windows in a furious, unrelenting assault. The stor

f exhaustion settling deep behind her eye

anyone who'd listen that you're a shiftless waste with no wolf form who just sleeps her way to the top. And then, get this, the

er chair, a faint smil

People like her always find someo

more fragile. "How's your shoulder? And the North... I heard someo

rim of her coffee cup. The cer

d out of the snow with nothing but the will to survive, bleeding, broken, barely conscious. For years, she had believed that as long as she stayed quiet, stayed inv

proven otherwise. The method she'd used for eig

ly. Her voice was steady, but the

en she spoke again, her voice wa

your own anymore, Darcy. I'm here. And I know you don't

. She swallowed the lum

e said softl

roissant tomorrow morning. Extra butter, jus

y in the cold steel cage she'd walked into. For just a moment, Darcy let herself feel it. The comfort of some

sted all of t

her screen, popping up without warning. The interface was sleek and co

s Anonymous B

Omega. Identity files and rec

t Bid:

know where she lived. Someone was still collecting her current physical data. Her scent,

ion and disappear from their radar. But her nape sudd

The pain was sudden, intense, lik

seep from deep beneath her skin. It was her own scent, but it

g for no reason, pounding against her ribs. A th

date on her phone. He

o

had always been as predictable as clockwork.

d come thre

years, it had never

ar. The weight of his presence pressing down on her. And every time Asher came close, that increasingly obviou

rowed sharply. H

oss

nect the two. She

steady hands, pulled out a suppressant pill, and swallowed

ds passed

aster, burning through her veins, racing toward her limbs l

mn

r desk, her knuckles white against the poli

d of a heavy impact. Something hitting the w

e end of the corridor. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling

od there, outside the door, figh

thickened, becoming almost suf

n of his shirt. His dark gray eyes were heavy in the dim light, pupils dilated, vein

n system." His voice was

s in the ceiling roared to life, beginning to pull the scent

ide the door. His jaw was clenched so tight she

weight of it pressed against her, making the back of her neck

brow furrowed deeper. Her body was respo

ew line appeared on t

Blood sample / Scen

der: KINGSTO

screen. KINGSTON-A. She didn

the control panel.

me

id open aut

harged, electric. He placed his phone on the desk. The screen showed a successful

ce flat, but his eyes burned. "A hundred and

abnormal heat surging through her body. "Someone

d running a fever. That meant her information was being simultaneously fed

ill case from the des

, and his expression went cold. "You'

Darcy's tone was

" Asher's eyes locked onto her, cold and hard. "Instead, you're st

ce. The only sound was the hu

ing through her own mind. She had used this medication for eight years. It had nev

y pressed down the unease behind her eyes and held his g

d the inner door behind him. "Go into the private lounge.

ment, then picked up her pho

ace, clearing the corridor for her. His body w

handle when she heard h

hear tonight,

im. His face was half in shado

e." Asher added, his

door open and stepped inside,

floor lamp casting a soft amber glow acro

Asher's scent, the dizziness and heat inside her began to ease. The

ssant hadn't worked. His scent, however, had. That loss of control unsettled her. Sh

om drawer wasn't fully closed. The edge of a

pulled

or sixteen, kneeling in the snow, pulling another half-buried person up from the white. The w

pen. Below her left shoulder,

n left shoulder. Same posit

to, only a date was wr

ven escaped the North. Her memory of that time was blank. She had no recollection of t

s photo in

from outside the door,

in the drawer exactly as she

beginning to lighten, pale gray

air filtration system. The heat inside her had finally

time, she knew. None of this was coincidence. Not the he