Chapter 31
I stifled a cough, clamping a hand over my mouth and bolting.
Alpha Gideon was about to push Camilla away when he froze.
Not at a sound-at a vibration.
The deck’s thick carpet swallowed regular steps, but running?
It sent a tremor through the floorboards, a low hum that sang to a wolf’s bones.
He turned, his gaze slicing through the dim light like a blade, golden irises narrowing as they scanned the
empty space.
“Alpha Gideon!” Camilla, drunk and clinging, fisted his shirt.
Her own scent, sweet with wine and desperation, cloyed in the air-too eager, too loud, the kind of
pheromones that set a wolf’s hackles rising.
His expression iced over.
FF
He peeled her hands off and dropped her onto the sofa, his voice sharp.
“Camilla, keep this up, and I’ll toss you into the sea.”
He wiped his jaw where her breath had ghosted, as if brushing away a scent he couldn’t stand.
“I know you gave me up because of Sebastian,” she slurred, sprawling like a broken doll.
“But is it my fault he likes me? You just handed me over without asking what I wanted.”
Alpha Gideon sat across from her.
“We’ve been over this a hundred times. I thought you got it. You can’t have it all.”
Camilla looked up at him, her eyes glass. “I only want you.”
He sighed, a low, weary sound.
“You need a therapist. You’re not well.”
Her tears came then, hot and sudden. “I’ve been sick since the day you said you didn’t want me. I’m too far
gone to heal.”
When Alpha Gideon returned to the poker room, I was beside Elliot.
I’d debated hiding-anywhere, a closet, a lifeboat-but wolves notice absences.
A sudden disappearance would scream guilty, and I couldn’t risk that.
The poker room, with its clatter and neutral energy, was the safest mask.
“Alpha Gideon, you’re back!”
Elliot’s relief was palpable, his shoulders sagging.
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This game took nerve-nerve Elliot didn’t have.
He’d flinch at a single chip; I’d nearly gone all-in, my wolf thrumming with the thrill of the risk, even as my hands stayed steady.
He stood. I jumped up too, my muscles coiled.
“Sit,” Alpha Gideon said, his voice cool.
“Huh?” My butt hovered mid-air.
“I can go keep Camilla company.”
“She’s resting in a room. She doesn’t need you,” he said, a flicker of irritation in his tone.
I stared at him, my mind spinning.
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Why was he annoyed? Did he think I was meddling?
Trying to poach Camilla from him?
Ridiculous-I’d never felt that pull toward a she-wolf, not the way my kind craves a mate.
What was he thinking?
Alpha Gideon glanced at the chip stack, his gaze unreadable.
“Elliot’s on a hot streak.”
I smiled silently, but a tycoon cut in, “Hot streak’s all your pretty secretary, Alpha Gideon. Where’d you find someone this gorgeous and sharp? I’m jealous.”
Mr. Stone, a wolf with a reputation for greed, let his eyes rake over me, his scent spiking with crude interest.
I could taste his thoughts-visions of dragging me to a room, of stripping me bare-and my stomach turned. But I kept smiling, silent, my wolf growling low in my throat.
Alpha Gideon’s face stayed polite, but his eyes turned frigid.
“Mr. Stone, better rein in that soft spot for the ladies, or you’ll lose everything.”
Mr. Stone looked away. The others eyeing me backed off too. A pretty face wasn’t worth crossing the Hartley
pack’s alpha.
I was grateful for the protection, but not surprised.
He’d defend what was his, even if he didn’t want it.
A few more rounds, and the game ended.
The yacht glided back to the dock, the hum of its engines fading.
Isadora, a she-wolf with a bold scent like citrus, asked Alpha Gideon for his contact info.
He nodded to Elliot, dismissing her with a flick of his wrist.
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Isadora’s disappointment was clear, her scent soured, but she perked up, taking Elliot’s number with a smile.
Elliot sighed inwardly: Another she-wolf caught in Gideon’s orbit.
I almost found it cute.
They were both unbound-why not try? But I knew better. Some orbits burned too hot.
Camilla stumbled over then, propped up by two servers, her scent still thick with wine and sorrow.
As we disembarked, Elliot and I hung back, wary.
If she started yelling again-hands off-we weren’t risking it.
We looked at Gideon, silent: Please. You handle her.
In sync, we hopped off the yacht first.
Alpha Gideon shook his head, exasperated.
Camilla leaned into his arm, a deliberate weight, as if daring him to let go.
He couldn’t ditch his branch manager in front of everyone, not without losing face. So he helped her off, his
jaw tight.
At the dock, the driver held the car door open.
“Where’s your ride?” Alpha Gideon asked, steadying Camilla as she swayed.
“Dunno,” she mumbled, eyes closed, then collapsed toward his chest.
He caught her shoulders, holding her upright.
“We’re not going the same way. Call a driver. Or a cab.”
No lift? That’s… cold.
My inner wolf pricked at the thought-after they kissed-but I bit it back.
Alpha Gideon’s brow furrowed, and he shot us a glare.
“Don’t just stand there-call her a car!”
Elliot and I fumbled for our phones, tapping furiously, as if slow fingers would earn us his wrath.
“Alpha Gideon, Camilla’s wasted. It’s not safe for her alone. Why don’t we take her to the hotel?”
I blurted, my wolf overriding my sense.
He let out a sharp laugh, bitter. “Great idea, huh?”
It’s not safe!
He paused, then said, “Your idea-you handle her at the hotel.”
He guided Camilla into the car, then climbed in after.
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My gut twisted, a low, uneasy growl building in my throat.
Elliot shot me a look: Why’d you meddle?
I mouthed back: I… It was reasonable!
They were a storm-kissing, fighting, back and forth. Now I was caught in it?
Fuming but silent-he was the alpha, after all-I eyed the car.
Two front seats.
Driver in one. That left… one spot in the back.
Between them.
IF
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My skin prickled, instincts screaming no.
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“I’ll grab a cab!” I blurted.
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“No, I will,” Elliot said, yanking me toward the car and shoving me into the front seat, slamming the door before vanishing.
“I-“I swallowed a curse.
Resigned, I buckled up, sneaking a glance in the rearview mirror.
Alpha Gideon’s profile was stone-hard, his scent a wall of cold.
The car pulled away.
The ride was silent-so silent I could hear Camilla’s ragged breathing, Gideon’s steady, measured inhales, the hum of the engine.
I stopped checking the mirror, focusing on the road, my wolf pacing restlessly in my mind.
In the back, Camilla, who’d been slumped, sat up, swaying.
As the car descended the bridge, turning onto the main road, she moved like a leaf in a breeze-slow,
inevitable-straight into Alpha Gideon’s lap.
