Elara Thorne POV: "Watch where you're going, wolfless trash!" A drunk Beta slammed his shoulder into mine, spilling cold amber liquor down the front of my cheap dress. His curled lip held the open disgust every ranked werewolf reserved for the bottom of the food chain. I didn't fight back. I dropped my chin, curling my shoulders inward to mimic the timid tremor of a defective girl born without an inner wolf, and hurried past him through the crowded dance floor of the Apex Lounge. Pressing my thumb against my left wrist, I checked my pulse point. The crushed Moon-Shadow herbs smeared into my skin were still working. In our society, genetics dictated rank from birth, and scent was everything. If anyone here caught a whiff of my true bloodline—the sacred White Wolf lineage—I would be dead before I reached the stairs. I lifted my eyes toward the second floor. Behind half-enclosed bulletproof glass sat Julian Vane, the Alpha King of the Apex Pack and the billionaire CEO behind its corporate empire. He lounged against a leather sofa with a burning cigar between his fingers, his dark-gold eyes surveying the club like an emperor looking down on ants. When I reached the spiral staircase, two massive Gamma bodyguards crossed their arms, blocking my path with a wall of hostile pheromones. "Get back to the first floor, wolfless," the guard on the left sneered. "You don't have the lungs to breathe the air up here." I bit my lower lip and took half a step back as if terrified, though my voice cut clearly through the bass. "Tell Mr. Vane I have the intelligence he wants regarding the short-selling of his Nevada silver-mining stocks." The two Gammas exchanged a startled look. A scentless nobody without an inner wolf shouldn't dare speak the Alpha's surname, let alone know about a confidential corporate bottleneck. After pressing their earpieces to consult upstairs, the guard on the right reluctantly stepped aside with a warning glare. I walked up the red-carpeted stairs. With every step, Julian's terrifying Alpha Dominion grew heavier, pressing down until my very bones ached. When I parted the beaded curtain of the VIP booth, the air inside froze. Several high-ranking Omega women draped over wealthy executives shot me looks of pure venom. Julian didn't look up. He was slowly trimming a fresh cigar with a black steel cutter—never silver, since silver was the only fatal poison capable of burning out a werewolf's healing factor and killing their inner beast. I stopped beside his glass table, choosing an exact distance that wasn't overly aggressive yet allowed the high slit of my skirt to frame the curve of my leg. He finally raised his eyes. Those dark-gold wolf pupils gleamed with a predator's cold light in the dim booth. "A wolfless thing who doesn't even carry the stink of a beast," Julian said slowly, his deep voice vibrating against my ribcage, "dares to use my territory acquisition as leverage?" I forced down the blood feud churning in my stomach and offered a nervous, slightly sultry smile. "Because I know your negotiations have hit a dead end." Leaning forward as if to pick up a box of matches on the table, I let my low neckline gape open directly beneath his gaze. Julian's eyes lingered on my collarbone for a single beat. Around us, the high-ranking wolves held their breath, waiting for the tyrant to snap my neck. Instead, he tossed the steel cutter onto the table and leaned forward. "Keep talking," he commanded, exhaling a ring of smoke right into my face. The heavy scent of his cedarwood pheromones nearly choked me. I coughed twice, tears springing to the corners of my eyes, and used the cover to whisper the last four digits of several offshore accounts the Pacheco clan was using to secretly drain assets. At the mention of that family name, Julian's golden pupils constricted. His large, calloused hand shot out and clamped around my jaw. Unstoppable Alpha strength forced my chin up until I had to meet his gaze. "Where did you get those numbers?" His voice was like ice water poured straight down my spine. "Little liar." Forced onto my tiptoes, I gripped his hard forearms for balance. Through the fine wool of his tailored suit, his body heat burned against my palms. "To survive, a wolfless girl has to have methods others don't," I answered with a controlled tremble, refusing to look away. His gaze dropped from my eyes to my pale lips, and his thumb roughly brushed across my bottom lip. Before I could react, his other arm snaked around my lower back and yanked me against his chest, slamming the distance between us to zero. I gasped, my palms flattening against his racing heart. When our skin touched, a sharp jolt of electricity zapped through my fingertips, making my stomach clench. He lowered his mouth to my ear, his hot breath scalding my neck. "If you want money from me, it depends on how obedient you are." I closed my eyes to hide the cold calculation in them, about to lean weakly against his shoulder, when a violent crash of shattered glass erupted outside the booth. "Elara! You cheap bitch, get out here right now!"

Elara Thorne POV: At the sound of Chace Waller's voice outside the VIP curtain, my muscles locked up. The memory of his betrayal wrapped around my lungs like a cold iron band, making it hard to breathe. Julian instantly noticed my stiffness. His fingers dug harder into my waist, a flash of sharp suspicion crossing his dark-gold eyes. The beaded curtain was ripped aside. Chace stormed in, radiating the volatile aura of an upper-class Alpha, his eyes bloodshot with rage. Years ago, he had abandoned my family to climb the corporate ladder of our enemies, yet he still acted like he owned me. When Chace saw me practically straddling Julian's lap, a low, guttural growl tore from his throat. "Let her go!" Chace lunged forward, reaching out to yank my arm. I immediately put on a show of sheer terror. Instead of pulling away from Julian, I buried my face in the crook of his neck, my fingers clutching the lapels of his custom suit. Julian didn't even stand up. He simply lifted his eyelids, and the weight of the Alpha King's Dominion came down on Chace—a slow, crushing certainty, like a mountain deciding to settle. Chace froze mid-stride. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead. Even as an Alpha, standing inside the ruler of the Apex Pack's territory meant his knees were biologically wired to buckle. "Since when did my booth become a place where any stray dog can bark?" Julian's voice was quiet, yet the whiskey glasses on the table rattled. Chace gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to drop to the floor. "Mr. Vane, she belongs to me." I lifted my head from Julian's shoulder, my eyes rimmed with red as I stared at Chace in confusion. "Sir, you must have the wrong person. I don't know you at all." Chace's eyes bulged in disbelief, and he jabbed a trembling finger at my nose. "Elara! Have you lost all your shame for a paycheck? Do you really think climbing into his bed will turn a wolfless mutt into a Luna?" I flinched, letting a tear spill over my lashes as I turned back to Julian. "Alpha, I really don't know him. He's scaring me." Julian looked down at me, his rough thumb wiping the wet trail from my cheek. His gaze was so dark I couldn't tell if he bought a single word of my act. I saw his jaw tighten slightly—the telltale sign of an Alpha projecting a private Mind-Link to a packmate. Being masqueraded as a wolfless meant my mind remained a blank, silent wall to their telepathy, though I caught the tail end of his spoken word: "Jasper." From the corner sofa, Jasper Flynn—a high-born Alpha aristocrat and Julian's closest Beta-ranked vice president in the firm—stood up with an amused smirk. He strolled over and clapped a heavy hand on Chace's shoulder. "Young Master Waller, let's not ruin the King's evening." Chace glared at me with a sickening mix of fury and obsession before two guards shoved him backward out of the booth. Before I could let out a breath of relief, Julian stood up, his single arm still banded around my waist, and lifted me effortlessly to my feet. "With me," he ordered. Ignoring the whispers of the socialites around us, he hauled me toward a hidden carved wooden door at the back of the booth. I stumbled in my heels to keep up, my heart hammering against my ribs as he pushed the door open into a lavish, soundproof private billiard room. The lock clicked shut behind us. The club noise vanished, leaving only the suffocating weight of his cedarwood scent. Julian released me, walked over to the green felt table, and calmly chalked the tip of a wooden cue stick. He took off his black obsidian cufflink and set it on the mahogany rail. "You don't know him?" he asked, his back to me, mockery dripping from every syllable. I took a shallow breath and kept my head bowed. "No, sir. I'm just a wolfless girl trying to pay off debts. How could I know someone from an elite family like his?" Crack! He drove the cue into the white ball. The red balls scattered violently across the table, the sudden noise making my shoulders jerk. Julian tossed the cue onto the felt and turned around. Step by slow step, he backed me up until my spine hit the cold wooden paneling of the wall. "In our circle, no woman who has been claimed by an Alpha can seduce another ruler without reeking of her master," he said, planting both hands on the wall beside my ears, trapping me in his shadow. I tilted my chin up and looked straight into his golden eyes. "I have never been marked by any Alpha. I am clean." Something feral snapped behind his pupils. His breathing grew heavy, the air between us turning scorching hot. "Is that so?" He lowered his head until his nose brushed the side of my neck. His warm lips grazed my pulse point, sending a violent shiver down my spine. Calloused fingers swept my long hair aside, exposing the fragile skin over my nape where a male werewolf's permanent mating bite would sit. I held my breath as his icy fingertips traced my vertebrae. I knew the skin there was completely unblemished. Just as his hot mouth pressed against the back of my neck, the solid oak door of the billiard room exploded inward with a deafening splinter of wood. Chace stood in the doorway with four family guards, his eyes glowing blood-red.

Elara Thorne POV: The heavy oak door slammed against the wall, wood splinters flying across the carpet as Chace's chest heaved wildly. Behind him, his family guards hadn't even drawn their weapons yet. Julian's fingers froze against my nape. He didn't turn around right away, but the Alpha aura pouring off him turned the air in the billiard room cold and still, as if the room itself had decided to hold its breath. "Do you really think I won't draw blood in your territory, Vane?" Chace stared furiously at Julian's hand on my neck. Julian slowly straightened up and stepped in front of me, blocking me from view. When he faced the door, his dark-gold wolf eyes held no heat at all—just a flat intent. "You crashed my club and broke my door," Julian said, his voice dropping to a low, level cadence. "Waller, is your pack declaring war on Apex?" Chace swallowed hard, his arrogance faltering for a second before his gaze locked back onto my dress peeking out from behind Julian's suit. "I don't want a war. I'm just taking back my woman." Hiding behind Julian's broad back, I clutched the hem of his jacket and made my voice shake. "I'm not your woman..." "Shut your mouth, Elara!" Chace roared, losing his mind completely as he pointed at me. "Dare to look him in the eye and tell him you didn't spend months kneeling at my feet like a dog as my submissive before I cut you loose six months ago?" Those words sucked all the oxygen out of the room. Through the fabric of Julian's suit, I felt the muscles of his back turn to stone. I immediately let go of his jacket and stumbled two steps back. I didn't even have to act; cold sweat drenched my spine, and my stomach twisted into a tight knot. Julian turned his head slowly. Looking down at me from his towering height, the dark desire that had been in his eyes seconds ago was gone, replaced by bone-chilling disgust. "Six months?" Julian let out a short, quiet laugh that felt like a slap across my face. "From a wolfless little thing who just swore she was clean?" I parted my lips, reaching a trembling hand toward him. "No, Julian, listen to me, I only—" "Don't say my name!" He said it low, with the full weight of the Alpha's Command behind it—a genetic compulsion that forced any lower-ranked wolf within the pack to obey instantly. Even though my hidden White Wolf bloodline could resist it, I let my knees give out and collapsed onto the cold floor, gasping for air as if my lungs were being crushed. Julian walked back to the billiard table, picked up a clean white towel, and wiped the fingers that had just touched the back of my neck. "Take your secondhand trash and get out of my territory, Waller," Julian said, dropping the dirty towel onto the floor without sparing me another glance. A flash of ugly triumph crossed Chace's face. He strode over and yanked me up by my upper arm, his grip tight enough to bruise the bone. "You heard him, you little slut. You're nothing to him," Chace hissed into my ear. As he dragged me roughly toward the shattered door, I kept my eyes fixed on Julian's rigid back. Right as Chace pulled me past the corner of the billiard table, a faint dark gleam caught the edge of my vision—a black obsidian cufflink carved with protective runes, which Julian had taken off and set down earlier. Pretending my ankle twisted in my high heels, I pitched forward against the table edge. My free hand swept across the mahogany rail, snatching the heavy obsidian cufflink and clenching it tight inside my palm until the sharp edges bit into my skin. Chace thought I was just trying to fight him off. Cursing under his breath, he yanked me out into the VIP hallway. As we passed the lounge area, the high-ranking wolves who had seen Julian carry me away burst into loud laughter and jeering whistles. "Look at that, the wolfless bed-warmer got thrown out like garbage!" one of the Omega women called out. I kept my head down, letting my tangled hair hide my face. Beneath that curtain of hair, the corners of my mouth curled into a cold, razor-sharp smile. They saw a disgraced outcast; I felt the warm Alpha rune stone pressed against my palm. Chace dragged me all the way down the back stairs and shoved me out the rear alley door into the freezing rain. He wrenched open the rear door of a black modified SUV and threw me inside. I hit the leather seat hard, my elbow slamming into the opposite armrest until pain shot up my shoulder. Climbing in right behind me, Chace slammed the door shut. "Drive!" he snarled at the chauffeur. The central locks clicked down, sealing me inside the moving cage. Chace lunged across the seat and grabbed my chin in a bruising grip. "Now," he breathed into my face, his eyes wide and unhinged in the passing streetlights, "you and I are going to settle the score for tonight."