Chapter 1

The Woman His Wolf Knew

Felix Carter woke with a start, his chest heaving and sweat beading on his forehead. For the fourth night in a row, the same dream had pulled him from sleep.

The same woman with messy black hair that brushed her collarbones. The same blue eyes that looked at him like he was the only person in the world. The same warmth of her breath against his neck.

And the same ache in his chest when he woke to find out it was just a dream.

In the dream, she was always about to bite down, to claim him and seal the bond that would make them fated mates for life.

But he always woke up before it happened.

He sat up in his massive king-sized bed, running a hand through his dark brown hair before glancing at the clock on his nightstand.

6:47 a.m.

He had a board meeting at nine, and he needed to look like the cold, untouchable CEO everyone expected him to be. Not the man breathing heavily because his dreams were haunted by a woman he had never met.

The drive to Carter Conglomerate headquarters took thirty minutes through the city’s morning traffic. Felix sat in the back of his black SUV, scrolling through reports on his tablet. His driver knew better than to make small talk because everyone who worked with him knew he didn’t do small talk.

Mr. Carter didn’t do emotions.

According to office gossip, he probably didn’t even have a heart.

Felix had heard the whispers that he was cold, and was most likely asexual, secretly gay or just too obsessed with money to care about relationships. But he never bothered to correct them. After all, letting people spread such rumors about him kept everyone from getting too close.

Because getting too close might risk revealing his secret.

Across the city, Thea Roth was doing everything she could to make sure she didn't lose the only opportunity she had been given.

Her first day at Carter Conglomerate had been going well enough. She had spent the morning learning the sales department's routines, filing reports and organizing spreadsheets, and although the work was tedious, Thea didn't mind. She had done worse jobs.

She had scrubbed toilets, flipped burgers and delivered food in the rain.

This was paradise compared to that.

What mattered was that it paid well, and she desperately needed the money.

On her way to drop off a stack of papers she had been asked to make copies of, Ashley, a senior colleague, suddenly bumped into her.

She gasped as she watched her new white blouse get soaked in coffee. Dark brown liquid dripped down her chest, spreading across the fabric she had carefully ironed the night before.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Ashley said, her voice dripping with false concern. “I’m such a klutz.”

Thea's hands clenched at her sides. She had seen the way Ashley's foot had deliberately snagged the desk leg and watched the cup tip toward her.

This wasn't an accident.

Ashley had made it clear from the beginning that she didn't like having a new intern around, but Thea had tried to ignore the little comments and dismissive looks because she couldn't afford to create problems at work. Now, with coffee staining the only blouse she owned that looked professional enough for the office, every word she wanted to say to Ashley was right on the tip of her tongue when her phone buzzed in her hand.

She glanced down to see that it was a text from the hospital.

“Miss Roth, we need to discuss your sister’s outstanding balance. Please contact us within seventy-two hours to arrange payment.”

Her stomach dropped at the message.

She had three days to come up with money she didn't have.

The internship paid, but her first paycheck wouldn't arrive for another two weeks. She couldn't pick up extra shifts at the diner while keeping up with school and visiting Mia, and there wasn't much left in her apartment that she could sell. She had already spent most of what she earned on her sister's treatment, and the thought of the hospital asking for more money when she didn't know where the next payment would come from made her chest tighten.

For a moment, Thea closed her eyes.

She wanted to scream at Ashley or even cry. Instead, she forced herself to breathe.

“Watch where you're going next time,” she said quietly to Ashley before walking away.

She went into the bathroom and stared at her reflection, at the dark circles beneath her eyes and the coffee stain that had ruined her only professional blouse. She grabbed paper towels and started blotting at it, but it was no use. The coffee had already soaked into the fabric.

Thea looked at herself for another moment before straightening her shoulders.

She could deal with Ashley later.

Right now, she needed this job.

Meanwhile, Felix made his rounds through the Sales Department that afternoon. It was a routine he performed every few months to serve as a reminder to every employee that he was watching. His employees straightened their backs and smiled nervously as he passed, and some of them couldn't even meet his eyes.

But Felix barely noticed.

He was halfway through listening to a department manager explain a quarterly report when he caught a scent and he froze.

It was faint at first, buried beneath the overwhelming mixture of perfumes and colognes, but once he recognized it, it hit him hard, knocking the air right out of his lungs.

Lemon laundry detergent.

It was the exact same scent that had been haunting his dreams.

His wolf stirred violently inside him, stretching awake with such force that Felix's body reacted before he could stop it. His fingers tightened around the report in his hand, and his breathing changed as he searched the room.

Mate.

The word tore through his mind with force.

His mate was here.

He scanned the room, his honey-colored eyes searching desperately until they landed on a young woman in the corner, sitting at a desk surrounded by a stack of files.

The woman from his dreams.

His wolf recognized her with complete certainty, and suddenly he understood why the woman in his dreams had always smelled so familiar, why waking before the bond was completed had left him so restless and why no amount of logic had been enough to convince him that the dreams meant nothing.

She was real.

She was here.

And she was completely unaware that her mate was standing across the room fighting the strongest instinct he had ever experienced.

Thea was focused on her work, her messy black hair tied back in a loose ponytail with strands escaping around her face. The coffee stain was still visible across her blouse, and she looked tired, but there was something about her that held Felix's attention so completely that he forgot about the report in his hand.

His wolf wanted him to go to her.

He had spent years controlling his wolf, his temper and every instinct that could compromise his position as Alpha and CEO, but none of that seemed to matter now. The closer he looked at her, the harder it became to remain where he was, and when she finally shifted in her chair and the scent of lemon detergent reached him again, his wolf pushed so hard against his restraint that Felix had to take a slow breath through his nose.

He wanted to touch her.

He wanted to know if she would react to him the way he reacted to her.

He wanted to know what would happen if he finally stopped fighting the instinct telling him to go to his mate.

Across the room, Antia approached Thea's desk with a thick folder in hand.

“Hey, I need you to deliver this to the CEO,” she said. “It's a confidential report on our North American strategic clients. Very important, and he needs it for his meeting this afternoon.”

Thea blinked. “Me? I thought interns weren't allowed on the executive floor.”

“Don't worry. He's probably getting ready for the meeting, so just drop it off with his assistant.”

Thea took the folder, stood up and turned around. Shebsighed in relief when she saw him across from them toward the group of executives gathered a short distance away. At least she wouldn't have to enter Felix Carter's office or interrupt him alone.

But she had barely taken a few steps when she caught him staring at her. Thea lowered her eyes to the folder and continued toward them. But stopped again. It felt like the closer she walked to him the faster her heart pounded. For some reason it was beating so hard that she could feel it in her throat. Heat spread beneath her skin. She placed her hand on her forehead but he confusion grew when she realised she wasn't running a fever. She frowned as her lower stomach twisted with an unfamiliar sensation that made her want to step closer and run away at the same time.

She took another step, suddenly conscious of every person around them, and when she tried to hand him the file, her foot caught awkwardly and she lunged forward.

Felix stretched out his hand and caught . For a second he almost regretted it. Warmth rushed through his body as it did hers from the place where he held her hand. She stared at their joined hands, confused by the strange familiarity that came with his touch.

Felix himself was barely holding himself together.

He shut his eyes in pain and forced himself to loosen his grip. Just as he let go, Thea's fingers loosened around the folder and the papers slipped from her hands and scattered across the floor.

She startled and immediately crouched down to gather them, finally forcing Felix to catch his breath.

This was torture.

“I’m so sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn't mean to—”

Felix eyes went wide a bit and slowly, he crouched down. This sent all the employees silent. They watched as their notoriously intimidating CEO crouched down beside the intern they expected him to fire that second and reached for the last sheet on the floor just as These also reached for it.

Their fingers brushed slightly and he hissed almost in pain and frustration. He cussed under his breath.

Thea pulled her hand back, staring at him in confusion.

“Thea Marie Roth…” He said quietly.

Thea stiffened, and her eyes went wide with shock. She was dead certain she's never shared her middle name with anyone.

“How–How do you know my name?”