Chapter 3

Arden POV:

I stood before the floor-to-ceiling glass wall of my penthouse office at the Shadow Syndicate headquarters, looking out over the territory of Shadow Ridge.

The lingering pain of the silver poison throbbed deeply within my chest, but the agony that usually felt like molten lead had diminished to a bearable hum.

My mind kept flashing back to the image of that silver-haired woman in the dark cabin. The scent of wild honey and winter snow still lingered on my skin, maddening and intoxicating.

Mate. My inner wolf paced restlessly, growling with deep, primal possessiveness.

The heavy oak doors were pushed open. My Beta and head of security, Jc, walked in with a military-grade tablet.

"Alpha. We investigated the girl from the border cabin as ordered," Jc reported, his tone serious. "She is Evangeline Hopkins, the wolfless daughter Lady Hortense threw away years ago."

I poured two fingers of neat bourbon. "A wolfless runt who can dismantle elite enforcers and expertly suppress deep-tissue silver rot? The Hopkins Pack is full of blind fools."

Jc hesitated for a moment before continuing. "There is more, Alpha. We intercepted encrypted comms from the Hopkins estate. Lady Amanda, your supposed pure-blooded fiancée, has been secretly sharing a bed with the Crown Prince."

A surge of murderous intent instantly bled into my ice-blue eyes. The glass in my hand cracked.

"Because Amanda lost her purity and fears your reputation," Jc said grimly, "they plotted to drug Evangeline and have a filthy rogue ruin her innocence in that cabin, just so they could force her to take Amanda's place as your substitute bride. You... you inadvertently took the place of the rogue they hired."

The temperature in the room plummeted below freezing.

A low, lethal growl vibrated in my chest. They dared to treat me, Alpha Arden Lindsay, as a dumping ground for their ruined trash? They thought they could humiliate me by sending a woman they believed was defiled by a rogue to my mating bed?

"Amanda Hopkins is a manipulative leech," I sneered, the sheer fury awakening my ancient Lycan blood. "I originally planned to make them break the engagement themselves. But now? I will play their game. I will make the Hopkins Pack pay a devastatingly bloody price."

Suddenly, a blinding bolt of agony tore through my heart.

I staggered, dropping to my knees as the crystal tumbler shattered against the floor. Thick, black veins pulsed violently up my neck. My rage had accelerated the dormant silver poison, violently breaking through the temporary barrier Evangeline had woven.

"Alpha!" Jc rushed forward in panic.

"Get out!" I roared through clenched teeth, forcing my mental shields open to lock down the agony.

I tasted copper as blood welled from my bitten lip. The silver was fighting back with a vengeance.

"Jc," I gritted out through the Mind-Link, my eyes glowing with fierce determination. "Scour every clinic, every underworld network. Find the Phantom Healer."