Chapter 14 A Pureblood sister
The penthouse was gone.
Ivan’s bomb had done its job.
What was left was black. Charred. Glass and steel and the skeleton of Alex’s life.
Mia stood in what used to be the living room. Where he had told her about the $4M debt. Where he had scented her. Where her life ended and started.
“All of it,” she said.
“Insured,” Alex said. He was behind her. Not touching. Giving her space. “Money does not matter.”
“What did matter?”
He was quiet. Then: “The safe. In the bedroom. It was fireproof.”
They found it.
In the rubble. Black. Sealed.
Alex punched in the code. 8011.
Day 8. Month 01. Year 11.
The day his mother died.
The safe opened.
Inside: cash, passports, a gun. And a file.
CARUSO, M.
Her father’s file.
Mia took it. Hands shaking. Different reason now.
She opened it.
Photos. Marco. Elena. Young. Smiling. In love.
A birth certificate. Alessia De Luca. Date: 8 months after Elena’s “execution”.
A letter.
If you are reading this, Alex, it means Marco failed. It means Ivan found us. Protect her. Your sister lives. Elena.
MIA
Sister.
He has a sister. Pureblood. Heir. Hidden.
And Alex...
She looked up.
Alex was reading over her shoulder. Face blank. Too blank.
“She is alive,” Mia whispered.
Alex closed the file. Slow. Controlled.
“Or it is a trap,” he said.
“Or it is hope.”
He looked at her. Really looked. “Hope got my mother killed. Hope got Marco killed. Hope will get you killed.”
“Then stop hoping,” Mia said. “And start planning. Because we have 28 days before the curse takes us. Thirty six hours before the Council takes you. And now we have a sister to find before Ivan’s men do.”
Gold flared. Not feral. Focused.
“Pakhan,” he said.
“Is that yes in Russian?”
“That is yes in mine.”
The pack house nest was clean now.
New sheets. New dirt. New clothes.
Alex was in the shower. Door open. Because he did not trust the Council not to try again. Because he did not trust himself to be far from her.
Mia sat on the edge of the bed. Staring at her hands.
Human hands. For now.
But she could feel the wolf. Under her skin. Pacing. Waiting.
Thirty six hours to mark me, the Council said.
Twenty eight days to bond or die, the curse said.
Choose, Alex had said.
Always choose.
He came out. Towel low. Hair wet. Scars on his chest she had never seen. Bullet. Knife. Claw. Life.
He stopped when he saw her face.
“Mia.”
“I cannot do it,” she said. Fast. Before she lost nerve. “Not yet. Not like this. Not with a timer and a threat and your mother’s ghost in a file.”
He nodded. Once. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.” He walked to the dresser. Pulled on a shirt. Covered the scars. Covered the him. “You say no, it is no. Always.”
Relief hit her so hard she almost cried.
“But,” he said. Turning. “We need to give the Council something. Or they will come here. And I will not lose you in my own home.”
“What then?”
He walked to her. Slow. Asking.
Lifted his hand. Touched her hair. Tucked it behind her ear.
Not her neck. Not yet.
“Pack marks,” he said. Voice rough. “Not a claim bite. Not a bond. A statement. To the pack. To the Council. To Ivan’s ghost.”
He pulled his collar down.
Right side. Over his heart.
There was a tattoo. Old. Black. Fangs around a crown. Pakhan.
“Yours,” he said. “If you want it. Ink. Not teeth. My blood in the ink. So they scent me on you. So they know to kneel without me asking.”
MIA
His blood. On me. In me. But not a bond.
Time. It buys us time.
She stood.
“Do it.”
Yelena did the tattoo.
In the nest. With Alex holding Mia’s hand.
Not a fang. Not a crown.
A wolf. White. Around a rose. Thorns. Luna.
Alex’s blood was in the ink.
When it was done, Yelena stepped back.
“It is set,” Yelena said. “The pack will scent him on you. The Council cannot say you are unclaimed. Not without challenging Pakhan Law.”
Mia looked at her shoulder. At the wolf. At the his.
Then she looked at Alex.
He was staring at the tattoo. Like it was a miracle. Like it was her.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
For what, she did not know.
Choosing. Staying. Bleeding.
All of it.
Kane burst in. Phone in hand. Face pale.