rie

n't be as simple as being kept safe. Freedom would be off the table entire

the physical records into ash and wiped my official files clean from the hospital's central mainframe. As far as the bureaucratic

erapist. By

complished in her own career, leaving me wi

previous life, I had been a miserable graduate student surviving on cold instant noodles, slaving e

erest in saving the world, and I would never become a state-owned incubator for pureblood dynasties. My plan was simple: lease a quiet office in a leafy suburb, take on thr

ltimate reti

-the secluded old stone manor at the edge of the northern pine district. I poured myself a chilled glass o

e back of my arms st

oud. It had turned terr

g pressure descended upon the house-so thick and heavy that the air in my lungs turned to li

ne wa

gers frantically searching for a ceramic chef's knife. I was an unshifted female trapped in a dark house, and whatever prow

ear patio opened straight into

ic

ely groaned as the steel lock cylinder sheared clean throug

ward with a slow,

the foyer, carrying the sharp, metall

y against the rainy

h sides of the frame. He wore a heavy, tailored military greatcoat, its front soaked in deep crimson and torn wide open

combat boot leaving a wet, red

ame pinned me where I stood, like a rabbit caught in the crosshairs of a rifle. His eyes-pa

d nostrils caught the faint, cool

ing Alpha before me

massive, snow-white wolf ears twitched sharply, then pinned themselves

could even scream for help, the terrifying mountain of a