chapter one: Sign here, Human
1440 Words
The contract smelled like ink, fear, and something darker.
Elena Carter stared at the paper and counted her last 3,400 naira in her head. Rent was due tomorrow. Her hospital ID had been deactivated last week after she missed three shifts to care for her aunt. The landlord had already posted a red notice on her door.
Six months. One signature. Fifty million naira.
It was obscene money. It was impossible money. It was the only money that would keep her aunt’s clinic open and the collectors away from their small apartment in Aba.
“Stop wasting my time.”
The voice cut through the silence like a blade.
She looked up.
Alpha Damien Blackwood did not stand. He sat behind a black desk in a room with no windows, just moonlight from a skylight above. Tall. Broad shoulders that looked built to break things. Black suit, no tie. Dark hair pushed back like he’d been running his hands through it in frustration.
And his eyes. Silver. Not human. They tracked her like she was prey that had wandered into the wrong territory.
“You’re late,” he said.
“I’m human,” Elena shot back before she could stop herself. “We don’t have teleportation. Or a private jet.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. One of his Betas made a quiet sound behind her.
Around him, two wolves in suits stood against the wall. Her stomach dropped. Enforcers. The one on the left, big with a scar over his brow, was Marcus. The Beta. She’d read about him in the whispered articles online. Ruthless. Loyal only to Damien.
“The terms are non-negotiable,” Damien continued, sliding the contract across the desk with two fingers. The paper made no sound. “You marry me. For six months. You attend events. You play the part. You do not speak to the press. You do not touch me without permission. You do not leave the estate. You do not ask questions about my world.”
Elena’s mouth went dry. She’d expected harsh. She hadn’t expected caged.
“That’s… a lot of do nots,” she said. Her voice came out steadier than she felt. “What do I get, besides money?”
“Protection,” he said. “Inside these walls, no one touches you.”
Inside these walls. Like he already knew the world outside would want her dead.
Fifty million. It would save her aunt’s clinic. It would save her. She had no degree leverage, no family pack, no backup plan. Just debts and a signature.
She reached for the pen. Her fingers trembled.
“Alpha.” Marcus stepped forward. “The Council will not approve a human bride. Even temporary. Elder Rowan will call a trial.”
“They don’t have to approve,” Damien said, eyes never leaving hers. “They have to obey.”
The room went cold. The other Beta shifted his weight, hand hovering near his waist.
Elena hesitated. The pen felt heavy. “What happens after six months?”
“You walk away,” Damien said. “With your money. And you forget my name.”
Liar.
Something in his tone said he didn’t believe it either. But she was out of options. Pride didn’t pay hospital bills.
She signed. Elena Carter. In shaky black ink.
The second the pen lifted, his scent hit her.
Cedar. Smoke. Storm air before rain. It rolled over her skin and made her knees weak. Her pulse spiked. Wrong. So wrong. Humans weren’t supposed to react to Alphas like this. Wolves had mates. Humans had allergies.
Damien’s nostrils flared. His silver eyes went black for half a second.
“What did you just do?” he growled.
“I signed,” she said, heart hammering. “Like you asked.”
He stood. The room suddenly felt too small. He moved around the desk in three slow steps and stopped right in front of her chair. Close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze. Close enough to see the faint scar along his throat.
Marcus shifted behind her. “Alpha—”
“Out.”
One word. Both Betas vanished. The door clicked shut.
Damien lifted a hand and dragged one finger along the edge of the contract, right over her signature. His skin was warm. Too warm.
“Humans don’t smell like this,” he said quietly. “Sweet. Metallic. Like blood and honey.”
Elena gripped the armrests. “I showered. Promise.”
It wasn’t a joke to him. His jaw clenched, and for a second she saw it: the beast behind the man. Claws sheathing under his skin. His canines looked longer.
“You should have read the fine print,” he said.
Her stomach dropped. “What fine print?”
He leaned in, bracing both hands on the armrests, caging her in. She could see her reflection in his eyes now. Scared. Trapped.
“Clause 7.3,” he said. “In the event of accidental bond activation, the contract is void. And the human becomes pack property.”
Her blood went cold. “Pack property? Like a slave?”
“Like a mate,” he corrected. “Without rights. Without choice.”
Elena’s heart hammered against her ribs. “I’m not a wolf. That can’t happen to me.”
“Your blood,” he said. “I can smell it. You’re cut.”
She wasn’t. She checked her hands. No cuts. But her lip… she’d bitten it signing. Nerves. A tiny metallic taste.
Damien’s hand shot out and caught her chin. His thumb brushed her bottom lip, smearing the blood. He lifted it to his nose and inhaled.
Elena’s breath caught. The air between them went hot.
His eyes flared silver, fully wolf now. Pupils blown wide. “Fated,” he said, voice rough. “Impossible.”
Fated. The word hit her like a slap. She’d laughed at that trope in books. Mates. Destiny. None of that was real.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“You didn’t have to,” he said. “The bond doesn’t ask.”
The door slammed open.
“Alpha Damien!”
Luna Selene Virel stormed in, furious and flawless in a red dress that looked like it cost more than Elena’s yearly rent. She froze when she saw them. Damien, caging Elena. His thumb still at Elena’s mouth.
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You signed a contract with a human?”
Damien didn’t look away from Elena. “Yes.”
Selene’s smile was sharp enough to cut. “Then you know what happens next. The Council will call a trial. If she’s truly bound to you, Elder Rowan will demand her blood on the altar. To test if she’s tainted.”
Elena’s heart stopped. Blood on the altar. She’d read enough to know that meant death for humans.
Damien’s hand tightened on her chin. Not painful. Possessive. Claiming.
“Touch her,” he said, voice low and lethal, “and I burn the Council to the ground.”
Selene laughed, but it was ugly. No humor. Only hate. “We’ll see, Alpha. The moon rises in three hours. The trial will be at midnight. Come prepared to lose her.”
She turned on her heel and left, the door rattling in her wake.
Silence.
Elena stared at him, her hands shaking on the armrests. “What did I just sign up for?”
Damien released her chin slowly, like he didn’t want to. His thumb came away with a faint trace of red.
He pressed it to his lips. Tasted her.
“Trouble,” he said.
He stepped back. The loss of his heat made her shiver. “Marcus will show you to your room. Do not leave it. Do not speak to anyone. Especially not Selene.”
“And you?” she asked.
“I have a Council to threaten,” he said.
He walked to the window. The skylight showed a sliver of moon already rising over the black trees of the estate. Silver. Heavy. Ominous.
Elena stood on unsteady legs. Fifty million naira. That’s what she told herself. Not the way his eyes had gone black. Not the way her body had leaned toward him before her brain said no.
Marcus opened the door. “This way, Ms. Carter.”
She followed him, but at the doorway she looked back.
Damien didn’t turn. But his voice followed her.
“Three hours, Elena,” he said. “Then the whole pack learns you’re mine.”
Outside, the moon was already rising.
- Writer
