Kimberly POV:

The financial ambush was a bloodbath. Graves poured forty million into a hostile takeover of my fashion label, not realizing I’d already stripped the IP and client lists. He bought a sinking ship.

I was in the parking garage, heading to my rental, when the hairs on my neck stood up.

Move.

I spun, but the boot caught me in the stomach. I slammed into the concrete, tasting copper.

Two Enforcers stepped out of the shadows.

"Alpha says you need a lesson in respect."

They didn't use magic. They used fists. It was a calculated beating—enough to bruise, not enough to kill.

Shift! My wolf screamed. Kill them!

No. If I shifted, I’d expose the White Wolf lineage. Graves would lock me up as a breeding mare. I had to take it.

I curled into a ball, protecting my head. A boot cracked against my ribs.

"That's enough," Graves' voice crackled from a phone in the Enforcer's pocket. He was listening. The sick bastard.

The Enforcers left me bleeding on the oil-stained concrete.

I lay there, breathing through the agony. My accelerated healing was already knitting the bone, itching like fire.

I dragged myself up, spitting blood. I pulled a burner phone from my bra.

I dialed a number whispered in back alleys.

"Rogue Alliance," a rough voice answered.

"I have a job," I rasped. "And I have twenty million dollars of Graves' money to pay for it."

Kimberly POV:

Graves dragged me back into his orbit with a legal summons. Pack Law Section 4: Mandatory Attendance. If I didn't show at the Charity Gala, I’d be declared a deserter.

I wore black armor—high-necked, long-sleeved.

Graves met me at the door. He looked haggard. The forty-million-dollar loss had stung.

"Smile," he hissed, gripping my bruised arm. "Harrison is watching."

Alpha Harrison. A lecherous old moneybag from the North.

"Harrison," Graves smoothed his voice. "You remember Kimberly? We’re looking for liquidity. Perhaps Kimberly could give you a private tour of the gardens? She’s very... accommodating."

My stomach turned. He was pimping me out to cover his losses.

"I’m not property, Harrison," I said icily. "And I bite."

I yanked my arm free and headed for the restroom.

Alex was there, applying lipstick. She looked like death warmed over—grey skin, tremors. The Rogue Rot was eating her alive.

"You look terrible," she rasped.

"And you smell like a corpse," I countered.

Alex laughed, a brittle sound. She stepped closer. "Enjoy your freedom, Kimberly. Graves thinks selling you to Harrison is punishment. I have a better idea."

"Your kidneys," she whispered, eyes gleaming. "Rogue Rot causes organ failure. I need a transplant. A high-vitality donor. An Alpha bloodline."

"You're delusional."

"Graves already agreed," she smiled. "He thinks it's 'silver poisoning.' He’d do anything to save me."

A chill went down my spine. This wasn't just a threat. It was a plan.

Kimberly POV:

I was heading for the exit when the world exploded.

CRASH.

The massive crystal chandelier plummeted into the center of the ballroom. Dust and glass shards sprayed everywhere.

"Alex!" Graves roared.

He tore the metal frame aside. Alex lay there, untouched by the heavy iron, but clutching her side, screaming. There was blood, but it smelled wrong—stale, theatrical.

"My side!" she wailed.

"It's a rupture!" Dr. Evans, clearly bribed, shouted over the chaos. "Her core is destabilizing! The silver poisoning... she needs an immediate Essence Graft! We need a donor with White Wolf ancestry!"

It was absurd. Essence Grafts were forbidden blood magic. But Graves wasn't thinking. He was panicking.

His eyes locked on me.

"You," he snarled. "You did this."

"I was by the door, Graves! Check the magic residue!"

"Save her!" Graves commanded the doctor.

"We need the Luna," Evans said, sweating. "She's the only match."

"No," I whispered, backing away. "Graves, this is insanity. She has Rogue Rot, not silver poisoning! She's stealing my life force!"

"I Command you!"

The Alpha's Command hit me like a sledgehammer. My motor functions cut out. I was a prisoner in my own flesh.

"Take her," Graves ordered the Enforcers.

I couldn't scream as they dragged me out. I couldn't fight as they strapped me to the gurney. I could only watch Graves holding Alex's hand, whispering comforts to the parasite while he sentenced me to mutilation.

"Proceed," he said cold-heartedly.

The darkness took me.