I stepped lightly toward the door of the presidential suite and gripped the freezing metal handle. Looking back, I stared at the tall man still sleeping deeply on the bed. Angry red scratch marks from my fingernails crisscrossed his muscular back. That was Eben Burnett, the ruthless billionaire Alpha of the Burnett Pack.
I was never supposed to have crossed paths with him. Eben's Alpha Rut window was only these three days, but my twin sister Emilee's Omega Heat had been delayed. Her body was stuck in a dormant cycle, her wolf instinctively recoiling from any Alpha's touch. If the bond had been forced, Eben in his Rut would have torn her apart, and the mating would have failed anyway.
That was why he believed he had just spent the night with my twin sister.
Biting my lower lip hard, I pressed the handle down. The harsh light of the hotel corridor stabbed into my eyes, forcing me to raise a hand to shield my face before I hurried toward the emergency exit.
Cold air blasted my face in the stairwell. My knees buckled, and I nearly crashed to the concrete floor, my fingers clamping onto the rusted iron railing just in time to hold myself upright.
I pulled out my phone to check the screen. It was five in the morning. Only three hours remained until my mother needed her silver poison antidote, and I had to reach the hospital before they cut off her treatment. Silver is the only lethal weakness to our kind, burning our veins and destroying our inner wolf if left untreated.
Shoving open the heavy fire door at the back of the hotel, I stepped straight into a torrential downpour. Freezing rain soaked my hair in seconds, but I ran directly into the storm toward the empty street.
I waved my arm frantically at the passing headlights. A taxi with its vacant light glowing sped right past me, sending a wall of dirty puddle water splashing across my calves. My teeth chattered from the bone-deep chill.
Finally, a battered yellow cab screeched to a halt by the curb. I yanked the door open, threw myself into the backseat, and spoke with a violent tremor in my voice.
"Take me to the Pack Healing Center. Hurry."
The driver shot me a strange look through the rearview mirror. I immediately pulled my dripping hair forward to cover my pale cheeks.
Cheap pine air freshener choked the cramped cabin. Leaning my forehead against the cold window, I watched the neon street signs blur past while my fingers squeezed the old plastic hotel keycard in my palm until its sharp edges bit into my skin.
The cab jolted to a stop in front of the Healing Center gates. I tossed a crumpled bill onto the front seat without waiting for change, shoved the door open, and sprinted into the main lobby.
Stark white fluorescent lights glared overhead as I ran to the billing desk. I slammed both hands onto the cold marble counter, gasping for air.
"Eugenie Holden, Bed Three. Has the antidote fee been paid yet?"
The night nurse didn't even lift her head as her fingers tapped the keyboard, the blue glow of the monitor washing over her flat expression.
"No. The account balance is insufficient."
An invisible hand squeezed my heart so tight I couldn't breathe, and I slapped the marble counter, my voice rising sharply.
"That's impossible! My father, Archibald Holden, promised me last night he would wire the full amount!"
The nurse raised her eyes with open disgust, treating me like the worthless, low-ranking Omega the whole pack believed I was.
"Mr. Holden called half an hour ago. He only paid for basic nutrient fluids. He didn't put a single cent toward the silver antidote."
I staggered backward half a step, my spine slamming into the plastic directory sign behind me. The hard edge dug painfully into my shoulder blades.
With shaking fingers, I pulled out my phone and dialed Archibald's number. Only a cold mechanical voice answered from the receiver.
"The number you have dialed is currently busy."
Gritting my teeth, I hit redial. The call disconnected after one ring, and a text message popped up on my screen: The deal is over. Don't bother me again.
Heat exploded in my chest. I crushed the phone in my hand, my knuckles turning a dead, bloodless gray.
Right then, the wall-mounted television in the lobby switched to a breaking morning Pack news broadcast, the anchor's excited voice echoing across the quiet hall.
I snapped my head up. On the screen, my twin sister Emilee was wearing the exact coat I had left behind in the suite, leaning shyly against the doorframe outside Eben's room for the cameras.
"Alpha CEO Eben Burnett spent a passionate night with the eldest Holden heiress, sealing the century's biggest pack alliance..."
Every word from the anchor felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head. I stared at Emilee's face-identical to mine-and saw the fake red mark she had drawn on her neck with lipstick to claim my night.
Drawing a ragged breath, I forced down the urge to smash the screen and marched toward the inpatient ward.
Harsh disinfectant stung my nose in the hallway as I pushed open the door to Room Three, where my mother Eugenie lay frail and gray on the bed beside a softly beeping ventilator.
Walking to her side, I looked at her sunken cheeks ravaged by silver poison, and a hot burn stung the back of my eyes.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and she reached out a dry, trembling hand when she saw my soaked clothes.
"Cara... why are you drenched like this..."
I caught her freezing hand immediately and pressed my cheek against her knuckles, forcing my lips to curve upward.
"It's nothing, Mom. The rain is just really heavy outside."
Lifting my head, I tucked the blanket tightly around her shoulders, my voice dropping low and hard.
"Mom, wait for me a little longer. I'm going to get your medicine money back."
I let go of her hand and walked toward the door, every step draining the warmth from my face. Pushing the ward door open, I let the cold draft dry the rain on my skin while I tapped the ride-share app on my phone and entered the address for the Holden Estate on priority call.
I walked out the hospital gates into the pouring rain. A black sedan pulled up to the curb, and I yanked the door open, sliding inside with a voice devoid of any warmth.
"To the Holden Estate."
The car sped into the rain curtain. I stared at the blurry neon lights outside and dug my fingernails deep into my palms. Archibald dared to gamble with my mother's life, and I was going to make him pay.
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