The text from James hits me like a physical blow, making my coffee cup tremble in my grip. Around me, Callum's pristine Mayfair office blurs at the edges as I stare at the glowing screen, my ex-husband's words burning into my retinas: *"I know I hurt you, but I've changed. The affair was the biggest mistake of my life. Can we talk?"*Thunder rumbles outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, echoing the storm brewing in my chest. Across the mahogany desk, Callum continues reviewing acquisition documents, his broad shoulders tense. Even without looking up, I know he can sense my distress – the subtle flaring of his nostrils tells me my scent has changed with my rising anxiety.My hands shake as memories flood back: walking in on James and Sarah, my supposed best friend, tangled in our marital bed. The shattered trust. The humiliation. The divorce papers served over breakfast like they were nothing more than a business transaction. Three years later, and the wound still feels raw."Everythin
The soft glow of candlelight dances across the white tablecloth at Maison Laurent, casting deceptive warmth over James's familiar features. My fingers tremble around the stem of my wine glass as I try to ignore my buzzing phone. Another message from Callum – the fifth one in the past hour."You always did love their Bordeaux," James says, his voice carrying that same tender note that once made my heart skip. Now it just makes my stomach clench. "Remember our anniversary dinner here?"I take a larger sip than intended, letting the rich wine coat my tongue. "That was a long time ago, James." Too long to matter, I tell myself. Too long to still hurt this much.My phone vibrates again, more insistent this time. I glimpse the words "URGENT - rival pack" before turning the screen face-down. Whatever pack drama Callum's dealing with will have to wait. I need this – need to face my past before I can even think about a future."You look beautiful tonight, Liv." James reaches across the table,
Rain pelted against the floor-to-ceiling windows of my penthouse office, mirroring the turmoil in my heart. The kiss with James haunted me, a constant reminder of my weakness. Every time my phone buzzed with another message from Callum, guilt twisted deeper into my chest like a knife.I pressed my forehead against the cool glass, watching London blur through the downpour. The city lights below wavered like dying stars, distorted by streams of water. Just like my judgment lately. The ghost of James's lips against mine felt like a brand of shame."You've been avoiding him, haven't you?"I whirled around to find Amelia Thornton perched on the edge of my desk, her perfect manicure gleaming as she examined her nails. I hadn't even heard her come in. My heart thundered in my chest – had she somehow learned about the kiss?"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, keeping my voice steady despite the panic rising in my throat.Amelia's lips curved into a predatory smile. "Oh, come now
My heart pounds against my ribs as I press myself against the cold brick wall beside Cartier. Through the pristine windows, diamonds sparkle like trapped stars under carefully arranged lighting, but my attention is fixed on something far more precious – and potentially more devastating. Callum's tall frame bends over a display case, his familiar gesture of running fingers through dark hair betraying his nervousness. The stunning blonde beside him points at various rings, her perfectly manicured nail tapping the glass as she speaks animatedly. Each tap feels like a hammer blow to my chest.The late afternoon sun casts long shadows across Bond Street, but the darkness growing in my heart feels far heavier. I'm intimately familiar with this scene – the secretive meetings, the nervous gestures, the guilty glances. James had worn the same expression when he was shopping for jewelry with his mistress two years ago.*Not again. Please, not again.*My enhanced werewolf hearing picks up fragm
The world exploded into chaos. One moment, I was facing Callum outside the jewelry store, my heart breaking at his perceived betrayal. The next, a mass of gray fur and gleaming fangs erupted from the shadows."Behind me!" Callum shoved me backward, his body already rippling with transformation. The velvet ring box tumbled forgotten to the pavement as his designer suit shredded, giving way to midnight-black fur.My heels caught on the uneven cobblestones as I stumbled away from the melee. The screams of fleeing pedestrians filled the air, but all I could hear was my own thundering heartbeat and the savage snarls of warring wolves.Callum's massive black form tore through two attackers, his jaws snapping with lethal precision. Even in my anger and hurt, I couldn't help but marvel at his raw power. This was the Alpha of London's most powerful pack, and he moved like living shadow, each strike calculated and devastating.But there were too many. Four more wolves slunk from the darkness, t
Rain pelts my broken body as consciousness fades in and out. Each breath is agony, my ribs screaming in protest. Through blurred vision, I see Callum's face above me, his features twisted in anguish. Blood—my blood—mingles with rainwater on the cobblestones beneath me."Stay with me, Olivia," he pleads, his voice breaking. "Please, just stay with me."I try to speak, but only manage a wet cough. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth. Somewhere in the distance, sirens wail. The sounds seem to come from underwater, growing fainter with each passing second.Memories flash before my eyes like a broken film reel. The jewelry store window. The blonde woman beside Callum. My accusations thrown like daggers. The hurt in his amber eyes when I confessed to meeting James. Then chaos—fur and fangs and blood as rival wolves descended upon us."She has minutes at most, Alpha." Fiona's voice cuts through the haze. Her usual fierce demeanor cracks as she kneels beside us. "You know what needs to
Pain. Searing, all-consuming pain. It tears through every cell of my body like molten lava, reshaping me from the inside out. I try to scream, but my vocal cords are transforming, making my cries come out as half-human, half-wolf howls.The basement of Callum's penthouse spins around me, ancient runes carved into stone walls pulsing with an eerie blue light. Their magic contains my thrashing body, keeps me from hurting myself – or others – as the change takes hold. The metallic scent of my own blood mingles with sweat and fear, overwhelming my heightening senses.Through the haze of agony, I catch glimpses of Callum's face. His amber eyes never leave me, filled with a mixture of guilt and desperate love that makes me want to both cling to him and claw his eyes out. He did this to me. He took my choice away."I'm sorry," he whispers, the words falling uselessly between us. "I'm so sorry, love."Another wave of pain hits, and I arch off the bed, bones cracking and reforming. My fingers
The first breath burned like fire in my lungs. Every sensation crashed over me with brutal intensity—the scratch of Egyptian cotton sheets against my hypersensitive skin, the thunderous drumbeat of my own heart, the overwhelming cedar-and-rain scent that I knew belonged to Callum. My eyes snapped open, and the world exploded into painful clarity.Too bright. Too sharp. Too *everything*.I jolted upright, a primal sound ripping from my throat that I barely recognized as my own voice. The movement sent waves of dizzying information through my enhanced senses. Forty stories below, I could hear the rhythmic thrum of early morning traffic. The antiseptic tang in the air mixed with the metallic scent of blood—my blood—making my stomach roll."Easy." Callum's voice came from beside me, and I flinched at its intensity. He reached for me, but the moment his fingers brushed my arm, electricity shot through my transformed nervous system. The mate bond pulsed between us, stronger than ever, but i
Harsh shadows from fluorescent lights of the parking garage of Wolfe Industries proved unrelenting as I followed after Alistair into it. My heels, though clicking softly off concrete, barely provided an echo against the rains outside that drummed without a break. Our enforcer acted strange lately and there was only one way to determine exactly why."The security protocols have been updated, just like you requested.".I froze, plastering myself against a concrete pillar. Three unfamiliar werewolves stood with him near a service entrance, their postures tense."The access codes?" one of them demanded."All here." Alistair held up a thumb drive. "Everything you need."My heart hammered. Was our enforcer really betraying the pack? After everything Callum had done for him?Motion drew my attention. From behind another pillar, two more werewolves emerged, their eyes gleaming predatorily in the dim light. Every instinct screamed trap, but not for who I expected.The original three werewolves
My hands shaking, I traced the worn leather binding of the pack records. The setting sun cast long shadows across my office at Wolfe Industries, each darkening stripe a reminder of how much I stood to lose if I was wrong. Or right."Someone's been feeding to Edinburgh." I growled low to myself, scanning page after page of meetings that shouldn't have leaked. Last time the pack was betrayed-three dead. That couldn't happen again, but being on the investigating end into Callum's inner circle made me a traitor in my own right.A jarring knock yanked me out of my reverie. I slammed the journal shut as Fiona filled the doorway, her copper curls catching what was left of the light."Plan on sharing what's had you buried in the archives?" Her eyes went green, narrowing to pin me with that uncomfortably perspicacious stare that served her so well as beta."I-" The words caught in my throat as I weighed my options. Trust had gotten the last beta killed. Along with two others."Someone leaked t
The e-mail on my screen sent chills running down my spine."Just wanted to follow up on our discussion regarding the Q3 projections." Marcus's words stared at me, each sentence a red flag. We'd been trading together for a decade and a half. This was not Marcus."Something's wrong." I muttered, scanning the message again. The Marcus I knew never used phrases like "circling back" or "touch base." He was direct, almost blunt. This email read like a corporate template.A knock at my door jerked me out of that reverie. Callum filled the doorway, a commanding presence even in a perfectly tailored Tom Ford suit. But the tight set of his jaw told me he wasn't there to make a social visit."Board meeting in ten minutes," he said without preamble, amber eyes raking my face. "You found something."It wasn't a question. The mate bond between us hummed with shared tension, even if we tried to keep things professional at work."Marcus Chen's latest communications." I turned my laptop toward him. "R
My fingers traced the intricate patterns of the werewolf bloodlines on the ancient tapestry as if my life depended on it. The rain clawed at the leaded glass windows of Callum's study, casting wavering shadows across the scattered reports of recent pack attacks."These attacks aren't random." My voice cut through the tension-filled silence. "Look at the pattern, Callum. Every targeted pack has the same profile."Callum's pacing stopped. "What do you mean?""Large quantities of turned wolves. Human mates." I pivoted, facing him while my analyst's brain churned the numbers. "Someone is targeting specific packs. Those that don't fit into a certain. mold."Standing by the door, Fiona winced, readjusting her bandaged arm, still tender from last night's attack on our territory. "You think it's connected?""I know there is." I pulled out one of the reports. "The Thompson pack in Manchester-60% turned wolves. The Murray pack in Edinburgh-highest number of human mates in Scotland. The Chen pac
I squinted at my monitor, the endless stream of numbers and financial data on the screen beginning to blur. Midnight was long since past, but I couldn't stop-not now that I was getting close."Come on, show me what you're hiding," I muttered, cross-referencing another set of transactions.My office in London's financial district overlooked the glittering skyline, but I barely paid any attention anymore. Three days of obsessive digging through corporate records had left me running on nothing but coffee and determination.The soft ping of an incoming message drew my attention. Callum: "Three more disappeared from the Munich pack. Whatever's happening, it's accelerating."My fingers trembled as I typed out in response: "I might have something. Give me an hour."Before me lay encrypted files that painted none-too-comforting pictures of a network of shell companies, each funneling in barrels of money for research facilities studying "genetic anomalies in canine DNA." It was one of those co
The musty scent of ancient parchment filled my lungs as I traced my fingers over the crumbling manuscript. Isabella's sharp intake of breath beside me broke the heavy silence of the London Pack House archives."Olivia, look at this." She quivered, her finger dancing to a part of text; ancient runes danced across the dimly lit area. "When pure blood meets tainted, the old ways shall rise again."My heart stuttered. "What's that supposed to mean?""It's a prophecy." Isabella's voice had dwindled down to a whisper. "One speaking of purifying bloodlines."Above us, footsteps-Callum in his office-dealt with the constant stream of messages from traditional Alpha families. Every step sounded just like the cadence of doom approaching."There's more," Isabella said, her finger tracing the page. "The prophecy speaks of a ritual. something about the purifying of the wolf-blood."A cold shiver ran down my spine as my phone buzzed. From Fiona: *Where are you? Emergency.*"We need to tell Callum,"
The ancient oak doors loomed before me, carved wolves seeming to leap in the flickering torchlight. My fingers brushed against Callum's suit jacket, seeking reassurance I wasn't ready to admit I needed."Ready?" Callum's voice was low, meant only for me."As I'll ever be." I squared my shoulders, thanking whatever star aligned to grant me a designer dress worthy of a lot more poise than I currently owned. "Though I still think bringing a former human to the Alpha Council may be perceived as.insensitive.""You're my mate." His jaw worked his tone final. "They'll deal with it."It seemed that the groan of the heavy doors as they swung open had echoed along the private wing. The setting sun was shining through the stained glass window, casting blood-red shadows on the teak surface, where twelve ornate chairs were drawn up to a huge circular table. My enhanced senses picked up mingled scents of anxiety, ambition, and something darker that stirred my wolf uneasily.Viktor Petrov was the fi
The smell of fear thickened in the war room as reports kept coming in. My fingers flew over the keyboard, following a web of financial deceit through Wolfe Industries. "Got something," I said, tugging Callum's attention from his phone. "The authorizations all came from a single terminal in the executive wing. Terminal ID matches." I let the words trail off, blood turning cold."Matches what?" Callum asked. There was an edge in his voice."Amelia's office."The silence that followed was resounding. Amelia Thornton - pack elder, board member, and the woman who'd warned me about a rising power. Had she been playing us all along?"That can't be," Fiona cut in. "Amelia's family has been loyal to the Wolfes for generations.""Numbers don't lie." I turned the laptop toward them. "Every transfer, every shell company, all traced back to her terminal."Callum's phone buzzed again. His face clouded over as he read the message. "Viktor wasn't the only one. They found the Swedish Alpha's body. Sam
The moon cast long shadows across Callum's office, where stacks of missing persons reports littered his normally pristine desk. I clutched the financial documents in my hands as the weight of what I had found hit me squarely between the eyes."Callum," I called, the tension evident in my tight voice. "We have a problem."He glanced up, his amber eyes flashing in a heartbeat. Same effect my heart got, despite all we had survived so far. "What'd you find?""Someone has been siphoning funds out of Wolfe Industries." I fanned the documents out over his desk, nudged the reports detailing the missing werewolves out of the way. "Shell companies. They all belong to various known hunter organizations. Systematic transfers-the dates go back months.""Show me." Callum's voice held that razor's edge I'd become so familiar with-the Alpha strangling his anger.I indicated the records of the transactions. "Here. Regular payments, always just shy of the reporting threshold. Whoever did this, knows ou