“That choice saved me. A life under my uncle’s thumb or four favors owed to the Syndicate in exchange for my life and my family’s. I made the right call. I don’t blame your sister for forcing my hand.” It was just business to Ezra. I saw it in her eyes that night. The only thing that woman cared about was her family and power… in that order.
But that night, she was right. I’d been blind to the truth of my blood ties, my so-called family, while the ones who really mattered suffered. It was a lesson I’d never forget—who I was and wasn’t willing to sacrifice.
“So, you’re here because of the debt?” she asked softly.
I nodded slowly. “Initially, yes. Nova called in one of the favors, but once I saw you, it stopped being about a debt. It became about finding my mate, the one who ran, and making her keep me this time.”
“I—I…” She looked down at her hands, then inhaled deep and turned those golden, rose-tinted soul catchers, the kind that saw too much, on me.
“I didn’t reject you. I didn’t evenknow. I mean…” Her brows furrowed. “It was just one night….”
A smile cracked across my face. “It only takes one night for wolves. Once they know, they know.”
She leaned back, lashes fluttering closed as she pulled in a slow, steadying breath. Her words came out low, like a sigh dragged from the pit of her stomach. “That’s what Dad always said.”
The weight of those words pressed on her shoulders, and it showed how bone-deep tired she was. Not just physically, but emotionally, like she’d been carrying the world on a leash wrapped around her neck. Despite everything in me that wanted to push, to demand a space in her life, I couldn’t ignore the exhaustion carved into her expression. I didn’t want to be another brick on her back, but she needed to know this wasn’t just some instinctual wolf reaction.
“It’s not just my wolf that’s chosen you,” I said quietly.
She stilled. Not just a pause, but a full-body lock, like my words had slammed into her spine. Alic’s knuckles went white on the steering wheel, but I ignored him. He’d had his time, and now, this was mine.
“Nova might’ve sent me to keep eyes on you because of some stalker,” I began, watching her wince while Alic quietly chuckled like he couldn't help himself. That reaction threw me for a second. “But the moment I saw you on stage… I was hit with this wave of happiness and confusion. Part of me thought you’d simply fallen in with the Syndicate and needed help getting out.”
Her head whipped toward me, fiery and indignant. “Hey, hey! I run a legit operation. All my talent wants to be there, and if any of them ever decide the stage or the private room service aren’t for them anymore, then I give them back-end jobs—security, admin, booking. They’ve got options. I might work in the sex trade, but I do it by the book. You wouldn’tbelievethe paperwork I had to do just to be above board.”
I couldn't help but suppress a smile as she angrily waved her hands at me. Even off-topic, even riled up, she was so damncute, I felt defenseless. My wolf whimpered beneath my skin, wanting to crawl into her lap, nuzzle her belly, and lick her fingers like we belonged there.
She might be a Syndicate boss. She might help run an empire that could topple cities, but she had a heart, one that bled for the people in her care. She wasn’t cold. Wasn’t cruel. Not like the “bosses” I’d known before.
I saw the war raging inside her, the constant tug-of-war between duty and bloodlust. The way she struggled to pull herself away from the club, from the weight of her responsibilities, even when vengeance was clawing at her with righteous fury. The fact that she even paused to weigh her loyalty to her staff and her club against the cold obligations of being the Glovefox boss… it said everything. It showed just how rare she was. Howdifferentshe was from the monsters I’d always known.
But that wasn’t all that made her different.
I moved in closer, brushing a single finger down her cheek, barely a whisper of touch. It was gentle even though all I wanted was to grab, toclaim, to leave bruises that spelled out “Mine.”
“I’ll admit,” I murmured, “I was shocked when the soaking wet, little fae girl who stormed into my garage from the street, climbed onto the hood of my car, and let those sweet sounds fall out of her mouth turned out to be the same woman who chained me to a steel X and wrecked me upside down.”
The air shifted as her frustration melted into something dark and delicious. Lust curled in the air between us like smoke, sticky and slow. Her lashes lifted just enough for her eyes to lock onto mine. “And that didn’t scare you? Didn’t make you question your wolf’s choice?”
A growl vibrated through my chest. My wolf surged forward, cutting the seatbelt in one savage motion and yanking her into my lap. Her startled yelp sent the car swerving as Alic cursed and struggled to straighten us out.
I took back control, arms tightening around her as I pressed her head to mine. “It surprised me,” I admitted, “but everything you’ve shown me since then has only made me want you more. You unlocked things in me I didn’t even know I craved.”
I caught her hand and guided it to my other wrist, letting her feel my pulse. “I like being restrained. Not because I want to be controlled but because it lets mesurrenderto you. All of me. No shields. No half-measures.”
She tilted her head, a thousand thoughts dancing in her gaze. “I grew up around humans. Always had to hide what I was. Be careful. Stay contained. Even when I was with you that night, I locked up my wolf because I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want to destroy those beautiful, delicate wings…”
Her expression softened until mischief replaced it. She shifted in my lap, and I bit my lip to keep from groaning as my cock throbbed, eager and painfully aware of her heat.
She leaned in, her voice velvet. “There’s still a side of me you haven’t seen,” she whispered, her blood-red jeweled nails dragging down my chest. I hissed, my breath catching strands of hair as pain and pleasure licked over my skin. “But you’re going to. And when you do, we’ll see if you and your wolf still want me.”
Her forehead knocked against mine, demanding my focus. Her eyes sparkled with danger and promise.
I let memories claw their way through me, remembering the blood, the screams, the crunch of bones under my hands. “You think I don’t know what it’s like to carry a beast inside? One thatneedsto hurt something, to feel skin tear like parchment?” My voice dropped, graveled by the weight of what I carried. “You’re not the only one with a monster under your skin.”
She climbed off my lap, retreating into herself like a door slamming shut. Arms crossed, gaze distant, voice perfectly even, she said, “That fairy girl you remember? She’s gone. I shed the last piece of that skin after that night. From then on, I’ve been only the Glovefox boss.”
Her eyes returned to me, fierce and unapologetic. “There’s a part of me thatneedsto come out, a savage side, and I can’t promise it won’t lash out at my… partners. That they won’t have to carry that weight, too.”
