a P

d for just the two of us. The air was thick with unspoken fury. Aries closed the door and

nally asked, his voice fl

s my only chance to claw back a future for myself. "I want compensa

their future," I said, trying to sound like I was negotiating a business deal, n

and poured himself a glass of water, his movements

, cash," I said. I s

with the private garden. It's unde

nd, "a legally binding severance agreement. From this moment on, I have no connect

enetrating eyes, as if trying to see into my soul. The pressure of his silence was imme

the Pack?" He finally let out a low, humorless la

he world outside is dangerous for our kind. Rogues, rival Packs, even human hunters. You think what you learned in college w

his title to create a chasm between us. "Whether I live or die is my

Alpha aura intensifying with each step, pressi

the familiar scent of cedar and storm on him. It was a s

is voice a dangerous rasp. "Don't forget, Kira, I am the Alpha. I can

p, but you can't shut everyone up. The moment I disappear, people in the Pack will

inner wolf whimpered in fear, but I he

other for what fel

our demands," he said finally, each wo

plummeted.

dded, his t

ed my h

ler's wing, sign the final documents in front of an Elder. The Pac

about it," he said, his tone absolute. "You

had denied everything I wanted and was now i

grounds!"

e Alpha," he answered coldly

live a decent life as an affiliate of the

e with nothing but his cold silh

hadn't won my freedom; I had been loc

g to do? What f

. I stopped on a name: Joe Hayes. My adoptive father. Maybe... maybe he coul