Title: CONTRACT WITH MY EX-HUSBAND BOSS

Chapter Three: The Ghost in the Glass

CASPIAN POV

The copper tang of her blood was still coating the roof of my mouth, and it was driving my wolf into a goddamn frenzy.

I turned away from Varia abruptly, my hands shoving deep into my trouser pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking.

I could feel her eyes on my back—confused, stinging, and probably searching for the man who had just claimed her in front of the entire world.

"Get dressed," I said, my voice coming out like a slab of cracked granite. "We’re leaving for the Mayfair office in twenty minutes."

"Caspian?" Her voice was small, breathless. "What just happened? You just... you told me you’re keeping me prisoner."

I didn't turn around. I couldn't. If I looked at her—really looked at her—with that silk robe hanging off one shoulder and my mark blooming red on her throat, I’d lose the little bit of control I had left.

"It was a tactic, Varia. I told you. We’re giving them a show."

"It didn't feel like a tactic," she whispered.

"Well, you’re a better actress than I thought," I snapped, finally pivoting to face her.

I forced my expression into the mask of the cold-blooded CEO who had fired her without a second thought two years ago.

"Don't read into it. I’ve spent five years building the Allanven name into something the High Council fears. I’m not letting a bottom-feeder like Nathan ruin my reputation because he thinks I’m playing house."

She winced as if I’d slapped her. Good. She needed to be angry. It was safer for both of us.

"You're a prick," she spat, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears that she was too proud to let fall.

"I'm an Alpha," I corrected. "Now move."

She stormed past me, the scent of her—now laced with the dark, heavy musk of my own mark—hitting me like a physical blow.

As soon as the bedroom door slammed shut, I turned to the sideboard and poured a double of Macallan. I downed it in one go, the burn in my throat doing nothing to settle the fire in my gut.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I looked exactly like my father. The same hollow eyes. The same ruthless mouth.

“Never let them scent your pulse, Caspian,” the old man had told me while I watched him bleed out after my mother’s betrayal.

“A woman is a vulnerability. A mate is a death sentence.”

He’d been right. Eleven years ago, I watched my mother hand over our pack’s coordinates to the hunters just so she could run away with a rogue she thought she loved.

She’d walked over my father’s dying body without a backward glance. I’d sworn then, over his cooling blood, that no woman would ever get close enough to see the man behind the ink.

And yet, here I was. Buying a wife. Marking a girl I’d spent two years watching through security feeds and HR reports.

My phone buzzed on the table. It was a text from Brian, my Head of Security.

[Brian]: Nathan didn't leave the city. He’s checked into The Dorchester. He’s meeting with someone from the Silverside Syndicate. Be careful.

The Silverside Syndicate. Wolf hunters for hire. Nathan would be truly desperate if he was crawling for the humans who specialized in skinning us.

"I'm ready."

I looked up. Varia stood there, dressed in a smart, tailored black suit I’d had delivered last week. She’d covered the mark on her neck with a silk scarf, but the scent was still there. It was screaming MINE to every wolf in the building.

"Your scarf is crooked," I said, my voice tighter than I intended.

She went to adjust it, her fingers fumbling. "I can't... I can't get the pin to stay."

I walked over, my shadow falling over her. She froze as I reached out. My fingers brushed her skin, and she let out a tiny, sharp intake of air.

"Caspian," she whispered, her eyes searching for mine. "Why did you really fire me two years ago? It wasn't about the files. I checked. Nothing was missing."

I stopped. The truth was a weight in my chest.

I’d fired her because I’d caught myself staring at the way she tucked her hair behind her ear for twenty minutes instead of reading a fifty-million-pound merger. I’d fired her because I was starting to feel something other than cold ambition.

"You were a distraction," I said, my voice dropping an octave. "And I don't like distractions."

"Am I still a distraction?"

The air between us felt like it was charged with a thousand volts.

I could hear her heart—thump-thump, thump-thump—racing in sync with mine. I leaned down, my lips inches from the scarf.

"You're a liability, Varia. And if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to forget why I’m supposed to be protecting you."

I pulled the pin straight and stepped back, the distance feeling like a physical ache.

"Let’s go. Brian is waiting."

The elevator ride down to the garage was silent, the kind of silence that precedes a storm. But as the doors opened, the peace was shattered.

The garage was flooded with light—not the overhead fluorescents, but the flashing blue and red of police cruisers. And standing in the middle of it, looking smug as hell, was a man I hadn't seen in years.

Zallan Allanven. My half-brother. The one my father had exiled.

"Caspian!" Zallan called out, grinning like a shark. "I heard there was a wedding. I figured I’d come by and see if the rumors were true. Is she really as pretty as the scouts say?"

I stepped in front of Varia, my wolf snarling just beneath the surface. "What are you doing here, Zallan? You’re barred from London."

"The High Council sent me," Zallan said, his eyes darting towards Varia, lingering on the scarf around her neck. "There’s been a challenge filed. It seems Nathan has some proof that your 'claim' wasn't exactly consensual. He’s calling for a Trial of Blood."

Varia gasped, her hand flying into my arm. A Trial of Blood was a fight to the death.

"He can't do that," I said, my voice low and dangerous. "The mark is fresh."

"He can if the bride testifies," Zallan purred, stepping closer. He looked at Varia, his smile widening. "So, tell me, darling. Did the big bad Alpha force you? Because if you say the word, you can come with me. I’ll treat you much better than my brother ever could."

I felt Varia’s grip on my arm tighten. I waited for her to speak, my heart stopping in my chest. She looked at Zallan, then up at me.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she said, her voice remarkably steady.

Zallan’s smile didn't flicker. "We'll see about that at the hearing tonight." He turned to go, but stopped, looking back over his shoulder.

"Oh, by the way, Caspian. I ran into an old friend of yours at the airport. Zoe says hello."

The name hit me like a silver bullet to the gut. Zoe. The woman who had taught me exactly how much it hurts when a woman betrays you.

I felt the blood leave my face.

"She’s back?" I whispered.

"She’s Nathan’s lead witness," Zallan laughed, walking toward his car. "Enjoy the honeymoon, brother. It’s going to be a short one."

The garage went quiet as he drove away. I felt Varia’s hand on my chest, trying to ground me.

"Caspian? Who is Zoe?"

I looked down at her, the walls I’d spent a decade building slamming back into place with a vengeance. I shoved her hand off me, my eyes turning cold, dead.

"Nobody," I said, my voice a hollow shell. "She’s nobody."

I turned and walked toward the SUV, leaving her standing there. But as I opened the door, I looked back at her—the girl who was supposed to be my pawn, but was starting to feel like my queen.

"Get in the car, Varia," I said, my voice cracking just enough for her to hear.

"The war has officially started."

I climbed in, my mind racing. I had to kill Nathan. I had to silence Zoe. But as I looked at Varia in the rearview mirror, I realized the biggest threat wasn't the hunters or the council.

It was the fact that, for the first time in eleven years, I actually had something to lose.