Chapter 1

Elara Vance POV:

I placed the report on the Packhouse scholastics neatly on the corner of his massive oak desk, using the furniture as a barrier. It was the only way I could justify being here, in his private office-a place I knew was forbidden territory. It was my last, desperate attempt to pretend this was normal.

Ryker Blackwood didn't even glance at the papers. His stormy grey eyes, intense and piercing, were locked on me. The air was thick with his scent, a heady mix of deep forest and rain-soaked earth that made my inner wolf pace restlessly inside my mind.

"Closer, Elara," he commanded. His voice was a low baritone, not a request but an Alpha's Command that sent an involuntary tremor through my legs. It was how he always spoke to me when we were alone, a perversion of his authority that he wielded in our most private moments.

I bit down on my lip, the sting of pain a small anchor in the swirling tide of his presence. My fingernails dug into my palms. "Alpha, the report requires your review." The formal title was a shield, flimsy as it was.

A cold smirk touched his lips. In a blur of motion, he was around the desk, his towering 6'4" frame eclipsing the light from the window, casting me in his shadow.

His hand shot out, fingers wrapping around my wrist like a steel manacle. He yanked me forward, and I stumbled into the unyielding wall of his chest. The scent of him was overwhelming now, flooding my senses.

A traitorous whimper of satisfaction echoed from my wolf in my mind, a sound I immediately crushed with the force of my own will. The internal battle made my head spin.

"Stop calling me Alpha," he growled, his voice a hot whisper against my ear. His breath ghosted across my skin, raising goosebumps. "You know what I like you to call me."

Heat flooded my cheeks, a mixture of shame and fury. I struggled against his grip, but it was useless, like a rabbit caught in a snare.

His other hand moved, his fingers tracing a path up my throat to the sensitive spot just below my ear, the place where a mate's mark should be. A jolt, the tell-tale Sparks of a fated connection, shot through me, and my body betrayed me with a shiver of longing.

Humiliation burned in my gut. My father, Orion, had always taught me that a mark was sacred, a gift to be shared between two wolves who chose each other freely. This coercion felt like a betrayal of his memory.

Ryker leaned in, his mouth aiming for mine. I twisted my head away, and his lips landed on the side of my neck, hot and possessive. The kiss was a lit fuse. My resistance seemed to ignite his Alpha instinct, and a low, guttural growl rumbled in his chest.

He shoved me back against the cold, hard surface of his desk. Papers scattered, fluttering to the floor with a soft rustle. My knee slammed into the sharp corner of the oak, and a pained gasp escaped my lips. The sharp, blooming pain was a welcome shock, clearing my head for a split second.

"Ryker, stop!" I pushed against his chest with all my strength. "Your wedding is next week!"

The words hung in the air between us, a bucket of ice water. He froze, his muscles bunching under my palms. A flicker of genuine pain crossed his features before being replaced by raw possession.

"You are mine," he snarled, his wolf's possessiveness overriding all reason. "Mine."

He lunged again, his mouth descending, leaving me no room to escape. His lips were a breath away from mine.

*Knock. Knock. Knock.*

Three distinct, elegant taps on the heavy oak door. The sound, though not loud, shattered the charged silence like a thunderclap.

Ryker's body went rigid. The fire in his eyes was instantly extinguished, replaced by a frozen stillness.

My own pupils dilated in sheer terror. I knew that rhythm. It was Seraphina Volkov. His fiancée. My future Luna.

"Ryker?" Seraphina's gentle, melodic voice drifted through the door. "Are you in there? Moira is with me. We wanted to discuss some of the ceremony details."

Moira. The name was another hammer blow, striking the air from my lungs. My adoptive mother. The former Luna.

Ryker released me so abruptly I nearly fell. The blood drained from his face, leaving behind a mask of rare, unadulterated panic. I scrambled off the desk, my hands shaking as I tried to smooth my rumpled clothes and tame my wild hair.

The scent of my own arousal-a shameful mix of mint and fear-clung to the air, an undeniable testament to what had just happened.

Ryker moved swiftly to a panel on the wall, and a low hum filled the room as the office's air purification system kicked in, a desperate attempt to erase the evidence.

From outside, Seraphina knocked again, a little less patient this time.

"Ryker? Is everything alright?"