Pressing my thumb against my left wrist, I checked my pulse point. The crushed Moon-Shadow herbs smeared into my skin were still working. In our society, genetics dictated rank from birth, and scent was everything. If anyone here caught a whiff of my true bloodline-the sacred White Wolf lineage-I would be dead before I reached the stairs.
I lifted my eyes toward the second floor. Behind half-enclosed bulletproof glass sat Julian Vane, the Alpha King of the Apex Pack and the billionaire CEO behind its corporate empire. He lounged against a leather sofa with a burning cigar between his fingers, his dark-gold eyes surveying the club like an emperor looking down on ants.
When I reached the spiral staircase, two massive Gamma bodyguards crossed their arms, blocking my path with a wall of hostile pheromones.
"Get back to the first floor, wolfless," the guard on the left sneered. "You don't have the lungs to breathe the air up here."
I bit my lower lip and took half a step back as if terrified, though my voice cut clearly through the bass. "Tell Mr. Vane I have the intelligence he wants regarding the short-selling of his Nevada silver-mining stocks."
The two Gammas exchanged a startled look. A scentless nobody without an inner wolf shouldn't dare speak the Alpha's surname, let alone know about a confidential corporate bottleneck. After pressing their earpieces to consult upstairs, the guard on the right reluctantly stepped aside with a warning glare.
I walked up the red-carpeted stairs. With every step, Julian's terrifying Alpha Dominion grew heavier, pressing down until my very bones ached.
When I parted the beaded curtain of the VIP booth, the air inside froze. Several high-ranking Omega women draped over wealthy executives shot me looks of pure venom.
Julian didn't look up. He was slowly trimming a fresh cigar with a black steel cutter-never silver, since silver was the only fatal poison capable of burning out a werewolf's healing factor and killing their inner beast.
I stopped beside his glass table, choosing an exact distance that wasn't overly aggressive yet allowed the high slit of my skirt to frame the curve of my leg.
He finally raised his eyes. Those dark-gold wolf pupils gleamed with a predator's cold light in the dim booth.
"A wolfless thing who doesn't even carry the stink of a beast," Julian said slowly, his deep voice vibrating against my ribcage, "dares to use my territory acquisition as leverage?"
I forced down the blood feud churning in my stomach and offered a nervous, slightly sultry smile. "Because I know your negotiations have hit a dead end."
Leaning forward as if to pick up a box of matches on the table, I let my low neckline gape open directly beneath his gaze.
Julian's eyes lingered on my collarbone for a single beat. Around us, the high-ranking wolves held their breath, waiting for the tyrant to snap my neck.
Instead, he tossed the steel cutter onto the table and leaned forward.
"Keep talking," he commanded, exhaling a ring of smoke right into my face. The heavy scent of his cedarwood pheromones nearly choked me.
I coughed twice, tears springing to the corners of my eyes, and used the cover to whisper the last four digits of several offshore accounts the Pacheco clan was using to secretly drain assets.
At the mention of that family name, Julian's golden pupils constricted. His large, calloused hand shot out and clamped around my jaw.
Unstoppable Alpha strength forced my chin up until I had to meet his gaze.
"Where did you get those numbers?" His voice was like ice water poured straight down my spine. "Little liar."
Forced onto my tiptoes, I gripped his hard forearms for balance. Through the fine wool of his tailored suit, his body heat burned against my palms.
"To survive, a wolfless girl has to have methods others don't," I answered with a controlled tremble, refusing to look away.
His gaze dropped from my eyes to my pale lips, and his thumb roughly brushed across my bottom lip. Before I could react, his other arm snaked around my lower back and yanked me against his chest, slamming the distance between us to zero.
I gasped, my palms flattening against his racing heart. When our skin touched, a sharp jolt of electricity zapped through my fingertips, making my stomach clench.
He lowered his mouth to my ear, his hot breath scalding my neck. "If you want money from me, it depends on how obedient you are."
I closed my eyes to hide the cold calculation in them, about to lean weakly against his shoulder, when a violent crash of shattered glass erupted outside the booth.
"Elara! You cheap bitch, get out here right now!"