The air between us didn’t just vibrate; it hummed like a severed live wire.

My skin still prickled where their scent collided with mine. Rich cedar, rain-slick sage, and dark spice filled the room, tangling so violently with my jasmine and black tea that my throat tightened.

Damian stood three feet away, staring down at me as if I were a ghost that had just broken through the floor.

"Well, well," Luca said, breaking the silence with a low chuckle from the door.

He didn't move away from the wood. Instead, he tilted his head, his lips curling into an easy, dangerous smirk.

"I didn't expect Hale's party favors to be this generous," Luca said, his dark eyes sparkling. "A runaway Omega who smells like heaven and belongs to me."

"Shut up, Luca," Adrian muttered, his voice gravel-rough.

"Why should I?" Luca countered, stepping forward and spreading his hands. "You felt that jolt just as clearly as I did, little brother. But look at her. She walked straight to our room. That makes her mine."

The casual ownership in his voice struck a nerve so raw it turned my blood to slush.

I looked at Luca, my chin lifting. "I belong to nobody. Step away from the exit."

"Feisty," Luca purred, closing the distance between us by half a step. "I like that. You don't know who we are, do you?"

"I know exactly who you are," I said, keeping my tone level and flat. "You're three suits with bloated bank accounts and too much ego. And right now, you're standing in my way."

Adrian let out a short, incredulous laugh from the table, scratching the back of his neck. "She's got teeth, Damian."

"Enough," Damian barked.

The command dropped over the room like lead weights. His silver eyes hadn't blinked once. He towered over me, his massive shoulders blocking out the city view behind him.

"You haven't answered my question," Damian said, his voice dropping into a register that rattled the crystal glassware on the desk. "Who are you?"

"Nora Reed," I said. "Now move."

"Reed," Damian repeated. His brows knit together. "The director running Hale's corporate communications."

"Former director," I corrected. "My resignation took effect about four minutes ago."

"And the bond?" Damian demanded. He took another step, his Alpha presence flaring outward, heavy and suffocating. "You felt that pull. Don't lie."

"I felt a chemical inconvenience," I replied coldly. "Nothing more."

"A chemical inconvenience?" Luca laughed again, though the humor in his tone thinned out into sharp disbelief. "Darling, that was an unbroken mate link. Our biology just locked onto you. You don't get to shrug that off like a spilled cup of coffee."

"Watch me," I said.

Damian reached out, his large fingers hovering an inch from my wrist before he stopped himself, his jaw clenching hard enough to crack enamel. "You are not walking out of this room until we understand what just happened. Adrian, call our private physician. We need blood panels immediately."

"You're not testing anything," I snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Damian’s eyes narrowed into slits. "I am not asking for your permission, Nora. Three Alphas just bonded to one Omega simultaneously. That hasn't been recorded in over two centuries. You will sit down, you will answer our questions, and you will let us handle this."

"Handle me?"

A dry, sharp laugh slipped past my lips. It sounded harsh even to my own ears.

"A man told me he loved me this morning and got engaged at six," I said, staring directly into Damian's silver eyes without flinching. "Today is no longer accepting applications from Alphas."

The entire room froze.

Adrian’s mouth actually fell open. Luca stopped twirling his watch, his smirk vanishing into complete confusion. Even Damian seemed struck mute, his imposing frame stiffening as my words sank into the heavy air.

They were used to being obeyed. They were billionaires, apex predators, men who snapped their fingers and bought out rivals before lunch. Nobody spoke to them like they were disposable.

I didn't give them time to recover.

I pivoted on my heel and headed straight for the heavy mahogany door.

Luca was still standing close to the frame, but he was too stunned to shift his weight in time. I reached out, grabbed the brass handle, and dragged the door wide open.

"Nora, wait," Damian commanded, snapping out of his daze.

His heavy steps closed the distance behind me. A large hand reached out to grasp my shoulder, ready to yank me back inside.

"Damian, don't!" Adrian shouted.

A hand caught Damian’s forearm before he could touch me.

I glanced back over my shoulder. Adrian had moved with blinding speed, his tattooed fingers digging into his older brother’s bicep, holding Damian back with sheer physical force.

"Look at her eyes," Adrian said softly, his hazel gaze flicking toward me. The mocking edge in his posture was completely gone, replaced by something dark and intensely focused. "She isn't playing hard to get. Touch her right now, and she'll tear your throat out with her bare hands."

Damian glared at Adrian's grip on his arm, a low, menacing rumble building in his broad chest. "She's our mate, Adrian."

"And she's bleeding inside from whatever happened out there," Adrian replied, never taking his eyes off me. "Back off. You're suffocating her."

Luca stepped forward, his eyes burning with an intense, possessive heat. "We're letting her walk away? Out into the hallway where Hale's press vultures are still swarming?"

"Try to stop me," I told Luca, my voice low and venomous. "See what makes the morning headlines."

Luca’s jaw set into a hard line, but he didn't raise a finger to block the threshold.

I didn't offer another word. I stepped out into the carpeted corridor, letting the mahogany door swing shut behind me with a solid, echoing thud.

The corridor was quiet now, the distant noise of the press conference fading toward the main lobby elevators. My legs carried me forward on pure spite, every muscle coiled tight, ignoring the persistent, aching throb at the base of my neck that begged me to turn around.

Behind the closed door of the private suite, silence hung for only three seconds before the storm broke.

"Are you out of your mind?" Damian’s voice carried through the wood, muffled but unmistakably lethal. "You let her leave."

"She needed air," Adrian fired back. "You act like an iron wall, and you expect an Omega who was just betrayed to fall into your lap?"

"She isn't just an Omega," Luca’s voice cut in, sharp and fiercely competitive. "She’s ours. And mark my words, brothers—she isn't leaving this city without me."

"Not without you?" Adrian scoffed. "You think you're the one she wants?"

"She drank from my glass," Damian said, his voice dropping into absolute, chilling authority that silenced them both. "She belongs to this family. Find out everything about her. Where she lives, where she sleeps, who hurt her. By nightfall, I want her file on my desk."

I kept walking, picking up my pace as I neared the bank of elevators.

The scent of cedar and sage still clung to the fabric of my coat, heavy, stubborn, and impossible to scrub away.

I hit the button for the ground floor, watching the digital numbers drop.

Evan Hale thought he could throw me away like trash.

The Cross brothers thought they could claim me like territory.

They were all about to find out how wrong they were.

"Sign it or pack your desk into a cardboard box," Marcus said, shoving the revised contract into my ribs.

The managing partner of my firm didn't look me in the eye. His collar was damp with sweat.

"I resigned yesterday, Marcus." I pushed the paper away with two fingers. "Evan Hale bought my silence for three years. I'm done working as a punching bag for billionaire Alphas."

"You don't understand," Marcus hissed, checking the glass walls of his corner office. "Cross Holdings bought thirty percent of our equity before trading opened this morning. They deposited an eight-figure retainer on one condition."

My stomach tightened. "No."

"Yes. You manage their hostile takeover of Hale Biotech. You lead the transition team. You attend every strategy session at their headquarters."

"Sue me for breach of contract," I said, turning toward the door. "I'll take the penalty."

"There is no penalty clause, Nora! They bought out your non-compete. If you walk out that door, Damian Cross will file an injunction that freezes every personal asset you own before noon. Your bank accounts. Your apartment lease. Everything."

I stopped with my hand on the doorknob. The brass felt freezing against my skin.

"They can't legally do that," I said.

"They own the judge who signs the injunctions," Marcus whispered. "Get your tablet. The car is downstairs."

***

The forty-second floor of Cross Tower smelled like polished mahogany, chilled glass, and raw money.

Two armed security guards stepped aside without asking for identification when I reached the double frosted-glass doors of Boardroom A.

I gripped my leather folio tight against my ribs, pushed the heavy door open, and walked in.

The room went dead silent.

A massive black marble conference table dominated the center of the floor, flanked by twelve high-backed leather executive chairs. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the Hudson River.

All three Cross brothers were already there.

Adrian stood by the glass, his tailored jacket tossed over a credenza, dark ink showing beneath his rolled-up white sleeves. Luca leaned against the granite credenza, checking a platinum pocket watch with a sharp, predatory grin. And Damian sat at the head, dominating the entire space like an unmovable monolith.

The moment the latch clicked behind me, three heads snapped in my direction.

Their scents hit the air simultaneously. Heavy cedar from Damian, rain-slick sage from Adrian, and dark, burning spice from Luca. The blend rushed down my throat, making my pulse jump against my collarbone.

"You're late," Damian said. His deep voice vibrated through the floorboards.

"Ten o'clock was the scheduled start," I replied, checking my wrist. "It is nine fifty-nine. I'm early."

Luca tucked his watch away and pushed off the credenza. "She brought claws today. I told you she wouldn't roll over, Damian."

"Shut up, Luca," Adrian muttered, his hazel eyes tracking me as I walked toward the table. "You look tired, Nora."

"I spent half the night changing my phone number because your assistants wouldn't stop calling my private line," I said.

I picked a spot along the long side of the table, pulling out a black leather armchair and setting my digital tablet flat on the stone.

"Let's get the rules straight," I continued, keeping my voice clipped and clear. "I am here under legal coercion. I will handle the press messaging, the SEC disclosures, and the shareholder transition regarding Hale Biotech. Nothing else. The personal nonsense from yesterday does not enter this room."

None of them answered.

Luca had already crossed half the room. Adrian pushed off the window glass. Damian stood up from the head of the table, his chair scraping back.

The other seats around the table were littered with thick acquisition binders and tablet docks. Only one open chair remained directly to my left.

Adrian broke into a sprint first.

Luca lunged forward, his shoulder knocking against Adrian’s bicep.

"Out of my way," Luca snapped.

"Like hell," Adrian growled, shoving his brother back with a forearm. "I saw it first."

Before either of them could pull the chair out, a massive shadow fell over them both.

Damian’s heavy frame cut between them like an iron wedge.

*Clack.*

Three hands slammed down onto the black leather headrest at the exact same instant.

Damian’s broad palm locked over the center. Adrian’s tattooed fingers gripped the left edge hard enough to dent the padding. Luca’s right hand clamped over the right corner, his knuckles turning white.

Nobody moved.

The silence in the room stretched until it turned brittle.

"Move your hand, little brother," Damian ordered, his tone flat, dangerous, and low.

"You have your own seat at the head, Damian," Adrian replied through gritted teeth. "Go sit in it."

"I run this firm," Damian rumbled. "I sit where I want."

"She isn't the firm," Luca murmured, his dark eyes flashing with sharp defiance as he leaned his weight into the leather. "And you don't own her. Remove your hand, or I'll break your fingers."

"Try it," Damian said softly.

The air turned instantly toxic.

Their presence expanded outward like a shockwave. Cedar, sage, and burning spice crashed against each other, thickening the room until my lungs burned. The desk trembled under the physical tension vibrating between the three of them.

They stood chest to chest, shoulders locked, glaring at each other like wolves circling fresh meat in the snow.

Men who controlled global logistics, defense contracts, and private equity funds. Men whose names moved stock markets with a single sentence.

Fighting like stray dogs over a piece of office furniture.

I watched them without blinking. My pulse had steadied completely.

"This is going to be a nightmare," I said aloud.

Damian’s jaw tightened. "Nora, stay where you are."

"Don't command her," Adrian snapped, his grip tightening until the leather creaked. "You're suffocating her with your scent."

"Look who's talking," Luca scoffed, his chest heaving against Adrian's shoulder. "Your sage is choking the room. Back off, Adrian."

"Neither of you is touching this chair," Damian growled, his Alpha command flaring with enough weight to rattle the windowpanes.

I didn't scream. I didn't cry out.

Instead, I reached down, picked up my tablet, and grabbed my pen.

I pushed my own chair back into the table with a soft click.

Then I turned my back on all three of them.

"Nora?" Luca called out, his voice cracking with sudden surprise.

I didn't answer.

In the far corner of the boardroom, next to the audio-visual cart and the projector stand, sat a plain, gray metal folding chair. It was left behind by the IT department, scratched and utterly devoid of status.

I picked it up, carried it three paces into the open space near the front presentation display, and snapped the legs open against the carpet with a sharp snap.

I sat down.

I crossed one leg over the other, balanced the tablet on my knee, and tapped the screen to wake it up.

The three brothers froze.

Their hands were still glued to the high-backed leather chair, their bodies tangled together in an absurd knot of brute force and territorial posturing.

Damian stared at me, his silver eyes wide with utter disbelief. Luca’s jaw slackened. Adrian looked down at the empty spot where I had just been sitting, then over at me in the corner, his mouth twitching as if he couldn't decide whether to curse or laugh.

"Well?" I asked, looking up from my screen. "Are you three going to keep fondling that chair, or do you want to review Hale Biotech's debt covenants?"

Silence hung heavy over the room.

Damian slowly took his hand off the leather. Adrian let go next, rubbing his bruised knuckles. Luca dropped his arm, his easy smirk returning, though a sharp streak of embarrassment flushed the high ridges of his cheekbones.

"Hale's short-term liquidity is worse than we estimated," Damian said, clearing his throat as he straightened his tie. His voice lacked its earlier bite.

"I know," I said, tapping a document on my screen. "Which is why Serena Vance's family is pulling out their collateral by noon."

Adrian stepped away from the table, his eyes locked on me with raw, intense curiosity. "How do you know that?"

"Because Serena just texted me," I replied, holding up my phone. "And she wants to cut a deal with the woman Evan called a delusional stalker."

"Give that back," I said, reaching for my aluminum case.

Luca held my laptop two inches above my reach, his lips curving into a sharp, infuriating smirk. "Sit across from me in the club section, Nora. You get your hard drive back when we reach cruising altitude."

"I have work to finish before we land in Chicago," I snapped. "And I don't need a babysitter."

"Who said anything about babysitting?" Luca asked, spinning the laptop onto the polished cherrywood table between two cream leather recliners. He dropped into one and patted the seat facing him. "Consider it an incentive program."

"You act like an obnoxious teenager," I said, stepping forward.

Before I could grab the computer, a blister pack of small white tablets slid across the folding tray of the aisle seat behind me.

*Clack.*

I stopped.

Adrian stood by the overhead compartment, his dark jacket unbuttoned. He tapped the foil packet with his index finger, his hazel eyes completely calm.

"Sit on the aisle," Adrian said quietly. "Take two with water before the wheels leave the tarmac."

Luca leaned around his chair, scowling. "What is that?"

"Dramamine," Adrian replied without looking at his brother.

"She didn't ask for pills," Luca countered, his voice sharpening. "Stop hovering, Adrian."

"She gets airsick," Adrian stated, his tone flat and even. "Turbulence makes her stomach knot up, and commercial flights between New York and Boston usually wreck her for three hours."

The cabin went utterly still.

My mouth parted, the retort dying on my tongue. "How do you know that?"

"I read your private blog from six years ago," Adrian said, meeting my gaze squarely. "The one you forgot to delete when you joined Hale Biotech. You complained about turboprops twice a month."

Across the cabin, a seatbelt clicked into place with violent force.

Damian sat in the forward executive chair, his broad frame framed by the bulkhead window. His silver eyes were fixed on Adrian, cold and lethal. The air around him practically dropped ten degrees.

"You dug through her college archives," Damian said, his baritone rumbling through the pressurized cabin.

"I did thorough research," Adrian answered, turning his head slightly toward his older brother. "Unlike you, I don't assume intimidation solves everything."

"Enough," Damian commanded.

He didn't raise his voice, but the sheer weight of his Alpha presence rolled down the center aisle, thick and oppressive. The scent of heavy cedar flared off his skin, suffocating the cabin's filtered air.

"Sit down, Nora," Damian said, his eyes shifting to me. "The captain is waiting for runway clearance."

I glanced between the three of them.

Luca watched me like a card player holding four aces, daring me to sit across from him. Adrian stood by the aisle seat, his expression neutral, though his tattooed fingers rested lightly against the leather headrest. And Damian sat like a crowned king demanding homage.

I grabbed the motion sickness tablets off Adrian's tray.

"Thank you," I said to Adrian, keeping my voice clipped.

Then I walked straight past Luca, ignoring his outstretched arm, and dropped into the single captain's chair directly across the aisle from Damian.

Luca’s jaw tightened. "Unbelievable."

"Buckle up, Luca," Adrian muttered, taking the seat behind me with a faint, satisfied tilt of his head.

The twin jet engines whined to life, shaking the floor beneath my soles. I popped two tablets out of the foil, swallowed them dry, and clicked my harness shut.

Damian hadn't looked away. His silver gaze tracked every motion of my throat as I swallowed.

"You're defying me on purpose," Damian said quietly.

"I picked an empty seat," I replied, staring straight ahead at the cockpit door. "Don't flatter yourself."

"You chose to sit beside me."

"I chose to sit where nobody could steal my electronics." I shot Luca a pointed glare across the cabin.

Luca merely picked up my laptop, tapped the closed lid, and winked. "Whatever lets you sleep at night, sweetheart."

The jet surged forward.

G-force pinned my back against the leather as the aircraft tore down the runway. Outside, the gray sprawl of New Jersey vanished beneath thick, bruised storm clouds. The climb was steep, the engines roaring with deafening power.

Then the nose pitched down violently.

*Thump.*

The entire plane dropped twenty feet out of nowhere.

A sharp gasp ripped from my lungs. My stomach surged into my throat as the cabin rattled violently, the overhead bins groaning under the sudden shear.

The seatbelt cut hard into my hips. Another jolt hit us, tossing the aircraft sideways with sickening speed.

Panic took over before my brain could stop it.

I reached out blindly, desperate for anything solid to anchor me against the drop. My fingers slammed down against the broad armrest across the narrow aisle, closing tight over a thick, muscular forearm.

I gripped Damian’s arm like a lifeline.

The moment my bare fingers pressed against his skin, the cabin disappeared.

It was like grabbing an exposed high-voltage cable.

A blinding rush of heat surged straight through my palm, racing up my arm and striking the center of my chest with terrifying force. The world fractured into pure sensation.

Crushed jasmine and rich black tea exploded from my skin, flooding the cabin in an instant. Beside me, Damian’s cedar scent flared so fiercely it tasted like smoke on the back of my tongue.

The bond didn't just tug—it snapped taut, singing with an unbearable, violent resonance that rattled my ribs.

My head snapped toward him.

Damian wasn't looking at the ceiling or the rattling windows. He was staring at my hand on his forearm, his pupils dilated so wide the silver iris was reduced to a paper-thin ring. His chest heaved once, drawing in the sudden surge of my scent.

Before I could pull away, his massive hand flipped over.

His fingers clamped down around my wrist, locking my hand against his arm like an iron vise.

"Mine," Damian whispered.

The word barely made a sound, but it vibrated straight down into my bones. His thumb stroked the rapid pulse leaping at the inside of my wrist, his grip unyielding, his face hardened by a terrifying wave of naked possessiveness.

Across the aisle, the humor vanished from Luca's face.

His playful smirk dissolved completely, his features turning stark, rigid, and freezing cold. He leaned forward out of his seat, his dark eyes locked on Damian's fingers wrapped around my wrist.

"Damian," Luca warned, his voice dead of all warmth. "Let her go."

Behind me, the sound of paper rustling stopped entirely.

Adrian didn't say a word. He sat frozen in his seat, holding a quarterly financial dossier in both hands. His knuckles were bone-white against the paper. For ten agonizing seconds, he didn't breathe. He didn't shift his weight. He didn't turn a single page.

The air inside the jet thickened until it felt flammable.

Rain and sage from Adrian. Burning spice from Luca. Cedar from Damian.

Three rival scents collided in the tight space, crashing against each other in an escalating wave of raw territorial fury. The sheer force of their conflicting dominance pressed down on my temples like iron bands.

They were going to rip this cabin apart right mid-flight.

The realization hit me like ice water.

I braced my heels against the floor and yanked my wrist backward with every ounce of strength I possessed.

The sudden movement tore my skin from Damian's grip. The violent friction sent a shock of heat down my arm as I dragged my hand back to my chest, tucking it against my ribs.

"Don't touch me," I said, my voice shaking with fury.

Damian’s hand remained frozen in mid-air, his fingers curved into an empty claw. His chest rose and fell in ragged bursts, his silver eyes flashing with dark hunger.

"Nora—" Damian began, his voice gravel-rough.

"I said don't," I snapped, cutting him off.

Luca stood up from his chair, completely ignoring the glowing seatbelt sign above his head. The plane shuddered through another wave of turbulence, but he didn't stumble. He took one step into the aisle, towering over Damian's seat with his jaw clenched tight.

"You crossed a line, Damian," Luca said, his tone dripping with quiet venom.

Adrian finally dropped his dossier onto the tray table with a sharp slap. He unbuckled his belt and rose to his feet, stepping into the narrow space between them.

"Sit back down, Luca," Adrian said, his hazel eyes burning. "Both of you. Before I make you."

"Try it, little brother," Damian growled, rising from his chair to meet them.

The three brothers stood locked in the center aisle, shoulder to shoulder, chests heaving, their presence pushing the cabin to the absolute brink of violence.

And thirty thousand feet in the air, there was nowhere for me to run.