Nicholas’s POV

The air in the human city tasted fundamentally different. It lacked the heavy, metallic scent of blood, damp earth, and constant fear that lingered in the halls of Greystone. Down here, among the humans, the air tasted like exhaust fumes, burnt coffee, and oblivious, fragile safety.

I stepped out of the tinted black SUV. The afternoon sun hit my face, but it did absolutely nothing to warm the ice running through my veins. I adjusted the cuffs of my dark, perfectly tailored suit. My wolf paced restlessly inside my chest, scratching at my ribs. He hated the sterile, unnatural smell of this place. He wanted to hunt. He wanted to tear the concrete apart with his bare claws until we found her.

In the werewolf underground, I was the Mad King, the Alpha of all Alphas. I was the Capo di tutti Capi.

But here, in the bright, blinding daylight of the human world, I was a phantom.

I owned this city. I didn’t just control the supernatural territory; I literally owned the concrete, the steel, and the billions of dollars flowing through its veins. I was the CEO of a massive global holding company that dominated real estate, finance, and technology. And when the sun went down, I was the undisputed, unseen boss of the largest underground casino network on the continent. I controlled the bright, legal daytime and the bloody, illegal nighttime.

But I was a ghost.

I managed my vast human empire through a very tight, terrified circle of highly paid proxies. No one saw my face. No human magazines had my picture. To the corporate world, I was just a terrifying myth—a signature on a billion-dollar acquisition. To the human mafia, I was a shadow that could make entire families disappear overnight.

I liked it that way. It kept the humans completely out of werewolf business.

But things had changed. The mate bond was a thin, vibrating wire in my chest, leading me straight into this sprawling, chaotic concrete jungle. She was here. Irina was here. And my son was with her.

I walked through the heavy revolving glass doors of my own headquarters.

The lobby was massive and intimidating. Polished white marble floors, towering ceilings, and the quiet, frantic hum of a hundred clueless humans in expensive suits rushing to their meaningless meetings. None of them looked twice at me. They had no idea they were walking past an apex predator.

I strode directly toward the main reception desk.

I kept my alpha aura tightly leashed. If I let it out, even a fraction of it, every single human in this massive lobby would drop to their knees and vomit from the sheer, crushing physical pressure of my dominance.

The receptionist was a young human woman. She was typing rapidly on her sleek keyboard, a headset strapped over her blonde hair.

I stopped directly in front of the marble desk. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t clear my throat. I just stood there, letting my physical presence fill the space.

After a few seconds, the heavy, unnatural silence made her look up.

She blinked, immediately offering a practiced, highly polite corporate smile. She had no idea she was looking at a monster.

"Good afternoon, sir," she said brightly. "Welcome to Obsidian Holdings. Do you have an appointment? Who are you here to see?"

I stared at her.

My forest green eyes were dead. Cold, flat, and entirely devoid of human empathy.

"I am not here to see anyone," I said. My voice was low, a deep, gravelly rumble that made the glass of water on her desk vibrate slightly.

Her polite smile faltered. A tiny flicker of unease crossed her face. "I’m sorry, sir, but you need a security pass to go past the lobby. If you don’t have an appointment—"

I reached into the inside pocket of my suit jacket. I pulled out a solid, heavy black metal card. It didn’t have a corporate logo. It just had a single, embossed gold crest. The personal crest of the owner.

I tossed it onto the polished marble desk. It landed with a sharp, heavy *clink*.

The receptionist looked down.

She stared at the gold crest. Then, her eyes slowly dragged down to the single name engraved at the bottom.

*Nicholas.*

The color vanished from her face in a single, violent heartbeat. Her jaw actually dropped. The practiced corporate smile was instantly replaced by raw, unfiltered human terror. She had never seen my face, but every single employee in this towering building knew the name of the phantom CEO who owned their lives. They knew the terrifying rumors. They knew that people who crossed the boss simply disappeared into thin air.

"Y-you..." she stammered, her hands shaking so badly she knocked a pen off the edge of the desk. "H... hello..."

She couldn’t form a full sentence. Her breathing hitched. She looked like she was about to pass out right in her ergonomic chair.

"The general manager," I said, my voice cutting through her panic like a blade of ice.

"Y-yes, sir?" she squeaked, shrinking back into her seat.

"Tell him to meet me in the top-floor office," I ordered. "Immediately."

"R-right away, sir. O-of course."

She scrambled frantically for her desk phone, nearly dropping the heavy receiver in her haste.

I didn’t wait to watch her make the call. I picked up my black card, turned around, and walked straight toward the private executive elevator bank.

The steel doors slid open the exact moment I approached. The elevator was programmed to recognize my biometric signature. I stepped inside the glass car and hit the button for the penthouse floor.

The ride up was completely silent.

I leaned my broad shoulders against the mirrored wall, closing my eyes for just a second.

*Where are you?*

The elevator chimed a soft, electronic note.

The doors opened directly into the penthouse suite.

It was enormous. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped around the entire floor, offering a commanding, dizzying view of the human skyline below. The furniture was sleek, black, and completely untouched. No one was allowed on this floor. It had been sitting empty for years, a pristine monument waiting for a ghost to arrive.

I walked over to the massive glass window. I stared down at the tiny cars and the human ants crawling on the sidewalks far below.

There were so many places to hide out there. So many dark alleys and cheap apartments. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

But she couldn’t hide from me forever. I had infinite resources. I had the money. I had the human underworld completely in my pocket.

A few minutes later, the private elevator chimed again.

The steel doors slid open. Heavy, frantic footsteps echoed loudly across the polished hardwood floor.

"Sir!"

I didn’t turn around. I kept my hands buried deep in my pockets, staring out at the sprawling city.

"What do you need, sir?" Harrison asked carefully, keeping his head slightly bowed in an instinctual display of submission. "The entire company is at your disposal. Anything you require."

I looked at him.

I needed eyes on every single street corner.

I walked slowly toward the massive mahogany desk in the center of the room. I sat down in the heavy leather chair, resting my muscular arms on the armrests.

I looked right into Harrison’s terrified, waiting eyes.

"First, go hire a few assistants for me, and then, help me find someone."