<h4>Chapter 511: Summoned By Alpha Grey (II)</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    By the time I stepped into the elevator, my mind had stopped behaving like a responsible organ and had chosen chaos instead.


    The seventh floor.


    Of course it had to be the seventh floor.


    The same floor as River’s office. It was the floor where the most powerful Alphas of the region kept their offices. It made sense strategically and politically... but for me, it just meant trouble. Thest thing I needed was passing by River’s office looking like a guilty teenager sneaking into someone else’s house.


    And if River had been here today instead of Nightshade Pack...


    Moon Goddess, I would never hear the end of it.


    River wasn’t jealous. Not exactly.


    He was... territorial.


    Possessive.


    Overprotective to the point the word itself felt too small.


    And nothing brought that possessiveness out faster than Elion Grey.


    I groaned under my breath as the elevator doors slid open.


    Why in the world had Alpha Grey summoned me?


    I went through the past month in my mind, searching for any incident that might have triggered this. Every memory came up nk.


    Except for the first two encounters - my humiliating stumble into him in the hallway, and then barging into River’s office only to find him standing there like some ethereal sculpturee alive.


    But after that?


    Nothing.


    We had crossed paths a few times in the hallways. I always greeted him politely, and he returned the gesture with equal politeness. No lingering stares, no awkward interactions, no tension.


    And I had made it a point... an iron rule... to keep my distance. Not because Elion Grey had ever done anything inappropriate. He hadn’t. He was the definition of respectful.


    But I didn’t want to test River’s patience unnecessarily. My mates were powerful, dominant alphas who tolerated far less than people believed. And Elion Grey, being young, powerful, handsome, and the only other silver-haired in existence besides me...


    Well.


    It didn’t take a genius to know why River kept a close eye on him.


    My footsteps slowed as I reached the end of the corridor. Frosted ss doors lined each side, the nametes glinting.


    <i>Alpha Rodric Hale</i>


    <i>Alpha Brian Voss</i>


    <i>Alpha Saxton Pierce</i>


    And then there it was...


    <i>Alpha Elion Grey</i>


    I stopped in front of the door, inhaled deeply, and raised my hand to knock...


    Except before my knuckles met the ss, the door swung open.


    I blinked.


    Alpha Grey’s secretary - a man in his fifties, with kind eyes and a posture so upright he could have been carved from discipline itself - bowed his head politely.


    "Miss Evaline." His voice held the warmth of someone who’d spent decades serving Alphas but somehow never lost his gentleness. "The Alpha is waiting for you inside."


    "Thank you," I murmured and stepped in.


    This was my first time inside his office. And I didn’t know what I expected.


    My gaze immediately went to the massive mahogany desk dominating the left side of the room. It looked... immacte, organized, intimidating.


    But empty.


    There was no sign of Alpha Grey there.


    Before I could question it, the faint clink of ss came from the right. I followed the sound, my eyesnding on him instantly.


    Alpha Grey sat on the leather couch, leaning over a low coffee table as he poured steaming water into two ss cups. His movements were calm, precise, like the entire world slowed down to match his pace.


    He didn’t look up as he spoke.


    "Come, Miss Evaline. Please, have a seat."


    His voice was smooth and deep enough that it echoed through therge office without him raising a single decibel.


    I managed a nod and approached slowly, sitting down on the couch opposite him.


    Without hesitation, he pushed one of the cups toward me.


    "For you."


    "Oh-I just had my afternoon tea," I blurted, trying to decline gently. "I don’t want to-"


    But something in his expression made me instantly change my mind. Not annoyance, not insistence... just a softness. A quiet request, perhaps.


    I swallowed.


    "Thank you," I murmured and epted it.


    The warmth seeped into my hands, settling my nerves fractionally.


    He lifted his cup and took a slow sip, his eyes drifting briefly toward the window as if appreciating the taste. The lighting caught the strands of his silver hair, making them shimmer like frost in the sunlight.


    And that’s when I made the mistake.


    I looked at him.


    Really looked at him.


    At the ck tailored suit that fit him like a second skin. The coat was draped neatly over the chair at his desk, leaving him in a ck shirt rolled up to the elbows. His tie hung loose around his neck, the top two buttons open just enough to reveal a hint of his corbone.


    He looked... effortless.


    Powerful, but calm.


    Young, but impossiblyposed.


    His long silver hair... stars, that hair... fell over his shoulders perfectly, the exact shade of silver as mine. It had caught my attention the very first day and had continued doing so every time since.


    We shared a heritage recorded in history as something really sacred... a lineage of wolves nearly wiped out by time.


    Maybe that’s why my eyes always betrayed me around him.


    ...Which is exactly what they did now.


    I didn’t even realize I was staring until...


    He cleared his throat.


    Softly. Politely.


    Mortification mmed into me like a freight train.


    My cheeks heated so violently I was sure the temperature in the room rose ten degrees. I dropped my gaze instantly, mentally smacking myself. Hard.


    Great.


    Just perfect.


    Caught red-handed staring at a man I wasn’t even supposed to look at for more than three seconds. No wonder River didn’t trust me around him... not that he had any reason to worry. My heart was loyal to my mates.


    But my eyes?


    Those traitors clearly needed discipline.


    I opened my mouth to apologize, to say anything...


    But he spared me.


    He didn’t tease.


    Didn’t smirk.


    Didn’t make the situation worse.


    Instead, he simply set down his cup and got straight to the point, his tone turning serious.


    "Miss Evaline," he said quietly, meeting my eyes with an expression I couldn’t quite read, "I have an offer for you."


    My breath stilled.


    An offer?


    From Elion Grey?


    Why?


    For what?


    My pulse jumped in my throat as a hundred possibilities shed in my mind.


    But the Alpha said nothing more.


    Not yet.


    And I could only sit there... waiting for him to continue.