Chapter 15 IVAN
Ivan was not dead.
Alex had crushed his throat.Ivan went limp. Dropped.
Combat collar. Reinforced. Pureblood tech. It saved his windpipe. Not his pride.
“He is alive,” Kane confirmed. “ICU. Private wing. Council protection. Viktor claimed ‘attempted murder of a Council member’ and put him on lockdown. We cannot touch him without starting a war.”
“We are already at war,” Alex said.
He looked at Mia. At the fresh tattoo on her shoulder. White wolf. Rose. Thorns. His blood in the ink. Drying. Claiming. Not a bond bite. But close enough to make the pack kneel and the Council hesitate.
“Does it hurt,” he asked.
“No.” She lied. It burned. Like his blood was moving under her skin. Marking her from the inside. “Does yours?”
He pulled his collar down. Over his heart. The old Pakhan tattoo was there. Fangs. Crown. But now, under it, fresh ink.
MC.
Mia Caruso.
He had Yelena do it while Mia was getting hers.
“When,” she breathed.
“When you were biting Viktor.” His eyes were black. Human. “You chose to bleed for me. So I chose to bleed for you.”
Now it was on his skin.
The Bratva did not meet in the pack house.
They met in the basement of Alex’s last clean casino. The Volkov. Named for his mother. The irony was not lost on anyone.
Twelve men. All captains. All human. All armed. All terrified.
Because Alex was not in a suit.
He was in black. Henley. Guns. The Pakhan tattoo visible. The _MC_ tattoo visible. And Mia next to him. Tattoo visible. Gold eyes. Visible.
“Gentlemen,” Alex said. “Ivan is alive. The Council is moving against us. And my Luna is unmarked.”
The room went still.
“Problem,” said a captain. Boris. Old. Loyal to money. “Council backs Ivan. Police back Council. We have no money movement without them. We have no—”
Alex put a folder on the table.
Opened it.
Bank transfers. Offshore accounts. Shell companies.
Every dollar the Council had.
Every dollar Ivan had.
Now in Alex’s name.
“I bought them,” Alex said. “Six months ago. When I scented her.” He nodded at Mia. “I knew they would come for her. So I bought the ground they stand on.”
Boris went white. “You... you own the Council?”
“I own their debt.” Alex smiled. No humor. All teeth. “Just like I owned Marco’s. Just like I own yours.”
He looked at each man.
“Touch her and die,” he said. “That is pack law. Bratva law is simpler.”
He pulled out a phone. Played a video.
Ivan. In the ICU. Talking to a nurse.
“Kill the girl,” Ivan said on video. “Kill Mia Caruso. Make it look like an overdose. Before my nephew claims her. Before she gives him an heir.”
Video ended.
“Treason,” Alex said. “Against Pakhan. Against Luna. Sentence is death. But he is in Council protection.”
He looked at Mia.
“So we bankrupted the Council instead.”
MIA
This is mafia.
This is not wolf. This is not growl and bite and bond.
This is accounts. Leverage. Death by paperwork.
This is why Ivan cannot kill him.
This is why the Council fears him.
He is not just Alpha. He is Pakhan.
And he did it all for me.
“Orders, Pakhan,” Boris said. First to kneel.
“Bleed them dry,” Alex said. “Freeze Ivan’s accounts. Call in the Council’s loans. By morning I want Viktor selling his house for gas money.”
He stood.
Mia stood with him.
“One more thing,” Alex said. “My Luna bleeds. You bleed. My Luna goes hungry. You starve. My Luna dies...” He let it hang.
The room did not breathe.
“I burn the world.”
They were back in the nest.
Not for sex. For safety.
The Council had 24 hours left on their ultimatum. Present her marked or step down.
The tattoo had bought time. But not enough.
Alex was on the bed. Shirt off. MC over his heart.
Mia was at the window. Watching the sun come up over his city. Their city now.
“Ivan will use Alessia,” Alex said. Quiet. “Against us. A pureblood heir. The pack will want her. The Council will want her. She can challenge me without the curse.”
“She is your sister,” Mia said.
“She is a stranger.” He closed his eyes. “My mother chose her. Hid her. Lied for her. She left me.
Mia walked to him. Knelt on the bed. Between his legs. Not sexual. _Close_.
“Look at me,” she said.
He did.
“I am not leaving,” she said. “I am not your mother. I am not Elena. I am Mia. And I choose you. Not the title. Not the pack. You.”
His breath hitched.
“I cannot give you a mark yet,” she said. “Not with Ivan alive. Not with your sister as a weapon. Not with the curse waiting. But I can give you this.”
She leaned up.
Kissed him.
Not bite.
His hands came up. Into her hair. Holding. Not pulling. Asking
She let him.
For 28 seconds. One for each day they had left.
Then she pulled back.
His forehead dropped to hers.
“Luna,” he breathed. Like a prayer. Like a vow.
Kane kicked the door open.
“Boss,” Kane said. “We got him.”
“Who,” Alex said. Not moving from Mia.
“Ivan.” Kane grinned. Bloody. Wild. “He left ICU. Tried to run. We got him. Alive. Luka has him in the pit.”
Alex stood.
Mia stood with him.
“Orders,” Kane said.
Alex looked at Mia. Asking.