Chapter 3

Avery POV:

Pulling the frayed edge of my hood lower to keep my frost-white hair and clear skin buried in shadow, I walked down the terakhir flight of stairs and stepped into the Holder mansion's bright front hall.

Demetra sat perched on a velvet sofa cradling a porcelain teacup, not even bothering to lift her eyelids as my boots touched the marble floor.

"Moving like a snail, as usual. What kind of garbage were you stuffing your face with up there?"

Ducking my chin against my chest, I Deliberately thickened my voice into a dull, timid mumble.

"Madam, you called for me?"

Demetra wrinkled her nose in disgust and flicked her wrist, tossing a gold-edged invitation card onto the carpet at my feet.

"Eight o'clock tonight at Night Frost Cafe on the Pack border. Table nine."

Dropping to one knee, I picked up the stiff card and read the name printed across the front: Bernard Sullivan.

"He's an old Beta in his fifties who runs a black-market trading post. He has some rough tastes in bed, but he's paying a high price to buy you as a breeder."

Demetra spoke as if she were auctioning off a piece of rotting meat, and my fingers tightened around the card until my knuckles turned white. Deep in my chest, my awakened White Wolf let out a ferocious snarl, though I forced my shoulders to stay slumped.

Before I could answer, the rapid click of stiletto heels echoed from the spiral staircase as Dolly pranced down, holding up a gown covered in crushed diamonds.

"Mom, look at this dress! Is it stunning enough? At my blind date tonight, I'm going to make Alpha Jaxson of the Twilight Pack fall head over heels for me at first sight!"

Jaxson Meadows?

Hearing that legendary name made my heart skip a hard beat against my ribs. As the purebred Alpha King ruling the Twilight Pack's cross-border corporate empire, he possessed the most lethal genetics in the region and was the Fated Mate every female wolf dreamed of claiming.

"Of course, my darling. I pulled every string I had with Elder Faustina on the council just to secure you this one exclusive meeting with him."

Demetra beamed at her daughter with warm affection before Dolly spun around to glare down her nose at me, letting out a loud, mocking laugh.

"Well, well, the ugly duckling is going out to meet an old toad tonight? Try not to scare him to death at the table, you wolfless freak."

Lowering my lashes to hide the icy glint in my eyes, I kept my tone flat and submissive.

"I understand. I'll be there on time."

Clutching the gold-edged card, I turned and walked out of the front hall, letting a razor-sharp smirk curve my lips the second the heavy carved doors clicked shut behind me.

They wanted to sell me to a perverse old Beta so Dolly could climb onto the Twilight Pack's throne on my bones?

In their dreams.

Walking back up the narrow stairs to my room, I ripped off the dusty hooded cloak and shoved it straight into the trash can.

I dragged my mother's battered leather trunk out from under the cot, unlatching the bottom compartment to pull out a simple, figure-hugging black slip dress.

The silk had no flashy jewels, but as I zipped it up, it molded like a second skin to my tiny waist and long, toned legs.

Sitting at the cracked vanity, I used a curling iron to put loose waves into my rare frost-white hair, letting it tumble freely over my bare, snow-white shoulders.

I skipped heavy makeup, swiping on only a sheer layer of berry lip gloss, and stared back at the cold, striking woman in the mirror whose high-ranking aura couldn't be hidden anymore.

Glancing at the wall clock and seeing it was already seven, I snatched my keys, walked out the back door, and straddled my battered secondhand patrol motorbike, kicking the engine to life as I sped out of the Holder estate into the night wind.

Jaxson POV:

Across the territory, on the top floor of the Twilight Pack's corporate headquarters, I stood before the floor-to-ceiling glass window, rubbing my thumb over an ancient silver oath coin.

Silver was the only fatal weakness to a werewolf, and the metal's faint, constant burn stung the pad of my thumb, yet I didn't let go as I stared down at the city lights.

For an entire year, I had used every resource of my empire and torn through every security feed from that castle banquet, yet that woman had vanished into thin air.

All she had left behind was this year-2000 Moon Goddess silver coin and the memory of a faint crescent-moon birthmark on the right side of her tailbone, along with a trace of sweet cedar that still haunted my sheets.

A timid knock sounded at the double doors before my Beta assistant stepped inside, keeping his head bowed low against the suffocating Alpha pressure filling my office.

"Boss, Elder Faustina just called again. She insists you cannot postpone tonight's eight o'clock blind date at Night Frost Cafe."

Spinning around, I let a fraction of my aura slam into the room, watching the Beta's face drain of blood as his knees trembled.

"Tell her this is the last time."

Opening the heavy leather cover of the Frost Wolf Code on my desk, I tucked the silver coin carefully between the pages as a bookmark, grabbed my tailored black suit jacket, and strode out toward the elevator to take my armored SUV to Night Frost Cafe.