Evaline:
I almost forgot how to breathe.
The young man standing in front of was undeniably handso - sharp cheekbones, smooth jaw, eyes the color of a clear morning sky - but that wasn’t what made my lungs stop working.
It was his hair.
Silky, long strands of silver, falling over his shoulders like threads of moonlight.
Silver.
My heart skipped.
In nineteen years of my life, I had known only two people with hair like that.
My mother.
And .
Silver hair wasn’t just rare... it was almost extinct in our world.
Only wolves born from the lineage of ancient Silver Wolf Pack carried it, and that pack... well, it had been hanging by its last thread for as long as anyone could rember. My mother was one of the last three remaining mbers of that lineage. From her, I inherited these silver strands and her amber eyes.
But not the wolf.
I had been born without one.
The disgrace of my pack.
An embarrassnt my father never bothered to hide.
So standing here... staring into the face of another silver-haired wolf... my mind emptied completely.
Until the man lifted an eyebrow and spoke.
"You plan to keep staring at all day?"
Oh Moon Goddess.
Heat shot up my neck, flushing my face.
"I-I’m sorry!" I blurted, nearly dropping the last file I had scooped up. "I wasn’t-I an, I didn’t an to-um-I just-"
Stop talking, Eva. Please. Stop.
His lips twitched with the faintest hint of amusent, but he stayed silent, watching struggle through my own tangled nonsense.
Mortified, I grabbed the final docunt from the floor and stood, holding out the stack toward him with both hands.
"Here."
He accepted the files, his expression smoothing into sothing calm and polite.
"Thank you."
I nodded quickly, ready... desperate... to escape this humiliation, when his voice stopped again.
"Before you go," he said lightly, "may I have the privilege of learning the na of the beautiful young woman who shares my wolf lineage?"
I froze.
His gaze wasn’t inappropriate.
Not overly warm, not flirtatiously bold.
Just intrigued. Observant.
Still, my cheeks heated again.
"I’m... Evaline," I managed, deciding to skip the lack of family or pack na. No need to dig that hole today. "I’m joining Alpha Ezekiel’s team for a month-long project."
Fortunately, he didn’t react strangely. Didn’t ask questions. Didn’t give the pitying expression others sotis did when they sensed sothing "off" around .
Instead, he nodded slightly.
"A pleasure, Evaline." Then he added, "I’m Elion Grey."
He introduced himself.
And the na hit sothing in my mory.
Familiar... but distant. Like a word you have read sowhere but can’t place.
I must have frowned slightly because he tilted his head.
"Are you new here?" he asked. "You look quite young."
"Oh-no," I said quickly. "Not exactly. I interned at the Council for five months not long ago. Now I’m back for another project."
Sothing lit in his eyes.
"Impressive," he said, sounding like he ant it. "Interning here once is already exceptional. Being invited again ans you are quite capable."
I blinked.
I... didn’t know how to respond to that. Complints still felt foreign, like clothes tailored for soone else... especially when it ca from total strangers and still felt genuine.
Before I could find words, he spoke again.
And this ti, he completely derailed my brain.
"Do you have a boyfriend, Evaline?"
"Huh?"
I stared at him, stunned all over again.
He seed utterly calm, as if he had asked what ti it was.
I shook my head automatically. My mouth opened... my brain intent on telling him, Actually, I’m already mated... but before I could get a single word out, he continued smoothly.
"Good," he said. "Then I’ll look forward to seeing more of you in the coming days."
I blinked.
What.
"I wasn’t too thrilled about coming to the headquarters," he added lightly, "but now, with you here... I might not mind it as much."
My brain fully short-circuited.
Was he...
What?
Who even flirted like that with a straight face?
Or was that flirting?
Was I imagining things?
Was he just naturally like this?
Why am I sweating?
Ding.
The elevator behind him chid open.
Before either of us could speak again, a voice called out.
"Alpha Grey!"
My stomach dropped.
Alpha?
He’s an Alpha?
I whipped my head toward the elevator... and sure enough, a group of Alphas stepped out.
And among them...
River.
His expression was unreadable.
His eyes?
Not even a little unreadable.
They were locked on the silver-haired Alpha standing in front of .
And they were dangerously cold.
Alpha Elion Grey glanced back at the group, then shot a quick wink before turning away.
A wink.
A wink!
The audacity...
My heart flew to my throat as the group approached.
I hurriedly dipped my head in a polite bow to the Alphas. River’s gaze never left the man until the very second I moved.
Then those deep green eyes snapped to .
My face burned.
I needed to get out of here.
Imdiately.
The elevator doors were still open. I slipped inside quickly, hitting the first floor button.
As the doors slid shut, I caught one last glimpse of River - his jaw tight, shoulders tense, eyes flicking between and Alpha Grey.
And Alpha Elion Grey... he was staring right at with that barely present smile on his lips. Either he was genuinely not aware of River’s deadly glare, or he didn’t care.
I hoped it was the forr, because if by any chance it was the latter... things were going to be really bad.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
Just what I needed.
The doors closed completely, and I finally let out the breath I had been holding since the mont those silver strands first hit my eyes.
Whoever that Alpha was...
He had just turned my day upside-down.
And I had this very terrible feeling that this wasn’t going to be the last ti.
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