Chapter 16
Ana’s POV
“Name”
“Aria Collins.”
“Age.”
“You realize the amount you stole is enough to land you in prison for over two years?”
I glared at the man across from me. “I told you already–I didn’t steal anything. I was at that boutique with a friend. She asked me to step out and grab her a coffee. When I came back, she was gone.”
This was the fourth hour I’d been stuck at the police station. I was drained.
But no one here wanted to hear my side of the story. They were all convinced I was nothing but a shameless thief.
The officer scoffed and tapped his clipboard. “I’ve seen plenty of girls like you. No self–esteem, no boundaries. You think stealing a pretty dress is your ticket to a better life? Those things don’t belong to people like you”
“So I guess cops just assume someone’s guilty with zero proof now.”
“Watch your tone!” he barked. “I do have proof. The dress was on your body and it wasn’t paid for. That’s evidence.”
“Ask the staff,” I said, trying to stay calm. “They saw me with my friend. She said she’d pay for the dress when I gol back-
“We already asked,”
ed,” he cut me off “Store clerks said you walked in alone, tried on the dress, and ran out while they weren’t looking.”
I inhaled sharply and rubbed my face in frustration.
As much as I didn’t want to believe it…
Delilah set me up.
She sent me out for coffee and disappeared on purpose.
And now I was the one left behind, labeled a thief.
“Look, you can check my records,” I said quietly. “I work at Apex. I have a real job. I’m not the kind of person who’d sneak into a luxury store and steal-
“I’m not checking anything. You’re full of crap and wasting my time. You said she was your friend. Do you even have her number?”
I froze.
Of course not. I’d only seen Delilah a few times. We weren’t actually friends.
“Thought so,” he said smugly. “You’re just another shameless liar and a thief.
1 sank into the chair, exhausted.
I hadn’t eaten all day, hadn’t had water in hours. I was starving. Cold. And across the room, a few scummy–looking street wolves were eyeing me like prey, whistling and laughing.
I didn’twant to deal with any of them.
“I want to make a phone call,” I said.
“To who? Gonna call in your little gang to raise hell?”
“No. I want to call my guardian,” I said, I could call him that, right? “I do have the right to
to one phone call, don’t I?”
9:47 AM
Chapter lo
He shot me a look, then tossed a phone onto the tabl
I quickly typed in his number.
The call picked up after the very first ring.
“Miss Collins, is something wrong?” The voice wasn’t his–it was Nova
“Oh, hi Nova,” I said awkwardly. “Is Alpha Grayson around?”
“He’s currently at a family dinner. It’s a private Hart gathering, very y strict, and no one is allowed to bring phones. Is it urgent?”
I hesitated. “Not exactly.. but kind. Can you just let him know I’m at the Central Police Station? Got into a bit of a situation.”
“What? You were arrested? Her voice shot up in pitch.
“Sort of. It’s not a big deal, really. If it’s too much trouble, just forget
“I’m going in right now. Alpha Grayson must hear about this,” she said firmly. I could already hear her heels clicking across the floor. “Hang tight, Miss Collins”
When
When the call ended, I handed the phone back. The cop narrowed his eyes at me!
“Someone actually coming for you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“You’re delusional,” he sneered. “What, you think you’re some rich heiress now?”
Then he yanked me up from the chair.
“Let’s go. Maybe a night in holding will snap you back to reality.
He dragged me into a holding cell where four or five other detainees were already crashing for the night. I was locked up next to a disgusting little sink and toilet that reeked so badly it made me gag.
“Why do you have a problem with me?” I shouted at him.
“Girls like you deserve this,” he said with a nasty grin before whistling and swaggering off.
I was completely spent. Hunger was gnawing at my stomach like fire, and the smell in here–made it impossible to even rest my eyes.
“Hey, I like your dress,” someone whistled at me.
I ignored it.
“C’mon. That dress looks pricey. How many men do you have to ride to afford something like that?
They thought I was a prostitute.
The irony hit me like a slap–how excited I’d felt earlier to wear that dress. How beautiful it made me feel. And now? I felt disgusting. Cheap. Ashamed.
“Piss off.” I muttered.
“Whoa, feisty, I’ve got cash for a blowjob one. Half–price, maybe? You do smell like a piss now,”
The whole cell burst into laughter.
I leaned against the wall, eyes closed, trying to block it all out.
At feast an hour had passed. Then, I heard the footsteps.
Fast, Heavy, Getting closer.
“Movel Now! Get her out of there!”
9:47 AM
다
Chapter 16
Several officers came running, panicked, including the fat one who locked me up. They fumbled with the keys, trying to unlock my cuffs–but they dropped them in their haste.
“Hurry up, you idiot! He’s almost here!”
But it was already too late.
The pressure
in the air shifted.
A massive wave of power–like a tidal wave–rushed through the room. Even before he entered. Grayson’s aura slammed into the cell like a freight train.
Everyone groaned in pain, wolves collapsing to the ground, shaking.
I gasped, heart racing, and looked up–just in time to see him walking in.
He looked like something out of a dream. Towering, deadly calm, and so out of place in this grimy little cell.
He walked straight to me.
Alpha, the keys- Nova started.
But he didn’t need them.
With one flex of his wrist, the metal cuffs snapped like twigs. Then he scooped me up in his arms, easy as breathing.
“I–I can walk,” I whispered.
He ignored me and strode out of the cell, holding me tight
In the station lobby, every single wolf was frozen in place–too overwhelmed by his presence to even move.
“I want the name of the one who brought Aria in,” he said, voice like steel. “And the one who locked her up
Everyone flinched in silence.)
Until finally, someone cracked.
“I—it was Caleb. I saw him interrogating the girl…”
The fat
tremble.
cop–Caleb–was dragged out. He fell to his knees in front of Grayson, shaking so badly his rolls of fat jiggled with every
“P–please, Alpha, I didn’t know! The order came from your house. Lady Dellah–I thought she had the authority. I didn’t know this girl
“Nova” Grayson ordered.
Nova didn’t hesitate.
Her first kick sent Caleb sprawling. The second–heel first–landed right on his shoulder. Something cracked, and he screamed in
agony.
“Continue,” Grayson said, completely unmoved.
I stared in shock, completely frozen.
Sure, werewolves were more physical species. And I knew there were
still wars ragin
raging around the world.
But I’d never seen this before. Never seen power and violence wielded so casually.
Caleb was already on the floor, broken and bleeding, but Nova kept going.
I wanted to look away. To beg her to s
to stop.
But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even speak.
0:47 AM
Chapter 16
A warm hand covered my eyes, shielding me from the sight.
“Sorry I was late,” he said, gently stroking my hair.
And in his voice. I heard the force of the dark. It made me shiver.
AD
