FOURTY TWO

Neo POV

Something wasn't right.

It amazed me, really, how quickly Zeke had started crumbling. All it took was Sky walking back through the gates, flipping her hair, whispering his name like he still mattered. I'd spent years moulding him into the Beta I needed, and she'd undone it with one fucking look.

He had forgotten who made him. Who owned him.

And now?

Now, he looked at her like she was salvation.

Idiot.

Then there was Sky.

The moment Sky used that Alpha-bred command to dismiss my men from the room, I felt it—like a shift in the air. Something primal stirred beneath her voice. It shouldn't have been there. She shouldn't have that power.

And yet, they'd obeyed her. Not me.

That command had weight. The kind only a born Alpha had the right to wield.

How?

I hadn't stopped thinking about it. Hadn't stopped wondering if Father had buried more secrets in her than even he realized.

I'd ignored her existence for years, content to let her rot on the outside, thinking she was a broken little girl with nothing to offer. But now, as she stood across from me—chin high, fury seething from every breath—I was starting to suspect I'd underestimated her.

I didn't like being wrong.

Not about her.

Never about her.

"I don't know what your plan is," she spat, voice hoarse now, thick with fury and something dangerously close to fear, "but I'm not like them. I won't lie down. I won't roll over. And I sure as hell won't play nice."

"Oh, Sky…" I stood slowly, letting the chair scrape behind me just enough to make her flinch. I walked around the desk, circling her like a wolf assessing prey. "You already are."

She flinched. I smiled.

"You're here. You're training on my grounds. You're eating food made by my wolves, sleeping in my rooms. Your steps are watched. Your scent is catalogued. You are mine, Sky. Just like everyone else."

"I'm not yours," she growled, defiant.

"You will be," I murmured. "One way or another. Like they were."

"Like who were?" she snapped, eyes narrowing. She stepped forward, fire in her gaze. I didn't answer. I just watched her, enjoying the way confusion flickered into horror as the meaning hit.

"What do you mean—'like they were'?" she pressed again, but I only returned to my chair, taking my time as I leaned back, ignoring her like a child throwing a tantrum.

She snapped.

She reached for the first thing her hand could find—an antique glass compass set in brass. My father's, in fact. Worth more than most of the omegas she felt so strongly about. She threw it across the room with a guttural cry. It hit the wall, shattered, and rained glittering shards onto the floor.

I was on my feet instantly, rage blinding me. My body screamed to lunge, to grab her by the throat and remind her exactly who she was dealing with—

But then—pain.

A dull cramp twisted low in my gut. It came sharp and fast, making me stagger back. My knees buckled slightly as I gripped the edge of the desk, groaning under my breath.

Fuck.

My stomach clenched again, sweat prickling along the back of my neck. 

That breakfast—her gift.

Poison?

No. Too mild for that. Not lethal. But something else. A warning. A message. Defiance wrapped in bacon and eggs.

I looked up at her, fury blazing in my eyes. She stood over me like a wolf tasting blood.

"Tell me!" she screamed again. Her voice cracked with rage—and something deeper. Grief, maybe. I could never tell with her.

"You really want to know?" I sneered, forcing myself upright despite the pain lancing through my abdomen. "Fine."

I paced slowly, keeping one hand on the desk for balance, another fisted at my side.

"The girls who can't be trained in the art of obedience—the ones who fight, who scream, who don't know their place—they're useless to me."

"That's a lie," she snapped.

"It's the truth," I snarled. "I don't need rebels. I need wombs. I need silence. I need control."

"You're disgusting."

"No," I spat. "I'm efficient."

She snatched another item from my shelf—a silver frame with an old photograph of the original enforcer line. She hurled it. I didn't flinch as it smashed against the wall.

"You sell them?"

"I do more than that." I took a step closer. "They're sent to an auction house. Beautiful little wolves who didn't play nice. Each one gets paraded, assessed, bid on like livestock. And once they're sold?" I shrugged. 

"They're no longer my problem. They serve a new master. Some are mated. Some aren't. Some are kept for… other purposes."

She went pale.

"No return. No rescue. No happy ending. Just silence. Compliance. A purpose."

She swallowed hard, but I saw it—the crack in her armor. Her jaw trembled just slightly. Another fracture.

"Don't worry," I said softly. "The auction house is discreet. Private. Protected. But it's real. And it's waiting."

"For who?" she whispered.

I smiled. "For whoever I choose."

"You'd never—"

"Oh, I would." I cut her off sharply. "Because you are my sister. And if I can break the Beta, I can break you."

She shoved me again, harder this time, but I didn't fall.

My stomach twisted again, but I masked it behind a cruel smile.

"You disgust me," she whispered.

"And yet," I said, stepping in close, my voice near her ear, "you're still standing here. Still playing the game. Still choosing to breathe my air."

Her eyes burned. "I will never let you sell me."

I chuckled. "Then behave."

She turned, storming toward the door. But just before she reached it, I called after her.

"Be careful, Sky."

She stopped.

"I've made kings kneel. Made warriors vanish. Do you really think I won't break you too?"

She didn't reply.

But I saw it. The slight hitch in her breath. The stiffness in her shoulders. 

The doubt.

Good.

She walked out without another word, slamming the door behind her.

And I was smiling.

Because now?

Now the real game had begun.

I walked back to my desk, opening the drawer, and pulled out the envelope I'd prepared weeks ago. Her name was written across the front.

The contract was ready.

All it needed… was her signature.

"One way or another, little sister," I whispered, tapping my finger against her name.

"You will benefit me—whether by strengthening my pack… or padding my bank balance."