Chapter 2

• SELENA
• His hands stayed on my waist. Didn't pull me closer. Didn't push me away. Just held. Like I was something fragile. Or dangerous. I couldn't tell which.
• "I know why you're here, Selena."
• The way he said my name again made my wolf go still. Not the broken, bleeding way. The other way. The way she did when a bigger predator entered the room. When the air got too thin to breathe.
• Thunder cracked outside. The lights flickered once, then held. Rain hit the windows like fingers tapping for attention.
• I forced a smile. Tilted my head. Let my fingers slide from his throat to his collar. The fabric was warm from his skin. "Do you? Because I'm pretty sure I just told you."
• "Lonely," he said. The word was flat. Not a question. A fact he'd already decided.
• "Aren't you?" My thumb brushed the stubble on his jaw. "Ten years without a mate. A pack this size. People talk."
• His gold eyes didn't blink. They tracked my hand. Then my mouth. Then back to my eyes. Slow. Deliberate. Like he had all the time in the world and planned to use every second of it.
• "People talk," he agreed. His voice stayed low, controlled. "About you too. Lately."
• My fingers froze against his collar. "What about me?"
• "That your bond with Damian Callahan broke three hours ago." He said it like he was reading the weather report. Fact. Nothing more. No pity. "That your sister was in his bed. That you locked yourself in the bathroom and didn't come out until your best friend kicked the door down."
• The air left my lungs. How did he know that? Guards didn't follow me. Mara swore she told no one. The packhouse was supposed to be private. Safe.
• "You've been watching me," I whispered. The words tasted like betrayal.
• "I watch everything in my pack." His grip on my waist tightened, just a fraction. Enough to remind me he was there. Enough to remind me he was stronger. "It's my job."
• "Liar." The word slipped out before I could stop it. Raw. Honest. "You watched me before today."
• Something shifted in his face. Almost nothing. A tightening at the corner of his mouth. The barest flicker in those molten eyes. For a second the mask slipped and I saw something underneath. Something old. Something hungry.
• "Is that what you want to believe?" He leaned back in his chair, but didn't let go of me. His hands stayed locked at my waist like he was afraid I'd run. "That this is new? That I'm lonely?"
• I hated that he wasn't playing along. I'd pictured this a hundred times on the walk up the stairs. Him surprised. Him flattered. Him pulling me onto his lap like Damian used to when he wanted to prove a point. Kieran Voss just looked patient. Like he'd been sitting in this chair for ten years waiting for someone to finally walk through that door and say exactly what I said.
• And I hated that more than I hated Damian right then.
• "My wolf wants revenge," I said. I dropped the purr. Dropped the act. Let my voice go flat and honest and ugly. "Damian broke me. Your son broke me. I want him to hurt the way I'm hurting. And you're the only one who can do that."
• His thumb moved. A slow stroke against my hip bone, through the silk. It wasn't sexual. It was assessing. Like he was measuring me. Weighing me. Deciding if I was worth the trouble I was about to cause.
• "You think making him watch us will hurt him," Kieran said. Not a question.
• "Yes."
• "You think crawling into my bed is the price you pay for that."
• The word bed hit like a slap. I opened my mouth to answer-
• The office door slammed open against the wall.
• "Father."
• Damian stood in the doorway. My ex. The Alpha's son. His face was pale, eyes wild and rimmed with red. He took one look at me on his father's lap, Kieran's hands on my waist, and something in him shattered. I saw it break across his face.
• "What the hell is this?" Damian's voice cracked. "Selena, get off him. Get off my father."
• Kieran didn't look at him. Not once. His gold eyes stayed on mine. Unblinking. Steady. Like Damian wasn't even in the room.
• "Your son's here," I said, keeping my voice steady even while my heart hammered. "Perfect. Let him watch."
• "Selena-" Damian took a step forward.
• "Don't."
• Kieran's voice cut through the room. One word. Low. Final. The word that made the walls shake.
• Damian froze mid-step. Because that was the Alpha's voice. The voice that made grown wolves drop their heads and show their necks. The voice that ended wars.
• The silence stretched. Tight. Ugly. Full of things no one wanted to say out loud.
• Finally, Kieran stood. He stood with me still in his arms, like I weighed nothing at all. He set me on my feet behind the desk, his body blocking me from Damian's view for one second. Two. A shield.
• When he turned, his expression was empty. But his eyes weren't. They were fire.
• "Son," he said. The word was heavy.
• "Leave us."
• Damian's jaw clenched until I thought his teeth would crack. "She's my mate."
• "Was," Kieran corrected. Quiet. Absolute. "The bond is broken. You made sure of that."
• The word hit Damian harder than any punch could have. He flinched like he'd been shot. Like he was only now understanding what he'd lost.
• Kieran stepped around the desk. Walked to the door. Put a hand on the handle. Didn't open it yet. Then he looked back at me. Over his shoulder. Those gold eyes burned with something I couldn't name yet.
• "You want revenge," he said, soft enough that only I could hear. Soft enough that Damian wouldn't. "I can give you better. I can give you ruin. But first, you need to answer one question."
• My heart slammed against my ribs. "What question?"
• The door handle turned under his hand. Metal against metal. "Why did I start watching you, Selena, six months before your mate ever touched your sister?"
• The door opened. Rain and cold air rushed in.
• And he walked out, leaving me alone in his office with the truth hanging in the air like a blade at my throat.