The voice came from the side.
A girl with frizzy brown hair and oversized glasses rushed forward, her face pale.
Nessa, Ariella’s human roommate.
She looked like she hadn’t slept in days.
“Ari!
Oh my god, I’ve been calling you!
Your brothers said you were…
they said you went on an emergency leave!
Who are these people?
Why are you in a government-grade motorcade?”
Ariella caught Nessa’s hands, her heart aching.
“Nessa, I—”
“She is under the protection of the Ironfang Pack,” Silas said, stepping out behind Ariella.
He looked at Nessa with a polite, terrifying smile.
“I am Silas.
Ariella’s…
academic consultant.”
Nessa blinked at Silas, then at the silver cane, then at the two massive, scarred men standing behind him.
“Academic consultant?
Since when do accountants carry tactical gear?”
“It’s a very competitive field,” Silas purred.
“Ariella.”
The voice was low, authoritative, and made the hair on Ariella’s arms stand up.
Atlas was walking toward them, his brothers flanking him like a strike team.
Asher was at his right, his eyes narrowed, his lip still showing the faint remains of the split he’d earned in the snow.
The students in the square backed away, creating a wide circle of empty space.
The tension was a physical pressure, the “Hayes” scent clashing violently with the “Ironfang” scent.
“What is this?” Atlas demanded, stopping five feet away.
He ignored Nessa entirely, his eyes locked on Silas.
“Our father said she was moved to the Ironfang estate for the transition.
He didn’t say she’d be parading around campus with a rogue escort.”
“A rogue escort?” Silas chuckled, leaning on his cane.
“My dear Atlas, I haven’t been a rogue in years.
I’m a very respectable citizen of a very sovereign territory.
And your sister—your former sister—expressed a desire to finish her education.
Alpha Grimshaw is a man who values his wife’s…
intellect.”
Asher stepped forward, his switchblade snicked open.
“She isn’t his wife yet.
The mating hasn’t been consummated.
She’s still a Hayes by blood, which means she follows our rules.”
He turned his gaze to Ariella, his lip curling.
“Get in our car, Ari.
Now.
Asher reached out to grab her arm, the same way he’d done a thousand times before.
He didn’t get within six inches.
Silas’s cane moved faster than a human eye could follow.
The silver head slammed into Asher’s wrist, the sound of a bone snapping echoing through the quiet square.
Asher roared, his knife clattering to the ground as he clutched his arm.
Atlas and Arlo shifted their eyes to gold instantly, their bodies tensing to lunge.
The two Ironfang guards behind Ariella didn’t shift—they simply reached into their coats, the unmistakable click-clack of high-caliber handguns filling the silence.
“Don’t,” Silas said, his voice no longer refined.
It was a cold, flat promise of death.
“Alpha Grimshaw’s orders were very specific.
Anyone who touches the Luna without her consent loses the limb.
Would you like to lose the other one, Asher?”
“You…
you bastard,” Asher hissed, his face contorted in pain.
Ariella stepped forward, moving past Silas.
She stood directly in front of Asher, looking down at him.
For eighteen years, she had been afraid of his shadow.
She had been the “Dilution” he used to make himself feel strong.
“I’m not going back to Blackridge, Asher,” she said, her voice steady and clear.
“I’m going to Advanced Macroeconomics.
And if you or Atlas try to withdraw me again, I won’t need Silas to break your bones.
I’ll let my husband know that the Hayes family is interfering with Ironfang’s ‘investments.’ We both know how much he hates bad business.”
Atlas stared at her, his jaw working.
“You think you’re safe because you have a few rogues with guns?
You’re a Hayes, Ariella.
You’ll always be the weak link.”
“Then why do you look so afraid of me, Atlas?” she challenged.
Atlas didn’t answer.
He couldn’t.
Because in that moment, the silver-dark hum in Ariella’s chest—the Primal spark—flared.
Her eyes didn’t just turn gold; they shined with a faint, metallic silver mist.
It was a flicker, gone in a second, but it was enough.
The Alpha in Atlas recoiled.
His wolf felt it.
The ancient, terrifying power of a Primal wolf.
“Let’s go, Nessa,” Ariella said, turning her back on her brothers.
“We’re going to be late for lecture.”
She walked toward the hall, Silas clicking along behind her.
She didn’t look back to see the shock on Arlo’s face or the fury in Atlas’s.
But as she entered the building, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
It was a text from an unknown number.
You bit the brother.
I broke the brother.
Focus on your books.
I’ll focus on the blood.
Her heart hammered.
Grimshaw was watching.
She didn’t understand what his text truly meant.
Somewhere, through a camera or a scout, she knew he had seen everything.
She felt a strange, terrifying warmth bloom in her stomach.
It wasn’t love.
It was something far more dangerous.
It was the feeling of being hunted by someone who didn’t want to kill her, but to consume her.
Scene Hook: The Library Shadow.
Later that afternoon, Ariella is studying in the deep, quiet stacks of the library.
Silas and the guards are stationed at the doors, but the library has “dead zones.”
As she’s reaching for a book on ancient pack law, a hand reaches over her shoulder, pressing against the shelf.
A strong mesmerising scent hits her instantly.
It shouldn’t be possible.
Grimshaw is miles away.
She turns, expecting her husband, but instead finds herself staring into the dark, carbon-fiber mask of The Ash-Walker.
Her heart skips a beat, and she swallows, immediately trying to hide her fear.
It was her first time seeing the Ash-Walker face-to-face, and despite the mask, she couldn’t deny the alluring quality of his presence.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she whispers, her pulse skyrocketing.
“I go where the fire is,” the Rogue rasps, his glowing red lenses inches from her face.
He leans in, his metallic-scented suit pressing against her sweater.
“And you, Ariella…
you are burning brighter than ever today.”
He reaches out, his gloved fingers tracing the line of her throat where Silas’s “Ironfang” scent is strongest.
“Does he touch you?
The Alpha?”
“He’s my husband,” she says, her voice trembling.
“He is a cage,” the Rogue growls, his hand sliding up to cup her jaw.
“I am the key.
Remember that when the Burning becomes too much to bear.”
He vanishes into the shadows of the stacks just as Silas rounds the corner.
“Ariella?
Is everything alright?
Your heart rate spiked.”
Ariella looks at the empty space where the Ash-Walker had been.
Her neck is tingling where he touched her.
“I’m fine,” she says, her voice shaky.
“Just a difficult chapter.”
We are officially back with daily updates!
Ariella and Grimshaw’s journey is just getting started, and things are about to get chaotic.
What do you think of Grimshaw so far?
Let me know in the comments!