My entire reality twisted on its axis when Cole called me Alpha. He didn’t just imply it—he flat-out told me I’d been the one behind the entire serum project all along. I’d been searching for the brain behind the operations, my suspicions swinging between Kieran and Cole, while all along the villain had been me. An alternate version of me, but still me.
Alphas were going missing. Entire packs were in chaos. Seth was dead. All because of me.
I’ve been hiding in my office, my mind dizzy from his revelation. And now I have no idea what to do. I see no clear path forward. I got rid of Cole by telling him I’d be deciding soon which Alpha to replace Seth with, but I have no idea what I actually want.
Jake is trusting me more and more, but he doesn’t really know me in this world. Kieran doesn’t know I’m not the wife he remembers. And if I tell Harry anything, I know he’ll never believe me. My only hope is to introduce Harry and Emma as soon as possible and get back to my world before this entire mess implodes.
I’m still weighing my options when the decision makes itself for me. Jake bursts into my office, and the wild look in his eyes tells me everything has already gone wrong. “Harry’s missing,” he says, and my mind goes blank for a second. In the chaos of Cole’s revelations, I’d completely forgotten that Harry was bait downstairs, surrounded by shifters who wanted nothing more than to take his blood.
“Since when? ”
“I don’t know,” Jake replies. “Let’s assume since we left him in the club. ”
I hold back a grimace.
Jake’s guilt is audible in his tone, and I share the sentiment, but letting it take over won’t get Harry back. I’m about to suggest speaking with Cole when Jake catches my wrist, his eyes hard. “Did you do this? ” he growls, pulling me toward him.
“Are you part of this? ”
“I’d never do anything to hurt Harry,” I reply, meeting his gaze, and I mean it. “I swear it. ”
Jake searches my expression, the begrudging look in his eyes softening as he does.
“I’ve been told Cole reports to you just as much as he does to Kieran. ”
I try to keep my face neutral. “Cole does listen when I give him instructions,” I reply carefully. “But Jake, whatever my double did with Cole, I’m not her.
I don’t know Kieran, and I don’t know Cole. Don’t forget that. ”
We split up to find Harry. When I confront Cole alone, he grimaces in shame.
“I don’t have the faintest clue where he is. I’d arranged for the guys to dose him, but he disappeared before we could. ”
“Why would he lie to me about this? ” I wonder silently.
He’d just confessed to Seth’s death earlier. “That gives us no choice but to use Kieran’s blood instead,” Cole adds, making matters worse. “Stand by,” I order him. “As you wish.
But he expects a new shipment by the end of the month. He won’t be pleased if we don’t deliver. ”
I frown internally. Who is this boss Cole just mentioned—this buyer who seems to be the real power behind the distribution?
My double had been busy creating the product, but she hadn’t been the one distributing it. “If he has something to say, he can say it to my face. Set up a meeting. Sooner rather than later.
”
Cole visibly pales. “Boss, you know I admire your confidence, but—”
“Set up a meeting. ”
My investigation is moving forward, but how long before my cover gets blown? And I’m still no closer to finding Harry.
Just the thought of finding him like I found Seth… Fortunately, Harry returns on his own, having left to follow a lead. But when we regroup in Kieran’s office, I convince everyone that I should trail Cole, the most logical lead in finding the Alchemist. “No,” Harry says flatly when I suggest he go home.
“Not a chance. ”
“We need a reason for him to stick around that won’t raise Cole’s suspicions,” I say, my heart pounding, “and we need someone to stick by his side and watch out for him. Why don’t we pretend Harry is visiting his girlfriend? That way him being around will make sense, and his girlfriend can make sure no one drugs him.
”
“Okay, but who can we trust to be Harry’s girlfriend? ” Kieran asks. “I have the perfect person in mind,” I say, giving them a bright, enthusiastic smile. “Someone I trust implicitly.
”
The girl who walks into the office is dressed in an unflattering gray uniform, her dark brown hair tied in a severe bun. Emma glances wearily between all of us, failing to hide a grimace of discomfort. “I need you to pose as Harry’s fake girlfriend,” I tell her, bracing myself. Emma’s jaw drops in horror.
Days pass. I throw myself into the investigation, learning that the mysterious buyer is a man named Nero. But my focus remains stubbornly elsewhere—on Jake, whose eyes track me possessively across every room I enter. At the gala, I’m on Kieran’s arm, his hand resting on the small of my back.
I know I’m provoking Jake by letting Kieran touch me, by laughing at his whispers, by exposing the column of my neck as if in silent invitation. Jake’s eyes burn from across the room. “Sorry to interrupt,” Cole says from my right. “May I have a word, Miss Reeves?
”
I follow him to the wine cellar, where he tells me Paolo won’t meet with me until I provide a plan to replace Seth. I’m about to leave when a hand wraps around my wrist, jerking me around. Jake pushes me into the bathroom, his body against mine, his eyes all pupil. “You’re not to touch Kieran again.
Ever. ”
I bear my throat, submitting to my instincts and the unbearable warmth bubbling under my skin. Jake’s scent is oppressive and angry and everything I desire. His lips open against the tendons of my neck, grazing his teeth against the skin.
“Will you be mine? ” he asks, his voice hoarse. “Yes,” I sigh. And then Jake bites into my neck, tearing the skin, finally claiming me as his.
In the days that follow, we’re lost in each other. The bond snaps into place between us, and I’m blown away by the intensity of what’s blooming between us. I need his hands on me at all times. I can’t bear the thought of being even inches apart.
“Do you love me? ” I keep asking, desperately searching his adoring blue gaze for reassurance. He says he does, along with our bond, and yet I find myself asking again and again, like somehow he’ll change his mind. “Do you even want to go back?
” Jake asks one day, cradling my face. “This is real. I’m real. You’re real.
Our bond is real. You said we’d lost our chance in your world, but we have one now here. So how about we just go off into the sunset and let ourselves be happy? ”
“We can’t,” I shake my head.
“Things aren’t how they’re supposed to be. ”
“But I love you. Isn’t that enough? ”
“Okay,” I whisper, my heart skipping a beat.
I wrap my arms around his shoulders. “Take me away from here, Jake. Please. ”
But before we can leave, I discover something that changes everything.
My mother is here, in this world, and she’s deeply involved with the serum operation. When I confront her, she makes a chilling threat. “I’m not above telling Nero about your mate,” she tells me. “And if you think for one second he won’t use him to pressure you into obedience, then you’re a fool.
”
“I want out,” I grind out. “I’m done. I want no part of this anymore. ”
“You can’t mean that, Vivien.
There is no out. This entire operation relies on you. ”
When she threatens Jake, I freeze. “You stay away from him.
”
“I would never let harm come to your mate,” she replies, giving me a chilling smile, “provided you do as you’re told. Are we clear? ”
My mother steps into the light, her cold calculating gaze sweeping over me. She’s the one who orchestrated my misery in both worlds.
She’s behind everything. But I’m done being her pawn. I’ll protect my mate and our future—no matter what it costs.
