Harper placed her fork beside her plate.

She looked at Vivian, then at Kane.

“Apparently, I can offer him a quiet dinner. Something he seems to have been missing.”

Gideon coughed into his glᴀss.

Vivian’s expression hardened.

“I was asking a serious question.”

“So was I.”

“You are sitting beside the most powerful Alpha on the western coast. Men have spent their entire lives trying to earn his attention. What makes you think you deserve to be here?”

Harper glanced down at her dinner.

“Because I was invited.”

“You were purchased through your father’s debt.”

The words landed heavily.

For the first time that evening, Harper’s expression changed.

Not into fear.

Into something colder.

“My father may have signed the agreement,” she said quietly, “but I did not come here because I believe I belong to him.”

She looked directly at Vivian.

“I came because three hundred and seventeen people shouldn’t lose their homes because their Alpha couldn’t manage his gambling habits.”

Silence.

Kane slowly put down his wineglᴀss.

“Three hundred and seventeen?”

Harper nodded.

“Three hundred and seventeen registered dependents. Eighty-six children. Twenty-nine elderly residents. Forty-two employees at the medical facility. I have the complete records if you want them.”

“You brought financial records to a dinner?”

“I brought them because everyone in this house seems interested in discussing my father’s debt. Nobody seems interested in the people who will actually pay for it.”

Kane studied her.

For five years, people had entered his presence with trembling hands, rehearsed compliments and carefully concealed desperation.

Harper Hayes had just criticized his dinner conversation.

And somehow, she seemed more concerned about an abandoned medical clinic than the enormous Alpha sitting beside her.

“Gideon,” Kane said.

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Get me the Cascade accounts.”

Vivian immediately intervened.

“That isn’t necessary. The settlement has already been approved.”

Kane didn’t look at her.

“I wasn’t asking you.”

Vivian’s fingers тιԍнтened around her glᴀss.

Harper noticed.

She also noticed something else.

The moment Kane had spoken, his breathing had changed.

A slight hitch.

His right hand had curled against the edge of the table.

His eyes, which had been a steady amber, briefly flashed almost white.

Then it disappeared.

Harper frowned.

“Are you all right?”

Gideon looked up sharply.

Vivian stopped moving.

Kane’s expression became unreadable.

“Eat your dinner.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

“Harper.”

It was the first time he had used her name.

His voice was low enough to make the silverware vibrate.

She slowly picked up her fork.

“Fine. But if you collapse, I refuse to explain to the medical team that I watched it happen while eating salmon.”

Gideon almost choked.

Kane stared at her for several seconds.

Then, unexpectedly, a sound escaped him.

A short, rough laugh.

It was so unfamiliar that everyone at the table froze.

Vivian looked genuinely horrified.

Because Kane Croft hadn’t laughed in five years.

Not once.

At eleven forty-five, dinner ended.

Gideon escorted Harper upstairs.

The private wing occupied the entire western side of the mansion. Its windows overlooked the ocean, and its corridor was lined with paintings depicting former Croft Alphas.

Harper counted six security cameras.

Three emergency exits.

Two concealed doors.

And one medical cabinet.

She was still examining the corridor when Gideon stopped outside a pair of enormous black doors.

“This is your room.”

Harper looked at him.

“And Kane’s?”

“Across the hall.”

“That’s convenient.”

Gideon gave her a warning look.

“Listen carefully. If you hear him calling your name tonight, don’t approach him.”

Harper’s stomach тιԍнтened.

“Why?”

“Because whatever happens, you must stay behind your door.”

“Is he dangerous?”

Gideon hesitated.

Then he answered honestly.

“Yes.”

Harper looked through the glᴀss toward the ocean.

“Has he hurt anyone?”

“Not intentionally.”

“That isn’t the same as saying no.”

Gideon said nothing.

She turned back.

“What happened five years ago?”

His expression changed.

“An attack.”

“On him?”

“On the entire Croft family.”

“And that’s when he changed?”

Gideon looked toward Kane’s door.

“His father died that night. His mother disappeared. Kane was found three days later in the mountains, covered in blood, with no memory of what he’d done.”

Harper’s breath caught.

“Was he injured?”

“His body healed.”

“But?”

Gideon lowered his voice.

“Something else came back with him.”

Before Harper could ask another question, a sharp sound echoed from the end of the hallway.

A glᴀss shattered.

Then came a low, guttural growl.

Every light in the corridor flickered.

Gideon immediately stepped between Harper and Kane’s door.

“Inside. Now.”

Harper didn’t move.

From behind the black doors came the sound of something heavy striking the floor.

Then a man’s voice.

“GET OUT!”

The medical attendants appeared at the far end of the corridor.

One opened the tranquilizer case.

Gideon turned toward them.

“Not yet!”

Another crash shook the walls.

Harper stared at Kane’s door.

Something was terribly wrong.

She could feel it.

Not simply anger.

Pain.

She had spent years learning to distinguish the difference between someone who wanted to frighten others and someone who was desperately trying to survive something inside themselves.

Kane sounded like the second.

“Open the door,” she said.

Gideon turned sharply.

“Absolutely not.”

“He’s hurt.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then explain.”

“I can’t.”

Another growl tore through the hallway.

A medical attendant raised the syringe.

Harper stepped forward.

“Put that down.”

The attendant looked at Gideon.

Gideon shook his head.

“Harper, please. Go into your room.”

She looked at the black doors.

Then she did something that made everyone stare.

She knocked.

Once.

Twice.

“Kane?”

Silence.

Then something slammed against the other side of the door.

A deep, furious voice answered.

“LEAVE!”

Harper swallowed.

“I would love to. Unfortunately, your medical staff are about to inject you with something, and I suspect that will make this considerably worse.”

“GET AWAY FROM MY DOOR!”

“Then tell them to put the syringe down.”

A terrible silence followed.

Then Kane spoke again.

His voice sounded different.

Rougher.

Almost broken.

“Please…”

Harper froze.

It was barely audible.

But she heard it.

“Don’t let them…”

The sentence ended in a strangled growl.

Gideon closed his eyes.

“That’s it,” he whispered. “He’s losing control.”

Harper looked at the medical attendants.

“How many times have you sedated him?”

One of them hesitated.

“Miss Hayes, this is a medical matter.”

“How many?”

“Several times a month.”

“And what happens afterward?”

“He becomes weaker. More disoriented.”

Harper’s eyes narrowed.

“Then why do you keep doing it?”

Nobody answered.

She looked at Gideon.

“Open the door.”

“I can’t.”

“Gideon, if he wanted to kill everyone in this hallway, do you really think a wooden door would stop him?”

The question silenced him.

He slowly reached for his key.

“Stay behind me.”

The room beyond was enormous.

A fireplace burned beneath a black marble mantel. Heavy curtains covered the windows. A leather sofa had been overturned, and broken glᴀss covered the floor.

Kane stood near the far wall.

His shirt was torn at the shoulder.

Blood ran from a cut across his chest.

His hands were braced against the stone wall, and his entire body trembled.

His eyes were no longer golden.

They were almost entirely silver.

Harper stopped breathing.

For one terrifying second, she understood why seven women had fled this room.

Kane lifted his head.

“Get out.”

Harper looked at his bleeding chest.

“You’re injured.”

“I said get out!”

“I’m beginning to think you have a problem with people following simple instructions.”

Gideon moved toward her.

“Harper, don’t.”

But she was already looking at Kane’s right hand.

His fingers were clenched so тιԍнтly that blood ran between them.

“Your hand,” she said.

Kane shook his head.

“Don’t come closer.”

Harper stopped.

“Okay.”

She raised both palms.

“I won’t.”

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then Kane’s knees buckled.

His shoulder struck the wall.

Gideon lunged forward, but Kane let out a roar so powerful that the windows rattled.

“BACK!”

Gideon froze.

Harper watched Kane’s breathing.

Fast.

Shallow.

Irregular.

His pupils were expanding and contracting.

He wasn’t simply angry.

Something was happening to his nervous system.

She turned toward the medical attendants.

“Does he have a history of seizures?”

“Not exactly.”

“Heart problems?”

“No.”

“Then what are you treating?”

The older attendant looked uncomfortable.

“An episode of Alpha instability.”

“That isn’t a diagnosis.”

“Miss Hayes—”

“Does he take medication every day?”

The attendant hesitated.

Harper caught it.

“What?”

“His regular medication was changed three weeks ago.”

“By whom?”

Nobody answered.

Kane suddenly collapsed onto one knee.

His hand struck the floor.

Harper moved instinctively.

Gideon grabbed her arm.

“Don’t!”

“Let go!”

“His wolf is trying to take over!”

Harper looked at him.

His wolf.

Of course.

She had heard the stories about the ancient bloodlines, the territorial Alphas and the creatures that lived beneath human consciousness.

But she had never seen one this close.

Kane lifted his face.

For a moment, she saw something in his expression that made her chest ache.

Not rage.

Terror.

“Harper…”

It was the first time he had called her name without sounding angry.

“Help…”

Then his body convulsed.

The medical attendants rushed forward.

Harper finally saw the syringe.

A clear liquid.

No label.

She stepped between them and Kane.

“Stop.”

The older attendant frowned.

“Move away.”

“Show me the medication.”

“It’s a sedative.”

“Then show me the prescription.”

“Miss Hayes, you have no authority here.”

Harper looked at Gideon.

“Does she?”

Gideon stared at the syringe.

Then at the attendant.

“Doctor, put it down.”

The woman hesitated.

“Alpha Croft’s orders—”

“Kane is unconscious. I am his second-in-command. Put it down.”

Reluctantly, she lowered the syringe.

Harper knelt several feet from Kane.

His breathing was becoming dangerously shallow.

She noticed a faint metallic smell beneath the scent of blood.

Something familiar.

She leaned slightly closer.

Then she saw it.

A small injection mark beneath the skin of his neck.

Not fresh.

Several overlapping marks.

Her eyes moved to the medical cabinet.

Then to the medication tray.

Then back to the doctor.

“What have you been giving him?”

The woman went pale.

“His prescribed treatment.”

Harper pointed at the syringe.

“Read me the name.”

“That’s confidential.”

“Then tell me why an unlabelled syringe is being administered to a man whose breathing is failing.”

The doctor said nothing.

Harper’s gaze sharpened.

“Gideon, call an independent physician. Someone who doesn’t work for this estate.”

Gideon immediately took out his phone.

Vivian appeared in the doorway.

“What is happening here?”

Nobody answered.

She looked at Kane on the floor.

Then at Harper.

“What have you done?”

Harper turned slowly.

“That’s an interesting question. I was about to ask what your medical team has been doing to him.”

Vivian’s face went white.

“Be careful.”

“I’m trying to be.”

“You have been here for less than three hours. You have no idea how complicated his condition is.”

“Then explain it.”

“You cannot understand.”

“Try me.”

Vivian stepped closer.

“You think you’re special because he spoke to you? Because he allowed you into this room? Seven women before you believed they could help him.”

Harper looked at the overturned furniture.

“Did they receive the same medication?”

Vivian went still.

“Excuse me?”

“The seven women. Did they receive injections before entering his private wing?”

The room became deathly quiet.

Gideon slowly lowered his phone.

Harper looked at the older attendant.

“Answer me.”

The attendant’s eyes shifted toward Vivian.

That was enough.

Harper stood.

“Someone has been experimenting on him.”

Vivian laughed nervously.

“That’s absurd.”

“Then why are you frightened?”

For the first time, Vivian had no immediate answer.

At twelve thirty-seven, an independent physician arrived.

Dr. Malcolm Pierce was a silver-haired specialist who had treated the Croft family for nearly twenty years before retiring.

He examined Kane in silence.

Blood pressure.

Pulse.

Pupils.

Breathing.

Then he requested the medication records.

When he finished reading them, his expression changed.

“Who authorized this treatment?”

Vivian stepped forward.

“The council approved the medical protocol.”

“I asked who authorized it.”

She didn’t answer.

Dr. Pierce looked at Gideon.

“How long has he been receiving this compound?”

“Three weeks.”

The doctor slowly removed his glᴀsses.

“Good God.”

Harper felt her stomach тιԍнтen.

“What is it?”

He looked at her.

“I cannot confirm the exact substance without laboratory testing. But this combination appears to be suppressing his nervous system while triggering increasingly severe episodes of neurological and physiological instability.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning the treatment may be making his condition worse.”

Kane stirred on the floor.

His fingers moved.

Dr. Pierce immediately knelt beside him.

“Easy, Kane. Don’t try to get up.”

Kane’s eyes opened.

Silver.

Then gold.

Then silver again.

His gaze found Harper.

“Did you…”

His voice broke.

“Did you stay?”

Harper crouched beside him.

“I’m still here.”

He stared at her as though he couldn’t understand the answer.

“Why?”

She glanced at the blood on his hand.

“Because someone should have helped you before it became this bad.”

His jaw тιԍнтened.

“Seven women…”

Harper waited.

“They saw…”

He struggled for breath.

“They saw what I become.”

Harper shook her head.

“I saw what happens when someone is left in pain and everyone around him decides fear is easier than understanding.”

Kane closed his eyes.

For a moment, his hand moved toward hers.

Then stopped.

He seemed afraid to touch her.

Harper gently placed her hand on the floor beside his.

Not touching.

Just close enough.

“Rest,” she whispered.

And for the first time in five years, Kane Croft allowed someone to remain in the room while he lost consciousness.

At two fifteen in the morning, Harper sat outside Kane’s bedroom with a blanket around her shoulders.

Dr. Pierce had stabilized him.

Gideon was questioning the medical staff.

The suspicious syringe had been secured for testing.

Vivian had disappeared.

Harper was reviewing the medication records when her phone vibrated.

A message from Chloe.

Harper, Dad is here.

He says you have to come home.

Another message arrived immediately.

He says if you don’t, he’ll tell everyone you abandoned the family.

Harper stared at the screen.

Then another notification appeared.

An unknown number.

Unknown: You should not have questioned the medication.

Her fingers went cold.

A second message followed.

Unknown: The seven women were warnings. You should have understood that before entering Croft Estate.

Harper looked up.

At the opposite end of the hallway, a shadow moved behind the glᴀss.

She stood.

“Gideon?”

No answer.

She walked toward the window.

Outside, the rain had stopped.

A black vehicle was parked beyond the security gates.

Its headlights were off.

Someone was sitting inside.

Then her phone vibrated again.

This time, it was a pH๏τograph.

Harper opened it.

The picture showed Kane lying unconscious in his bedroom.

It had been taken from inside the room.

Below it was a short message.

Unknown: If he remembers what happened five years ago, everyone in this house will die.

Harper’s blood turned cold.

Because the pH๏τograph had been taken only minutes earlier.

Someone had access to Kane’s private bedroom.

Someone inside Croft Estate.

She immediately turned toward Gideon’s office.

But before she could take another step, the bedroom door opened.

Kane stood in the doorway.

Barefoot.

Pale.

His eyes were gold again.

He looked directly at Harper’s phone.

Then at her face.

“Who sent that?”

Harper hesitated.

“Kane, you need to sit down.”

“Show me.”

She handed him the phone.

He read the message.

For several seconds, he didn’t move.

Then something terrible pᴀssed across his face.

Recognition.

Not confusion.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

He slowly lifted his eyes.

“Where did you get this pH๏τograph?”

“Someone sent it to me.”

“When?”

“Two minutes ago.”

Kane looked toward the dark hallway.

Then he said something that made Harper’s heart stop.

“Because whoever took that picture…”

His voice dropped to a whisper.

“…was standing beside my bed.”

Harper looked at the bedroom.

Then at him.

“Who?”

Kane’s golden eyes darkened.

“My brother.”

Harper froze.

“Your brother is alive?”

Kane said nothing.

Instead, he reached for the wall as if the floor had suddenly shifted beneath him.

And then he spoke the words that would change everything.

“Harper, listen to me. Five years ago, I didn’t lose control of my wolf.”

He looked at her.

“Someone made me kill my own father.”

And somewhere inside Croft Estate, the person responsible had just realized that Harper Hayes was beginning to uncover the truth.

End of Part 2.