Tall. Power coiled around him like a storm contained in human form. Midnight-black hair, sharp jawline, and eyes like liquid silver. A presence so commanding that it demanded submission.

Every instinct in her body screamed danger.

He leaned casually against the elevator wall, watching her with an unreadable expression. His scent was intoxicating—earth and fire, wild and untamed. It was unnatural. Impossible.

The silence stretched between them, heavy and charged.

Then he spoke, voice smooth as silk, edged with something darker.

“You,” he murmured, his eyes locking onto hers. “You shouldn’t be alive.”

The elevator doors slid shut, sealing them inside.

​Isabelle’s breath didn’t hitch, didn’t falter. Instead, she met his gaze, unwavering. “Funny,” she murmured, “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

His lips curved, not quite a smirk, not quite amusement. “You recognize me, don’t you?”

“Should I?” she asked coolly, though a flicker of something primal stirred inside her.

“You should,” he replied. “You carry their blood, yet you know nothing of us.”

The air thickened. He stepped closer. Isabelle stood her ground. The confined space of the elevator amplified the heat radiating off him. A whisper of tension coiled in her muscles, not fear—something else. Something dangerous.

His head tilted slightly, almost like a predator assessing prey. “Isabelle Raven,” he said, his voice wrapping around her name like a promise and a threat. “Daughter of the late Alaric Raven. Lost princess of the Midnight Pack.”

A chill swept through her. Midnight Pack. A name she hadn’t heard in years. A name buried in blood and betrayal.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He laughed, low and knowing. “Oh, but you will.”

The elevator dinged. The doors slid open. He stepped back, inclining his head slightly, as if granting her a reprieve.

“For now,” he said. Then, just as the doors began to close again, he added, “We’ll see how long you last.”

The doors shut, leaving Isabelle standing alone, pulse hammering against her ribs.

Who the hell was he? And why did it feel like he had just rewritten the course of her life?