I pushed the penthouse doors open, expecting quiet. Today marked our third engagement anniversary.

Instead, a sharp, sweet scent hit my nose. Omega pheromones. Not mine.

I walked down the hall. My ice-blue eyes locked onto the master bedroom.

Dominic had a blonde woman pinned to the mattress. They didn't even stop when my shadow fell over the carpet.

"Get out of my bed," I said.

Dominic rolled off her. He didn't scramble. He didn't beg for forgiveness. He just smirked, running a hand through his hair.

"You're home early, Eva. Happy anniversary."

The woman snatched the duvet, scurrying into the master bathroom. The door slammed.

"You brought trash into the Vance Global penthouse," I stated. My voice stayed perfectly flat.

"Oh, shut up with the high-and-mighty act," Dominic spat. He grabbed his trousers from the floor. "You think I want to be tied to a block of wood?"

"I bought your family's debts. I handed you your career."

"And you gave me a cage!" he yelled. "Your Alpha aura is suffocating. Your scent freezes my lungs. You don't know how to yield. You don't know how to be touched. You're a machine, Eva. Not a partner."

He pointed a finger at my chest.

"You want a puppet. At least she screams for me."

I didn't blink. I reached out and caught his extended hand.

"What are you doing?" Dominic gasped. He tried to yank his arm back.

"Correcting a mistake."

I twisted his wrist backward. Bone snapped.

Dominic shrieked, dropping to his knees.

Before he could cradle the broken limb, I seized his left hand. I planted my boot against his shoulder and pulled.

Another sickening crack echoed off the marble walls.

He collapsed, sobbing into the rug. Both hands bent at grotesque angles.

"Don't ever speak to me again," I told him.

I turned and walked out.

* * *

The sterile lights of the private hospital blinded me.

"Remove the mark," I commanded.

Dr. Aris shook his head, his clipboard trembling in his hands. "Miss Vance, you can't. A two-way mark removal is suicide. Your Alpha gland will necrotize."

"I refuse to share a neural link with a traitor for another hour. Cut it out."

"You will go into shock. The pain alone will stop your heart."

"Do your job, Doctor. Or I will find someone who can."

He swallowed hard. "Prep the theater."

The scalpel felt like a torch pressed to the back of my neck.

They didn't use general anesthesia. The nerve connections required me to be conscious. I gripped the metal bed rails until my knuckles turned white.

Flesh tore. The bond severed.

A scream ripped from my throat. It didn't sound like me. It sounded like an animal dying in a trap.

Then, the fire spread.

My Alpha gland collapsed.

I woke up hours later in the ICU. My entire body spasmed. Muscles locked and released without my permission.

A terrible dampness soaked the sheets beneath me. I had lost control of my bladder. The humiliation burned worse than the fever baking my brain. I stared at the ceiling, shivering uncontrollably.

My father, Arthur Vance, stood by the window. His face was gray.

"Report," he barked at the medical team.

"Her gland is in full rampage," Dr. Aris said, adjusting an IV line. "She is burning alive from the inside. Her organs will fail by midnight."

"Fix her!"

"We need an Omega. A massive, deep pheromone infusion. But her genetics are too dominant. Anything less than a ninety-nine percent match will kill them both."

My father pulled out his phone. "Run the continental database. Buy whoever it is."

I squeezed my eyes shut. My jaw clamped down hard enough to crack a molar. Every nerve ending shrieked.

"Sir," an assistant whispered from the doorway. "We found one. A ninety-nine point nine percent soul match."

"Who?" Arthur demanded.

"Julian."

The name pierced through the haze in my mind.

Julian. The mechanical watchmaking genius. The "Hand of God." He vanished ten years ago.

"Where is he?" my father asked.

"A rundown clock shop on the coast. He's... not the same, sir. His left leg is disabled."

"Bring him here. Pay him whatever he wants."

* * *

Time lost its meaning. The monitors beeped in a frantic rhythm. My chest heaved, fighting for every ounce of oxygen.

The heavy oak door swung open.

A rhythmic thudding filled the quiet room. A cane striking the floorboards.

I forced my heavy eyelids up.

He paused at the foot of my bed. Julian.

A decade had passed. He leaned heavily on a worn wooden cane, his left leg encased in a rigid brace. But the frail boy from my memories was gone.

Years of brutal manual labor had forged him into something dangerous. A tight, faded henley stretched across massive, bronze pectorals. Thick veins coiled around his forearms like steel cables. His biceps strained the fabric with every shift of his weight.

Yet, his face remained exquisite. Pale, sharp, and hauntingly beautiful. A morbid angel trapped in a gladiator's body.

My father stepped forward, holding out a rectangular slip of paper.

"Ten million," Arthur said. "Just for your pheromones. Save my daughter, and you never have to work in that miserable shop again."

Julian didn't look at the check. His dark eyes were locked on me.

He took in my sweat-drenched hair. The tremors shaking my frame. The sickly sweet smell of necrosis filling the room.

A muscle feathered in his jaw. His knuckles turned white over the handle of his cane.

He felt the pain. I saw the raw agony flash across his eyes.

"Put your checkbook away, Arthur," Julian said.

His voice was a deep, gravelly rasp. It sent a shiver straight down my spine.

"Name your price, damn it!" my father shouted.

Julian ignored him. He limped closer to my side. The heavy scent of rain and crushed metal rolled off him. Omega pheromones. Rich. Overwhelming.

My ruined gland twitched. A desperate whine escaped my lips.

Julian stopped inches from my face. He leaned down, bracing his massive, calloused hand against my pillow.

"Miss Vance," he whispered.

I stared into his dark eyes, unable to speak.

"I am just the flesh antidote you bought for an astronomical price," he said, his tone icy. "Once you are cured, I will disappear."

He reached out. His rough fingers brushed the damp hair from my forehead.

"Everyone out," Julian ordered, not breaking eye contact with me.

Dr. Aris hesitated. "He needs to initiate a deep bond. It will be violent."

"I said out."

The door clicked shut. We were alone.

Julian unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a chest covered in scars. He tossed the fabric aside.

"This is going to hurt, Eva," he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips. "But you are not going to die today."

He leaned closer, his mouth hovering just above mine.

Then, the monitors suddenly flatlined into a solid, piercing scream.

"Are you going to scream again?" a rough voice asked.

I blinked against the glaring lights of the secluded recovery villa. The sterile walls offered no comfort. The necrosis in my neck throbbed, a relentless drumbeat of agony. Betrayal still tasted like ash on my tongue.

The heavy door clicked shut.

A man stood at the foot of the bed. Julian. He wore a long black cashmere coat. A sleek titanium cane supported his weight, hiding the rigid stiffness of his prosthetic left leg. His face was ghostly pale.

"Julian?" I rasped, my throat raw from tearing the mark.

I pushed myself up, ignoring the agonizing burn in my nape. I stumbled forward, my arms reaching for him. I needed the comfort of an old friend. I needed an anchor.

He stepped back. The rubber tip of his cane squeaked against the hardwood.

"Keep your distance," he ordered.

"You came back," I whispered, my fingers grasping empty air.

"I was bought," Julian replied. His tone held zero warmth. "I am here to clear the toxic residue your ex left in your veins. Nothing more."

"I didn't buy you," I argued, my voice shaking. "My father did."

"The money spends the same," he shot back.

"Don't look at me like that. Like I'm a stranger."

"We are strangers, Eva. The boy you knew is dead."

"I'm dying," I choked out, a fresh wave of pain hitting me.

"And I am the tool hired to fix it," he said flatly. "Lie down."

"Julian, please," I begged, the pain in my neck flaring into a blinding white heat.

"Do not touch me," he warned, adjusting his grip on the cane.

A violent spasm ripped through my spine. My knees buckled.

"Eva!" Julian yelled.

My Alpha gland ruptured. A massive shockwave of crushed fir and freezing rainstorm pheromones exploded from my skin.

The sheer force of it hit Julian like a freight train. His cane skittered across the floor. He crashed onto the cold tiles, his heavy coat pooling around him.

"Fuck," he grunted, struggling to push up on his elbows.

I crawled over him, a starving beast. The 99.9 percent match overrode my dying brain. Every rational thought vanished.

"Julian," I growled, pinning his shoulders down.

His body reacted instantly. Thick, suffocating waves of white tea and wild honey poured out of him. The sweet Omega scent coated the back of my throat. It drove me insane.

I grabbed the lapels of his black coat and shoved it off his shoulders. I gripped the collar of his black dress shirt and ripped it down the middle.

Fabric tore. Buttons popped, scattering like hail across the tiles.

"Fuck, Eva, stop," he choked out, his hands grabbing my wrists.

I ignored him. His chest was laid bare. Massive, bronze pectoral muscles flexed under my hands. A tight, deeply carved eight-pack contracted violently as he gasped for air. Sweat instantly beaded on his skin.

"You smell too fucking good," I snarled.

His skin was blazing hot beneath my palms. I traced the hard lines of his chest, feeling the rapid, frantic thumping of his heart.

I buried my face into his long, pale neck. The tendons stood out, thick and rigid. I opened my mouth and clamped my teeth over his pulse point. I sucked hard, drawing the intoxicating honey scent straight from his pores.

Julian let out a ragged groan. His hands flew up, gripping my hair, but he didn't push me away. He couldn't.

"Fuck... you're biting too hard," he rasped, his voice breaking.

"I need more," I demanded, dragging my tongue up the side of his jaw. "Give it to me, Julian."

His hips jerked upward against my thighs. The biological pull was absolute. His eyes turned bloodshot, wide and glassy.

"Take it," he panted. "Fucking take it."

His massive chest heaved. Every breath he took was shallow, frantic. The friction of our bodies generated a blistering heat.

I ground my hips down into his.

Julian whimpered. His thick thighs trembled uncontrollably against the cold floor. The rigid brace on his left leg clanked against the tiles, but he didn't care.

A heavy, slick wetness began to soak through the front of his trousers. The sweet, cloying scent of Omega fluid filled the air, thick and desperate. He was leaking for me.

"You're soaking wet," I taunted, licking the sweat off his collarbone.

"Shut up," he hissed. His fingers dug into my scalp, his nails scratching my skin. "Just finish the extraction."

I sucked harder on his neck, bruising the pale flesh, inhaling the white tea and honey until it drowned out the necrosis in my own veins. The searing pain in my gland began to cool.

The frenzy broke. The fever in my blood finally stabilized.

I pulled back, gasping for air.

Julian lay completely limp on the tiles. His chest rose and fell in jagged spasms. His lips were swollen and a deep, scarlet red. Sweat plastered his dark hair to his forehead.

He looked utterly wrecked. Beautiful and ruined.

I stared at him, a sudden wave of guilt piercing the haze. I reached out to touch his cheek.

He slapped my hand away.

Julian rolled onto his side, dragging himself up. He grabbed his titanium cane, his knuckles stark white.

He didn't look at me as he pulled the torn edges of his shirt together. He fumbled with the remaining buttons, his thick fingers shaking.

"Julian, I'm sorry," I said.

He paused. His dark eyes snapped up to meet mine. The vulnerability vanished, replaced by a wall of ice.

He leaned down, his face inches from mine.

"Don't look at me with those pitiful eyes, Eva," he said, his voice dropping to a harsh, gravelly whisper. "My body isn't as soft as you think."

He turned his back on me, grabbing his coat from the floor.

He limped toward the heavy oak door.

"Where are you going?" I asked, pushing myself onto my knees. "The contract says you stay until I'm fully healed."

Julian stopped, his hand resting on the brass knob.

"I'm going to see him," he answered without looking back.

"Who?"

"The Alpha who broke you."

The door swung open, revealing the dark hallway.

"Dominic will kill you," I warned.

Julian let out a low, dark chuckle. "Let him try."

He stepped out, and the door slammed shut.

I pushed the porcelain plate across the marble island. "Sunny-side up. Extra pepper."

Julian stared at the eggs. He didn't pick up his fork.

"I don't eat this anymore," he muttered.

He shifted his weight, pulling his left leg further under the shadow of the counter. The rigid metal brace scraped the floorboards. He always hid it.

"Julian, talk to me," I said. "It's been a week of daily extractions. You barely look at me unless my veins are burning."

"I'm here to supply pheromones, Miss Vance. Not to play house."

"You used to steal my lunch in high school."

"That boy is dead." His voice was a flat, gravelly rasp. He grabbed his titanium cane and stood. "I'll be in the medical wing when you're ready for the evening dose."

Before I could stop him, the front doors of the villa blasted open.

Wood splintered. Two of my security guards hit the floor, groaning.

Dominic stormed into the foyer, flanked by three massive thugs. His designer suit hung loosely on his frame. Bankruptcy had hollowed out his cheeks. Both of his wrists were encased in heavy fiberglass casts.

"Eva!" Dominic screamed, his eyes wild and bloodshot.

Julian froze. His grip tightened on his cane.

I stepped around the kitchen island. "You are trespassing."

"You ruined me!" Dominic spat. "You froze my accounts! You blacklisted me from every firm in the country!"

"I told you never to speak to me again."

Dominic’s manic gaze darted from me to Julian. He took in the titanium cane, the stiff leg, the faded henley. A cruel, ugly sneer twisted his face.

"This is him?" Dominic laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "The great Eva Vance, CEO of Vance Global. You threw me out for this?"

"Shut your mouth, Dominic."

"You'd rather have a crippled piece of trash who can't even stand steady than me?!" Dominic stepped closer, pointing a cast-covered hand at Julian. "Look at him! He's a fucking invalid! Can this cripple satisfy your strong Alpha physical desires?!"

Julian’s bronze face pulled taut. The muscles in his massive chest heaved beneath his shirt. He lowered his head, his knuckles turning stark white over the cane's handle. He looked ashamed.

Something inside me snapped.

I didn't walk. I lunged.

My Alpha aura exploded outward, a crushing wave of ice and pure dominance. The three thugs choked, dropping to their knees under the sheer atmospheric pressure.

I grabbed Dominic by the throat and slammed him onto the hardwood.

"Eva, wait—" he gagged.

I drove my combat boot directly into his chest.

Bone crunched. Three ribs snapped under my sole.

Dominic shrieked, a high-pitched wail of agony.

I didn't stop. I stomped my heel straight down onto his jaw. Teeth shattered. Blood sprayed across the polished floorboards.

"Drag this garbage out," I ordered the recovering guards. "If he comes within ten miles of this property again, kill him."

The guards hauled Dominic’s limp, bleeding body out the door by his collar.

I turned back to Julian. My chest heaved. "Are you okay?"

He stared at the blood on my boots. His dark eyes were utterly hollow.

"You still feel it for him," Julian whispered.

"What?"

"You lost control," he said, his tone thick with bitter resentment. "You only lose control like that when you care. You're furious because he broke your heart."

"Julian, no. I was defending you."

"I don't need your pity, Eva!" he roared.

He turned and limped heavily down the hall.

* * *

Night fell. The tension in the villa felt like a loaded gun.

I walked into the dimly lit medical wing. Julian sat on the edge of the black leather sofa. He had removed his shirt. Sweat already slicked his broad, bronze shoulders.

"Let's get this over with," he said, not meeting my eyes.

"You misunderstood what happened today," I told him, stepping closer.

"I said, let's get it over with."

I reached out to touch his shoulder.

The second my fingers grazed his hot skin, a violent tremor ripped through my spine.

My vision flashed red. The air vanished from my lungs. It wasn't the necrosis this time. It was the Rut.

The sheer rage from the afternoon, combined with Julian's suffocating insecurity, triggered a massive biological meltdown. My Alpha temperature spiked to a hundred and four degrees in seconds.

"Eva?" Julian asked, his head snapping up.

"Fuck," I growled, clutching my stomach. "Julian. Run."

"You're burning up." He dropped his cane and reached for me.

I lost my mind.

I tackled him backward onto the leather sofa. The impact rattled the side tables.

"Give it to me," I snarled, pinning his thick wrists above his head.

"Eva, stop! You're in a full Rut!"

I didn't care. I shoved my knee between his thighs, forcing his heavy legs apart. The metal brace dug into my thigh, but the pain only fueled the fever.

"I'm going to fuck you blind," I panted, my face hovering inches from his. "I want your pheromones. I want everything."

I tore at his belt. I ripped the leather strap right off the buckle.

Julian thrashed beneath me. His massive chest arched, slick with sweat. "You don't want me! You're just angry about Dominic!"

"Shut the fuck up and open your mouth," I commanded.

I crashed my lips onto his. I bit his lower lip until I tasted copper. Julian groaned, his hips jerking upward against mine. His thick, heavy arousal pressed hard against the front of his trousers.

Wild honey and white tea flooded the room. His Omega scent was thick, ripe, and totally overwhelming.

I dragged my open mouth down his jaw, trailing wet, biting kisses down his thick neck.

"Fuck, Eva," he choked out. His fingers dug into the leather cushions.

"You smell so fucking good," I muttered, licking the sweat off his collarbone. "I'm going to tear this gland right out of your neck."

Julian stopped fighting. His body went rigid.

He looked up at the ceiling, his jaw trembling. Then, he actively thrust his chest upward. He arched his neck, exposing the swollen, ripe gland directly to my mouth.

"Do it," Julian rasped, his voice breaking.

I paused, my teeth grazing his flesh. "What?"

He turned his head, locking his dark, wet eyes onto mine.

"If you just want a body to vent on, Eva... then bite down as hard as you want." His chest heaved against mine. "I've been sick to the bone for a long time anyway."

My heart slammed against my ribs. I stared down at his beautiful, ruined face.

Before I could answer, a sharp, deafening alarm blared from the security monitors in the hallway.

A mechanical voice echoed through the villa speakers.

"Perimeter breach. Sector four. Armed intruders detected."

Julian's eyes went wide.

I slowly wiped the sweat from my brow, my Alpha fangs still fully extended.