CHAPTER 3 – Between Alphas and Billionaires
1654 Words
ADRIAN'S POV
(BILLIONAIRE MOGUL TWIN — CEO OF A VAST BUSINESS EMPIRE.)
I slammed the hotel door so hard the frame rattled.
Henry froze mid-step, papers trembling in his hands.
“Explain,” I growled. “How did Isabella Moretti get in here?”
“I…she said it was urgent, sir!”
“Urgent?” My laugh was cold. “She’s the one woman who can destroy me and you let her walk into the wolves’ territory, where I’m supposed to have a business meeting?”
Henry swallowed hard.
“Fix it,” I said. “Make sure she never…”
Too late.
The click of heels cut me off.
Isabella stood inside the room, chin lifted, eyes cutting like knives.
She grabbed a wine bottle from the table and smashed it against the floor. Glass exploded across the carpet. She lifted a jagged shard and pointed it at me.
“Try sending me away again,” she said calmly, “and I’ll make sure neither of us walks out of here alive.”
My jaw tightened.
“Drop the glass, Isabella.”
“Henry,” she said sweetly, tilting her head. “Leave. My fiancé and I need privacy.”
Henry didn’t argue. He fled.
Silence filled the room.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“To see my future husband.” She stepped closer.
You shouldn’t even be in this space,” I said. “You know how dangerous wolves can be to humans. Why come all the way to Crimson Moon Pack?”
“You’re the one doing business with wolves, Adrian. Don’t pretend you’re afraid of them.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“I know why you came here.”
I didn’t answer.
“Not for business,” she continued. “For a damn she-wolf.”
“Come to your senses, Isabella. I’m a business person, women, enemies, it doesn’t matter. Business comes first… Always.”
She stepped closer, the shard of glass still glinting in her hand.
“Then why won’t you marry me? Isn’t our marriage business too?” Her voice trembled with anger. “After all these years, I thought we had a future… and now you want to throw it away for some wolf wh0re?”
A bitter laugh slipped from her lips.
“If that’s why you’re trying to call it off, you’ve already failed.” Her eyes burned into mine. “No woman will come near you.”
“Our parents arranged it. That’s all it ever was.”
Her grip on the glass tightened.
“I don’t care,” she snapped. “Our parents chose right. You’re mine, Adrian.”
My patience snapped.
“You know I don’t love you.”
Her lips curved slowly.
“You’re so confident… but you don’t even know who you are.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
She leaned in, voice soft with amusement.
“Maybe I should marry your brother instead.” Her eyes glittered. “After all… we’re standing in his pack.”
My mind went still.
Brother?
I had no brother… at least, none that I knew of.
My mother raised me alone. She was human. And now this crazy woman was telling me I had a wolf brother… an Alpha?
Impossible.
“I don’t have a brother,” I said at last.
She only smiled.
Then she tossed the glass shard aside.
“I’m going wedding-dress shopping at your mother’s fashion house today,” she said lightly. “Nothing you do will stop this wedding.”
She blew me a mocking kiss and slammed the door behind her.
Silence roared through the room.
I let out a heavy sigh. Parents’ arrangements. My life… and her as my spouse? I couldn’t see it working. Not ever.
Henry returned a moment later.
“Sir… the meeting begins in five minutes.”
“I don’t care,” I said flatly. “Postpone it until tomorrow. And get us out of this hotel… Isabella already knows where I am.”
“Yes, sir.”
I rubbed my temples.
“Find me somewhere I can drink without being recognized.”
Henry hesitated.
“Sir… a billionaire CEO shouldn’t be seen drunk in public.”
My gaze darkened.
“Will you stop being ridiculous?”
“Sorry, sir,” he said quickly. “There’s the Velvet Fang Club. They’re hosting a masked party tonight for the pack. No bloggers. No outsiders. It’s safe.”
“Perfect. Book me a suit. I’m going.” I grabbed my coat. “Henry…”
“Yes, sir?”
“Do you know anything about the Alpha of this pack?”
He shook his head.
“Just rumors… they say he’s ruthless. Any problem?”
I let out a short, bitter laugh.
“Not really. Right now, ruthless sounds peaceful compared to an imaginary wolf brother.”
Henry blinked, confused. “Excuse me, sir?”
“Never mind. Keep packing,” I said quickly.
★ ★ ★
LUCIEN'S POV
(THE MAFIA ALPHA TWIN - FEARED ALPHA OF THE CRIMSON MOON PACK.)
My Gamma, Markus, leaned over the table and snorted a line of white powder.
I grabbed his head and slammed it onto the table.
“Drugs? Now?” I growled. "While someone disrespected your Alpha?”
He jumped to his feet at once, his face dusted white with powder.
“I–I’m sorry, Alpha. Tonight is the mask party. It’ll be fun. I was just trying to get myself ready… you know, to mess around with those girls.”
I struck his head again. “You’re high.”
“Argh!” he groaned as he stumbled back. “Alpha, can this soft powder get me high? Haven’t we taken things stronger than this before?”
He struggled to stand straight, swaying a little, then pulled a gun from his trousers.
“Alpha, just say the word,” he said, raising it slightly. “I can take her out. Just one bullet.”
Across the room, Raphael crushed his cigar against the ashtray and pulled a dagger from his coat.
“Better idea, Alpha” he said calmly. “Let... I can rip that fearless heart right out of her chest with this.”
The blade flashed under the lights.
My fists slammed against the polished wood of my private suite.
“Enough.”
They went silent.
“I already sent the red message,” I said. “She’ll get the warning.”
Markus frowned. “So… we’re not killing her?”
I paced, her fearless face flashing in my mind… calm, unshakable, completely unimpressed. Silver hair falling over my eyes, I stopped and glared at them.
“Not yet. Do you two even understand who you’re dealing with?”
Markus snorted.
“We know, Alpha. You run the toughest men, the strongest businesses…”
I stopped and glared at him.
“Exactly. Fear is the only law here. And not just in the wolves’ world—my reach stretches into the human world too. Don’t forget that.”
Raphael smirked.
“You also own the Velvet Fang Club. The place where trouble goes to drink.”
I nodded slowly.
“Yes. But no Alpha can openly run a reckless club. I move around as a regular customer. Watch, manage, control… quietly.”
Markus tilted his head.
“That arrogant woman… she doesn’t know you’re the boss there, does she?”
I clenched my fists.
“Maybe not. But that doesn’t give her the right to humiliate me. Not in my city. Not in my pack. Not anywhere.”
Raphael leaned back, grinning.
“Then tonight’s going to be fun.”
I didn’t smile.
“Fun isn’t the word I’d use. Retribution… that’s more like it.” I paused, letting the words hang in the air. Then I asked, voice low and sharp, “What did they call her again?”
“The Wounded Lioness,” Markus said.
The name lingered.
I stopped pacing.
“She works in my club,” I said slowly. “And she thinks she can humiliate me?”
Raphael smirked.
“Alpha, just let us…”
“Bring me the manager. Now.” My voice froze him mid-sentence. “She’s mine tonight… every last bit of her.”
Minutes later, the manager crawled into the room on his knees.
“Alpha, please…”
I slapped him before he finished.
He hit the floor.
I grabbed Markus’s gun and pressed it against the side of the manager’s head.
“I want her in my bed tonight,” I said quietly. “One million dollars. Mask required. No excuse.”
The manager’s face went white.
“A-Alpha… please…” he stammered. “Kill me if you want, but forget that idea.”
I tilted my head.
“Oh?”
He wiped blood from his mouth.
“Ariel won’t take your money.”
I hit him again.
Hard.
“How dare you decide that for me?”
He collapsed, coughing, blood spreading across the floor.
Behind me, Markus and Raphael laughed like maniacs as the manager trembled on the ground. Raphael pressed the burning tip of his thick wrap against the man’s skin, savoring his pain.
“Argh!” the manager screamed.
Markus laughed again. “Alpha… should we join when you’re done mating her?”
I ignored him. My mind went back to the name. A slow, wicked smile curved my lips.
“Ariel… so that’s your name,” I muttered. “You humiliated me. And now… you’ll pay. In the worst way possible.”
Behind me, the manager suddenly laughed weakly.
The room went silent.
I turned.
“What’s funny?”
Blood slid from the corner of his mouth.
“You still don’t get it… Alpha.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Explain.”
The manager coughed again, then whispered the words that made the entire room fall silent.
“Ariel… isn’t afraid of Alphas.”
- Writer
