Jaguar:

The second I lifted her into my arms, a violent shiver ran through my body.

I had not even felt this worked up while tearing those thugs apart.

Something about Verity kept stripping away my control.

"Alpha King, thank you so much," one of the waitresses called sweetly from the side, subtly pushing her chest forward to drag my attention toward her cleavage.

I barely spared her a glance.

None of it mattered when Verity was in my arms.

My entire focus stayed locked on her, and honestly, it was starting to mess with my head.

I acknowledged the others with a short nod before walking out of the café.

The driver opened the back door the second we reached the car.

I slid Verity inside carefully, but she shifted in a way that left her legs hanging outside the door.

Resting one hand against the hood of the car, I crouched in front of her.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

She still held onto my coat.

Her fingers were wrapped around the fabric so tightly that it made something possessive twist inside me.

For one reckless second, all I could think about was how badly I wanted those soft hands clutching around my shaft the same way.

She finally gave me a small nod, those innocent eyes still fixed on mine.

"I should finish my shift," she murmured softly.

The second she tried to stand, pain hit her hard enough to pull a quiet cry from her throat before she dropped back onto the seat.

Another shudder ripped through my body.

Fuck.

For one reckless moment, I wanted to grab her by the waist and force her to stay seated myself.

My hands actually twitched with the urge before I controlled them.

She slipped her hand beneath the coat, probably checking her ribs.

She had definitely been hurt.

Her leg looked bad too.

She could barely put pressure on it.

"You don’t need to do that," I said quietly, my heartbeat pounding violently against my ribs. "I’ll take you home and get you treated."

Women had never been rare in my life.

Even now, all it took was one look, one gesture, and women practically threw themselves at me.

I could have anyone I wanted whenever I wanted.

But Verity...

Something about her had poisoned my control from the very beginning.

Ever since I first looked at her, my mind had been filled with thoughts that should have stayed buried.

Filthy, possessive thoughts.

The kind that crossed lines I normally never touched.

And I still wanted them.

Every single one.

Then we found out who she was.

The sister of the man we had broken so badly that he ended up taking his own life.

After that, there was no way her appearance in our lives could have been a coincidence.

Gigi practically drilled it into our heads that this looked like a revenge setup straight out of a textbook.

But Verity never acted the way someone hungry for revenge would act.

When she got fired, she did not argue.

She did not manipulate anyone emotionally.

She did not beg, threaten, or use my weakness for her against me.

And she could have.

She knew she affected me.

Hell, I had already promised her that if she lost her job, I would take care of her myself.

She never once used that promise.

That was the part that kept ruining every suspicion I had about her.

Her pride was too strong.

Her dignity mattered too much.

So she walked away.

And somehow, she still stayed behind in my head.

Her voice. Her face. Her eyes.

They followed me everywhere until I ended up searching half the city just to find her again.

Thank fuck I had reached the café in time.

Because deep down, something inside me refused to believe she was guilty.

Maybe I had been staring at her for too long because her brows slowly pulled together.

I snapped out of it immediately.

"Let me take you home," I repeated.

"No."

Her answer came sharp this time as she slowly slipped my coat off and placed it onto the backseat.

"I can’t afford luxuries like this. I already lost one job. I’m not losing another one."

There was tension in her voice now.

Or more like frustration.

Like she was angry at me for even offering.

And once again, it hit me how different she was.

If she wanted revenge, this was the perfect opportunity to sink her claws into me.

She could have asked for money, protection, another position, anything.

Instead, she kept trying to distance herself from me.

Like getting close to me was the last thing she wanted.

She tried standing again, but pain dragged her right back onto the seat.

A strained breath slipped past her lips as she squeezed her eyes shut for a second, like she was forcing herself not to break in front of me.

From the movement of her mouth alone, I could tell she was cursing herself internally.

"I think your body’s trying to tell you something," I said lightly, keeping my tone playful.

One hand stayed braced against the open car door while the other rested on the roof above her.

She looked up at me, and the second our eyes met, I realized she was not entertained by my teasing at all.

"Please," I said again, my voice dropping into something more serious. "Let me take you home."

She was stubborn.

Good at drawing lines.

"I’ll take a bus," she muttered under her breath.

I rolled my eyes immediately.

"Yeah, that’s not happening."

The way I stood there blocking the exit made it obvious I had no intention of moving aside.

She shot me one last glare before carefully grabbing her injured leg and pulling it fully inside the car.

That tiny movement alone looked painful enough to make my jaw tighten.

She stopped looking at me after that and sat stiffly against the seat with her back mostly turned toward me.

I shut the door and walked around the car.

Before getting in, I fixed my hair quickly and straightened my shirt like some fucking teenager trying to impress a girl.

The second I sat down beside her, her scent swallowed the entire car.

She quietly gave the driver her address, and the moment I heard the area, my brows pulled together.

That place was awful for Omegas.

What the hell was someone like Verity doing living there?

Then my thoughts drifted back toward the café.

She worked there too.

Did she actually need money that badly after her brother died?

Was she forcing herself through jobs like this just to survive?

Maybe that was why she accepted working at our company despite everything that happened between us and her brother.

"You’re making excuses for her again."

My wolf’s voice cut through, and irritation burned through me.

Var never lied to me. Never softened anything.

Aways brutally honest.

"And now you’re pretending you don’t know why you’re excited."

My fists clenched instantly at his words.

"You’re about to be alone with her in her house."

I leaned back against the seat and looked out the window before my thoughts got worse.

Verity stayed turned away from me the entire ride, barely sparing me a glance while I sat there staring at her whenever I wanted.

"That’s not what this is," I muttered. "She’s hurt."

"Then take her to a hospital," my wolf replied mockingly. "Why are you so desperate to treat her yourself?"

I stayed quiet.

Because we both knew the answer.

"Oh, now I get it," Var continued with a laugh. "A little touching here and there while checking her ribs. A little squeezing here and there while massaging her breasts. Her leg. All in the name of helping her."

Goosebumps crawled across my skin.

Fucking Hell.

He was right.

Tonight we were going to be alone under the same roof with nobody around to interrupt us.

No employees.

Just me and her.

And I would be lying to myself if I said that thought was not driving me insane with anticipation.