Chapter 4

That comment about coffin expenses stung more effectively than a slap across the face.

I had barely taken two steps when the air behind me seemed to be sucked into a vacuum, then instantly crashed down with crushing weight. A wave of energy, heavy with violent intent, slammed against my back.

"Kneel! Claudia!"

Jason didn't chase after me. Instead, he resorted directly to the Alpha Voice.

Two years ago—or for any ordinary wolf—that command would have buckled knees instantly, forcing a submissive posture with the neck bared in surrender.

But I didn't even stumble.

The pressure meant to break my spine landed on me as lightly as a summer breeze.

I stopped, turning slowly to face him. His face was contorted and flushed from the exertion of projecting his dominance, but my eyes remained calm, holding ripples of nothing.

"Is your throat broken, Jason?" I asked evenly. "You're yapping like a mutt whose tail got stepped on."

Jason froze. For a split second, a flicker of genuine, primal terror flashed in his eyes.

It was an instinctual reaction. Usually, only a being with a bloodline vastly superior to his own could completely ignore a direct Alpha Command. His Adam's apple bobbed nervously, his body instinctively wanting to recoil.

But his arrogance was faster than his instincts. He shoved the fear down, finding a convenient excuse. The shock vanished, replaced by even deeper disdain.

"Broken. Just as I thought." He sneered. "You can't even feel the Alpha pressure anymore. Your wolf really is dead."

Since psychological suppression failed, he immediately switched to physical force.

He lunged forward, his hand clamping around my wrist with enough force to grind bone. "If you won't listen to commands, then I'll—"

The physiological revulsion hit me faster than the pain. It was as if a piece of rotting meat, crawling with viruses, had just brushed against my skin.

I wrenched my arm away with a violent jerk, using enough force to make him stumble. Right in front of him, I deliberately, frantically brushed at the sleeve where he had touched me, my eyes turning to ice.

"Do not touch me."

I stared at the invisible stain on my cuff. "If I don't scrub your stench off right now, my Mate will skin you alive and use your hide for a rug tonight. You have no idea how possessive he is about his territory."

Jason looked at me as if I had just told the world's most ridiculous joke. He actually looked offended.

"Mate? Don't use that word, Claudia. Don't insult the sacred bond of the Moon Goddess."

He let out a scoff, his tone dripping with the unique arrogance of a pureblood wolf. "How can a Wolfless reject have a fated mate? Don't dress up that homeless drifter you picked up. At best, he's just a savage you sleep with to keep warm."

He laughed, leaning back, his eyes full of pity for the insane. "And you're afraid he'll smell me? Ha! What's a packless nobody going to do? Do you really think he'd dare cause a scene here, in a territory swarming with the world's most powerful Alphas?"

As if to punish me for refusing his earlier charity, he reached into his expensive suit pocket and pulled out a red plastic card.

Slap.

He threw it into the mud at my feet.

It wasn't money. It was a [Temporary Logistics Pass: Sanitation Crew].

"Since you're so desperate to sneak into the Summit, I'll give you a chance, for old times' sake."

Jason adjusted his windblown collar, settling back into his role of the benevolent superior.

"The kitchens need dishwashers. or maybe someone to mop up vomit from the drunken VIPs."

"Take it. It's the only chance a Wolfless like you will ever have to breathe 'Royal Air.' Just remember to stay in the corners. Don't let your poverty offend the dignitaries—especially tonight's guests of honor, the Lycan King and his Queen."

I almost laughed out loud.

He wanted me to wash dishes for my own husband?

If Drakon found out, he'd probably swallow the entire kitchen whole in a fit of rage.

"Really, that won't be necessary."

I didn't bend down to pick up the badge. I stepped right over it.

"Keep it for yourself, Jason," I said, glancing back over my shoulder. "After tonight, you might be the one needing that job."

Ignoring the stream of curses erupting behind me, I walked straight toward the shadowed side of the palace.

The cold wind poured down my collar, the damp chill suddenly overlapping with that night two years ago.

It had been biting cold then, too. Jason stood on the high platform, announcing to the entire pack that I was "Wolfless," unilaterally severing our mating bond.

"I have no use for a useless bitch who can't even produce a pup."

That was the last thing I heard before being thrown out of the territory like garbage, accompanied by the pack's mocking laughter and flying stones.

Until one year ago. In that cave on the frozen Northern Plains.

That man, nearly seven feet tall, a predator that made all beasts bow, had carefully retracted claws that could shred steel to wrap my shivering body in the softest furs.

"No wolf? So what?"

Drakon had kissed away the shame from my eyes, his voice a low rumble like ancient thunder that shattered my fear. "I am the King, and you are my only Queen. The Gods gave you no wolf because a mortal beast is too small to contain your soul."

His vow burned in my chest like wildfire, instantly incinerating the cold.

I stopped walking and looked up. I was at the side entrance.

There was no handle, only a concealed iris scanner. In the distance, Jason watched me walk into what he thought was a dead end, laughing, thinking I was cornered.

I smirked coldly, the shadows in my eyes gone.

I leaned in. The scanner swept my eye.

Beep.

With a soft hiss, the private elevator doors—accessible only to the Royal suite—slid open.

I stepped inside. The doors sealed shut, cutting off the sound of that idiot's laughter.

Looking at myself in the polished brass mirror, I ripped off the drab cloak used for disguise and threw it to the floor, revealing the priceless silk gown underneath.

I lifted my arm, staring with disgust at the spot Jason had grabbed.

I needed to shower. Immediately.

Drakon was a jealous, possessive lunatic. If he arrived and smelled an ex-lover on me, I wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.