Ana’s POV

“Name”

“Aria Collins.”

“Age.”

“You realize the amount you stole is enough tond you in prison for over two years?”

I red at the man across from me. “I told you already–I didn’t steal anything. I was at that boutique with a friend. She asked me to step out and grab her a coffee. When I came back, bshe /bwas gone.”

This was the fourth hour I’d been stuck at the police station. I was drained.

But no one here wanted to hear bmy /bside of the story. They were all convinced I was nothing but a shameless thief.

The officer scoffed and tapped his clipboard. “I’ve seen bplenty /bof girls like you. No bself/b–esteem, no boundaries. bYou /bbthink /bstealing a pretty dress is your ticket to a better blife/b? Those things don’t belong to people like you”

“So I guess cops just assume someone’s guilty with zero proof now.”

“Watch your tone!” he barked. “I do have proof. bThe /bdress bwas /bon your body and it wasn’t paid for. That’s evidence.”

“Ask the staff,” I said, trying to stay calm. “They saw me with bmy /bfriend. She said she’d pay for the dress when I gol back-

b“/bWe already asked,”

ed,” he cut me off “Store clerks said you walked in alone, tried on the dress, and ran out while they weren’t looking.”

I inhaled sharply and rubbed my face in frustration.

As much as I didn’t want to believe it…

Delh set me up.

She sent me out for coffee and disappeared on purpose.

bAnd /bnow I was the one left behind,beled a thief.

“Look, you can check my records,” I said quietly. “I work at bApex/b. I have a breal /bjob. I’m not the kind of person who’d sneak into a luxury store and steal-

“I’m not checking anything. You’re full of crap band /bwasting my time. You said she was your friend. Do you even have her number?”

I froze.

Of course not. I’d only seen Delh ba /bfew times. We weren’t actually friends.

“Thought so,” he said smugly. “You’re just banother /bshameless liar and a thief.

1 sank into the bchair/b, exhausted.

I hadn’t eaten all day, hadn’t had water in hours. I bwas /bbstarving/b. Cold. bAnd /bacross the broom/b, a few scummy–looking bstreet /bwolves were eyeing me blike /bprey, whistling andughing.

I didn’twant to deal with any of them.

“I want to make a phone call,” I bsaid/b.

“To who? Gonna call in your little gang to raise hell?”

“No. I want bto /bcall my bguardian/b,” I said, I could call him that, right? “I do have the right to

to one phone call, don’t I?”

9:47 AM

Chapter lo

He shot me a blook/b, then tossed a phone onto the tabl

I quickly typed in his number.

The call picked up after the very first ring.

“Miss Collins, is something wrong?” The voice bwasn’t /bhis–it bwas /bbNova /b

“Oh, hi bNova/b,” I bsaid /bawkwardly. “Is Alpha Grayson around?”

“He’s currently at a family dinner. It’s a private Hart gathering, very y strict, and no one is ballowed /bto bring phones. Is it urgent?”

I hesitated. “Not exactly.. but kind. Can you just let him know I’m at the Central Police Station? Got into a bit of a situation.”

“What? You were arrested? Her voice shot up in pitch.

“Sort of. It’s not a big deal, really. If it’s too much trouble, just forget

“I’m going in right now. Alpha bGrayson /bmust hear about this,” she said firmly. I could balready /bbhear /bbher /bheels bclicking /bacross the floor. “Hang tight, bMiss /bCollins”

When

When the call ended, I handed the phone back. The cop narrowed his eyes at me!

“Someone actuallying for byou/b?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“You’re delusional,” he sneered. “What, you think you’re some rich heiress now?”

Then he yanked me up from the chair.

“Let’s go. Maybe a night in holding will snap you back to reality.

He dragged me into a holding cell where four or five other detainees were already crashing for the night. I was locked up next to a disgusting little sink and toilet that reeked so badly it made me gag.

“bWhy /bbdo /byou bhave /bba /bproblem with me?” I shouted at him.

b“/bGirls blike /byou deserve this,” he said with a nasty grin before whistling and swaggering off.

I waspletely spent. Hunger bwas /bgnawing at my stomach like fire, and the smell in here–made it impossible to even rest my beyes/bb. /b

“Hey, I like your dress,” someone whistled at me.

I ignored it.

“C’mon. That dress looks pricey. How many men do you have to ride to afford something like bthat/b?

They thought I was a prostitute.

The irony hit me like a p–how excited I’d felt earlier to wear that dressb. /bHow beautiful it made me feel. bAnd /bbnow/b? I felt disgusting. Cheap. Ashamed.

“Piss off.” I muttered.

“Whoa, feisty, I’ve got cash for a blowjob one. Half–price, maybe? You do smell like a piss now,”

The whole cell burst intoughter.

I leaned against the wall, eyes closed, trying to bblock /bbit /ball bout/b.

At feast an hour had passed. Then, I heard the footsteps.

Fast, Heavy, Getting closer.

“Movel Now! Get her out of there!”

b9:47 /bAM

b? /b

Several officers came running, panicked, including the fat one who locked me up. They fumbled with the keysb, /btrying to unlock my cuffs–but they dropped them in their haste.

“Hurry up, you idiot! He’s almost here!”

But it was already toote.

The pressure

in the air shifted.

A massive wave of power–like a tidal wave–rushed through the room. Even before he entered. Grayson’s aura bmmed /binto the cell like a freight train.

Everyone groaned in pain, wolves copsing to the ground, shaking.

I bgasped/b, heart racing, and looked bup/b–just in time to see bhim /bwalking in.

He looked like something out of a dream. Towering, deadly bcalm/b, and so out of ce in this grimy little cell.

He walked straight to me.

Alpha, the keys- bNova /bstarted.

But he didn’t need them.

With one flex of his wrist, the metal cuffs snapped like btwigs/b. Then he scooped me up in bhis /barms, easy as breathing.

“I–I can walk,” I whispered.

He ignored me and strode bout /bof the cell, holding me tight

In the station lobby, every single wolf was frozen in ce–too overwhelmed by his presence to even move.

“I want the bname /bof the one who brought Aria in,” he said, voice like steel. “And the one who locked bher /bup

Everyone flinched in silence.)

Until finally, someone cracked.

“I—it was Caleb. I saw him interrogating the girl…”

The fat

tremble.

cop–Caleb–was dragged out. He fell to his knees in front of bGrayson/b, bshaking /bso badly his rolls of fat jiggled with every

“P–pleaseb, /bAlpha, I didn’t know! The order came from your house. Lady Deh–I thought she had the authority. I didn’t know bthis /bgirl

“bNova/b” Grayson ordered.

Nova didn’t hesitate.

Her first kick sent Caleb sprawling. The second–heel first–bnded /bright on his shoulder. Something cracked, band /bhe screamed in

agony.

“Continue,” Grayson said,pletely unmoved.

I stared in shock,pletely frozen.

Sure, werewolves were more physical species. And I knew there were

still wars ragin

raging around the world.

bBut /bI’d bnever /bseen this before. Never seen power and violence wielded so bcasually/b.

Caleb was already on the floor, broken and bleeding, bbut /bNova kept going.

bI /bwanted to blook /bbaway/b. To beg her to s

to stop.

But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even speak.

0:47 AM

A warm hand covered my eyes, shielding me from the sight.

“Sorry I waste,” he said, gently stroking bmy /bhair.

And in his bvoice/b. I heard the force of the dark. It made me shiver.

AD