Nicholas’s POV

The tires of the heavily armored black SUV screamed against the pavement.

We didn’t stop at the campus security gates. We didn’t slow down for the pedestrian crosswalks. We didn’t ask for permission. A convoy of five identical, multimillion-dollar vehicles tore straight into the heart of the university quad.

I didn’t care about human traffic laws. I didn’t care about making a massive public scene. I only cared about finding her.

I gripped the leather armrest of the backseat so hard the expensive material actually tore beneath my fingers. The photograph from my study was permanently burned into the back of my eyelids. My mate. My wife. Sitting on the cold bricks of this exact campus. And a man—some pathetic, bold human boy—was touching her arm.

My wolf clawed viciously at my ribs. The jealousy was a living, breathing fire inside my chest. It demanded blood. It demanded immediate, overwhelming violence.

The convoy slammed to a violent halt right in the center of the main pedestrian square.

The doors flew open in perfect, military unison. A dozen massive, heavily armed bodyguards stepped out. They wore dark suits and dark sunglasses. They moved with lethal precision, immediately forming a tight, impenetrable perimeter around my vehicle.

I pushed my door open and stepped out into the crisp autumn air.

I kept my alpha aura tightly leashed, but even the faint, leaking remnants of it were enough to completely suffocate the space. The careless, loud chatter of the human students vanished instantly. The campus went dead silent.

Hundreds of them froze in their tracks on the brick pathways. They stared at the luxury cars. They stared at my towering, terrifying men. And they stared at me.

I adjusted the cuffs of my perfectly tailored black suit. My jaw was locked so tight my teeth ached. My forest green eyes scanned the terrified crowd.

I heard their frantic, panicked whispers drifting through the cold wind.

*Who is that?*

*Look at his cars. Is that the mafia?*

*Don’t look at him. Just keep your head down.*

They were right to be afraid. In the werewolf underground, I was the Alpha of all Alphas. I was the Mad King. And right now, I was an apex predator standing in a herd of completely defenseless, fragile sheep.

I flared my nostrils. I inhaled deeply, sorting through the overwhelming stench of the city. Cheap coffee. Stale perfume. Exhaust fumes. But underneath all the human garbage, I caught it. A faint, lingering trace. The soft, beautiful scent of rain and clean earth.

She had been here. My mate had breathed this exact air.

"Spread out," I growled, my deep voice rumbling like thunder. "Block every exit."

My men immediately moved, fanning out across the quad.

Suddenly, a figure broke through the crowd.

It was a young human woman. She was a student, blonde and heavily made-up. She wore a tight, revealing sweater and a ridiculously short skirt that offered absolutely zero protection against the autumn chill. She walked with an exaggerated, practiced sway in her hips. It was a confident strut meant to draw attention.

She saw the multimillion-dollar cars. She saw the expensive suits. She saw power and money, but she was completely, blissfully blind to the lethal danger standing right in front of her.

One of my bodyguards immediately stepped forward, raising a massive hand to block her path.

I raised two fingers. The bodyguard instantly backed down.

I watched her approach. I needed information. If she was a student here, she might have seen Irina. She might know exactly where the boy from the photograph was hiding.

The blonde girl stopped a few feet away from me. She smiled. It was a practiced, deeply flirtatious smile. She looked me up and down, practically drooling over the cut of my suit and the heavy, custom luxury watch on my wrist.

"Well, hello there," she purred, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Are you lost? Or are you just the richest guy to ever grace our boring little campus?"

She smelled like artificial vanilla and cheap hairspray. The overpowering scent made my wolf recoil in absolute disgust.

I didn’t even look her in the eye. I didn’t care about her curves or her pathetic attempt at seduction. My gaze remained rigidly fixed on the sprawling brick pathways.

"I am looking for someone," I said. My voice was a low, gravelly rumble. It wasn’t a request. It was a strict demand.

"Oh?" The blonde pouted slightly, taking another bold step closer to me. "That’s a shame. You found me, though. Doesn’t that count for something?"

I slowly turned my head. I looked down at her.

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

"Do you know a girl named Irina?" I asked flatly.

The blonde’s flirtatious smile faltered for a fraction of a second. She rolled her heavily mascaraed eyes, clearly annoyed that my attention was focused on another woman instead of her.

"Irina?" she scoffed, her voice dripping with sudden, unfiltered disdain.

She took another step closer. She actually reached out, daring to place her manicured fingers directly on the lapel of my expensive suit jacket.

"I’ve never actually met her," the blonde girl sneered. "I’ve only heard rumors. Apparently, there’s some weird, trashy woman who drags a screaming baby into the lecture halls. They say her name is Irina. She’s a complete joke."

The air in my lungs turned to pure ice.

My wolf snarled violently. The sound echoed dangerously in the very back of my throat.

*Weird.*

*Trashy.*

*A joke.*

This pathetic, useless human was standing in front of the Alpha King, insulting my Queen. She was insulting the mother of my child.

The rage in my chest exploded. My pupils dilated violently. The forest green color vanished entirely, bleeding out until my eyes were completely, terrifyingly pitch black.

The blonde girl was too stupid to notice the shift. She was too wrapped up in her own arrogant vanity. She leaned in closer, tracing her finger slowly down my chest.

"Are you sure you don’t want to touch my ass instead, handsome?" she whispered, batting her eyelashes. She offered a sickeningly sweet, highly suggestive smile. "I can easily change my name to Irina for you. I promise I’m a lot more fun than some weird single mom."

The absolute audacity.

I didn’t speak. I didn’t warn her.

My large hand shot out. I grabbed her by the shoulder. I didn’t use my full werewolf strength—if I did, her fragile collarbone would have snapped in half like a dry twig. But I used enough physical force to make my utter disgust painfully clear.

I shoved her away from me.

"Ah!" she shrieked.

She stumbled backward violently. Her high heels twisted sharply on the uneven brick pavement. She lost her balance entirely and hit the cold ground hard.

She gasped, looking up at me in sheer, raw terror. The arrogant, flirtatious facade was completely gone, replaced by the sudden, horrifying realization that she had just touched a monster. She scrambled backward on her hands and knees, frantically trying to put distance between us.

I didn’t spare her another glance. She wasn’t worth the dirt on my shoes.

I pulled a pristine white handkerchief from my pocket. I wiped the spot on my lapel where her cheap, manicured fingers had rested, and I dropped the fabric onto the bricks.

I turned my back on the pathetic human.

I looked at my line of heavily armed bodyguards. The violent, suffocating pressure of my alpha aura flooded the entire campus quad.

"找到她。"