Chapter 3

Vivian Carlisle POV:

I closed my fist around the cold metal casing of the data drive and took a slow breath, just about to slip it into my handbag when the red warning light above the lab doors began to flash.

My supervisor hurried down the aisle with a pale face, his voice trembling as he whispered a warning to our row, "Everyone stand at your stations immediately! Supreme Alpha Axel Sterling is inspecting the R&D department in person!"

The bustling lab fell silent as heavy, rhythmic footsteps approached down the corridor, and Axel strode through the glass double doors flanked by a dozen high-ranking Pack executives.

Dressed in an immaculate charcoal suit, he surveyed the room through his gold-rimmed glasses, his cold amber eyes eventually settling on me.

While my coworkers bowed their heads in instinctive genetic submission, Axel walked straight down the center aisle and came to a halt right in front of my desk. Cyril Wheeler, the Sterling Pack's Beta and Chief Operating Officer, stood beside him. He controlled the empire's intelligence network and commercial operations. Expressionlessly, he set a high-tier herbal development contract on my keyboard. Axel tapped his long, pale knuckles against my desk blotter, releasing a concentrated thread of cedar scent that only I could sense. "Miss Carlisle, you will submit your progress on the herbal extraction directly to me tonight."

Around us, the other lab technicians exchanged looks of sheer awe and envy, completely oblivious to the suffocating personal claim hidden beneath Axel's words.

Under his unwavering stare, I bit the inside of my cheek to suppress the tremor in my knees. "Yes, Mr. Sterling. I will file the report according to company protocol."

Axel leaned down slightly as if checking my monitor, his voice dropping to a murmur that only I could hear. "Remember our morning agreement, and don't test my patience, little mate."

His cool fingertips brushed deliberately across the back of my hand, leaving a scorching jolt of static before he straightened up and led his entourage out of the hall.

As the heavy doors swung shut,I sank back into my office chair, my palms slick with cold sweat. Getting involved with a tyrant like Axel was like playing with fire, which meant I had to take down Declan and Chloe quickly.

Right then, the communicator on my desk rang loudly with an incoming call from Chloe.

I slipped on my earpiece, then tapped to answer. Chloe's syrupy, grating voice greeted me at once. "Vivian, I'm reminding you again. Two o'clock sharp at Silver Moon Couture downtown. Don't be late!"

Staring out the window at the gray steel skyscrapers, I forced my voice into its usual meek, soft tone. "Chloe, I'm still on rotation in the R&D lab. Asking for leave this afternoon might get me in trouble..."

Chloe scoffed dismissively on the other end of the line. "Oh, please! You're Declan's fiancé. Who in that building would dare stop you? Don't tell me you're too stingy to accompany your maid of honor to pick out a dress?"

Hearing her call me 'Declan's fiancée' made my stomach churn as the memory of her moaning beneath him in the Apex Star Hotel flashed through my mind.

Not only had she stolen my fiancé behind my back, but she was also eager to exploit my submissive nature and treat me like her personal walking ATM this afternoon.

My chest tightened with a cold, steady rage. If the greedy bitch was practically begging to walk into my trap, I would gladly oblige.

I hesitated for two seconds before letting out a soft, yielding sigh. "All right. Since it's for the party dresses, I'll be there on time."

"Now that's more like it!" Chloe giggled smugly. "Remember to bring your unlimited Pack commercial alliance card! See you soon!"

The moment the call disconnected, I slammed my communicator face-down onto the desk, my lips curling into a sharp, frigid smile.

She truly believed she could trample my dignity and spend my money like she had for the past two years, having no clue that Silver Moon Couture would become the site of her public humiliation.

I quickly woke my encrypted terminal and embedded the high-definition video of Declan and Chloe's affair ,inside a stealth trojan program, then saved it back onto the drive.

Sliding the micro data drive into the anti-scan hidden lining of my handbag, I mentally reviewed the steps. All I needed was ten seconds alone with Chloe's phone to plant the program that would put the video in her cloud storage.

That video would be my nuclear strike at the engagement party. This afternoon, I would collect the first payment on my revenge.

I stood up, walked into the staff locker room, peeled off my white lab coat, and changed into a simple beige trench coat.

In the washroom mirror, my face looked pale and subdued, save for the tiny crimson mole at the outer corner of my eye that gleamed like a drop of fresh blood under the fluorescent lights.

People in this Pack mocked me as a weak Omega with no inner wolf, never suspecting that I had memorized the ancient remedies of Luna's Essence in childhood or that a dormant bloodline lay hidden in my veins.

Walking out of the locker room, I handed my field-work slip to the front desk clerk and took the elevator down to the main lobby.

Just as I pushed through the revolving glass doors and stepped onto the front steps of Apex Essence, a sleek black Panamera glided silently to the curb.

The tinted passenger window rolled halfway down, and Cyril leaned across the console to hold out a sealed black lacquered box.

"Miss Carlisle, the Alpha instructed me to give you this," Cyril said smoothly. "The couture district is crowded with sharp noses. Use this to cover his scent."

I took the box and lifted the lid to find a jar of top-grade scent-blocking balm, specially formulated to mask the dominant cedar scent clinging to my neck.

Axel clearly had eyes on my every move, letting me walk out of the building only because he knew the exact length of my leash. I scooped a dab of the icy ointment onto my fingers and rubbed it over the sensitive gland at the base of my neck. Then I tossed the empty box back through the open window and walked briskly into the afternoon crowd toward the gleaming gold sign of Silver Moon Couture.