The rain had been falling for three hours when Alice Sterling stepped out of the black sedan.

She looked up at the abandoned warehouse in front of her.

There were no signs.

No name.

No lights.

Only a pair of steel doors guarded by two men dressed in black.

To anyone else, the building looked empty.

To Alice, it was the place where she might finally find the truth about her mother.

She reached beneath her coat and touched the small silver pendant around her neck.

Her mother's pendant.

The only thing she had left of Elena Sterling.

Twelve years ago, Alice had been told that her mother died in a car accident.

A wet road.

A broken guardrail.

A terrible loss.

That was the story she had heard all her life.

But three weeks ago, Alice had found something hidden inside an old wooden box belonging to her mother.

A photograph.

A handwritten note.

And a symbol.

A wolf surrounded by a circle.

Beneath it were two words.

**PROJECT WOLF.**

Alice had spent the last three weeks following the clues.

The final clue had brought her here.

A black-market auction.

She still didn't know what she was supposed to find.

But she knew one thing.

She wasn't leaving without answers.

A guard approached.

"Invitation."

Alice pulled the black card from her purse.

The man examined it before looking at her face.

"You're alone?"

"Yes."

His expression changed slightly.

"That's unusual."

"I didn't realize the auction required company."

"It doesn't."

He stepped aside.

"Enjoy yourself."

Alice entered.

She immediately regretted it.

The warehouse was nothing like she expected.

The outside was dirty and abandoned, but the inside had been transformed into a luxurious underground marketplace.

Crystal lights hung from the ceiling.

Expensive tables filled the room.

Men and women in elegant clothing sat behind masks.

Some wore diamonds.

Others carried weapons beneath their jackets.

Nobody looked innocent.

Alice kept her expression calm.

She had learned long ago that fear was something people could smell.

Especially dangerous people.

A woman in a black dress approached her.

"Your seat."

Alice followed her to a small table near the back.

"Forty-seven."

Alice sat down.

The woman walked away.

Alice glanced around.

Her heartbeat quickened.

She could feel eyes on her.

She didn't belong here.

But she couldn't leave.

Not yet.

The auction began.

The first item was an antique necklace.

The bidding started at fifty thousand.

It quickly reached two hundred thousand.

Alice barely looked at it.

The second item was a collection of stolen documents.

The third was a weapon.

The fourth was something she didn't even recognize.

One by one, people raised their paddles.

Alice waited.

Her mother had left her a note with only one instruction.

**Find the wolf.**

At the time, Alice had thought it was a metaphor.

Now she wasn't so sure.

The auctioneer returned to the stage.

"Tonight, we have something very special."

The room became quiet.

Alice straightened.

The auctioneer smiled.

"Our next acquisition is not an object."

Two large men appeared behind him.

They were dragging someone between them.

Alice's breath caught.

A man.

He was tall.

Broad-shouldered.

His dark hair was messy, as though someone had dragged him through hell and back.

His wrists were locked in thick metal restraints.

His black shirt was torn.

There was dried blood along his jaw.

But it was his eyes that made Alice freeze.

Silver.

Pure silver.

They weren't human eyes.

At least, not completely.

The man lifted his head.

His gaze swept across the room.

Then stopped on Alice.

Something inside her chest suddenly tightened.

She couldn't breathe.

The man stared at her as if he recognized something.

Alice looked away first.

"Item seventeen," the auctioneer announced.

The number struck her like lightning.

Seventeen.

The same number written on her mother's note.

Alice's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.

The auctioneer continued.

"Subject seventeen was recovered from a classified research facility."

Whispers filled the room.

"He is extremely rare."

The man on the stage gave a quiet, humorless laugh.

The auctioneer ignored him.

"His physical abilities exceed normal human limits. His blood contains unusual genetic markers, and his body has demonstrated extraordinary healing capabilities."

Alice stared.

Research facility.

Genetic markers.

Healing.

Project Wolf.

The auctioneer smiled.

"Of course, certain information regarding the subject remains classified."

Alice's pulse raced.

"Opening bid: five hundred thousand."

A paddle rose.

"Six hundred."

Another.

"Eight hundred."

"One million."

Alice didn't move.

She watched the man.

Ash.

She didn't know his name yet.

But something about him made her uncomfortable.

Not because he looked dangerous.

He did.

But because she felt something familiar when she looked at him.

Something she couldn't explain.

The bidding climbed.

Two million.

Two point five.

Three million.

Then the auctioneer said something that made Alice's blood turn cold.

"Subject seventeen is believed to be one of the last surviving results of Project Wolf."

Alice stood.

The entire room seemed to disappear.

Project Wolf.

It was real.

Her mother's secret was real.

And this man was connected to it.

The man on stage looked at her.

His expression changed.

For the first time, the anger in his eyes disappeared.

He looked almost frightened.

His lips moved.

Alice couldn't hear him.

But she understood.

**Don't.**

She looked at the auctioneer.

"Three million."

Silence.

Several people turned toward her.

The auctioneer raised an eyebrow.

"Ma'am?"

"Three million."

Someone laughed.

"Four."

Alice's head snapped toward the bidder.

A man wearing a white mask.

He hadn't looked at Ash once.

He was watching Alice.

She didn't like that.

Not at all.

Alice raised her paddle.

"Five million."

The man in the white mask immediately responded.

"Six."

Alice's heart hammered.

She didn't have six million.

Not technically.

But she had access to enough money to make it possible.

She raised the paddle again.

"Seven."

The room became silent.

The man in the white mask stared at her.

Then he lowered his paddle.

The auctioneer smiled.

"Seven million."

Alice swallowed.

"Going once."

The man on stage was still staring at her.

"Going twice."

Alice held his gaze.

"Sold."

The hammer struck.

And just like that—

Alice Sterling had bought a wolf.

---

She was taken through a private hallway twenty minutes later.

The auction was still continuing behind the doors.

Alice didn't care.

Her mind was filled with questions.

Why was Ash connected to Project Wolf?

Why had her mother written his number?

And why had he looked at her like he already knew her?

The hallway ended at a steel door.

Two guards opened it.

Ash stood inside.

His hands were no longer restrained.

That should have frightened her.

Instead, Alice felt strangely relieved.

The guards pushed him forward.

"Your purchase."

Alice's eyes hardened.

"He isn't a purchase."

One guard laughed.

"You paid seven million."

"I paid to get him out."

"Same thing."

Ash looked at Alice.

His jaw tightened.

"I don't belong to you."

His voice was deep.

Cold.

Alice met his gaze.

"I know."

That seemed to surprise him.

She turned toward the guards.

"Leave."

They didn't move.

Alice pulled out her phone.

"I've already transferred the money. Unless you'd like me to report this entire operation to the authorities, I suggest you leave."

The guards exchanged looks.

Finally, they walked away.

The steel door closed.

Alice and Ash were alone.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Ash said, "You made a mistake."

Alice folded her arms.

"Probably."

"You should have left me here."

"Why?"

"Because now they'll come after you."

"Who?"

Ash's expression darkened.

"The people who own this place."

Alice took a step closer.

"Who are you?"

He laughed bitterly.

"You just spent seven million dollars on me and you don't know my name?"

"I know you're connected to Project Wolf."

His expression changed.

Alice noticed.

"How do you know that name?"

"My mother."

Silence.

Ash stared at her.

"Your mother?"

"Elena Sterling."

The color seemed to drain from his face.

Alice's heart stopped.

"You know her."

Ash looked away.

"She was supposed to stay away."

Alice stepped closer.

"From what?"

He didn't answer.

"Tell me."

"No."

"Did you know my mother?"

His eyes returned to hers.

"Yes."

Alice's breath caught.

She had spent twelve years searching for someone who knew her mother.

And now one was standing directly in front of her.

"What happened to her?"

Ash said nothing.

"Ash."

His eyes narrowed.

"You know my name."

"It was on the auction file."

He studied her.

Then he said quietly,

"Your mother didn't die in an accident."

Alice froze.

The room suddenly felt too small.

"What did you say?"

"Your mother was killed."

Alice's heart slammed against her ribs.

"No."

"I knew her."

"No."

"She was investigating Project Wolf."

Alice shook her head.

"You're lying."

"I wish I were."

Alice's hands trembled.

Her entire childhood had been built around one story.

One lie.

Her mother had died in an accident.

She had never questioned it.

Not until now.

"Who killed her?"

Ash looked toward the door.

Before he could answer, an alarm began screaming through the building.

His body immediately tensed.

Alice jumped.

"What is that?"

Ash moved toward her.

"We have to go."

"Who is coming?"

"The people who were bidding against you."

"What do they want?"

Ash looked directly into her eyes.

"They don't want me."

A second alarm sounded.

Ash grabbed her hand.

"They want you."

Alice stared at their joined hands.

"What are you talking about?"

Ash pulled her toward the emergency exit.

"You don't understand what you bought tonight."

They reached the door.

Ash stopped.

His silver eyes met hers.

"You didn't buy my freedom, Alice."

His voice dropped.

"You bought yourself a target."

The door burst open behind them.

Voices echoed through the corridor.

"Find Subject Seventeen!"

Another voice shouted:

"Don't let the girl escape!"

Alice's blood ran cold.

The girl.

They meant her.

Ash pulled her into the darkness.

She ran beside him, heart pounding.

She didn't know where they were going.

She didn't know why the people behind Project Wolf wanted her.

And she didn't know why the dangerous wolf she had just bought seemed more determined to protect her than to escape alone.

But one thing was certain.

The night Alice Sterling entered the black-market auction was the night her old life ended.

And somewhere beneath that auction house, another wolf remained trapped.

Ash's twin.

A wounded man named **Clark**.

Alice didn't know his name yet.

She didn't know that she would eventually risk everything to save him.

She didn't know that the three of them were connected by a bond older than Project Wolf itself.

All Alice knew was that Ash was dragging her through the darkness—

and someone was hunting them.

The hunt had begun.