Chapter 54

Kingston

The morning after was supposed to be triumphant.

Sunlight cut through the blinds of my penthouse office like a blade: bright, golden, and warm. I should have been riding high. My phone was lighting up with messages, notifications flooding in, most of them bearing the same headline: NEW DRUG APPROVED.

The long-awaited compound my team and I had poured years into—blood stabilization for hybrid werewolves—was finally cleared for release. And it was largely thanks to Cora saving the data from the lab’s fire.

But despite it all, I was distracted.

I sat behind my desk, shoulders tense, lips pressed into a line as I scrolled through the congratulations. Investors were already calling for interviews. Approval rates had spiked overnight.

And all I could think about was her.

Cora.

Her flushed skin beneath mine, her fingers fisting in my shirt as if she'd tear me apart if I stopped kissing her. The way her eyes met mine in the dark, wild and open and terrified, like she was giving me everything and trusting me unwaveringly.

We’d crossed a line last night. No, we had shattered it. My control, painstakingly built over years, had crumbled before her.

I’d dragged her into the depths of her home and kissed her like I was starving. And I was. Starving for her. For the sound of her breath hitching. For the taste of her skin.

For something real.

My phone buzzed again. Ethan. It was a wonder how that single name didn’t strike hatred into me anymore, now that Cora had told me the truth.

A second later, before I could answer his call, a text popped up on the screen: Press conference at noon. Stakeholders are ecstatic. Don’t be late.

I exhaled through my nose and pushed my chair back, the leather creaking beneath me.

The success we’d fought for was finally ours. The drug that would change everything for hybrids—like Riley—was here. If I were any other Alpha, I’d be out there shaking hands, popping champagne, and making sure the cameras caught me looking victorious.

Instead, I stood in front of the window, staring down at the city and wondering if Cora was contemplating avoiding me already. It was our way to crash together and retreat endlessly.

Last night hadn’t been careful. It hadn’t been political. It hadn’t even been smart.

It had been hers.

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts.

“Come in,” I said, voice low.

Ethan stepped inside, tablet in hand, looking like he hadn’t slept. “I thought you’d be gloating,” he said. “You look like someone just shot your dog.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t have the energy to fake it today.

He frowned, then closed the door behind him. “Is this about her?”

I stayed silent.

“She told you the truth,” he realized.

“She did.”

Ethan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Thank god. I told her to tell you, and it’s been killing me to play along since. I guess I’ll have to take back that grand love declaration I made to everyone.”

Suddenly, his eyes flicked up to me, looking startled. “You slept with her. I can smell it on you. So can everyone else. You think the press won’t tear her apart?”

My jaw tightened. “They already have. What’s one more headline?”

“You don’t mean that.”

“No,” I admitted. “I don’t.” I hated putting Cora through this seemingly endless cycle of drama.

Ethan crossed his arms. “Then what are you going to do?”

That was the question, wasn’t it?

What was I going to do?

The approval of the drug meant everything—scientifically, politically, financially. It was what would elevate the Silverfang name and secure the future of werewolf medicine.

And it came at the same moment I realized I was on the verge of disregarding it all for the only person who had made any of it worth fighting for.

I turned back to the window. “If I choose her now, they’ll say I used her. That she slept her way into power. They’ll spin it every way they can. She’s already been called a manipulator, a climber, a human slut.”

Ethan stayed quiet.

“And if I keep my distance?” I asked, voice bitter. “She’ll believe it. She’ll believe I don’t care. And honestly, I don’t think I can even do that.”

“Then maybe stop worrying about what they think, and start thinking about what she knows.”

I looked over my shoulder at him.

“She’s smart, Kingston,” Ethan said, softer now. “But she’s also tired. And alone. You can’t keep making her fight for both of you.”

I wanted to argue, but the words died in my throat.

The conference was in less than an hour. A room full of reporters. Cameras. Applause. I would smile and nod and talk about medical progress and historic approval ratings. I would accept praise while the woman I loved sat quietly in an office, wondering if what happened between us meant anything at all.

The hollowness in my chest yawned wide.

“She’s not just some moment I can walk away from,” I muttered.

Ethan nodded. “Then stop walking.”

He left me alone, and I let the silence settle again.

The desk was piled with folders. Press talking points, strategic projections, investor notes.

A surge of determination rolled through me, quiet but fierce.

I was the Alpha King. I didn’t cower behind press statements. I didn’t let others decide what I valued.

I wanted Cora. I wanted Riley. I wanted to build something with them, even if it made my road harder.

So be it.

When it was time for the conference, I arrived with newfound confidence.

The lights were blinding, the room warm with anticipation as flashes from cameras lit up the backdrop behind me. A sea of reporters leaned forward in their chairs, eyes fixed on the podium where I stood.

I cleared my throat, my voice even as it projected through the packed conference room. “Today marks a breakthrough we once believed impossible. Our new hybrid stabilization drug has officially passed all safety trials and has been cleared for public use by both human and werewolf health authorities.”

The room erupted in a flurry of questions, raised hands, murmurs. But I held firm, answering only when I was ready. My fingers curled slightly around the edge of the podium, not from nerves, but from focus. This wasn’t just a political or scientific milestone. This was for him.

For Riley.

“This drug was designed with one broad goal in mind,” I continued, tone steady but full of quiet conviction, “to support the unique physiology of hybrid children, to ensure their bodies don’t turn against them before they’ve even had the chance to live.”

In my mind, I saw Riley’s smile, the dimples he had gotten from Cora. I saw the monitors, the sterile hospital walls, the look in Cora’s eyes when she thought she might lose him.

That terror would never leave me. I channeled it now, used it to ground me.

“It’s more than science,” I added. “It’s security. It’s a future for families who live in the shadows, fearing what their own blood might do to them. It’s a promise that we see them—that we are building a world where they belong.”

My gaze swept the room, outwardly composed. Inwardly, I was brimming with pride and not the arrogant kind. The kind that made my chest ache, because I knew what this meant for Cora. For Riley. For the child she raised in silence, and the future she deserved to have with him.

“Any questions?” I asked the sea of reporters.

I pointed out the first person who raised their hand. The reporter adjusted their glasses and said, “Apologies, Alpha King, but while this isn’t related to the new hybrid drug, the people are demanding to know, is your relationship with your secretary, Cora, purely professional?”

I couldn’t help it. I smiled wolfishly. “As of right now, no.”