As the morning sun rose over Uptown, Nicole sat behind her mahogany desk on the seventh floor, staring at a stack of acquisition contracts that might as well have been blank paper. For the first time in centuries, the thrill of the hunt in the boardroom had vanished. She was a woman who had lived hundreds of years, seen empires rise and fall, and navigated the most complex blood-politics of both the vampire and werewolf worlds. She had never craved anyone with this level of visceral intensity. It was a hunger that went beyond her fangs and her fur.
"Nicole, the board is waiting for your signature on the River District proposal," Belinda said, standing at the door with a look of concern.
Nicole did not look up. She was busy tracing a pattern on her blotter, her mind replaying the moment she stood on those stone steps with Lina. She was frustrated. Luna, her inner wolf, had finally woken up only to speak in riddles and then retreat into a stubborn silence. Luna claimed a mate was nearby, but she hadn't specified who. Nicole tried to logic it away. It couldn't be Lina. Lina was a human, a fragile Lyon, a girl whose mother had just slapped her across the face.
"Tell them I am busy, Belinda. And cancel my afternoon. I need to think," Nicole said, her voice sounding deeper and more gravelly than usual.
"But Nicole, this is the Lyon merger," Belinda pressed, her voice small. "Your mother said it was the priority."
"I said cancel it," Nicole snapped, her eyes flashing a gold so bright it made Belinda take a step back in genuine alarm. "And leave me. Now."
As the door clicked shut, Nicole leaned back and closed her eyes. She had known many people over her long life, but no one had ever made her feel this restless. She didn't want to admit it was a mate bond. She told herself it was just the thrill of the rivalry, or perhaps a strange fascination with Lina's innocence. Yet, she could still smell her. It was a scent of rain and sunlight that seemed to have stained her soul. Nicole was an Alpha, a Mixed Blood, a woman who controlled thousands of lives, yet she was being distracted by a human girl she barely knew.
Miles away, in a modest hostel apartment near the university, Lina Peters bolted upright in her bed. Her chest was heaving, her nightshirt damp with sweat. She gasped for air, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. The room was dark, the blue light of the city streetlamps filtering through the thin curtains.
"The eyes," she whispered, her voice trembling in the quiet room.
It was the same dream again. She had been running through a dense, fog filled forest. She was not running in fear, but in anticipation, as if she were searching for something she had lost. Every time, she would reach a clearing where a massive, snow white wolf stood waiting. The wolf did not growl. It simply watched her with eyes that were exactly like Nicole Blair's, molten gold and possessive.
Lina ran a hand through her tangled hair, frustration bubbling up inside her. "It is just a dream, Lina. Get it together. She is just a business rival."
She got out of bed and splashed cold water on her face, but the image of the wolf remained burned into her mind. Why did she feel so safe in that dream? And why did Nicole Blair's face haunt her every waking and sleeping second? She was a Lyon, and Nicole was the enemy. But as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, Lina saw a girl who looked less like a corporate heir and more like someone waiting for something wild to happen.