Chapter 78

Grayson’s POV

“Trouble at home?”

Rickon’s voice cut through my thoughts, laced with that irritating amusement he always seemed to carry. My eyes snapped up from my laptop, fixing him with an unamused glare.

“Don’t start. I’m not in the mood.”

He raised his hands defensively, though his smirk didn’t falter. To his credit, he didn’t say another word. The room fell silent, save for the faint hum of the air conditioner and the occasional creak of his chair as he shifted. It was a strained silence, filled with anticipation for the information we were waiting on. The lead he’d dragged me into his office for—blowing up my phone with promises of a breakthrough—had better be worth the disruption.

As much as I hated to admit it, I was running out of options. Ricardo’s death was a sharp reminder of how little control I had over the situation. Carter hadn’t been able to find anything concrete, and if someone powerful enough to take out Ricardo was still out there, I needed to pay attention, even if it meant dealing with Rickon’s antics.

Unfortunately, my mind wasn’t entirely on the case. Ava’s voice played on a loop in my head: “Kiss me.”

It had been all I could think about since the moment she said it. My wolf growled, demanding I give in, to claim her in ways that terrified me with their intensity. She wasn’t my mate—I knew that—but there was something undeniable between us, something primal and unrelenting.

Last night had been hell. I’d forced myself to stay away, but even that hadn’t spared me. Her scent lingered in the air, pulling me in, refusing to let me sleep. By the time dawn broke, I thought I’d managed to wrestle back some control. A cold shower had seemed like the perfect antidote.

Until I stepped out and heard her.

A soft moan, breathy and broken, slipped through the thin walls. My name followed. My wolf snapped to attention, growling with satisfaction as her body shuddered and fell silent. The realization hit me like a truck, and when her eyes opened—wide and horrified—and locked with mine, I did the only thing I could think of: I walked away.

But the image refused to leave me, replaying over and over in vivid detail, even now.

“I know you indirectly told me to shut up,” Rickon’s voice yanked me out of my spiraling thoughts, “but in case you haven’t noticed, I have a problem staying shut. So I have a question to ask.”

I shot him a glare. “The answer is no.”

He grinned, clearly unbothered. That cocky, infuriating charm he wore like armor was the reason I hated dealing with him. Everyone seemed drawn to it, falling under his spell effortlessly. Ava included.

“It’s not a yes or no question,” he replied, leaning back in his chair.

“Why are you still talking to me? You’ve already wasted twenty minutes of my time. If your source doesn’t deliver in the next ten, I’m leaving.”

His grin widened as if I’d told him a joke. “That’s what my question is about, actually. Do you have, like, a specific thought—an angry thought—all the time?”

08:51 Tue, Dec 1,

Chapter 78

I blinked, unsure if I’d heard him right. “What?”

“You know,” he continued, nodding as though he’d solved a great mystery, “like a mental image or something. Because there’s no logical reason for you to look this pissed off right now.”

I leaned forward, letting my voice drop to a low growl. “Yes. I think about how incompetent some of the Alphas under me are. How they waste my time with idiotic questions that make me consider cutting their tongues out, which I’ve imagined doing at least a hundred times. That usually does the trick.”

Rickon’s smile faltered, a flicker of unease crossing his face. I didn’t break eye contact, watching as he cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Before he could muster a reply, a knock at the door broke the tension.

“Come in,” he called, his voice slightly higher than usual.

His assistant entered, her gaze flickering to me briefly before she turned her attention to Rickon. “Should I send in your six o’clock now?”

Rickon frowned. “I don’t have any meetings scheduled today.”

“Yes, you do,” she replied hesitantly. “And he is here already.”

I barely registered their exchange because I was already ready to leave anyway, but the moment the door opened again, my wolf bristled. The scent hit me first—Dylan.

Tension coiled in the room as he stepped inside, his gaze darting between Rickon and me.

“Alpha King Grayson,” he said, inclining his head in politeness the second our eyes clashed. “I didn’t realize you’d be here.”

Rickon held up a hand, his expression shifting into something close to panic. “I swear, this wasn’t planned. The meeting was supposed to be tomorrow,” he snapped, shooting a pointed look at his assistant, who shrank under his glare.

“My apologies,” she stammered, quickly excusing herself.

Dylan hesitated, his eyes flickering with unease as they darted between me and Rickon. “If this is a bad time, I can return later,” he said, his voice laced with careful deference.

I stood, my patience already stretched too thin. “You can have your meeting. This was a waste of time anyway.”

As I moved to leave, Rickon’s phone buzzed on the desk. His gaze dropped to the screen, and his expression shifted into something slightly smug. “The file just came through,” he announced, then glanced up at me with what he probably thought was an apologetic smile. “We can go over it now.”

Before I could speak, he added quickly, “This won’t take long. I promise. I just need to finalize the alliance with Dylan.”

That word made me pause, my movements stilled by its implication. Alliance?

My gaze snapped to Dylan, then back to Rickon. Forcing down the flicker of surprise and irritation tightening my chest, I exhaled through my nose and nodded curtly, retaking my seat. Dylan, doing his best to avoid looking directly at me, shuffled into the room and sank into the chair opposite Rickon, next to me. The subtle scent of his unease drifted in the air, a bitter note my wolf picked up on immediately.

Rickon wasted no time launching into the discussion, his voice smooth and casual, as though he weren’t playing a dangerous game by aligning himself with someone like Dylan. I leaned back in my chair, forcing myself into an appearance of detached interest, though my thoughts churned violently. Why him? Rickon, of all people, should’ve known better. Given the history between Dylan and Ava—and Isabella being his mate—this alliance seemed reckless at best, treacherous at worst. My wolf growled low in my chest, the sound vibrating through me. I clenched my jaw, forcing back the growl before it could escape. Stay calm. Focus.

I didn’t care about Dylan—not really—other than the fact that if I ever stepped two inches near Ava, I would rip his head off. I hated that I couldn’t do that now because all he had done was show respect since he stepped in.

Rickon and Dylan’s voices continued to hum in the background. I tuned them out, too restless to process whatever nonsense they were hashing out. My thoughts drifted, pulled—as they always were—to the one thing I couldn’t seem to shake: Ava.

The way her lips parted when she’d whispered, “Kiss me.” I should have just done it—consequences be damned. This morning, instead of walking away, I should’ve done anything but that. Because now, more than ever, it was clear that I didn’t have a problem anymore. My body reacted to her, and maybe a part of me had walked away because I wasn’t sure what the hell to do with it.

That seemed to be the theme of my life ever since Ava walked in. Before her, I never second-guessed anything. Then suddenly, everything was different. She made me hesitate. She made me think.

A voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “I’ll send over the papers…”

I blinked, realizing Rickon’s words meant the meeting was wrapping up. Surprisingly short, given the weight of their so-called alliance. Dylan stood, smoothing down his shirt, and just as he opened his mouth to say something, a commotion broke out outside the office.

My heightened senses picked up the sound of the assistant frantically trying to stop someone from entering. I let out a groan, already bracing myself for whatever drama was about to unfold.

The door burst open, and as if conjured from my thoughts, there she was: Ava. She stood in the doorway, her eyes immediately locking onto mine like we were magnets drawn together. Her eyes widened, and for a moment, everything else disappeared. Then, just as quickly, someone pushed past her.

Isabella stormed into the room, the assistant still trying ineffectively to hold her back. Her fiery glare landed squarely on Rickon as she ignored everyone else in the room.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing aligning with him?”