-ups on the scree

orization layer. The missing pages. Whoever had done this was clean. Without the highest-level a

ntil the 8:00

took a long gulp. The bitter, icy jolt hit her syste

struct it?

e access logs from the past half hour, the trimming marks on the paper, and the PR department's operational records in

tin and embedded a new clause at the end. A "R

irms known public information. All cross-border risks not explicitly authorized

confirm legal compliance, while the internal risk rep

ion triggered. Highest-level ale

her screen, the risk control offic

and snow pine flooded

nal guards. He'd changed into a dark gray bespoke su

nd remained poised above the sub

to assume liability for raw data. The missing attachments and trimming marks have already been syn

doesn't need to

ho had been hovering nearby, clearly about to scurry forward and make excuses, without so mu

rtment dictate risk control

f a palm's width from her own hand. It was subtle, almost casual, but it dre

n cold sweat. "Mr. Kingston, the timeline

m off, his gaze slicing through the man like a blade. "My chief aide will tak

He opened his mouth, closed it, then

m fell

sk as if none of this had disturbed her. He reached out with

s most valuable asset. I don't need my billion-dollar merger's Chief

"Go rest. At 7:00 p.m., change into formal wear. You

is hand and t

vering above the mouse. She paused for half

uiet now, save for the fading

who he just

d's insignia was issued by the Elders' Council. One of the few senior wolves in this whole buildin

r voice droppi

h those doors has a bloodline, a wolf form, and an Elder backing them. You're not wearing any m

ir, her fingertips brushing

. "If the Alpha opens the door for me, I can't

Top-floo

en heavy satin. The high-standing collar rose to just beneath her jawline, per

nt of the box, lay something else. A black-and-gold tempor

owed respectfully. "Without an insignia, the Eld

ection. The stamp of territorial belonging.

dn't t

ny ID badge. The cheap metal one with her photo and the words "Risk Control D

the merger project," Darcy said, her vo

pened his mouth as if to insist, then th

of her natural scent was sealed away. To the ordinary wolves in the banquet hall, sh

e plain metal badge pinned above her heart. She looked like a project lead attendi

The faint, layered vibration o

the door an

nia gleaming on his chest. Broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted, every line of him cut with

high collar. And on her left chest, not his insignia, not the

contracte

sweetness of her pierced straight through to his senses. And the deliberate refusal of his mark, wearing tha

thed into controlled composure. He extended hi

hunt, Miss Clark?" His v

d on his forearm, graceful and composed, as if she'd done it a hundred times. Throug

anytime, Mr. Kingston." She tipped her chin

hrough the depths of his eyes, there and gone like a spark in the dar

saw you

s he led her toward the private territorial elevato

essed in from the other side. The city's pure-blood wolf elite, gather

r shoulders back, her expression unreadable. If they wanted to circ