Chapter 2

Elara Thorne POV:

At the sound of Chace Waller's voice outside the VIP curtain, my muscles locked up. The memory of his betrayal wrapped around my lungs like a cold iron band, making it hard to breathe.

Julian instantly noticed my stiffness. His fingers dug harder into my waist, a flash of sharp suspicion crossing his dark-gold eyes.

The beaded curtain was ripped aside. Chace stormed in, radiating the volatile aura of an upper-class Alpha, his eyes bloodshot with rage. Years ago, he had abandoned my family to climb the corporate ladder of our enemies, yet he still acted like he owned me.

When Chace saw me practically straddling Julian's lap, a low, guttural growl tore from his throat.

"Let her go!" Chace lunged forward, reaching out to yank my arm.

I immediately put on a show of sheer terror. Instead of pulling away from Julian, I buried my face in the crook of his neck, my fingers clutching the lapels of his custom suit.

Julian didn't even stand up. He simply lifted his eyelids, and the weight of the Alpha King's Dominion came down on Chace—a slow, crushing certainty, like a mountain deciding to settle.

Chace froze mid-stride. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead. Even as an Alpha, standing inside the ruler of the Apex Pack's territory meant his knees were biologically wired to buckle.

"Since when did my booth become a place where any stray dog can bark?" Julian's voice was quiet, yet the whiskey glasses on the table rattled.

Chace gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to drop to the floor. "Mr. Vane, she belongs to me."

I lifted my head from Julian's shoulder, my eyes rimmed with red as I stared at Chace in confusion. "Sir, you must have the wrong person. I don't know you at all."

Chace's eyes bulged in disbelief, and he jabbed a trembling finger at my nose. "Elara! Have you lost all your shame for a paycheck? Do you really think climbing into his bed will turn a wolfless mutt into a Luna?"

I flinched, letting a tear spill over my lashes as I turned back to Julian. "Alpha, I really don't know him. He's scaring me."

Julian looked down at me, his rough thumb wiping the wet trail from my cheek. His gaze was so dark I couldn't tell if he bought a single word of my act.

I saw his jaw tighten slightly—the telltale sign of an Alpha projecting a private Mind-Link to a packmate. Being masqueraded as a wolfless meant my mind remained a blank, silent wall to their telepathy, though I caught the tail end of his spoken word: "Jasper."

From the corner sofa, Jasper Flynn—a high-born Alpha aristocrat and Julian's closest Beta-ranked vice president in the firm—stood up with an amused smirk. He strolled over and clapped a heavy hand on Chace's shoulder. "Young Master Waller, let's not ruin the King's evening."

Chace glared at me with a sickening mix of fury and obsession before two guards shoved him backward out of the booth.

Before I could let out a breath of relief, Julian stood up, his single arm still banded around my waist, and lifted me effortlessly to my feet.

"With me," he ordered.

Ignoring the whispers of the socialites around us, he hauled me toward a hidden carved wooden door at the back of the booth. I stumbled in my heels to keep up, my heart hammering against my ribs as he pushed the door open into a lavish, soundproof private billiard room.

The lock clicked shut behind us. The club noise vanished, leaving only the suffocating weight of his cedarwood scent.

Julian released me, walked over to the green felt table, and calmly chalked the tip of a wooden cue stick. He took off his black obsidian cufflink and set it on the mahogany rail.

"You don't know him?" he asked, his back to me, mockery dripping from every syllable.

I took a shallow breath and kept my head bowed. "No, sir. I'm just a wolfless girl trying to pay off debts. How could I know someone from an elite family like his?"

Crack!

He drove the cue into the white ball. The red balls scattered violently across the table, the sudden noise making my shoulders jerk.

Julian tossed the cue onto the felt and turned around. Step by slow step, he backed me up until my spine hit the cold wooden paneling of the wall.

"In our circle, no woman who has been claimed by an Alpha can seduce another ruler without reeking of her master," he said, planting both hands on the wall beside my ears, trapping me in his shadow.

I tilted my chin up and looked straight into his golden eyes. "I have never been marked by any Alpha. I am clean."

Something feral snapped behind his pupils. His breathing grew heavy, the air between us turning scorching hot.

"Is that so?"

He lowered his head until his nose brushed the side of my neck. His warm lips grazed my pulse point, sending a violent shiver down my spine. Calloused fingers swept my long hair aside, exposing the fragile skin over my nape where a male werewolf's permanent mating bite would sit.

I held my breath as his icy fingertips traced my vertebrae. I knew the skin there was completely unblemished.

Just as his hot mouth pressed against the back of my neck, the solid oak door of the billiard room exploded inward with a deafening splinter of wood.

Chace stood in the doorway with four family guards, his eyes glowing blood-red.