"Enough," he murmured to himself. He shrugs into a dark coat, leaving the tailored jacket behind.
One night, just one night he tells himself . Just one night where he is not a symbol.
He doesn't call security, and doesn't inform anyone. The elevator doors slide shut with a soft chime that sounds too final.
The engagement ring rested on the glass table like a verdict.
Edward had been staring at it for ten minutes, long enough to memorize the way the diamonds catch the city lights and throw them back cold and sharp.
Tonight, cameras will capture it on his finger and the pack will call it destiny. But it felt like a shackle.
From my penthouse windows, Manhattan stretched endlessly, steel, money and control. This city bows to him without a question. Bloodlines and everything moves when he commanded it to.
Everything moved at his command except his wolf.
It had been restless all day, prowling beneath his skin, rejecting every calming breath and every practiced thought. Not angry and not afraid but in resistance.
"You'll grow into it," his mother said, smiling as she adjusted his cufflinks. "All Alphas do."
But he already had, that's the problem.
He tightened his fists, feeling the pressure build behind his ribs. The engagement isn't just political, it's binding.
Old magic woven into modern contracts. Once sealed, there is no walking away without consequences.
He can't leave. His security detail waits downstairs. The city is locked down for him. But for the first time in years, the idea of staying feels unbearable.
He loosens his cufflinks and sets them beside the engagement ring, then after pacing the room for a while, he pulls the ring and cufflinks from the table and slips it into a drawer.
Both feel like lies.
Somewhere below, people laugh without his permission. His wolf stirs, restless and irritated by the stillness.
As the elevator descends, the pressure in his chest eases slightly, as if the building itself has been weighing him down.
Outside, the night air is sharp and damp, the streets slick with recent rain. He pauses on the sidewalk, exposed in a way that feels almost obscene.
No guards flanking him and no protective perimeter. Just a man, free to do what he wants for one night.
He flags down a car that isn't marked as anything special. The driver doesn't recognize him, and the anonymity sends a strange thrill through his veins.
"Anywhere in particular?" the driver asks.
He hesitates for a second. Then he gives an address he had not spoken aloud in years.
The car drives for about thirteen minutes before stopping in front of a building.
He pays the driver and steps out, rain misting the collar of his coat.
Ember
She didn't plan to go out that night. The night started like every other, her takeout growing cold and her new boss's voice still echoing in her head from the late call.
"Thursday will be very important. Be sharp."
She is always sharp, always careful and always invisible in the way that keeps things smooth.
Still, the anxiousness won't let her sit. She had gotten a job to work as the secretary for Iris Adams. The feeling of working in the Adams Corporation sends chills to her spine.
It hums beneath her skin, low and insistent, like an itch she can't reach.
The moon hangs too bright between the buildings, silver and watchful, pulling at something she has no words for.
Her phone chimes, she reaches for it and it's her friend Bella. A bottle for the new Adams Corporation girl. Dress up, I'll pick you up in ten.
She smiles and immediately grabs her makeup box without thinking. A few minutes later, the front door bell rings and she hurries downstairs.
Outside, the city is alive, music leaking from doors, laughter bouncing off concrete, heat rising from subway grates as they drive through the streets.
They stop in front of a door she doesn't remember noticing before. " Where are we?" She asks Bella.
Bella laughs as she opens the door for her. "It's a secret." Her mouth opens but nothing comes out.
"You should have the fun of your life tonight before you commence work for that spoiled boss of yours." She jokes.
The entrance of the club didn't announce itself.
There was no sign, velvet rope or line spilling onto the street.
Just a seamless stretch of dark stone set between two anonymous buildings, broken only by a recessed door that blends so perfectly into the wall it's easy to miss if you didn't already know it's there.
There was a low pulse of sound and a bouncer who studied her face a second too long before stepping in front of them " No phones, no cameras!" He said sternly.
Bella takes their phones back to the car before joining her once more.
The moment she crosses the threshold, the air changes.
The bass settles into her bones. The crowd blurs, faces indistinct, as if the room itself was waiting.
"This place is insane," Bella murmurs as they walk to the bar, leaning closer so she doesn't have to raise her voice. "Are we even supposed to be here?" She asks half scared, half excited.
She lets out a quiet laugh. "Probably not."
The bartender sets two drinks in front of them without asking, something smoky and citrusy, served in heavy crystal. No prices. No menu.
Bella takes a sip and widens her eyes. "Okay. Worth getting kidnapped for."
Ember snorts, lifting her glass. "To bad decisions."
They clink glasses gently.
Ember is mid-sip when a shadow falls across the bar. A man stands beside Bella, tall, confident, dressed in something that looks effortless and expensive.
"Excuse me," he says, his voice smooth and practiced. "Would you like to dance?"
Bella blinks, surprised. Then she smiles, flattered. "Oh—"
She sets her glass down a little too fast.
"Hey," Ember says , reaching out and lightly gripping her wrist. Her voice stays calm, but her eyes don't. "Don't." She says, lifting her brows.
"I don't like this," she says quietly. "Stay."
Bella glances between her and the man, torn. "You'll be fine. It's just one dance."
She makes a face, lips pressed thin, eyes pleading, Bella understands the language but gives a small, exaggerated head shake, mouthing, "please."
The man watches the exchange with mild amusement. "I promise I'll return her in one piece."
"That's not reassuring," she mutters.
Bella laughs, gently pulling her hand free. "Relax. I'll be right there." She points to a spot near the dance floor. "You won't even lose sight of me."
She exhales slowly as her friend is led away, the crowd swallowing them in low light and movement.
Left alone, she turns back to the bar, fingers curling around her glass.
The restlessness under her skin sharpens.
Then, a presence shifts beside her, close and warm.
And before she can turn, a low voice speaks near her ear.
"Looks like you could use the company."
She freezes for a second.