Chapter 2 This girl is strange

The word wolfless hung in the air, vibrating with the weight of a thousand years of prejudice.

Most shifters treated the term like a terminal diagnosis or a gutter-level slur. But Lena said it plainly, without a flicker of shame. That irritated me more than the admission itself.

"You understand that in our world, a wolf without a wolf is considered..." I paused, letting the silence do the heavy lifting.

"Weak?" she finished for me.

I offered a razor-thin smile. "Exactly."

Her eyes didn't waver, but a spark of defiance ignited in their dark depths. "I've survived twenty-two years in a world built for predators, Mr. Blackwood. I am many things. Weak is not one of them."

My wolf stirred, his fur bristling against my consciousness. She's not lying, he rumbled, sounding almost impressed.

I shoved him back into the dark. "This company-and this pack-has no vacancy for 'survivors.' We only have room for the elite."

"Then don't hire me," she said.

No hesitation. No pleading. No scent of fear-sweat or desperation. She said it with the casual indifference of someone who had already made peace with rejection.

Marcus, usually a statue by the door, shifted his weight. Even he could feel the tectonic plates of my authority shifting.

"You came all this way," I said, my voice dropping an octave, "and you're willing to walk away that easily?"

She shrugged, a small, fluid motion. "I've been rejected by better people than you, Alpha. I'm used to doors closing."

Something in her tone-a hint of old, faded scars-made my wolf let out a low, mournful growl. Someone hurt her.

Not my problem, I snapped internally. "You're dismissed," I said aloud, turning my back to her to stare at the city.

"You didn't even read my resume," she noted.

"I didn't need to."

"You judged me in less than two minutes based on a ghost in my blood."

"Yes."

I heard her footsteps stop. "That's unfair."

I leaned my palms on the glass, looking down at the ant-sized cars below. "Life is unfair, Lena. Biology is unfair. You're a liability in a building full of apex predators."

The silence stretched, thin and taut as a wire. Finally, I heard a soft sigh. "Okay."

She turned. But just as the door handle clicked, she paused. "You're wrong about one thing, Adrian."

I raised an eyebrow at the reflection of her in the glass. "Oh?"

"I may not have a wolf..." She looked back, her gaze pinning me to the spot. "But that doesn't mean I'm not dangerous."

Then she was gone.

The moment the door clicked shut, my wolf exploded.

MATE.

The word slammed through my skull like a physical blow. I lunged away from the window, nearly upending my mahogany desk.

"No," I growled at the empty air.

YES. MINE.

I gripped the edge of the desk until the wood groaned. "This is impossible. A wolfless girl cannot be my mate. She can't be the Luna of the Blackwood Pack. It would be a joke. A disgrace."

Marcus cleared his throat cautiously. "You felt it too... didn't you?"

I turned on him, my eyes glowing a feral, iridescent gold. "What?"

He didn't flinch, but his posture went submissive. "The bond, Adrian. The air practically caught fire when she looked at you."

"She is not my mate," I snarled. "The Moon Goddess isn't that cruel. Find another assistant. Get her out of the city. Forget she exists."

I turned back to the window, but the city lights were just a blur. My wolf refused to settle, pacing a frantic circle in my mind.

What if she's the only one? a dark thought whispered. What if you just threw away the only soul meant for yours?

****

I didn't sleep.

Alphas are built for endurance, but tonight was a marathon of the mind. Every time I closed my eyes, I smelled her-wild honey, fresh rain, and a hint of something metallic, like a blade hidden in silk.

She is ours, my wolf kept whimpering.

"She's a defect," I hissed into the dark of my bedroom.

By dawn, I was caffeinated and lethal. I arrived at Blackwood Holdings an hour early, determined to bury the memory of Lena Hart under a mountain of spreadsheets and power plays.

The elevator doors slid open on the executive floor. I stepped out, bracing myself for the day.

Then the scent hit me.

Wild honey. Rain.

My head snapped toward the reception desk. There she was. Lena Hart was standing by Marcus's desk, looking remarkably refreshed for someone I had kicked out twelve hours ago.

"What is she doing here?" I demanded, my voice echoing off the marble walls.

Marcus looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. "She... came back, Alpha."

"Why?"

"She says the interview wasn't over."

My wolf let out a rumble of pure, unadulterated interest. Brave. Or suicidal.

Lena turned. Our eyes locked, and a literal jolt of electricity surged through my chest, making my heart stutter. The bond was screaming now, a physical pull that tried to drag me toward her.

I stayed rooted to the spot, my jaw tight enough to crack bone.

Lena walked toward me, her stride steady. "I thought you already rejected me," I said, my voice a warning.

"You did," she agreed.

"Then why are you standing in my lobby?"

"Because you didn't actually listen to me," she said, stopping just a few feet away. "And I don't take orders from people who haven't earned my respect."

I looked at her sharply. "You're trespassing, Lena. I could have you removed by security in ten seconds."

"I'm persistent," she countered.

"You're wasting your time."

"Maybe." She tilted her head, studying me as if I were the one under recruitment, not her. "But I don't think so."

My wolf was practically wagging his tail. She's not afraid of you.

"Everyone fears me," I said, stepping into her personal space, letting my Alpha scent-heavy with smoke and cedar-wash over her. "It's the natural order. You should be trembling."

Lena didn't blink. She didn't even lean back.

"Should I?" she asked softly. "You're just a man with a very loud dog, Adrian. I've dealt with much worse."