Chapter 7
Anya kept performing, prattling on–never seeing how dark Atticus’s face had grown.
The crack of the slap snapped the air.
Atticus’s eyes were wild. “Who told you to touch my things? Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me? That wasn’t poison. That was my lifeline!”
Anya went stiff. Tears welled and trembled, but his bark cut them off.
“Don’t cry. Don’t you dare play the helpless act again.‘
He turned his back on her and stabbed at his phone, calling me over and over.
Each time, the same cold message.
I had blocked his number.
When he couldn’t reach me, he called Liam.
sat beside Liam, working a batch of Moonbinding incense balm for his mother, when the line clicked and Atticus’s voice came through between gritted teeth. “Where’s Seraphina?”
Liam flicked a finger in his ear and said, cool as ice, “None of your damn business.”
Atticus called again.
This time his voice dropped, ragged with a new, desperate humility. “Please… let Seraphina talk to me.”
I took the phone, my tone flat. “Go on.”
He startled at the sound of me, then rushed his words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand. I didn’t see what you were doing for me. I–can we talk in person?”
“I’m busy.” I hung up.
Panic spiked on his end.
Worse, Nightfall’s Beta rang in, voice shaking. “Alpha! It’s bad. The stock is tanking. Someone posted the video of you collapsing at the site… Everyone says you’re on drugs.”
Atticus froze, then opened the app.
There he was on screen: eyes unfocused, body twitching, every inch the image of a user.
The comments had already exploded.
“I’m with the DEA–looks exactly like drug symptoms.”
“An Alpha like that? Imagine his pack.”
“I even bought Nightfall stock, Dump it now!”
Panic selling hammered the price. It fell like a stone.
A vise clamped his chest. The dark closed in and he blacked out,
He didn’t dare stay down long.
When he came to, he lunged for the office, clawing at the wildfire of rumors.
Without my balm, his face was ashen, his gait unsteady, death written in the hollows of his cheeks.
Partners took one look and backed away.
Chapter 7
Galatea
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Chapter 7
“Sorry, our contract went to Jason from Silvercrest Pack.
“We’ve lined up another supplier. Next time.”
Others pulled out entirely. The funding chain collapsed.
Liam had already moved behind the scenes, closing doors with the banks.
Atticus applied for a loan. The answer was a flat no.
He stood there, lost and reeling–until footsteps sounded in the doorway.
I was there.
For a beat, Atticus just stared. Joy flared and died behind his eyes, smothered by shame.
He fumbled at his collar, trying to make himself look like an Alpha again.
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