The woman headed for the door, then paused on the threshold and looked back over her shoulder.
"Get settled and rest for now. Tonight we have a briefing with the rest of the housekeeping staff, and I’ll introduce you to everyone. Dinner is right after—you’re just in time for it. Lunch has already passed, but I can bring you some fresh pastries or fruit if you’re hungry."
"I’m not hungry, but thank you so much," I replied softly.
The moment the door clicked shut, I dragged my small suitcase inside and let out a long, shuddering breath. The bag was practically empty, carried purely as a prop so a new live-in maid wouldn’t look suspicious arriving empty-handed.
To my relief, the room came with a tiny private bathroom fitted with a shower and toilet. Stepping inside, I leaned against the sink and closed my eyes, letting the reality wash over me.
I did it. I passed the interview. I’m inside.
Now came the impossible part: finding a way to get close enough to Magnus to harvest his blood.
My eyes were burning terribly from the colored contacts, the edges scraping against my corneas and triggering a dull headache. Unzipping the suitcase, I retrieved a bottle of hair setting spray, a fresh pack of tinted lenses, and stepped back up to the mirror.
A blonde girl with warm brown eyes and a light dusting of freckles across her nose stared back at me. A stranger’s face. The underlying bone structure was still mine, but the overall impression was entirely transformed—a ghost wearing someone else’s skin.
We decided against cutting my hair since there was no real point, but the setting spray... I was lucky my baseline body temperature was lower than average—remaining cool like an unawakened breeder’s—which allowed the color spray to bond properly.
The catch was that if anyone touched my hair, heat transfer would instantly strip the pigment away, leaving a stark fingerprint behind.
After coating every strand, I braided it tightly and draped the plait over my chest so no one could catch or tug it by accident.
The freckles had to be drawn on every morning with a cosmetic pencil. I would have to wake up before dawn every single day just to ensure no one caught me without my mask.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected to sleep well here, but rest was non-negotiable—without strength, I wouldn’t survive the mission, let alone complete it.
. . .
Over the past three days, I had scouted almost every corner of the sprawling mansion. I mapped every pantry, memorized camera blind spots, and learned the security guards’ patrol routes by heart. Yet I hadn’t caught a single glimpse of Magnus. Not once. Not even from a distance.
From the constant chatter among the maids, I gathered that he rarely stayed at the main estate. That piece of news sent a wave of dread through me—the bond-suppressant cuff was only rated for two weeks at most, and no one knew where in the hells that Alpha was roaming.
Stretching on the top step of the ladder, I balanced on my tiptoes to reach the high window frame. A wispy cobweb clung to the edge of the crown molding—nearly invisible, but I knew the head housekeeper’s sharp eyes would spot it instantly and tear into me for missing it.
The moment I flicked the web away with my cloth, an unexpected sneeze burst from my chest. The sudden jerk sent the ladder wobbling violently beneath my feet, and I lost my footing.
I plummeted backward, letting out a sharp scream as I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing my body for the impact. Falling onto the marble floor from this height meant blinding pain—or worse, broken bones.
No, no, no, I can’t break my back! I can’t end up in a hospital!
My fall lasted no longer than a heartbeat before a pair of strong arms caught me out of midair. Solid. Immovable. Holding me as if I weighed nothing at all.
As I gasped for air, a suffocating, intoxicating scent hit my nostrils, instantly knocking the breath clean out of my lungs. Bitter, sharp, and overwhelming—like heavy vanilla extract laced with the acrid bite of dark tobacco smoked in an enclosed space. Deep inside me, the hidden mark beneath the wrist cuff flared with a sudden, piercing shock of pain.
It was him.
I looked up, a wave of cold nausea washing over me as my gaze met the molten mercury of his eyes.
Magnus was holding me in his arms. And he was sniffing the air.
His gray eyes locked directly onto mine.
The silence stretched for a handful of heartbeats, a terrifying freeze-frame that chilled me to the bone. Where there had once been molten, dangerous mercury in his gaze, now there were only jagged shards of ice. Nothing lived behind them. Just absolute, barren void.
His features were harsh, carved from stone. He hadn’t changed much over the years, except for an overwhelming aura of darkness that hung heavier around him now. My lungs refused to work. The realization that I was wrapped in his arms, pressed tight against his chest, hit my dormant breeder gene like a jolt of raw electricity. Deep within me, the feelings began to stir—thrashing against their cage, sending sharp, frantic shivers rippling across my skin.
"Are you alright?"
His voice was low, laced with a faint rasp that scraped over my frayed nerves, making me flinch. I had heard that voice a thousand times in my nightmares, replayed it endlessly in my memories. But now he was here. Right in front of me. Real.
I couldn’t answer.
My throat contracted into a tight knot, my tongue rendered completely useless. I could only nod, squirming frantically in his grip to pull away, but he held fast.
He stared down at me with a razor-sharp gaze, searching my features as if attempting to decipher a puzzle, and under that intense scrutiny, I wanted nothing more than the marble floor to swallow me whole. His nostrils flared, taking in a faint, subtle draft of air, and a shadow of deep contemplation flickered across his face.
Beneath the suppressant cuff, my calling mark pulsed with a sharp, agonizing heat, straining like a caged beast toward him. It wanted to reconnect, to bridge the distance, and sheer terror gripped me—if the inferno burning under the metal grew any hotter, the suppressor would crack, shatter, and expose me completely.
Then everything would be over.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter