Chapter 12Â
GemmaÂ
As I sit down to do my work, the person who hired us tells me it’s been months of them dealing with a mole.Â
I take care of the problem in minutes, effortlessly dismantling everything the mole has done and closing the holes in Nautilus’s cybersecurity. I even slip in a tracking program.Â
Maybe we’ll find out who this person is who keeps slipping information through.Â
Is it someone working for Cassian?Â
Honestly? I hope so. I hope I’ve just made a giant pain in the assÂ
for him.Â
I don’t care how scary he is in real life, the cyber world is mine. IfÂ
he messes with someone who hires me, I won’t hesitate to takeÂ
him down.Â
“The security net will come back online in ten minutes,” I say.Â
Zina and I leave, and I open my laptop in the car to monitor. everything. Just like I promised, the security net comes back up right on schedule.Â
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I smile. After three years of feeling like I’m nothing, it feels good to remember I have talent.Â
Zina is driving. The white stick of a sucker sticks out of one side of her mouth. Her phone dings, and she glances at her notifications. as we roll up to a red light. All of a sudden, her eyes light.Â
“We’re going to celebrate your grand return,” she says. “I’m taking you out on the town tonight.”Â
The light turns green, and she floors the gas before I can respond, but that’s fine. I can feel the thrill of what I’ve just done in my blood still. Soon enough, we’re parked outside of a trendy,Â
upscale club.Â
I pull off the sunglasses, hoodie, and mask, leaving me in myÂ
tank top and skirt. Zina tousles my long red hair so the waves fallÂ
in riotous waves around my face and down my back, and I’m soÂ
ready.Â
We get in line, but someone working for the club sees us and bumps us right to the front so we don’t have to wait.Â
“Two ladies as fine as yourselves are wasted in line,” he says.Â
Inside, the club is dark. Music throbs, and bodies press and grindÂ
against each other beneath flashing, strobing lights in blue andÂ
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purple.Â
2Â
(~~) 7 min leffÂ
Zina drags me right into the middle of the dance floor, and we unleash our energy in a frenzy of movement.Â
I love music. When it’s throbbing around me like this, it’s like I takeÂ
it inside of myself and it flows through my veins like blood.Â
I love that feeling. I’m addicted to it. It’s the one time I ever feelÂ
connected to something more. Something greater than justÂ
myself.Â
Tonight is all about the movement and the dancing bodies and theÂ
music, and finally setting myself free after three long years.Â
Day turns to night. Sweat glistens on our skin and my musclesÂ
ache, but I don’t care. It’s like I’ve opened the doors of my own cage and stepped out into the life I always should have had.Â
I’m so hot, I bend down and tear off the bottom half of my skirt,Â
leaving me in shredded fabric that just barely covers my ass andÂ
thighs.Â
“Yeah!” Zina cheers me on and throws off her own shirt to reveal aÂ
sheer black crop top with an aqua bra underneath. She climbs onÂ
a chair and the whole dance floor goes wild.Â
I love it. For the first time in three years, I’m not thinking of CassianÂ
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at all.Â
Good riddance.Â
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CassianÂ
“Holy shit, Cassian. Isn’t that your wife?”Â
My Beta, Liam Strafford, elbows me hard. He’s one of the only members of the pack outside of my immediate family and ourÂ
servants who know about the little rabbit.Â
I scoff and throw back the rest of my bourbon. Top shelf stuff thatÂ
Liam doesn’t serve down here.Â
“No,” I say as I turn to look at whoever has caught his eye. “She’dÂ
never-”Â
I choke.Â
Gemma.Â
TheÂ
She’s dancing up on the stage, in the middle of a group of guys, her luscious curves on full display in a skin–tight spaghetti strap tank top and some skirt that looks like ninety percent of it has been torn away.Â
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Her long red hair cascades around her perfect face, over herÂ
breasts and down her back. The way she’s moving already hasÂ
me hard.Â
Zephyr growls with desire. I will kill every single man who dares toÂ
look at her. Go to her now. Show them she’s yours!Â
This time, I almost listen to him. I’m standing before I can stopÂ
myself.Â
I’ve never seen Gemma like this. She’s pure sex, and I might fucking die if I don’t drag her into a back room and claim her rightÂ
now.Â
Once wasn’t enough. I am starving for her.Â
Do it, Zephyr commands, all Alpha.Â
He wants her beneath me so bad I can almost feel what it wouldÂ
be like. How hot she’d be. How tight and wet and so damn good.Â
But my anger overcomes my wolf’s possessiveness. I grit my teeth and the glass I’m holding cracks and shatters in my hand.Â
She’s been missing all day, she blocked my number, no one could find her, and now she turns up, dancing with other men in a club?Â
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Doesn’t she know who I am? The enemies my family has?Â
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There are half a dozen turf wars ready to explode at any time. There are half a dozen families who wouldn’t hesitate to grab myÂ
wife off the street for any leverage against me they can get.Â
Doesn’t she know she’s putting the lives of every single one of those men at risk, dancing with them like that in front of me?Â
“Get everyone else out,” I growl at Liam. If he does it, it’s less likely I’ll kill any of them.Â
Then I stalk toward my wife.Â
She has no idea of the trouble she’s in..Â
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