Leonard’s POV

​One Year Later

​I stared out the window of my office at the pack below, but I didn’t see the skyline. I saw a pair of silver masks. I saw a red wig. I saw a woman who had disappeared into the night like a ghost.

​A year. It had been 365 days since that night in the hotel, and I still hadn’t stopped thinking about her. "Samantha." I knew the name was probably a lie, just like everything else, but the feeling of her in my arms had been the most real thing I had ever felt.

​I picked up her undergarments that sat on my desk. I had kept them. They were the only thing I had left of her. It was strange—for a long time, I had been in deep mourning for Scarlett. The pain of losing her had been a heavy weight I carried every single day. But that night, Samantha had changed everything. For a few hours, she made me forget about Scarlett. She made me forget the grief and the pain.

​I had even started to think about a future with her. I thought about starting a life with that mysterious dancer, even if I didn’t know her real name. She was the first person to make me feel alive again.

​My brothers thought I was losing my mind. Leo had become cold and quiet, burying himself in pack business, his life falling apart as he fought a bitter battle for divorce. We barely looked at each other these days. The memory of our hands on each other’s throats in that hotel room still stood between us like a wall.

​Liam tried to keep us together, but the air between us was always thick with the memory of that night. We had almost killed each other over a woman who didn’t even want us to know her face.

​I growled, my grip tightening on the lace. I had used every resource I had. I had hired trackers. I had checked every flight, every train, and every bus leaving the city. It was like she had vanished off the face of the earth.

​"Where are you?" I whispered to the empty room.

​My wolf was restless, pacing inside me. He didn’t want anyone else. He wanted the one who had looked at us with so much fire and fear. He wanted the one who had made us feel alive after the death of Scarlett.

​Suddenly, my phone buzzed on the desk. It was a private message from a contact I had paid a lot of money to in the East.

​Found a lead. A woman matching the description. Location: Japan.

​My heart hit my ribs. I didn’t care about the pack. I didn’t care about the business. I stood up, grabbing my coat. I didn’t even call my brothers.

​Japan was a big country, but I didn’t care. I would tear through every city, from the neon lights of Tokyo to the quiet temples of the mountains. I would follow her scent until I found those eyes which reminded me of Scarlett.

​If she was there, I was going to find her. And this time, I wouldn’t let her go.

​"Get the jet ready," I snapped through the mind-link to my pilot. "We leave for Japan in an hour. No delays."

​"Yes, Alpha," he replied instantly.

​I didn’t waste another second. I strode to my bedroom and pulled a suitcase from the closet, throwing clothes into it with zero care. My mind was already in Japan. I was imagining the moment I would catch her scent in a crowd. This time, I wouldn’t be a gentleman. This time, I was going to claim her.

​The door creaked open, and the scent of expensive, cloying perfume filled the room. I didn’t even have to look up to know who it was.

​"Are you traveling, Leonard?" Talia asked, her voice sounding forlorn.

​I didn’t respond. I kept packing, my jaw tight. I had no words for this woman. She had no shame. For months, I had been trying to end this marriage, but our pack laws were ancient and cruel. Until she was caught in an act of betrayal or cheating, I couldn’t officially cast her aside. I had thrown the divorce papers at her a dozen times, but she refused to sign, hanging on to my name like a leech.

​"Leonard, I’m talking to you," she said, stepping closer. I could feel her presence behind me, but it felt cold compared to the memory of Samantha’s heat.

​"I’m busy, Talia," I growled, shoving a leather jacket into the bag. "Get out."

​"Can you please stay and leave after tomorrow?" she asked, her voice dropping to a plea. She actually reached out to touch my arm, but I jerked away as if her skin were acid. "Tomorrow is my birthday. It would look bad if the Alpha wasn’t there for his own wife’s celebration. Just one day."

​I stopped what I was doing and turned to face her. My eyes were cold, filled with the hatred I had been nursing for years.

​"I don’t care about your birthday," I said, my voice like ice. "I don’t care how it looks to the pack. You are a wife in name only, and the second I find a way to break this bond legally, you’ll be out of this pack house."

​Her face went pale, but she didn’t move. She just stood there, looking at me with that pathetic expression.

​"I have something more important to find than a birthday cake," I hissed, zipping the suitcase shut with a violent tug. "Stop assuming you have a husband... because you don’t."

​I brushed past her, my shoulder hitting hers hard. I didn’t look back. My wolf was howling, sensing that we were finally moving toward the woman who had made us feel alive. Talia was the past—a mistake I was ready to bury. Japan was the future... Samantha was the future.