She was supposed to be dead. Falsely accused of betrayal, Zara was exiled from her pack and left to die in the snow. Years later, she resurfaces - stronger, colder, and determined to reclaim her life. But fate has other plans. Damian Blackthorn, billionaire CEO by day, ruthless Alpha by blood, has been haunted by dreams of a mate he's never met. When Zara walks into his life, every instinct screams mine. The problem? Zara has secrets. And Damian has enemies. And the bond between them might destroy everything they've both built.
The cold didn't bother me anymore.
I'd walked through worse than this-blood, betrayal, frostbitten nights alone in the forest. A little winter wind brushing through downtown Manhattan? Child's play.
I adjusted the scarf around my neck and kept walking.
The city glowed beneath a steel-gray sky, all concrete and glass and people too busy to care who I was or what I'd survived. That's why I liked it here. You could disappear. Or rise again, if you had the guts.
And I'd had nothing but guts the past four years.
I paused at the revolving door of Blackthorn International, the towering glass headquarters of a man I swore I'd never see again.
Damian Blackthorn.
Alpha. Billionaire. Liar. Monster.
And my mate.
My fingers trembled as I reached for the door. Not from fear. From rage. From the ghosts that clung to my skin like frostbite.
The last time I saw him, I was half-dead in the snow, a silver collar burning into my throat while my pack turned their backs on me-on orders from him.
Now? I was about to walk through his front door, wearing heels and lipstick and a name that wasn't mine.
And he wouldn't recognize me.
That's the best part of being dead. You get to come back however the hell you want.
---
"Miss Kade?" the assistant said, glancing up from her iPad.
I smiled politely, clutching the fake resume in my hand. "That's me."
"Mr. Blackthorn will see you now."
She didn't look up again, just pressed a button and gestured toward the elevator.
As the doors slid shut, I let my shoulders drop. My reflection stared back at me in the mirrored walls-dark curls, sharp cheekbones, eyes like wildfire. I didn't look like the girl I'd been. I didn't feel like her either.
Zara D'Lune died four years ago.
Now I was Rielle Kade, consultant from London, MBA from Oxford, expert in market reconstruction. Total bullshit. But believable enough to pass for the position I'd "earned."
And to get close to the man who ruined my life.
I told myself this was just a job. A setup.
I told myself I didn't care if he remembered me.
But then the elevator dinged, and I stepped into his office...
...and the world tilted.
---
Damian
I smelled her before I saw her.
Moonlight. Ash. Something dark and forbidden buried beneath all that perfume and corporate polish.
It hit me in the gut-raw and hard-and my wolf growled before I could stop it.
What the hell-
She stepped inside. Tall. Graceful. Dangerous.
My wolf went still.
My soul? Shook.
She didn't flinch when she saw me, didn't do that nervous hair-tuck thing most new hires did. No giggles. No fake charm.
Just cool, unreadable eyes. Burning gold.
Familiar... but wrong.
No. Not wrong. Hidden.
"Mr. Blackthorn," she said, voice smooth as silk with a hint of something sharp underneath.
"Miss... Kade, was it?"
She nodded. "Pleasure to meet you."
Liar.
My wolf clawed against my ribs. Mate.
No. It couldn't be.
My mate died. I felt it. The bond snapped in the woods the night I sentenced her to exile.
But the scent...
The way her eyes pierced straight through me...
I stood slowly, walking around the desk. "Have we met before?"
She tilted her head, that dangerous smile still on her lips.
"No," she said. "But you'll remember me soon enough."
Chapter 1 Back from the dead
12/07/2025
Chapter 2 Things he shouldn't remember
12/07/2025
Chapter 3 The gala invitation
12/07/2025
Chapter 4 Cracks in the mask
12/07/2025
Chapter 5 Heat between lies
12/07/2025
Chapter 6 A knock in the dark
12/07/2025
Chapter 7 His world,her walls
12/07/2025
Chapter 8 After the fire
12/07/2025
Chapter 9 Blood debt
12/07/2025
Chapter 10 The ledger of lies
12/07/2025
Chapter 11 Teeth in the dark
12/07/2025
Chapter 12 Teeth broken
12/07/2025
Chapter 13 Baited breath
12/07/2025
Chapter 14 The world burns
12/07/2025
Chapter 15 Wolves at the gate
12/07/2025
Chapter 16 The after
12/07/2025
Chapter 17 Ghosts never sleep
12/07/2025
Chapter 18 Smoke in the distance
12/07/2025
Chapter 19 Beneath the snow
12/07/2025
Chapter 20 The hollowing
12/07/2025
Chapter 21 The trail home
12/07/2025
Chapter 22 Blood remembers
12/07/2025
Chapter 23 The ashes we choose
12/07/2025
Other books by efua sunday
More