivering for show, while Al Cosa perched across from me, an old vulture hunched over his prey. His eyes, sharp and unblinking, devoured the footage, and not a flicker of pain crossed that wrinkled mask. Ruthless bastard, I thought, savoring his son's last moments like a fine cigar, no tears, no cracks. Just cold, hard control.Johnny, his slick consigliere, loomed nearby, arms crossed, voice smooth as oil."Mrs. Winters," he said, "I've no intention of detaining you here. But as the sole witness before Tony's fall, you've got an obligation to tell me the truth. What happened?"I shrank into the blanket, letting my hands tremble, my breath hitch."He took me to the balcony," I mumbled,
Leah's POVThe limousine door hissed open, releasing me into a hurricane of camera flashes. Miami's salt-rotten breeze tangled with the stench of money and gardenias as I stepped onto the crimson carpet, Rafael Laflamme's final creation clinging to my thighs like a lover's last breath. The dress was a funeral shroud in reverse - black silk devoured by blood-red crystals, cut low enough to make the paparazzi forget their own names. Four tall, dark male models flanked me, their hollow-cheeked perfection a living barricade. I'd chosen them for their vacant eyes. Men who looked at nothing saw nothing.Whispers followed like gnats. Who is she? I smiled behind the lace mask, its spiderweb patterns itching my scars. Let them wonder. Let them choke on their own curiosity.The ballroom swallowed us whole, chandeliers dripping light onto a thousand masks - feathers, gold leaf, animal snarls. I tasted champagne on the air, acidic and false. The first waltz began i
Leah's POVThe realtor's office smelled like desperation and vanilla-scented bleach. Floor-to-ceiling windows glared with Miami's midday sun, bouncing off marble floors so polished I could see the exact moment the man behind the desk decided we weren't worth his time. His name tag read Bradley Kensington III, which explained the smugness oozing from his salmon-colored tie.Seth shuffled in behind me, wearing a T-shirt that said "I Paused My Game To Be Here" and cargo shorts with more pockets than sense. I wore Liam's shirt and pants that were obviously oversized. We looked like two raccoons who'd fought a lawnmower and lost.Bradley didn't stand. Just swiveled his chair, lips curling like he'd caught a whiff of dumpster juice. "Walk-ins before noon require an appointment," he drawled, examining his manicure. "But I suppose I can pencil you in for a studio apartment tour next Tuesday. Cash-only, of course."Seth snorted. "Dude, we're here to buy a
Leah's POVThe fluorescent buzz of the internet cafe felt like a swarm of gnats in my skull. I'd chosen this place for its stench of burnt coffee and desperation - the kind of hole where men hunched over screens, their dreams pickled in porn and energy drinks. The clerk at the counter was all greasy hair and nicotine fingers, his eyes widening when I leaned over, my shadow swallowing the glow of his monitor."Where's your boss?" I asked, letting my voice fray at the edges, a threadbare thing.He blinked, throat working. "Who're you? What d'you want with him?"I smiled, all teeth. "Tell him I’m pregnant with his child."The lie tasted like rust. The clerk's face went slack, a fish gasping on a dock. He bolted, chair screeching, toward a door marked STAFF ONLY. I followed, silent as a blade, my boots sinking into carpet sticky with spilled soda. The basement door swung open ahead, and a man's roar clawed up the stairs -