The morning air in Oakhaven was crisp, but inside the library, the atmosphere felt suffocating. I had spent half the night tossing
and turning, haunted by the word liability and the image of a pair of golden eyes that didn't belong to a human.
"Aria! You're late! Well, not late, but you should have been here ten minutes ago!" Mr.
Henderson was hovering near the entrance, adjusting his tie for the hundredth time. He looked like he was preparing for a royal visit, not a business meeting.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Henderson. I just… I didn't sleep well," I said, smoothing down the front
of my charcoal grey pencil skirt. I had traded my oversized sweater for a professional blouse, sensing that "Fenrir Falcon" wasn't the type of man who appreciated casual attire.
"Forget the sleep! Focus!" Henderson hissed. "The CEO of Falcon Enterprises is in
my office right now. He's already refused coffee, refused water, and he's just sitting there staring at the door. Go in there and be… be helpful! If he decides to pull his funding, we're all out on the street."
I took a deep breath, my heart doing a strange, fluttering dance in my chest. "I'm
going."
I walked toward the back office, the scent of the library—vanilla, old wood, and ink—usually my sanctuary, now feeling like a trap. I knocked twice.
"Enter," a voice commanded.
It wasn't loud, but it had a vibration to it that made the floorboards under my feet hum. I pushed the door open.
Fenrir Falcon was sitting in the guest chair, though he looked more like he was sitting on a throne. He was dressed in a tailored charcoal suit that probably cost more than
my apartment building, his black hair swept back perfectly. When his eyes met mine, the air in the room seemed to vanish. They weren't just brown—they were a deep, molten amber that seemed to glow in the dim office light.
"Mr. Falcon," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "I'm Aria. I'll be assisting you with the records today."
He didn't move. He didn't blink. He just stared at me with an intensity that felt like he was trying to read the very code of my DNA.
"Sit down, Aria," he said softly.
I sat across from him, clutching a leather-bound ledger. Henderson was hovering in the corner, looking like he wanted to disappear into the wallpaper.
"Mr. Falcon has expressed interest in the original land grants of the Silverglade forest,"
Henderson chirped. "The areas bordering the town."
"The forest?" I asked, looking at Fenrir. "Most of that is protected land. It's dense, dangerous. Not exactly prime real estate for Falcon Enterprises."
Fenrir leaned forward, his large, scarred hands resting on the desk. Without my glasses, I could see the faint lines of white scars across his knuckles—hardly the hands
of a man who spent his life behind a computer screen.
"I have a personal interest in what is hidden in that forest, Aria," he said, his gaze never leaving mine. "Things that were lost a long time ago. Things that were discarded because they weren't understood."
A chill raced down my spine. The way he said discarded made my stomach turn. "The forest is full of stories, sir. But most of them are just myths."
"I don't believe in myths," Fenrir replied, his voice dropping to a low, guttural register. "I believe in consequences."
Fenrir
Being this close to her was a form of exquisite torture.
The scent of her—the lilies, the starlight, the intoxicating warmth of her skin—was hitting my human nose like a drug. My hands ached to reach across the desk and pull her to me. I wanted to tell her that the forest he was asking about was the same one where I
had watched her disappear. I wanted to tell her that I was the consequence he was talking about.
But I remained still. I had to. If I scared her now, if I broke the "CEO" mask, I would lose my only tether to her world.
"The records are here, Mr. Falcon," Aria said, opening the ledger. She leaned over the desk to point at a map, her shoulder brushing against my arm.
The contact was electric.
A jolt of heat surged through my human body, so powerful I almost gasped. It wasn't just physical; it was a soul-deep recognition. For a second, I felt the phantom weight of my wolf stirring in its icy cage, clawing at the walls, desperate to break out and claim what was ours.
For a heartbeat, the library and the business deals vanished. I could feel the thrum of her heart against my arm, a rhythmic song that called out to the silent beast in my chest. I wanted to lean down, to breathe in the scent of starlight and lilies on her neck, and tell her that every breath I took as a human was for her. I wanted to beg her to see me—not the billionaire, but the man who was willing to bleed for her forgiveness.
Aria froze. She didn't pull away. She stayed there, her breath hitching, her eyes widening as she looked down at where our sleeves touched.
"Do you feel that?" I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them.
"I..." she stammered, her face flushing a deep, beautiful pink. "It's... static. The carpet in here is very old."
"Static," I repeated, a bitter smile touching my lips. "Yes. I suppose that's what a human would call it."
I looked at her neck, at the spot where my mating mark should have been. It was bare, smooth, and perfect. The sight of it was a constant reminder of my failure.
"Mr. Falcon?" Henderson interrupted, sensing the strange tension. "Is there something wrong with the map?"
I snapped my gaze to Henderson, my eyes flashing with a dormant Alpha fury that made the man take a step back. "The map is fine. I need to take these records to my hotel for
a more detailed study."
"Oh! Well, we usually don't let original grants leave the building..." Henderson
started.
"I'll pay the insurance bond," I said, standing up. I was done with this room. It was too small. The air was too full of her. "And I'll need Aria to accompany the records. To ensure they are handled... correctly."
Aria looked up at me, a flash of defiance in her eyes. "I'm a librarian, Mr. Falcon. Not a
courier."
I felt a spark of pride. Even without her memories, even as a "weak" human, she had the spirit of a Queen. She wouldn't be bullied, not even by a billionaire.
"It's part of the contract, Aria," I said, leaning over the desk until our faces were
inches apart. "Your boss has already agreed to Falcon Enterprises' terms. Unless, of course, you'd prefer to see the library lose its primary benefactor?"
It was a low move. A manipulative, Alpha move. I hated myself for it, but it was the only way to keep her in my sight.
Aria's jaw tightened. She looked at Henderson, who was nodding frantically, then back at me. "Fine. I'll go."
The Predator in the Hallway
As we walked out of the office toward the main library floor, my dulled human senses suddenly spiked. It wasn't the scent of old paper anymore. It was something sharp,
metallic, and foul.
Iron-Thorn.
I stopped in my tracks, my hand instinctively going to the small of Aria's back to pull her behind me.
"What is it?" she asked, looking confused.
I scanned the room. The library was busy. Students at tables, elderly men reading newspapers. And there, near the philosophy section, was a man who didn't fit. He was wearing a greasy trench coat, his hair matted, his eyes darting around with a twitchy, nervous energy.
He wasn't just a scout. He was a Beta from the Iron-Thorn pack. And he wasn't looking at the books. He was looking at Aria.
"Aria, get behind the desk," I said, my voice low and dangerous.
"What? Why? Finn, you're acting strange—"
"Now!" I barked.
She flinched at the command, the old instinct of a pack member momentarily overriding her human confusion. She stepped back toward the desk as the man in the trench coat began to walk toward us. His gait was wrong—too fluid, too heavy.
"Mr. Falcon?" the man hissed, his voice a distorted rasp. "You've changed. You smell like a human. You smell like... prey."
He didn't care about the witnesses. The Iron-Thorns were notoriously reckless. He was here to test me. To see if the Great Alpha Fenrir really had surrendered his wolf.
I stepped forward, putting my body between the monster and the Queen. I had no claws. I had no fangs. I was wearing a three-thousand-dollar suit and carrying nothing but a human's pride.
"Leave this place," I growled.
The Beta's lip curled, revealing yellowed fangs that glistened with saliva. The air around him distorted with a foul, predatory heat that made the human patrons nearby shiver without knowing why. I stood my
ground, my human heart hammering against my ribs. I had no claws to fight him, but I had a protector's soul. I would let him tear the flesh from my bones before I let a single one of his shadows touch the woman standing behind me.
The Beta laughed, a sound like glass breaking. "Or what? You'll sue me? You'll buy my pack?"
He lunged.
He didn't fully shift—that would cause a riot—but his hands became claws, and his teeth
lengthened. He moved with a speed no human could match.
I didn't have the speed to dodge, so I did the only thing I could: I took the hit.
His claws raked across my chest, shredding the fine fabric of my suit and tearing into my skin. I grunted, the pain white-hot and blinding, but I used the momentum to grab his arm. I twisted, using his own weight to slam him into a heavy oak bookshelf.
Books tumbled down like a paper avalanche. People were screaming now, scrambling for the exits.
"Finn!" Aria screamed from behind the desk.
The Beta snarled, throwing me off with a strength that sent me crashing into a reading table. My head hit the wood, and for a second, the world went grey. I could taste blood in my mouth. My human ribs felt like they were screaming.
The monster turned his attention to Aria. He didn't see me as a threat anymore.
"The Dual Queen," he whispered, his yellow eyes fixed on her. "The White-Black shadow. You don't even know what you are, do you, little girl?"
He reached for her across the desk.
I struggled to my feet, my vision blurring. "Don't... touch... her."
Suddenly, a strange sound filled the library. It wasn't a growl. It was a high-pitched, harmonic hum.
Aria had backedagainst the wall, her hands held out in front of her. She looked terrified, but as the Beta's hand closed around her wrist, her skin didn't just pale. It glowed.
A burst of pure blinding white light exploded from her palm.
The Beta shrieked, his skin smoking where she touched him. The force of the light sent him flying backward, crashing through a glass display case of rare manuscripts.
He scrambled to his feet, his face burned, his eyes wide with a new kind of terror. "It's
waking... it's waking!"
He didn't wait for a second round. He turned and bolted out the front doors, disappearing into the city traffic.
The Aftermath
The library was a wreck. Glass shards littered the floor, and the air smelled of ozone. I collapsed against the desk, my hand clutching my bleeding chest.
Aria was staring at her hands. They were shaking violently. The white light was gone, but the air around her still shimmered with a faint, violet haze.
"What was that?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Finn, what did I just do?"
I looked up at her, my blood staining the marble floor. I wanted to tell her. I wanted to say, That was the White Queen. That was the power I was too stupid to value.
But I saw the fear in her eyes. If I told her now, she would break.
"It was... a taser," I lied, my voice weak. "You must have had a taser in your hand. Or the electrical wiring in the desk shorted out."
"A taser? Finn, I don't own a taser," she said, looking at me with a sudden, sharp
clarity. She saw the blood on my shirt. "Oh my god, you're hurt! You're bleeding!"
She rushed around the desk, falling to her knees beside me. She didn't care about the CEO. She didn't care about the mystery. She just saw a man who had been hurt protecting
her.
"I'm fine," I wheezed, even as the world began to tilt.
"You're not fine! Why did you do that? Why did you jump in front of him?" She was
tearing off her scarf, pressing it against my chest to stop the bleeding.
I looked into her eyes. For the first time in five years, she was looking at me with something other than polite indifference. There was worry. There was a spark of something ancient and deep.
"Because," I whispered, my vision fading into black, "you are the only thing in this
world worth bleeding for."
As I slipped into unconsciousness, I felt her hand on my cheek. It was warm. It was safe. And for a fleeting second, I heard a voice in my mind that didn't sound like a human.
Nox... The Black Queen was watching. And she wasn't happy that her King was bleeding.