The Grand Venetian Ballroom glittered with massive crystal chandeliers. Billionaires, high-ranking pack elders, and corrupt politicians moved across the polished marble floor. They laughed behind diamond masks while servers poured expensive champagne.

Diana Rosewood did not care about the luxury around her. She only looked at the gold clock on the wall. It was 11:15 PM, which meant she had forty-five minutes left before her entire world fell apart.

Diana smoothed down the front of her white catering apron. Her heart beat fast against her ribs, and her thin fingers trembled from pure exhaustion. Under her golden lace mask, her pale skin was wet with cold sweat.

If she did not pay $10,000 to the hospital before midnight, they were going to kick her five-year-old son, Lloyd, out of his room. Lloyd had severe leukemia and was coughing up blood this morning. The cold hospital board did not care about a sick child; they only cared about cash.

Every time she looked at the clock, her mind flashed back to a dark night five years ago. She was drugged and trapped in a masked room with a wild stranger who had glowing silver-amber eyes.

He was fighting a feral wolf curse inside his body, gripping her tight in the dark while whispering a bitter warning: "My wolf is cursed, sweet human... my dick is completely useless for making heirs."

He had been so sure of his words, yet nine months later, Diana secretly gave birth to twin boys. Her greedy adopted parents sold one baby at birth to pay off pack debts, leaving Diana alone to raise Lloyd on the rough outer edges of the city.

Tonight, Diana was working under her dead cousin's identity, wearing a nametag that read "CHERRY."

If security caught her, she would go to jail, and if her abusive family found her, they would steal her money again. But she needed ten thousand dollars before midnight, and she was out of options.

"Cherry! Stop standing around!" the head caterer yelled, shoving a fresh bottle of wine onto her tray. "Take this to table four! The Obsidian Iron Pack is hosting tonight, and their Alpha kills clumsy workers."

Diana swallowed her fear and nodded quietly. She walked out into the crowd and searched for a rich target with her sharp street instincts.

Suddenly, the air in the room grew heavy and cold. The loud party chatter died down instantly as a scary aura filled the entire ballroom. At the center of the VIP section stood Jayden Malachi.

He was huge, tall, and muscular, wearing a tailored Italian suit with dark leather details on the jacket. He was the billionaire CEO of Malachi Holdings and the feared "Biker Alpha" King of the Obsidian Iron Pack.

A sharp black mask covered his upper face, but it did not hide his strong jaw or his glowing silver-amber eyes. Dark tattoos crept up his thick neck, disappearing into his black hair.

Diana stopped breathing as a sudden shock passed through her chest. Why does he feel so familiar? she thought, staring at his glowing eyes.

She shook her head and forced the thought away. She was just a poor mother trying to save her dying boy, and Jayden was a lethal ruler.

She watched Jayden reach into his inner jacket pocket to pull out a thick black leather wallet and hand a gold card to an elder.

When he slid the wallet back into his suit, Diana saw the thick outline against the fine wool. That wallet held black credit cards and stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

That is my target, Diana thought. Her body screamed at her to run away from this dangerous wolf, but the image of her sick little boy kept her feet moving.

She put her tray on a side table, grabbed two full glasses of red wine, and glided through the crowd like a quiet ghost until she was standing right behind Jayden.

Jayden turned his back to answer a question, giving her the perfect opening.

Diana intentionally tripped her foot on the edge of a heavy rug, letting out a soft gasp as she fell forward. She slammed right into Jayden’s broad back, which felt like hitting a solid wall of iron.

His strong scent hit her nose—dark wood, rain, and fresh leather—making her mind flash back to that stormy night five years ago.

Focus! she scolded herself.

As the dark red wine spilled all over Jayden’s white shirt and custom suit jacket, Diana acted. Her thin fingers dipped into his open jacket pocket with expert skill.

She hooked the heavy leather wallet with two fingers and slid it into her apron fold in less than a second.

"I am so sorry! I am so clumsy!" Diana cried out, pulling out a napkin and dabbing at his wet chest.

The VIP section went completely silent. Guards froze in shock, and socialites gasped. Nobody touched the Biker Alpha King and lived.

Jayden did not move at first. Slowly, he turned his massive body around and looked down at her small frame.

His silver-amber eyes burned through his black mask as he breathed in deep, pulling her scent into his lungs. It was sweet jasmine mixed with fresh winter rain.

Jayden froze completely as his inner wolf roared with sudden fury and joy. THE HUMAN FROM FIVE YEARS AGO! IT IS HER!

Diana felt his terrifying energy shift. His eyes glowed like bright fire in the dark room, and a dangerous, possessive heat rolled off his body. Panic hit Diana like a strike of lightning.

"Please forgive me, sir! I will pay for the dry cleaning!" she squeaked. She pinned the stolen wallet against her hip under her apron, turned on her heel, and ran into the thick crowd.

His second-in-command, Jax, stepped up with a dark scowl, his hand resting near his gun. "Alpha! That temp just attacked you with wine. Should I have security grab her?"

"No," Jayden murmured, his low voice vibrating with a dangerous dark energy. He slowly reached into his inner suit jacket—and realized his heavy leather wallet was gone.

His silver-amber eyes flared bright behind his mask. The little mouse hadn't just spilled wine on him. She had used the spill as a distraction to pickpocket him in broad daylight.

A dark, amused smirk played on his lips.

"Cancel security," Jayden ordered, peeling off his wet suit jacket and tossing it casually to Jax. "Tell the boys to clear the back alley. My little thief thinks she got away... and I am going to hunt her down myself.”

Diana sprinted through the heavy service doors of the Grand Venetian Ballroom, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.

Cold rain pelted her skin the moment she burst into the dimly lit back alley. Water pooled around her worn flat shoes, soaking her socks, but she did not slow down for a second.

She reached beneath her catering apron and pulled out the stolen leather billfold. Under the yellow flicker of a buzzing streetlamp, her hands shook violently as she unzipped the heavy pocket.

Thick stacks of hundred-dollar bills sat inside, alongside sleek black credit cards and polished gold membership tokens.

"More than ten thousand," Diana whispered, her voice breaking with sheer relief. A sob caught in her throat as she wiped rainwater from her eyes. "Lloyd... Mommy has your money. You are going to be okay."

She stuffed the wallet deep into her coat pocket, zipping it up safely against her chest. Driven by pure motherly instinct, she pushed her exhausted body to move faster.

She needed to reach the main street, catch a taxi, and get to City General Hospital before the midnight deadline.

Suddenly, a loud, deep engine roared from the dark mouth of the alley.

Headlights cut through the rain, blinding her completely. Diana gasped, stepping back as a customized black motorcycle skidded to a halt, completely blocking the alley exit.

Two more heavy bikes roared up behind her, cutting off the path back to the ballroom doors.

The towering silhouette on the lead motorcycle cut the engine. The heavy silence of the night settled around them, broken only by the steady drum of rain hitting the pavement.

Jayden Malachi swung his long leg off the bike and stepped into the dim glow of the streetlamp. He had removed his black mask, revealing his striking, dangerously handsome face.

Rain droplets ran down his sharp jawline and slicked back his dark hair. Heavy leather bike gear covered his massive, muscular frame.

His commanding Alpha presence suffocated the quiet night. The sheer power rolling off him felt like a physical weight pressing against Diana's chest, making it hard for her to breathe.

"You have a very bad habit of running," Jayden spoke.

His voice was a low, gravelly baritone that sent a terrifying shockwave straight through Diana’s spine. It was the exact voice from her past.

Her mind spun backward five years into a dizzying fog of memories—to a dark, feverish night in a hidden service room.

She remembered the fierce heat of a stranger's body, the desperate grip on her wrists, and the bitter, ragged bark of a drugged, desperate wolf begging her to stay while growling through his teeth: "Don't worry about getting pregnant, sweet human... my wolf is cursed. I'm sterile."

Diana smoothed down her apron, forcing her hands to stop trembling. She tucked her coat tightly around her waist to hide the stolen wallet, stepping backward as her heels splashed in a cold puddle.

She needed to escape this terrifying man and reach the hospital.

"Sir, what do you want from me?" Diana asked, trying to keep her voice steady and professional as she edged toward the side wall. "If this is about the wine spill, I already apologized. Tell me how much the dry cleaning costs, and I will pay for it!"

Jayden let out a low, dark laugh that vibrated through the damp air. "Dry cleaning? You think I chased you into a dark alley over a wet suit jacket, little temp?"

He took slow, deliberate strides toward her, his shadow swallowing her small frame. At this point, he only knew her as the clumsy catering temp who had pickpocket's hands and a quick pair of legs.

He had not yet stepped close enough to catch her scent or connect her face to the woman from five years ago.

"You knocked into me, spilled wine across my chest, and slipped your hand right into my inner jacket pocket," Jayden growled, his dark eyes locking onto hers. "Give me back my billfold."

Panic flared in Diana’s chest. Driven by pure survival and the desperate need to save her son, she didn't wait for him to grab her.

She turned on her heel and tried to dart past him toward a gap between the parked motorcycles.

"I'm not letting you take it back!" Diana cried out, pushing through the rain with every ounce of strength she had left.

She only made it two steps before Jayden moved with blinding wolf speed, blocking her path and reaching out to seize her.

Jayden moved with terrifying speed. Before Diana could take another step toward the alley exit, his large, calloused hand shot out and slammed against her shoulder.

He spun her around and shoved her backward, trapping her against the freezing brick wall of the alley.

Before she could scream or push him away, he grabbed both of her slender wrists in one massive fist and pinned them firmly above her head. The cold, rough brick bit into her skin through her thin sleeves, making her gasp.

Jayden did not care about the wallet, the cash, or the black credit cards hiding under her coat. But the second he stepped directly into her personal space, his inner Biker Alpha wolf roared to life inside his chest.

Her unique, sweet human scent—wild jasmine mixed with the crisp tang of winter rain—hit his senses like a heavy physical blow.

It was the only scent in the entire universe that had ever managed to calm his chaotic, cursed beast during that poisoned, feverish night five years ago.

Jayden froze completely. His breath hitched as shock rippled through his massive frame.

The thief who had breached his high-society security, spilled wine across his suit, and pickpocketed his billfold was the exact same mysterious woman who had fled his bed at dawn half a decade ago.

Jayden’s eyes flashed with a dangerous, crimson wolf-glow that flared brightly behind the darkness of the alley. His chest heaved as his breath came out hot, heavy, and ragged against her pale neck.

"It's you," Jayden growled, his voice dropping into a terrifying, gravelly pitch that vibrated right through her bones. "You really thought you could run from me twice, sweet human?"

"Let me go!" Diana cried out, twisting her wrists desperately against his iron grip. "I don't care who you are! Just let me go!"

Jayden ignored her struggling completely. With his free hand, he unzipped her heavy coat and reached into her inner pockets to reclaim his property.

But his fingers did not hit leather first. Instead, he pulled out a crumpled manila folder hidden deep inside her coat lining.

He yanked the folder out and flipped it open under the dim yellow light of the streetlamp. Raindrops splattered across the official documents inside, but Jayden’s sharp wolf eyes quickly scanned the top page.

It was a final medical eviction notice from City General Hospital, stamped in bold, angry red ink: OVERDUE BALANCE: $10,000. EVICTION NOTICE EFFECTIVE MIDNIGHT.

Below the dark red stamp was a small photograph of a pale, fragile five-year-old boy with dark hair and striking features, labeled Lloyd Rosewood.

Jayden’s jaw clenched so hard his cheek muscles twitched violently. A dark, lethal storm flared in his crimson eyes as he stared from the small face in the photo to the desperate woman pinned beneath his body.

"What is this?" Jayden demanded, his voice dangerously low as he held up the crumpled file. "A five-year-old boy?"

"Give that back to me!" Diana sobbed, her motherly instincts flaring with wild intensity despite her fear. Tears mixed with the rain streaming down her face.

"That's my son! Lloyd is dying of leukemia, and they are turning him out into the cold in twenty minutes! That's why I took your money! I needed ten thousand dollars to save his life!"

Jayden’s mind raced as a wave of possessive, dark anger crashed over his mind. Five years ago, he had explicitly told her his cursed wolf made him sterile. He believed it was impossible for a human girl to bear his wolf bloodline.

That meant after she fled his bed five years ago, she had run into the arms of another man, slept with him, and borne his child while Jayden searched the entire continent for her.

The thought of another male touching her and giving her a child made Jayden's inner Alpha snarl with pure, feral jealousy. The air in the narrow alley grew suffocatingly tight as his dominant aura flared out in full force.

"A son?" Jayden growled, leaning down until his lips almost brushed her wet ear. "So the second you left my bed, you ran off to be with someone else?"

"No! There is no someone else!" Diana wept, shaking her head against the brick wall. "I don't have a husband! I don't have anyone! Please, Jayden! If you have any heart left in your body, just save my child! Lock me in jail after, but let him live!"

Jayden stared down at her trembling, tear-streaked face. Seeing her break down in complete terror broke the wild rage inside his chest, replacing it with a cold, possessive resolve.

His wolf hated the thought of another man's child, but it hated seeing her suffer even more.

"I don't give out free charity, little thief," Jayden murmured, his grip on her wrists loosening slightly, though he kept her pinned against his chest. "In my world, everything is an exchange. Something for something."

"What do you want?" Diana asked, her voice cracking as she looked up into his glowing eyes.