CHAPTER 2: SHADOWS AND SMOKE
577 Words
The penthouse office hovered sixty floors above the city, enough glass and steel around it to make the world below look like his own private constellation. Kade Ashford stood at the window, hands in his pockets, taking in the city—his city.
Behind him, five alphas circled an obsidian table. Any one of them could snap a man’s bones and not lose sleep over it. But in front of Kade, not a single one dared to move or speak out of turn.
"The Westside development is complete," Marcus Vane said. "The families have been relocated."
Kade didn’t bother to glance back. "Relocated or removed?"
"Does it matter?"
Now Kade turned. The air in the room seemed to tighten, sharp and cold. He locked eyes with Marcus, and suddenly every alpha remembered that predators could still become prey.
"It matters," Kade said, his voice barely above a whisper, "because I asked."
Marcus had to swallow before he answered. "Relocated. Exactly as you wanted."
"Good."
Kade moved to the table—unhurried, with the smooth confidence of something dangerous. Tall and broad-shouldered, he was striking, but it was the force radiating off him that made people uneasy. He didn’t just expect respect; he bent everyone around him to his will.
David Chen spoke up. "The prosecutor’s office has been quiet. But Marcus Thorne’s conviction...people are getting braver."
"Thorne was careless," Kade said flatly. "Too much ego. That’s a death sentence."
David hesitated, then pushed forward. "The prosecutor who took him down. Sienna Reeves. She’s...different."
"Different how?"
"She’s immune."
The whole room went still. One of those silences where even flipping a page would sound like a thunderclap.
Kade’s face didn’t shift, but the atmosphere turned thick—heavy enough to press down on your lungs.
"Explain."
"Alpha influence doesn’t touch her," David said. "Thorne tried everything. Any normal mind would’ve snapped. She didn’t even flinch. She’s a beta, but—untouchable."
Kade stayed quiet, thinking it through. In his world, control wasn’t just power—it was everything. But this woman stood outside that order.
Interesting.
"How many alphas has she put away?"
"Seventeen. Never lost a case."
"And not a single word about her?"
"She’s never aimed at you. She only takes down the reckless ones. You’re—"
"Untouchable," Kade said. The word tasted strange in his mouth.
But his mind was already moving. Sienna Reeves. Immune. Out of reach.
Something cold and hungry twisted inside him.
He’d never lacked for anything. Money, control, people—they all broke eventually.
But a woman who couldn’t be broken?
Kade’s lips curled in a smile that would make most people want to run.
"Find out everything," he said quietly. "Where she lives, works, who she talks to, what she eats for breakfast. I want every detail before she does."
"Kade," Marcus started, voice careful, "she’s a prosecutor. If you get involved—"
"Get involved how?" Kade’s words came softly, sharp as a razor. "Did I ask for your advice?"
Marcus shut up.
Kade turned back to the night outside. Somewhere, there was a woman who believed she couldn’t be touched. Who thought she knew the limits of power.
She didn’t know that she’d just caught his attention.
"Go."
The alphas slipped out, eager to be away from him.
Now alone, Kade pressed his palm to the glass and stared down at the city.
Sienna Reeves.
He would have her.
She’d learn there’s no such thing as untouchable.
- Writer
