The scent of burnt cinnamon tea lingered in the air as I sat across from Julian at the dining table. Outside, the wind rattled through the trees, whistling against the windows of the twins’ secluded cottage. The table between us was cluttered with open files, a laptop glowing faintly, and half-drunk mugs of coffee long gone cold.

Julian, a Prime Alpha with piercing ash-gray eyes and a resting face that made most people nervous, leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing forearms laced with faded scars. This man wasn’t just any Alpha—he was a smart one, true and just ,in a life where loyalty still had meaning. Now, he was the only person I trusted to help dig into the shadows of my past.

“You asked for a list of your parents’ and Simon’s rivals,” he said coolly, lifting one brow. “But there’s no list, Alex. Just one name.”

I leaned forward, tension tightening my spine. “Who?”

“Kai Locke,” Julian said, dropping the name like a guillotine. “Twenty-three years old. Multi-billionaire. Runs several global fronts—private schools, elite hospitals, humanitarian charities—but behind the curtain, his real business is drugs, weapons, and syndicate control. The Locke family used to be underdogs in the mafia food chain. Kai changed that.”

I narrowed my eyes, folding my arms. “So he’s... what? Some philanthropic gangster prince?”i asked wearily, i needed someone dangerous but kind, someone who needed to be provoked to react.

Julian huffed a dry laugh. “More like the king of darkness. Ruthless, strict, and cold as winter steel. His mother’s a female Elite Prime Alpha. His father’s a born Enigma. Kai inherited both their dominant instincts—and none of their restraint.”

“Is he clean?” I asked, tone low. “Scandals? Lovers? Enemies in his bed?”

Julian shook his head. “No known lovers. No scandals. Not even rumors. He doesn’t play around. Kai doesn’t make mistakes. Or if he does, he erases them.”

I exhaled, drumming my fingers against the table. “So what’s his schedule like? Where does he go, what does he do?”

Julian grimaced. “That’s the thing—he doesn’t follow one. Kai Locke does what he wants, when he wants. No patterns. No routines. He’s unpredictable, which makes him dangerous... but also perfect for your plan.”

I stared at Kai’s file on the table, his photograph paper-clipped to the top. Tall, strikingly handsome, obsidian-blue hair falling across piercing blue eyes. A face built for empires, and hands that had built one through blood and iron.

“I don’t trust him,” I said flatly, this guy sounded like bad news, but i had no options, besided is that something i should be worried about, all i need is his name.

Julian looked up, curious. “Yet you want to marry him.”

“I want to use him,” I clarified, tone like ice. “I don’t need a partner. I need a throne. Kai Locke has the power to eclipse my parents, Simon, and Loac all at once. I’ll step into his world, wear his name, borrow his reach... and when it’s over, I’ll disappear.”

Julian stared at me, quiet for a moment, then chuckled under his breath. “Damn. You really have changed.”

I met his gaze, unflinching. “I had to.”

He softened for a moment, his eyes almost sad. “I just hope you’re not losing yourself, Alex. Your parents might be mafia royalty, but they sure as hell never loved you. You’re a Luna now—with no backing. No protection. No one watching your back but me. Be careful with someone like Kai.”

His words stung more than I expected. Maybe because they were true.

I wasn’t Leo Winslow anymore. That version of me had been buried in a casket my family paid for. This new identity—Alex Monrage—had no past, no family, and no weakness. But the truth was, power didn’t always feel like protection. Sometimes it felt like armor strapped over wounds that hadn’t yet healed.

I pulled the profile closer, eyes scanning through Kai Locke’s portfolio. The achievements were impossible. The influence—unmatched. Simon and my parents may have ruled corners of the underworld, but Kai Locke stood on the entire map. Alone.

Julian watched me in silence before speaking again.

“If you’re going to approach him, it has to be soon. There’s been word that the Thornes are making a move.”

“Let them,” I muttered. “I won’t let them touch me. Not this time.”

“I mean it, Alex,” Julian said firmly. “You’re powerful, yes. You’re rare. But Kai’s world? It doesn’t bend for emotion. You walk into it wrong, and it’ll break you.”

I nodded slowly, accepting the weight of the path I’d chosen. “Then I’ll learn how to walk like a queen before I take the throne.”

Julian smiled faintly. “Spoken like a true Luna.”

As he packed up his things, the final plan began forming in my head. I’d spend the next six months sharpening every weapon I had—my words, my presence, my power. When I stepped into the public eye, I wouldn’t be looking for sympathy. I’d be hunting.

“I’ll get in touch with my partner ,” Julian said. “Start the process. But once we do this, there’s no going back.”

“There’s nothing to go back to,” I said simply, standing as he rose, that reality was something i was still struggling to get over.

I walked him to the door, and he paused on the porch, the cold night wind tugging at his coat.

“Be safe,” he said. “You’re playing with kings and monsters now.”

I tilted my head slightly, expression unreadable. “Then let’s see what kind of monster I become.”

He left without another word.

As the door clicked shut behind him, I turned back toward the flickering candlelight in the kitchen. Kai Locke. The name buzzed in my mind like a silent anthem.

Six months.

Six months to finish training. Six months to erase my final weaknesses. Six months to step into the underworld not as prey, but as a predator.

I whispered the name to myself like a vow.

“Kai Locke... Let’s see what you have to offer.”