Third Person’s POV
+8.Pearls
As for why Lucien couldn’t reach his Beta, Duke–at this very moment, the male was tearing through the rain–slicked streets of Mooncrest like <b>a </b>shadow on wheels.
The sleek ck Maybach cut through the storm like a predator through underbrush, tires hissing against the drenched pavement. It finally <b>came </b>to a stop at the gates of Ashmoor University.
Inside the car, the scent of aged sandalwood shed with the lingering jasmine in the air–delicate traces of the young she- wolf sitting in the passenger seat.
Duke’s sharp gaze slid toward her from the corner of his eye.
Tears clung to hershes like crystal shards, and her white T–shirt, damp with spilled liquor, clung to her frail frame. Her corbones jutted out beneath her pale <b>skin</b>, and the outline of her shoulder des looked as fragile as bird <b>wings</b>.
She nced at him and whispered, “Thank you… for bringing me back.”
Her voice was soft, Honest. It carried none of the practiced seduction he was used to hearing from the females of the city.
Duke raised a brow, amused. “You really are a student,” he muttered, lips quirking with dry humor.
The girl–Carmen–pressed her lips together and fidgeted with her fingers, looking painfully out of ce, like a rogue pup in <b>a </b>court full of nobles.
He watched her silently for another beat before adding, “If you are <b>a </b>student, you really shouldn’t be hanging around ces like Silverfang Den. If I hadn’t been there tonight, you might not have made it out unharmed.”
She dipped her head in shame <b>and </b><b>gave </b>a soft, barely audible, “Mm.”
She hadn’t meant to end up there.
The pay at the bar was <b>just </b>too good <b>to </b>pass up. Her mother had been cast out of the Ebonw Pack, and Carmen had <b>taken </b>it upon herself to help ease the burden. Even if it meant risking everything.
She gathered her courage, nodded, and whispered, “I–I should go.
Her <b>hand </b>reached for the door.
“<b>Wait</b>,” Duke said abruptly.
Carmen froze, startled, ncing back at him.
He reached behind his seat and pulled out a sleek, silver–trimmed umbre. In the soft glow of the interior lights, it gleamed -sleek, branded, expensive.
He handed it to her.
Carmen blinked, stunned by the gesture. “Thank <b>you</b><b>…</b>”
Just <b>as </b>she was about to step out, <b>she </b><b>paused </b>and turned back <b>to </b>ask, “Sir, how should I return <b>the </b>umbre?”
“No need,” Duke replied <b>easily</b><b>, </b>already shifting his attention to the console.
<b>But </b>Carmen looked down at the <b>small </b>emblem on the handle–an unmistakable Stormridge sigil. <b>She </b>shook her head firmly
This undre, it’s too valuable. I have to return it”
A brief, amused <b>glint </b><b>passed </b>through Duke’s eyes. “Alright, then I’lle collect it myself–tomorrow morning”
Carmen, not picking up on his teasing tone, nodded earnestly. “Okay. I’ll wait for you outside the gate.”
She opened the door and stepped out, pausing once more to nce <b>back</b><b>. </b>“Sir be safe on your way home.”
+8 Peads
Then she turned and disappeared into the misty sillite of the campus, the umbre suapping open above her like a
shield
<b>Duke </b>watched her retreating figure until it <b>vanished </b>into the shadows of the university. Only then did he shift gears and <b>case </b>the Maybach back into motion<b>. </b>
He hadn’t expected the night to take such a turn.
There was something oddly refreshing about Carmen–the stubborn innocence, the blunt gratitude, thepleteck of guile. A rare find in a city full of ambition and lies. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but she made the rain feel a little less heavy.
His fingers drummed against the wheel <b>as </b>the car cruised smoothly through the storm. Raindrops drummed against the windshield in a steady rhythm, half–lulling, half–maddening
Reaching for his phone with one hand, he flicked the screen on–only to see three missed calls from Lucien <b>Duskgrave</b>.
<b>Duke </b><b>winced</b>. “Sh“t”
He hit the call–back button and put it on speaker, bracing himself
Back at Duskgrave Manor, Lucien answered on the first ring-
“Well,” came the Alpha’s dark drawl, “your nightlife seems… entertaining”
Duke <b>gave </b><b>a </b>half–grin. “You always did say <b>nothing </b>escapes you, <b>Alpha</b>,”
Lucien didn’tugh.
He never did when it was business.
“We’re done entertaining.” Lucien said coolly “Kael Vale’s gonen far toofortable. Time to bankrupt the Ebonw <b>Pack’s </b>preciouspany. Give him something else to cry about.”
Duke blinked. “You want to crash Vale Industries?”
Lucien’s tone was as casual as it was lethal. “By sunrise.”
There was a long pause.
Duke pulled the phone away from his ear, stared at it like it <b>had </b>just grown fangs, then sighed and muttered, “You’ve got to be kidding
He knew <b>his </b><b>Alpha</b><b>. </b>When Lucien made a decision, it <b>wasn’t </b>up for debate.
Though Vale Industries was a mid–tier operation, dismantling a pack–run corporation in <b>a </b>single <b>night </b>would require a perfect storm–legal threads, supply chain sabotage, digital warfare… the whole <b>arsenal </b>
And he was Just
our exhausted Beta who’d spent the night peeling drunk she–<b>wolves </b>off a girl who barely weighed ny <b>pounds </b>soaking wet.
Sull, he’d signed up for this life.
“Understood,” Duke said atst. “I’ll start with the contracts tied to their Northern shipping routes. Their exports to ckmaw territory are already unstable”
Lucien gave a quiet grunt of approval and hung up
Duke tossed the phone into the passenger seat and let out a <b>long</b>, soul–weary groan.
“One of these days,” he muttered to no one. “you’re going to be the death of me”
Then he mmed the gas
The Mayat surged forward like a predator on the hunt, <b>rain </b>shearing off its sides <b>as </b>it hurtled through the city The
blurred past, and
es were already falling into i
by omm. lining up
+8 Pearls
G
249 PMP P.
copse.
He didn’t feel pity for Kael Vale.
Not anymore.
All that mattered now was obedience.
<b>And </b>speed.
Becausee sunrise, there’d be nothing left of the Ebonw Pack’s empire but ashes and regret.
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