The searing pain Chloe expected never came.
Instead, a non-human roar ripped through the cathedral, shattering the crystal chandeliers into a rain of glass. Silas Sterling had Tiffany Vance by the throat, hoisting her off the ground as his right hand morphed into a terrifying array of black claws.
"Silas... Mr. Sterling..." Tiffany wheezed, her face turning a bruised purple as her legs kicked uselessly in the air. "I'm on... your side...".
"On my side?" Silas's voice was a low, vibrating growl.
He dropped her like a piece of discarded trash. As Tiffany crumpled to the marble floor, a subordinate stepped forward to drape a fresh suit jacket over Silas's shoulders. He took his time adjusting his silver cufflinks, the metal clicking against the sharp tips of his retreating claws.
"If you were on my side, you would know better than to touch what's mine," Silas said coldly. "Chloe Vance is my wife. You will show the Sterling name the respect it demands.".
With a series of heavy thuds, every exit in the cathedral was locked and barred by Lycan guards.
Near a Roman pillar, Julian Thorne retreated into the shadows, his thumbs flying across his phone screen in a silent, frantic rhythm.
"The wedding continues," Silas commanded. His voice had returned to a human rasp, though the air around him still shimmered with heat. He snatched the fallen wedding ring from the floor, grabbed Chloe's hand, and forced it toward her ring finger.
Marcus Vance tried to intervene, his face pale with fury. "Silas, this is—".
"Not another word," Silas snapped. Marcus froze mid-step. Tiffany was sobbing on the floor, though whether it was from terror or the realization that she had just handed her sister a seat at the Sterling throne was unclear.
"Chloe. Hand," Silas barked. When she didn't move fast enough, he seized her wrist in a grip of iron. His hand was massive compared to hers, his fingers long and pulsing with an unnatural, predatory strength.
"Silas...".
He ignored her, sliding the band onto her finger with brutal efficiency. The cold metal sent a shiver through her; the fit was perfect, as if it had been forged for her hand alone.
"From this day forward, you are Silas Sterling's mate... Mrs. Sterling," he murmured, his eyes locking onto hers. "Do not forget your place.".
Chloe looked up into those bottomless black depths. Silas towered over her, his silhouette sharp against the ruins of the cathedral. There was a flicker of something in his expression—not love, but a haunting, jagged look of longing, as if he were looking through her at someone else.
"The ceremony is over. She's coming with me," Silas announced to the stunned room. He dragged Chloe toward the side exit with enough force to make her feel as though her bones might snap.
As they passed Julian Thorne, the billionaire coughed once, catching Chloe's eye and winking twice—a rapid, deliberate signal.
Before she could process it, Silas shoved her into the back of a black Rolls-Royce idling outside.
The door slammed, sealing them in a cabin that smelled of leather, cedar, and a lingering scent of fresh blood.
"Had your fill?" Silas growled, ripping off his silk tie. "Watching your knight in shining armor?".
The car roared to life, the tires screaming against the gravel as they peeled away from the church. Chloe was thrown against the door, her elbow hitting the frame with a dull thud. She scrambled to the window for one last look.
Julian Thorne was still standing on the cathedral steps, his right hand raised, a silver ring glinting on his finger. His lips moved in a silent, unwavering vow: "Wait for me.".
The church vanished into the distance. After an indeterminate amount of time, the car lurched to a sudden stop.
Chloe's head was snapped back as Silas's hand clamped around the back of her neck like a vice. The leather seat groaned as he pinned her against the window.
"Look at me," Silas rasped, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, primal edge. "Now, we settle our debts.".
His face was inches from hers, his breath scorching. His collar was torn open, revealing a collarbone flushed with an angry, unnatural red—as if a fire were burning just beneath his skin. Beads of sweat rolled down his jaw, dripping onto her chest.
"Don't forget," Silas laughed lowly, his thumb grinding roughly against her trembling lip. "Who you belong to now.".
Chloe tried to push him away. "Wait, Silas—".
The roar of the engine accelerating drowned out her protest. The car swung into a sharp turn, and Chloe collapsed into his chest. Through the thin fabric of his shirt, she could feel the furnace-like heat of his body.
A hot, searing kiss pressed against her ear, followed by his jagged whisper: "It's time to fulfill your first duty as my mate.".
*************
Thunder rumbled on the horizon as the skies finally broke, drenching the city in a sudden, violent downpour. Inside the car, rain streaked across the glass, blurring the world outside into a chaotic smear of neon and gray.
Chloe felt Silas's weight bear down on her, his scorching breath ghosting against the nape of her neck.
"The ring," he rasped, his voice dropping to a jagged whisper. "It fits." He paused, his grip tightening. "If it were her... it would have been perfect".
He spat the last few words out like venom, his fingers trembling as they traced the line of her cheek. His skin was feverish, and beneath the thin fabric of his shirt, Chloe could see the violet veins at his collarbone pulsing violently—a frantic, tangled web beneath his skin.
"Did you know?" He leaned in, his teeth catching the lobe of her ear, biting down until a bead of crimson bloomed. "I hate you".
The words were heavy with malice, yet they lacked the lethal edge he'd carried at the altar. Chloe's pupils contracted. Before she could speak, Silas's body lurched, his forehead thudding heavily against her shoulder.
"Silas!" She looked down in shock.
His skin was radiating a terrifying heat that seemed to burn through her clothes. Sweat rolled down his sharp nose, dripping onto her hand, searing like liquid lead.
"Don't... move," he ground out, his voice laced with a vulnerability she had never expected from the cold-blooded Lycan King. The hand that had been crushing her neck lost its strength, instead bunching into the fabric of her dress like a drowning man clutching at a piece of driftwood.
Chloe reached for his pulse; the rhythm beneath his skin was a chaotic, fluttering mess. His nail beds were turning a dark, bruised shade of blue.
Poisoned.
The realization made her skin crawl. She scanned the car, but there was no sign of an attack. This was internal—a neurotoxin specifically designed for Lycans. It must have happened during the wedding.
"I'm taking over. We need a hospital," Chloe said, moving to slide into the driver's seat. Silas's icy fingers suddenly clamped around her wrist with a final, desperate surge of strength.
"Try to call for help..." he looked up, his pale lips twitching into a ghastly smirk, "and I'll mark you right here".
It was an empty threat. His eyes were blown out, unable to focus, and his teeth were chattering in the confined space. Chloe reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out an empty adrenaline autoinjector, the needle still wet with fresh blood.
"You lunatic," she hissed. He had known he was poisoned the whole time, using the adrenaline to maintain his facade of dominance until they were safely away from the prying eyes of the Pack and the Vances.
Silas slumped forward, his entire weight collapsing into her lap. His last words were a faint, possessive mumble against her skin: "...can't run... you're mine...".
The silence that followed was broken only by the rhythmic thrum of the rain against the roof. Chloe looked down at the unconscious Alpha in her arms and realized the power dynamic had shifted.
The predator was down, and she was the one holding the leash.
The rain had slowed to a damp mist by the time Chloe reached the gates of the old Vance Manor. The estate was a skeletal ruin of its former glory, its walls stained with the shadows of the past.
She stared at the note she'd found in Silas's pocket: Neurotoxin X-11. Onset: 2–4 hours. Duration: 5 hours. Symptoms: High fever, dilated pupils, muscular spasms... Lethal to Lycans.
The handwriting was clinical, a death warrant written with arrogant confidence. The killer expected Silas to be a corpse by now. But Chloe recognized the name of the toxin. Her mother had developed X-11—it was the Vance Dynasty's crowning achievement during the Great Purge.
And if there was a formula for the poison, there was a formula for the antidote.
"A medicine has no allegiance," Chloe whispered, echoing her mother's old teachings as she pushed open the rusted iron gates. The hinges shrieked, the sound echoing through the empty, cavernous foyer of her childhood home.
Before her exile, this house was a fortress of business and blood. Her mother had spent her days locked in the private lab, crafting the very tools the Vances used to hunt. Since the Purge and her mother's death, the house had been a tomb, forgotten by her father and his new family.
Chloe knew she had less than an hour before Silas's heart gave out. She needed the antidote files in the fifth-floor lab.
The lab was a restricted zone, accessible only by a vintage elevator. To her surprise, the indicator light flickered to life when she pressed the button—the power was still on.
As the doors slid open, a wave of metallic rust and mildew hit her, but Chloe's hunter instincts flared. Something was wrong.
The floor of the elevator was spotless. In a house filled with a decade of dust and decay, the elevator had been recently cleaned—as if to hide footsteps.
Someone else is here.
She stepped inside anyway; she didn't have a choice. The elevator groaned as it began its ascent: 2... 3....
Suddenly, the car lurched. The lights flickered and died, plunging the small space into an eerie, blood-red glow from the emergency lanterns. They were stalled between the fourth and fifth floors.
"Damn it," Chloe muttered, drawing a dagger from her boot to pry the doors open.
Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.
A sound came from above—metal scraping against metal in the elevator shaft. It wasn't the sound of machinery. It sounded like something crawling.
Chloe froze, her eyes darting to the ceiling vent. The scraping grew louder, accompanied by a wet, heavy breathing that didn't sound human.
The metal mesh of the vent buckled inward as if something were trying to tear its way through. Chloe's heart hammered as she jammed her blade into the door seam, but before she could lever it open, an ice-cold hand clamped over her mouth from behind.
"Mmh!"
The darkness seemed to swallow the air in the car. The hand was unnaturally cold, the chill seeping into her skin until her tongue felt numb.
Chloe didn't panic. She drove her elbow back toward the intruder's ribs and spun her dagger in her palm, aiming a lethal strike behind her.
The stranger was faster. He predicted her move, catching her wrist and twisting it with effortless, terrifying precision.
The dagger clattered onto the carpeted floor. Chloe was pinned against a solid chest, trapped in a cold, silent embrace.