CLAIRE POV:
"You ungrateful wretch!"
The shrill, shocked voice of my adoptive grandmother, Meghan, echoed through the grand foyer of the Hayes Pack estate. "After everything this family has done for you! If you walk out that door, don't you ever think about coming back!"
Beside her, my adoptive sister, Hannah, gently rubbed the old woman's back, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "Grandma, please calm down. It's not worth raising your blood pressure. If Claire wants to leave, just let her. She'll learn the hard way how cruel the world is."
I didn't say a single word. I didn't even bother to look back. I simply pushed open the heavy oak doors and walked out into the fading light.
Behind me, Meghan's mocking sneer carried into the crisp evening air. "Let her go! Where is a wolfless runt going to go anyway? She has nothing! She'll be begging at our door by midnight. A stray dog always comes back for scraps."
Let them think that.
By dusk, the autumn wind had turned biting. I pulled the hood of my gray sweatshirt up, shivering slightly in the cold. My reflection in a dark storefront window was a stark reminder of what I'd endured—my face was a sickly, translucent pale. It was the direct result of being the Hayes family's personal "blood bag" for years, constantly drained to suppress the genetic defects in their wolf bloodline.
Across the street, the neon signs of the Shadow Market flickered to life, signaling the start of the night's illicit trades.
I dug into my jeans pocket and pulled out a few crumpled bills. I counted them. Fifty bucks. Compared to the hundreds of thousands Hannah blew on her monthly allowance, it was pathetic.
Looks like I need to make some money, and fast.
The taxi dropped me at the mouth of a dark alley. In front of me was a derelict warehouse with two massive men guarding the door. The entrance to the Shadow Market.
I walked up to them. They blocked my path. I pulled twenty dollars from my pocket—a significant portion of the less than six hundred dollars I had to my name.
One of the guards snatched the money, his eyes full of contempt for my meager offering, but he stepped aside.
I pushed open the heavy iron door and stepped into another world.
KASPER POV:
Inside the dimly lit VIP lounge of the Nightshade Bar, I swirled the amber liquid in my glass. My gaze was fixed on the grimy street below.
"Alpha?" My Beta, Denis, paused mid-drink, following my line of sight with a curious frown. "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing."
I pulled my gaze away, the neon lights from the street casting a crimson glow over the rim of my glass. A low, amused chuckle rumbled in my chest.
"Just saw a disobedient little stray, running away from home this late at night."
"A stray?" Denis squinted through the tinted glass, looking thoroughly confused. "I don't see anyone."
By the time he looked, the girl in the gray hoodie had already vanished into the shadows of the market entrance.
"Anyway," Denis continued, setting his glass down. "The former Alpha—your grandfather—is already deep in the antique artifact sector. Should we head down and see how his treasure hunting is going?"
"No rush," I replied, my mind inexplicably lingering on that pale, defiant little face. "The old man just got here and hasn't had his fill of fun yet. We'll head over in a bit."
"Understood." Denis nodded, turning back to the bartender to order another cocktail.
