Maya didn't sleep.
How could she? Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Marcus's golden eyes. Felt his hand on her throat. Heard that wet sound of teeth tearing through flesh.
She sat on the edge of the massive bed in the guest room Kade had assigned her—a room bigger than her entire apartment—and stared at her phone.
The photo of Leo mocked her. Some monster knew where her brother was. Knew he was vulnerable.
Her finger hovered over Leo's contact. She should call him. Warn him.
But what would she say? Hey, little brother, werewolves are real and one of them wants to kill me, so you might be in danger too?
He'd think she'd lost her mind.
Maybe she had.
A knock on the door made her jump.
"It's five AM," came a woman's crisp voice. "Mr. Blackthorn wants to see you. Immediately."
Maya opened the door to find the same uniformed woman from last night. Up close, she looked about fifty, with sharp eyes that missed nothing.
"I'm Mrs. Park. House manager." She looked Maya up and down, her expression unreadable. "You'll need different clothes. You can't meet the pack looking like a waitress."
"The pack?"
"They're gathering downstairs. Word spread that the Alpha brought home a human." Mrs. Park's smile was thin. "They're not happy about it."
Ten minutes later
Maya stood in front of a mirror, barely recognizing herself.
Mrs. Park had dressed her in dark jeans, boots, and a fitted black sweater that probably cost more than Maya's monthly rent. Her hair was pulled back, her face clean of the blood and tears from last night.
She looked... almost like she belonged here.
Almost.
"Remember," Mrs. Park said, adjusting Maya's collar. "Don't show fear. Wolves can smell it. Don't make direct eye contact unless you're challenging someone. And whatever you do, don't correct Mr. Blackthorn in front of his pack. He needs to appear in control."
"This is insane," Maya whispered.
"This is survival." Mrs. Park opened the door. "Now come. They're waiting."
The hallway was different in daylight. Still cold. Still perfect. But now Maya could see the details—the artwork on the walls, the expensive rugs, the windows overlooking grounds that seemed to stretch forever.
And the eyes.
People—no, wolves—stood in doorways, watching her pass. Some curious. Some hostile. All of them inhuman in a way Maya couldn't quite name.
"Is the whole house full of werewolves?" Maya whispered.
"This is pack territory. Fifty-three wolves live on the grounds. Another hundred in the surrounding area." Mrs. Park didn't look at her. "All of them answer to Kade Blackthorn. And all of them are wondering why their Alpha brought home a human the night before he's supposed to choose a wolf mate."
They descended the grand staircase.
At the bottom, in what appeared to be a massive living room, at least thirty wolves waited.
And in the center, dressed in black and radiating cold authority, stood Kade.
His silver eyes found Maya immediately.
"There you are." His voice carried across the room. Everyone went silent. "Come here."
It wasn't a request.
Maya's legs felt like water, but she forced herself to walk forward. Every eye tracked her movement. She could feel their judgment. Their confusion.
Their hunger.
When she reached Kade, he pulled her against his side, his arm around her waist like he owned her.
"This is Maya Torres," he announced to the room. "My mate."
The silence was deafening.
Then someone laughed. A woman stepped forward—tall, blonde, stunning, with eyes that glowed amber. "Your mate? Kade, she's human. She doesn't even have a scent mark."
"Not yet," Kade said coldly.
The woman's smile was vicious. "The Council will never accept this. A human mate? After Isabella?" She looked at Maya like she was dirt. "This is an insult to her memory."
Kade's grip on Maya tightened. "Careful, Vanessa."
"Why? Because you'll what? Replace me too?" Vanessa circled them like a predator. "We all know what this is. Desperation. The Council's deadline is in thirty days and you're panicking. So you grabbed the first warm body you could find and now you're trying to sell us this pathetic lie—"
"Enough."
The word cracked like a whip.
Vanessa stopped. But her smile didn't fade. "Make me believe it, then. Prove she's your mate."
"I don't have to prove anything to you."
"You have to prove it to them." Vanessa gestured to the room. To all the wolves watching. "Because right now? They think you've lost your mind. They think you're weak. And weakness in an Alpha means—"
"I said enough!" Kade's voice wasn't loud. But power radiated from him in waves that made Maya's skin prickle. "Maya is my mate. If anyone has a problem with that, they can challenge me for leadership. Right here. Right now."
No one moved.
"That's what I thought." Kade's arm left Maya's waist. "Meeting adjourned. Get out."
The wolves filed out slowly, some throwing Maya looks of disgust, others pity.
Vanessa was the last to leave. At the door, she turned back.
"Thirty days, Kade. And when the Council sees through this farce, I'll be there to watch everything you built collapse." Her smile was poison. "Just like Isabella watched you fail to save her."
She left.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Maya realized she was shaking. "What just happened?"
"Politics." Kade walked to the window, his back to her. "Vanessa wanted to be my mate. The Council suggested her three times. I refused. She doesn't forgive easily."
"She said Isabella—your wife—she said—"
"Don't." Kade's voice was ice. "We're not discussing my wife."
"But if I'm supposed to convince people I'm your mate, don't I need to know—"
"You need to know your role. Nothing more." He turned, his silver eyes cold. "You're a prop, Maya. A piece on a chessboard. Don't confuse this arrangement with a real relationship."
The words stung more than they should have.
"Fine," Maya said quietly. "Then what's my next move on this chessboard?"
Kade studied her for a long moment. "Sophie's school called. She refused to get out of bed. You're taking her."
"What? I can't just—"
"You bonded with her last night. She actually talked to you. That hasn't happened in three years." Kade's expression didn't change. "So now you get to be the one who deals with her. Consider it part of your job."
"I'm not a nanny—"
"No. You're my mate. Which means Sophie is your responsibility too." He headed for the door. "You have twenty minutes to get her dressed and out the door. If you're late, her school calls the Council's family services division. And if they investigate, they'll find out this entire arrangement is a lie."
He left.
Maya stood alone in the massive room, her hands clenched into fists.
A prop. A piece on a chessboard.
That's all she was to him.
Her phone buzzed.
Another text from the unknown number:
The Alpha's playing a dangerous game. Hope you're worth dying for.
Maya deleted it with shaking hands and headed upstairs.
Sophie's room - 15 minutes later
"NO!" Sophie threw a pillow at the door. "I'm not going to school!"
Maya dodged it. "Sophie, you have to—"
"I HATE SCHOOL! Everyone stares at me! They whisper about my mom!" Another pillow. "And now they're gonna whisper about YOU!"
"Then let them whisper." Maya sat on the floor outside the barricaded door. "I don't care what they say."
"Well I DO!" Sophie's voice cracked. "Yesterday Emily Parker said my dad was getting a new wife to replace my mom. And I told her she was lying. But then you showed up and now everyone's gonna say Emily was RIGHT!"
Maya's chest tightened. "Sophie, I'm not replacing—"
"Everyone replaces everyone! That's what adults DO!" The door rattled. "My mom died and Daddy acts like she never existed! He took down all her pictures! He won't say her name! And now he has YOU!"
"Your dad isn't trying to replace your mom," Maya said gently. "He's trying to survive losing her. There's a difference."
Silence.
"How do you know?" Sophie's voice was small now.
"Because I did the same thing when my mom died. I packed away all her stuff. Didn't talk about her. Pretended it didn't hurt." Maya pressed her hand against the door. "But it did hurt. Every single day. And avoiding it just made it worse."
She heard movement. Footsteps approaching the door.
"Does it ever stop hurting?" Sophie whispered.
"No. But it gets easier to carry."
The door opened a crack.
Sophie stood there in her pajamas, her face swollen from crying. "I don't want to go to school."
"I know."
"Everyone's going to ask about you."
"Probably."
"What do I tell them?"
Maya thought about Kade's words. You're a prop. A piece on a chessboard.
But looking at this broken little girl, she couldn't just be that.
"Tell them the truth," Maya said. "That I'm someone your dad brought home. That you don't know what I am yet. That you're still figuring it out."
Sophie blinked. "You want me to tell them I don't know?"
"Honesty's easier than lying. Trust me."
For a moment, Sophie just stared at her.
Then, quietly: "Will you take me to school?"
"If you want me to."
Sophie nodded. "But I'm wearing my Elsa dress. The school says I can't, but I don't care."
"Deal."
Thirty minutes later - In the car
Sophie sat in her Elsa dress in the backseat of Kade's car, clutching a backpack covered in star stickers.
The driver—a massive man who introduced himself only as "Marcus's replacement"—drove in silence.
"Why do you smell weird?" Sophie asked suddenly.
Maya blinked. "What?"
"You smell different than other people. Like..." Sophie's nose wrinkled. "Like flowers but also like fear."
"I'm human. We probably all smell weird to you."
"No. Other humans smell like food." Sophie said it so casually that Maya's blood ran cold. "You smell like something else."
"Maybe because I'm scared."
"Of what?"
Everything, Maya thought. Your father. This world. The wolf who wants to kill me.
"New places," Maya said instead. "I've never been around werewolves before. It's a lot."
Sophie considered this. "Are you going to leave?"
"What?"
"Everyone leaves. The nannies. The ladies Daddy brings home. Even the pack members." Sophie's voice got very small. "My mom left too."
"Your mom didn't choose to leave, Sophie."
"But she's still gone." Sophie looked out the window. "So are you going to leave too?"
Maya thought about the thirty-day deal. About the money. About the plan to disappear.
She thought about lying.
But Sophie said she could smell lies.
"I don't know what's going to happen," Maya said honestly. "But right now, I'm here. And I'm not planning to go anywhere today."
"What about tomorrow?"
"Let's worry about today first."
The car pulled up to a pristine private school—all brick and manicured lawns and expensive cars in the parking lot.
Sophie didn't move.
"I hate it here," she whispered.
"I know."
"Everyone's going to stare."
"Let them."
Sophie looked at Maya. "Will you walk me in?"
"If you want."
"And will you..." Sophie's voice got smaller. "Will you pick me up too?"
Maya's chest ached. This child had been abandoned by everyone. Of course she was terrified of being left again.
"Yes," Maya said. "I'll pick you up."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Sophie grabbed her backpack and opened the door. But before she got out, she turned back.
"Maya?"
"Yeah?"
"I still don't like you very much."
Maya smiled. "That's fair."
"But I don't hate you either. Not yet."
"I'll take it."
Sophie almost smiled. Then she ran toward the school, her Elsa dress flowing behind her.
Maya watched her go, something painful twisting in her chest.
Thirty days.
She was supposed to be here for thirty days and then disappear.
But looking at that little girl who'd been broken by loss and abandonment, Maya wasn't sure she could do that anymore.
Back at the mansion - 9 AM
Maya walked into the house to find Kade standing in the entry, his phone pressed to his ear.
"I don't care what the Council wants," he was saying. "They'll get their proof in thirty days... No, I'm not bringing her to the inspection early... Because she's not ready!"
He ended the call and threw his phone across the room. It hit the wall and shattered.
Then he saw Maya.
"Where's Sophie?"
"School. Like you asked."
"She went? Without a fight?"
"She wore her Elsa dress and I promised to pick her up."
Kade's jaw tightened. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."
"I can keep it. I'll be here at three."
"You don't understand. In this world, promises are binding. If you say you'll do something—"
"Then I'll do it." Maya crossed her arms. "I'm not going to fail a child just because I'm temporary."
Something flashed in Kade's eyes. Surprise? Respect?
"The Council moved up the inspection," he said finally. "Three days from now instead of thirty."
Maya's stomach dropped. "What?"
"Vanessa called them. Told them I'd brought home a human mate. They want to verify the bond is real." His silver eyes locked on hers. "Which means we have three days to convince them you're actually my fated mate. Not thirty."
"That's impossible!"
"That's our new deadline." Kade stepped closer. "So starting now, we train. You learn pack hierarchy. Wolf customs. How to act like you belong. And most importantly—" His hand cupped her chin, tilting her face up. "—you learn how to look at me like you're in love."
His touch sent electricity through her skin.
"Can you do that, Maya? Can you lie convincingly enough to save both our lives?"
Maya thought about Leo. About Sophie. About Marcus hunting her.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Good." Kade's thumb brushed her lower lip. "Because if the Council suspects this is fake, they won't just disband my pack. They'll execute you for fraud. Slowly. As an example."
He dropped his hand and walked away.
Maya stood frozen, her heart hammering.
Three days.
She had three days to learn how to fake being in love with a man who terrified her.
Three days to convince ancient werewolves she belonged in their world.
Three days before everything fell apart.
Her phone buzzed.
Another message:
Day one and you're already in over your head. Tick tock, little human.
Attached was a photo.
Sophie. Walking into her school.
With a red target photoshopped over her heart.
Maya's hands started shaking.
They weren't just threatening her anymore.
They were threatening Sophie.
She looked down the hallway where Kade had disappeared.
Then back at the photo.
Three days, she thought. I just have to survive three days.
But deep down, Maya knew the truth.
Three days might be two too many.
And this time, it wasn't just her life on the line.
A door slammed open upstairs.
"MAYA!" Sophie's voice screamed from somewhere above. "MAYA, HELP!"
Maya's blood went ice cold.
But Sophie was at school. She'd just dropped her off—
The scream came again. "HELP ME!"
Maya ran for the stairs.
Behind her, she heard Kade's voice: "MAYA, STOP! IT'S A TRAP—"
But she was already running.
Because that was Sophie's voice.
And Maya had made a promise.
Even if keeping it killed her.