Chapter 3 EXPLOSION

Mia didn’t sleep in the guest room. She slept on the floor of the bathroom with the door locked, knees to her chest, because there was only one entrance and she could see it. Because bathrooms had no windows. Because she could pretend the marble tile was just cold and not a coffin.

At 7AM there was coffee outside her door. And a burner phone she hadn’t owned yesterday.

One text: Wear the red dress. Council meeting at 10. –

A_

There was a garment bag hanging on the door handle. Red dress. Designer. Silk. Her size. The tag said 

Valentino. She’d seen one like it in a magazine Rosa kept by the register and thought people who wear that don’t ride the subway.

She wanted to burn it. Wanted to throw it off the balcony and watch it fall a hundred floors. Instead, she put it on. Because this so called Ivan knew where she lived, and Alessandro De Luca was the only reason there wasn’t more blood in that photo. Because the alternative was dying in a Queens walkup.

He was waiting in the living room. Black suit, black shirt, no tie. He looked like a funeral. Like her funeral. He didn’t look at her when she walked in. He looked at the windows, at the city, at anything but her.

“The Council is the werewolf government,” he said without preamble. His voice was flat, like he was reading a report. “They don’t like hybrids. They like me less now that I have a mate they can use against me.”

“I’m not—”

“You are.” He held out a box. Inside: a ring. Black diamond, surrounded by what looked like wolves’ teeth. Real teeth. Set in platinum. “Put it on. It tells them you’re claimed. Without a bite, it’s all we’ve got. It’s armor. It’s a warning.”

The ring was heavy. Cold. It fit her finger like it had been made for her, like her hand had been measured in her sleep.

“You’re going to tell them I’m your fiancée.” Not a question. A statement. A plea.

“I’m going to tell them you’re my Luna.” His eyes were gold, flat, empty of everything but purpose. “There’s a difference. Fiancées can be replaced. They can be killed and mourned and moved on from. Lunas can’t. Lunas start wars.”

The car ride was silent. The building they entered wasn’t on any map she’d ever seen. Underground. Old stone, new security, scanners that buzzed when she passed and made the guards’ hands go to their guns.

“Hybrid,” one muttered. Not loud. But loud enough.

The Council room was circular. Twelve chairs, ten filled. Old men, old women. All of them looked at her like she was meat, like she was a problem, like she was a thing to be solved. The air smelled like old paper and power.

“De Luca,” a woman with white hair and eyes like ice said. “You brought a human to Council. Explain.”

“She’s not human,” Alex said. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. The room got colder by ten degrees. The lights flickered. “She’s my fated mate. My Luna. The debt clause is enacted. We wed in thirty days. She will be presented as Luna of the Black Fang Pack and Pakhan’s wife.”

A man to the left snorted. Ivan. She knew it was Ivan before Alex even twitched. He had the same build, same gold eyes, but his were cruel. Empty. Like a shark’s. Like there was nothing behind them but hunger.

“Fated mates are a myth for hybrids,” Ivan said, leaning back in his chair like this was entertainment. “The boy’s feral. He’s caged a human and called it fate so you won’t take his title. So you won’t see him for what he is: broken.”

“I can smell her wolf,” Alex said. “Can’t you?”

The white-haired woman,Alpha General, her brain supplied from some documentary she’d watched at 2AM. Stood. She walked around the table to Mia. She was smaller than Mia expected. Older. But when she got close, the air pressure changed. The hair on Mia’s arms stood up.

She inhaled. Once. Deliberate.

Her eyes widened.

“Latent,” she breathed. The word was reverent. Afraid. “Luna-tier. Suppressed. For years.” She looked at Alex. “You knew.”

“I knew.”

“And you didn’t report her?” Ivan was on his feet now, his chair scraping. “That’s treason, nephew. Unregistered Luna-tier wolves are to be turned over to the Council for training, for protection, for proper mating. You stole her.”

“She’s mine,” Alex said. Simple. Flat. Final. “Council law: a claimed mate cannot be separated from her Alpha. Not by force. Not by vote. Not by you.”

“She’s not claimed,” Ivan snapped. “Where’s your bite, boy? All I see is a ring you bought. A costume. A lie.”

The room went quiet. Because he was right. Because law was law, and without a bite, Mia was just a girl in a red dress.

Alex moved. One second he was by her, the next his hand was around Ivan’s throat, lifting him off the ground like he weighed nothing. The table cracked under Ivan’s weight when Alex slammed him down. Wood splintered. Dust rose.

“Say that again,” Alex whispered. His voice wasn’t human anymore. It was gravel and growl and the sound things made before they died. “Say she’s not mine again. I dare you.”

“Alessandro.” The Alpha General’s voice cracked like a whip. Like a command. “Release him. This is Council chamber. You are not feral. Not yet.”

For a second Mia thought he wouldn’t. His eyes were fully gold, his teeth looked sharper, longer. His nails were claws. Then he dropped Ivan. Ivan hit the ground gasping, clutching his throat, eyes watering.

“Thirty days,” Alex said to the room. To all of them. He didn’t look at Ivan. Ivan wasn’t worth it anymore. “We marry. She’s presented as Luna. Or I challenge every one of you and take the Council by force. I’ll start with you, General. End with you, Ivan.”

“You’re feral,” Ivan coughed, spitting on the stone floor. “They’ll see it. They’ll put you down like the dog you are.”

“Try me.”

The Alpha General looked at Mia. Really looked. Past the dress, past the ring, past the fear. “Child. Do you consent to this mating? Freely? Without coercion?”

All eyes on her. She thought of her apartment. Of blood on the floor. Of You run, I’ll chase.

She thought of the way he’d said I haven’t slept in five years_. The way he’d stood between her and the window like he could block out the whole world.

“Yes,” she said. Her voice didn’t shake. It should have. “I consent.”

Ivan’s face went purple.

“Then it’s settled,” the Alpha General said. “You have thirty days to complete the bond, De Luca. If you don’t, we’ll assume she’s coerced and she’ll be remanded to Council custody for her safety. If you do, she’s yours. The debt is paid.”

Alex’s hand landed on her lower back. Possessive. Claim. Warm through the silk.

“Understood.”

They left. No one stopped them. No one breathed until the doors closed.

In the car, Alex ripped his tie off like it was choking him, even though he wasn’t wearing one. Phantom movement. “You shouldn’t have said yes.”

“You told me to.”

“I told you to survive.” He dragged a hand through his hair, messing it up. “Now Ivan knows the Council will take you if I don’t bite you in thirty days. He’ll force it. He’ll try to take you before I can. He’ll kill you to prove I can’t protect what’s mine.”

“So bite me.” The words were out before she could stop them. Before she could think.

He froze. Slowly, he turned to her. The car felt smaller.

“Say that again.”

Her heart was pounding. Her mouth was dry. “If a bite keeps me out of Council custody, then bite me. Get it over with. Make it legal. Make it done.”

“You don’t understand what you’re asking.” His voice was wrecked. Ruined. “A mate bite isn’t ‘getting it over with.’ It’s forever. It’s my soul in your teeth and yours in mine. If I bite you, Mia, you’re mine until one of us dies. There’s no divorce. No annulment. No going back. No I changed my mind_.”

“Is it worse than dying?”

“Yes.” He laughed, but it wasn’t funny. It was the sound of something breaking. “Because if I die, you die. If you die, I go feral and kill everything. That’s what a true mate bond does. It’s a tether. Cut one end, the other bleeds out.”

The car stopped. They were back at the penthouse.

He got out. Didn’t wait for her. Didn’t open her door.

She followed him to the elevator. They rode up in silence.

At the penthouse door, he stopped. “I won’t bite you unless you ask me when you mean it. Not for strategy. Not for fear. Not for the Council. For me. Because you want me. Because you choose me.”

He went to his room. Slammed the door. The sound echoed.

She went to hers. Took the dress off. Stood in the shower until the water went cold and her skin was numb.

When she got out, there was a note on her bed. Not from Alex. Different handwriting. Sharp. Angled.

Check the news, little wolf. – I

She grabbed the remote. Turned on the TV with hands that shook.

Every channel. Same footage.

De Luca Industries. Floor 60. Her floor.

Fire. Smoke. Windows blown out. Glass falling like rain.

Reporter: “—explosion at De Luca Industries this evening. Casualties unknown. Police suspect Bratva involvement. CEO Alessandro De Luca was not in the building at the time of the blast, though sources say he was seen entering earlier—”

Her phone rang. Alex.

She answered. “Your office—”

“I know.” His voice was flat. Dead. Empty. “Ivan’s declaring war.”

“Alex—”

“Mia.” He cut her off. “Pack a bag. We’re leaving the city. Now.”

“Why? Where—”

“Because the next bomb is for the penthouse.” A pause. A breath. “And you’re in it.”

The line went dead.

Then the lights went off