Claimed by the scarred Alpha

LUCIAN

The door opened at the twenty-eight-minute mark.

I spent the time efficiently, combing through Kayden’s contact list and matching it against my knowledge of eastern supply chains. When he returned, I kept my focus on the screen, letting him linger in the doorway with whatever look he wore. Only when I heard the chair creak as he sat did I finally meet his gaze.

He fastened his pants with deliberate slowness.

"That," he said, with the particular satisfaction of a man who had just eaten a large meal, "was fun."

I placed my phone on the table, its screen going dark.

"I am glad it met your expectations."

"Met them." He laughed, adjusting his belt buckle with the casual ease of someone completely comfortable with himself. "That was creative. The eye." He shook his head, almost admiringly. "I would not have thought of it. But her most interesting feature was the hole where it used to be."

I reached for my phone again, letting its familiar weight anchor my hands and keep them from acting on impulse.

"As promised," I said, and slid a card across to him. "The new location. Full discretion, vetted staff, private entry too. They are running a special arrangement for clients this week. If you mention my name when you arrive, they will give you access to the premium inventory."

He picked up the card, turning it over in his fingers, his eyes studying it with the same clinical interest he’d shown the girl.

"Premium how?"

"Youth," I said simply. "And variety."

He tucked the card into his breast pocket.

"You always did know how to make a man feel welcome." He took out his own phone and navigated to something before turning the screen toward me. "Since we are discussing business opportunities. That is for you."

I glanced at the screen, curiosity flickering beneath my calm.

He sent me a contact list. No names, just a series of numbers and an icon that corresponded to an encrypted messaging application I recognized from the dark web ecosystem.

Not that I was fucking interested. Too risky for me. But I nodded anyway.

"If you are interested in expanding into new verticals," he said, "these are people worth knowing."

"What kind of verticals?"

He smiled the way men smiled when they were about to say something they found amusing.

"Let us just say they are not particular about what they acquire. Or from whom." He leaned forward slightly. "I know you have connections to interesting biological material. Organ extraction is a growth market right now. Supply is limited, demand is consistent, margins are extraordinary." He paused. "And they have specific preferences. Vampire saliva. Werewolf hearts."

I pretended to save the contact, along with the string of numbers, into my phone like a seed waiting to sprout.

"Supernatural components," I said. "That is a specialized clientele."

"Specialized clientele pays specialized prices." He stood, straightening his jacket with the satisfied energy of someone whose afternoon had gone exactly as he had hoped. "I will take my leave for now. But I imagine we will be speaking more regularly."

"I imagine we will," I said.

I escorted him to the door and watched as he strode across the outer room, his steps buoyant, shoulders loose with the satisfaction of a man finally sated. He never glanced back.

Watching him leave, I felt something that almost resembled genuine pleasure.

The bait was not just taken; it was devoured. Now Kayden would guide me straight to the hunter stalking our network, like a tagged animal unwittingly leading researchers to its herd. I did not need to chase the hunter. I only needed patience and to be there when the hunter found Kayden.

I went back through the interior door.

She remained on the floor where the freak had left her, pressed against the far wall, knees hugged to her chest. The old bandage over her empty eye socket was darkened at its center.

I drew a folded square of linen from my breast pocket and extended it in her direction.

She did not take it immediately.

I crouched and set it on the floor within her reach.

"Clean yourself up," I said.

She looked at the cloth, then at me.

"I want to die," she said.

A slow breath escaped through my nose.

"The easy way out," I said. "Everyone reaches for it eventually."

"I did not do anything to deserve this." Her voice was barely a sound. "I was not someone who hurt people. I worked. I loved my job. I did not ask to be here."

"No," I agreed. "You did not."

She looked up, her lone eye searching my face for something I had not given anyone in a long time. Understanding.

"When I was in a position similar to yours," I said, "I pulled myself up by my own resources and made sure I was never in that position again. There is no use in cultivating resentment toward a system. If a system works against you, ensure you are at the top of it. That is the only logic that survives."

"Is that what you were doing?" she said. "With Bastien?"

I looked at her more carefully.

"You were positioning yourself," I said. "Using the relationship strategically. Attempting to move into a position of influence through association with an Alpha’s son." I almost smiled. "I actually respected that. It is why I did not simply have you disposed of. I understood the move."

She shook her head very slowly.

"No," she said. "I loved him."

The word fell between us, flat and useless to me.

"Love," I said.

"Yes."

"That is deeply disappointing." I stood. "I had attributed considerably more intelligence to you."

"He loved me too."

"And yet here you are." I straightened my cuffs. "Love is not a strategy. It is not a resource. It does not translate into leverage, protection, or anything that matters when the wheel turns. What you are looking at is the evidence of that."

She said nothing.

"If you want to die," I said, "you will have to manage that yourself. I am not going to do it for you, and I am not going to prevent it. There are ample ways to go about it, and I imagine you are creative enough to find one."

I turned away, facing the door.

"Is someone outside?" I called.

A sentinel appeared immediately.

"Take her out," I said. "She is done here."

He moved to obey. I watched him approach her, already letting my mind drift to other matters before they even reached the door.

"Oh," I said, and he paused. "I hope someone is tailing Beta Kayden."

"Yes, Gamma Lucian."

"Good."

They left.

I retrieved my phone and scrolled to the number I kept with the same careful discretion I reserved for all my most valuable contacts.

She answered on the second ring.

"Well." Her voice was warm with the particular warmth of someone very good at performing it. "If it isn’t the hot Gamma. To what do I owe this call?"

"I referred an acquaintance to your establishment earlier today," I said. "He has very particular tastes. Youth, primarily. He does not discriminate with gender. He pays well when he feels his preferences have been genuinely accommodated."

"We do love a client who knows what he wants."

"Make sure he is satisfied," I said. "Keep him happy and returning. He has connections I intend to make use of, and a contented client is a predictable one."

She chuckled. "Of course. Anything for you, Lucian."

I ended the call and slipped the phone back into my pocket.

By any reasonable standard, the afternoon had been productive.