Chapter 2 -TWO-

Ingrid Point Of View.

I stared at him for a long, pulse pounding minute. Then, I did the only thing a sane person could do.

I laughed.

The sound echoed off the cold concrete walls of the holding cell, sharp and brittle. "Marriage? You want to be King, Erebus? God! You have spent too much time in the woods. The silver just has finally rotted your brain."

He didn't flinch, he didn't even look insulted. He just watched me with those molten gold eyes, his eyes tilted slightly, like I was a particularly interesting puzzle he was about to solve.

"Is it so crazy, Ingrid?" He asked, his voice a low, soothing thrum that made the hair on my arms stand up. "Your board is already sharpening their knives. Your beta, Marcus smells like betrayal and cheap cologne. You're drowning in a sea of suits who want to strip you of your title and your company. You need a monster to keep the other monsters at bay."

"I don't need a husband. I need a security team that actually does its job," I snapped, though my heart was still racing. I walked back towards him, my heels clicking like a countdown. I stopped close enough to smell the salt and storm on his skin. "You're a Rogue. If I married you, the pack council would have us both executed before the 'I dos' were even finished."

"Only if they know who I am," Erebus countered..he leaned into the chains, his face now inches from mine. "Clean me up. Put me in one of those three thousand dollar suits you like so much. Introduce me as an ally from a powerful European pack. A strategic merger. They will be too busy counting the gold I bring to the table to look for the scars under the fabric."

"And what gold could a Wolf Slayer possibly bring?"

Erebus smirk widened, revealing a glimpse of sharp, white canines. "Informations.i know where the bodies are buried, Ingrid. Literally, I know which of your directors is taking kickbacks from the Silver Claw pack. And.....I know who killed your father."

The air left my lungs at his words. My father's death had been ruled by a rogue attack- a random, senseless tragedy that thrust me into the Alpha seat before I was ready. "You're lying."

"Am I?" He leaned back, his eyes flashing. "Check the offshore accounts of your CFO. Look for the name Lazarus. Then tell me I'm lying."

I felt like the floor was tilting. My wolf was growling now, a low sound that vibrated in my chest. If what he was saying was true. I wasn't just surrounded by rivals. I was surrounded by murderers.

"Marcus!" I barked.

The heavy steel doors slid open instantly. Marcus stepped in, his hand hovering near his sidearm. "Alpha? Is everything-"

"Get the medical team," I commanded, not looking away from Erebus. "Clean him. Treat the silver burns. And find a suit in his size. Charcoal. High end."

I could hear Marcus's jaw hitting the ground. "Alpha," he gasped. "You can't be serious. He's a rogue-"

"I'm the Alpha, Marcus. Don't make me say it a second time."

The power in my voice sent a visible shudder through him. I looked over my shoulder to see his head bowed, his scent souring with a mix of fear and something else....something like resentment. "Yes, Alpha. But..where should we house him?"

I looked over at Erebus. He was watching me with a triumphant, predatory heart that made my skin flush. If I kept him in the cells, someone would kill him. If I let him go, I'd lose the only lead I have on my father's death, and the opportunity to kill him if he was playing tricks with me.

In that case then......

"My penthouse," I said. "The top floor guest suite. It has reinforced glass and a biometric lock. He stays under my personal supervision."

Two hours later, I was back in my penthouse, a glass of neat bourbon in my hand. I stood by the window, watching the city pulse below me. I had lived my life by a set of very strict rules:

Never show weakness.

Never trust a male.

And, never, ever lose control.

In one morning, I'd broken all of them. The elevator chimed, and Erebus was led in by two of my most trusted enforcers. They looked nervous, their hands never straying far from their silver tipped batons.

Erebus had been transformed. His long hair was pulled back into a sleek, dark knot. The charcoal suit I'd ordered fit him like armor, the fabric straining against the massive breadth of his shoulders. The scars on his face were still visible, a jagged line through his eyebrow and a notch in his ear- but instead of looking like a criminal, he looked like a dangerous, high level executive.

He looked like a King.

"Leave us," I told the guards. They hesitated, but one look at my face sent them scurrying back to the elevator.

The moment the doors closed, the silence in the penthouse became heavy, thick with the scent of the fated bond. Erebus didn't move, he just stood there, taking in my home- the minimalist white furniture, the priceless art, the sheer, cold luxury of it all.

"Nice cage," he said, his voice echoing in the vast space. "A bit sterile for a wolf, don't you think?"

"It's a home, not a den," I said, taking a sip of my drink. "Sit down, Erebus. We need to talk about these terms of yours,"

"I prefer to stand," he walked toward me, his movements fluid and silent. He stopped right in my personal space, ignoring the way my breath hitched. He reached out, his fingers grazing the silk of my lapel. "You're trembling, Ingrid. Is it the bourbon, or are you finally admitting that your wolf wants to be claimed?"

"My wolf wants to protect her empire,"  I snapped, though the heat between us was becoming unbearable. "If I go through with this. If I introduce you as my fiance, it's a business arrangement. Nothing more. You give me the names. You help me root out the traitors. And when it's over, you disappear,"

"Is that right?" Erebus leaned in, his nose brushing against the pulse point of my neck. He took a deep breath. "You think you can wear my mark, share my bed, and just let me walk away? You're a better liar than I thought, Ice Queen,"

"You won't be sharing my bed." I hissed, even as my knees turned to jelly.

"We will see." He pulled back, his expression turning serious. "But we have a more immediate problem. You think you're the one holding leash? Check your security feed, Ingrid. I'm sure your loyal beta, Marcus, didn't just go to the medical team alone."

I frowned, setting my glass down. I walked to the sleek console on my desk and pulled up my building internal cameras I had hidden.

My heart plummeted at the sight in front of me that displayed on the screen.

Marcus wasn't in the security hub. He was in the private garage, meeting with a man I recognized instantly - Lord Vance, the head of the Pack Council and my most vocal critic. They were huddled together, Marcus handling over a digital drive.

"How did you know-"

"He's selling the footage of the holding cell," Erebus interrupted, he walked closer until he was standing right behind me. "By tomorrow morning, the Council will have proof that the Wolf Slayer is in your penthouse. They won't come for an interrogation, Ingrid. They will come for an execution."

I could feel the walls closing in. My empire, my life, my father's legacy- it was all slipping through my fingers.

"What do we do?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Erebus turned me around, his large hands gripping my waist. He looked down at me, his golden eyes burning with a fierce protective light.

"We don't wait for tomorrow," he said. "We give them a different story to tell. Right now."

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, ornate, velvet box. My breath caught as my eyes landed on what was inside.

It was the Valerius Star. The most famous diamond in my father's collection, a stone that had been missing since the night my father died.

"How...how do you have that?" I gasped.

"I took it from the man who killed him," He said, pulling out the ring, the massive blue diamond catching the light.  "Now, put it in. We are going to the Council Gala tonight. And we are going to tell them that the Rogue they are looking for doesn't exist....because he's already the King of the Valerius Empire."

Just as I reached for the ring, the penthouse doors were blown off their hinges. A flash bang grenade blinded me, the white light searing my retinas.

"Alpha Valerius!" A voice boomed- it was Lord Vance's voice. "By order of the Council, you're under arrest for treason and harboring a known assassin!"

Through the smoke, I felt Erebus's arm wrap tighter around my waist, pulling me towards his massive frame.

"I hope you're ready, Ingrid," he growled. "Because we are about to find out how much you're willing to bleed for your crown."