Chapter 1 The Scent Of The Enemy

The shrill alarm shattered the heavy silence of my apartment like a siren cutting through my skull.

I jolted awake, heart hammering, chest slick with cold sweat. For a long moment, I just stared at the cracked ceiling, the echo of my nightmare still clinging to my mind, the metallic scent of blood, my father’s voice calling my name, and the sound of screaming.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to move. The clock on my phone blinked 6:43 a.m.

“Damn it,” I muttered. If I didn’t get up now, I’d miss the bus—and the interview. Again.

I swung her legs over the side of the bed. The floor was cold, littered with the remnants of bills I couldn’t pay, rejection letters from places that barely remembered my name. When I flicked the switch, nothing happened.

Darkness.

I gave a humorless laugh. “Figures.”

The air was stale, tinged with the scent of cold metal and mildew. I stripped off my damp tank top, grabbed the towel that never quite dried, and stepped into the shower. The water was icy. It hit my skin like shards of glass, making me hiss through clenched teeth. I scrubbed fast, using the last pathetic sliver of soap until it slipped from my fingers and disappeared down the drain.

When I faced the mirror, a stranger looked back. Hollow amber eyes. Dark brown locks still damp from nightmares. My lips were pale, my skin drawn tight. I tried to fix my hair, but there was only so much I could do with no power and no time. The suit I tugged on was a faded gray thing I’d found in a thrift store’s clearance bin, too long in the sleeves, too short in the legs. I didn’t care. I just needed to look like I belonged somewhere.

By the time I locked my door, the sky outside was a dull bruise of dawn. The bus hissed at the stop as if mocking me. I sprinted the last few meters, my worn heels slapping against the pavement, and barely managed to slide inside before the doors shut. My chest burned as I stood gripping the rail, ignoring the curious glances from strangers.

Every day was the same, waking up in a world that had already decided I didn’t belong.

But today felt different.

I couldn’t explain why, but there was something in the air—a strange static, a low hum that stirred beneath my skin. The scent of rain mixed with something sharper, almost… electric. The wolf part of me, the half I never acknowledged, stirred uneasily. I forced it down.

“Get it together,” I whispered to myself, shoving it down. “Not today.”

I had one goal: make it through the interview and maybe, just maybe, start a new life. A normal one.

The building rose above me like a tower of glass and secrets. Novagen Pharmaceuticals. The company everyone wanted to work for, cutting-edge genetic research, medical innovation, the kind of place that could make or break careers. If they hired me as a lab technician, I could finally stop scraping by.

The receptionist barely looked up when I walked in, though her eyes did flick briefly to the thrift-store suit before offering a practiced, polite smile.. “Fourth floor,” she said flatly, gesturing to the elevator.

I smiled tightly, pretending I didn’t notice the way she looked me up and down.

The elevator hummed up in silence, my reflection ghostly in the polished metal. As soon as the doors slid open, the scent hit me, clean, metallic, faintly sweet. Something about it tugged at my senses, sharp enough to make my pulse race.

It curled around my senses, sharp and electric, pulling at something deep inside me. My pulse raced, my wolf pacing restlessly just beneath the surface. I blinked hard, shaking my head.

Probably just the lingering perfume of someone who just got out on the floors above. Nothing more.

Inside the conference room, a panel of five waited behind a sleek table. They asked sharp questions; I gave sharper answers. I spoke of my experience, my studies, and my precision in handling biochemical samples. For once, my mind didn’t betray me. When it was over, one of the interviewers smiled, a small, approving curve of the lips.

“You’ll hear from us soon, Miss Soren.”

I forced a polite smile, heart lightening as I turned to leave. Maybe this time I hadn’t completely screwed things up.

And then—impact.

Something solid, warm, and unyielding slammed into me. My folder scattered across the floor, papers flying like startled birds. I gasped, stumbling, but before I could fall, strong hands caught me, steady, firm, electric.

A scent hit me then, so intoxicating, it felt like my body stopped breathing.

My heart stuttered.

Then came the pull an electric hum, like invisible threads wrapping around my body, drawing me closer to him. My head buzzed, her wolf snarling awake deep inside her. I blinked, the world tilting, the colors too sharp, sounds too loud.

His touch sent sparks through my veins, warm, anchoring, wrong. My breath hitched, chest tight, and for a moment I couldn’t move.

“Are you alright?” The voice was low, rich, and edged with command.

Every cell in my body reacted to that voice.

When I opened my eyes, I was staring into the bluest eyes I had ever seen. Eyes like glacial water, cold, ancient, and impossibly familiar. Jet-black hair brushed across a sharp jawline, and his expression… gods, it was unreadable.

For a moment, the world was only him, the scent, the heat, the bond thrumming between us like a heartbeat I couldn’t escape.

And then realization hit.

No. No, it couldn’t be.

But it was.

Darius Kade. The Alpha King.

I’d seen his face a thousand times before—on news screens, in nightmares, in memories soaked with blood. The man who ruled over every werewolf pack across the regions. The man who had once led the raid that killed my father.

My greatest enemy.

My stomach dropped, a hollow ache tearing through my chest. “You,” I whispered, the word like poison on my tongue.