03

River didn’t bother waiting for a reply.

He shoved back from the desk, his chair rolling back sharply on the plush carpet. His heart thundered, a chaotic drumbeat that echoed the storm raging outside. His breaths came fast, shallow, and each step toward the door felt like a battle—between the instinct to run and the sick pull that kept his feet planted.

“I’m not signing,” he spat without looking back.

Leon’s voice followed him, calm but cold as steel. “You don’t get to decide.”

River’s fingers curled into fists, nails digging into his palms as he pushed the door open. The hallway swallowed him, sterile lights flickering overhead, but River barely noticed. His mind was a storm of confusion and anger, a tempest of things unsaid and fears unacknowledged.

He didn’t stop until he was outside the building, the rain lashing at his face like a cruel baptism. The city was a blur of lights and shadows, but all River could see was the contract — the prison — waiting for him in that office.

He ran.

The pounding of his sneakers on wet pavement was the only sound until he slipped into the dim safety of his apartment building. The door slammed shut behind him with a finality that should have brought relief — but didn’t.

Inside, silence pressed in, thick and heavy. River’s chest heaved, muscles trembling with adrenaline and the remnants of fear.

He thought it was over.

He was free.

Until the knock came.

Three sharp, deliberate raps echoing against the door.

River froze, every instinct screaming at him to ignore it, to pretend it wasn’t there. But the knock came again, more urgent this time.

Heart hammering, River peered through the peephole.

Leon.

His eyes met River’s through the tiny glass, unreadable and fierce. Without a word, Leon’s hand lifted, fingers tapping once against the doorframe — a silent promise, or a warning.

River’s breath caught.

He opened the door.

Leon stepped inside before he could think better of it. The scent of cedar and smoke filled the small space, wrapping around River like a shackle.

“Did you really think walking away was an option?” Leon’s voice was low, a dangerous edge threading through the calm.

River backed up, but the narrow entryway offered no escape. “What do you want?”

Leon’s eyes gleamed with something fierce, something unyielding. “Compliance.”

River shook his head, voice trembling but defiant. “I won’t be your pawn.”

“Pawn?” Leon laughed, dark and mirthless. “You’re far from that. You’re the key.”

The Alpha stepped closer, closing the distance until River could feel the heat radiating off his skin, the intoxicating weight of his presence.

“There are terms, River,” Leon said, his voice a whisper now, but every word landed like a hammer. “This isn’t a game. You can’t run from this contract. Not from me.”

River’s knees felt weak, but his voice was steady. “Then what? Threaten me?”

Leon’s gaze dropped briefly to River’s throat, eyes narrowing. “This isn’t a threat. It’s a promise.”

He pressed a folded piece of paper into River’s hand. The words “Personal Guarantee” were scrawled across the top.

“You sign this,” Leon said, “or you’ll learn what it means to cross me.”

River swallowed hard, the weight of the ultimatum sinking deep. His mind raced — the contract, the power, the inevitability.

Some part of him wanted to fight. Another part knew he’d already lost.

Leon’s smirk returned, slow and victorious.

“Choose wisely,” he said, turning on his heel and walking toward the door.

River’s fingers clenched the paper as the door clicked shut behind him.

And in the silence that followed, the storm outside finally seemed to quiet.

But inside, River’s world was only beginning to unravel.

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