Chapter 15: Infiltrating The Casino

I turned to leave but paused as my stomach grumbled loudly.

Wait... was I really going to wait out the rest of the day in this state?

In my past life, I would have had no problem starving for days on an undercover op, maintaining lethal precision on an empty stomach. But this body was hella weak. It couldn’t handle fasting properly, and if I let my blood sugar drop any lower, my reaction time would turn to trash. I needed to get proper food in my stomach soon.

And to get food, one needed money.

I glanced back at the building, noting a secluded back-alley service area where delivery trucks were idling. I narrowed my eyes.

It seems I’ll have to strike right now after all.

Besides, I doubted Bradford and Valerie would be okay with me sneaking out and spending the night in some unknown place. They were the worrywarts of the century. Even if I told them not to disturb me at night, they would probably barge in just to check on me, find out I wasn’t in bed so late, and raise a full-blown alarm.

I pulled out the velvet box from my pocket, looking down at Jordan’s silver necklace. I don’t have a choice here. I needed starting capital immediately, and this was my only thing I had on me that was worth something.

I ducked into a nearby pawn shop two streets over, trading the silver chain for a crumpled fifty-dollar bill, making a firm mental note to buy it back the second I cleared the tables. I don’t know why. It’s not something very special, but I knew my consciousness wouldn’t let me be if I didn’t.

Now, I needed a disguise. Walking around as I am is practically begging the bouncers to throw me out, and if Jayden spots me, it’s going to be a total disaster.

In a place like this, there’s bound to be some heap of discarded clothes in a corner or something. Well, I’ll leave it all to probability and luck.

I headed towards the casino’s rear entrance, timing my movement with a linen delivery, and slipped through the metal door like a shadow.

My goal was simple: find a quiet storeroom, snatch a disguise, and blend in before Jayden ever set eyes on me. But this body was far more pathetic than I kept giving it credit for. As I picked up my pace down the quiet service corridor, a guard stationed near the kitchen turn-off whipped his head around and saw me.

"Hey! You’re not supposed to be back here," the Beta barked, stepping into the hall. "Are you lost?"

I didn’t answer. Instead, I bolted.

"Hey!"

I sprinted down the winding, narrow hallway, my lungs burning instantly from the sudden strain. The guard’s heavy footsteps echoed behind me, closing the distance far too quickly. Desperate for an escape, I turned one more corner and threw open the nearest door—a dimly lit staff storeroom—and lunged inside.

BANG.

I slammed full-force into something solid.

It felt like running headfirst into a brick wall.

Exhausted from the hard sprint, my weak body reeled backward, completely losing its footing. I gasped, tumbling toward the floor, only for a hand to shoot out with terrifying speed, catching me firmly by the waist before I could hit the ground.

Threat.

My assassin instincts flared violently at the sudden touch of a stranger.

Instinct took over my body before my brain could stop it. Still in the stranger’s arms, I twisted my weight, driving the edge of my palm upward toward his collarbone while sweeping my back heel behind his leg—a textbook wrist-and-lever counter to force an attacker off-balance.

But he didn’t even sway.

Before my palm could make solid contact, he shifted his weight with inhuman swiftness, grabbing my wrist mid-air and twisting my arm down. In a single, effortless fluid motion, he turned and slammed me back-first against the wall, pinning both of my wrists above my head with one hand.

I couldn’t move an inch. He had subdued me so completely, so effortlessly, that a cold spike of sheer uselessness stabbed through my chest.

Footsteps skidded to a halt outside, and the storeroom door swung open.

The guard who had chased me stood in the doorway, panting slightly. But the moment his eyes landed on the back of the man standing over me, his face drained of color. He bowed his head instantly. "I—I’m so sorry for interrupting, sir! But did you see a girl come in here?"

My heart leaped straight into my throat.

I was pinned against the wall, trapped, and about to get caught before I had even laid eyes on a card table. I gritted my teeth, my brain wildly spinning through escape routes, but against a wolf this fast, every single path ended in my death or capture.

The man holding me stayed dead silent for a long, agonizing second. I waited for him to hand me over to the guard—to tattle on the trespassing Omega.

"No," the man said, his voice a deep, gravelly rumble that vibrated right through the wall behind my back. "And as you can see, I’m busy. Get out."

"Right away, sir! My apologies!" The guard scrambled backward and slammed the door shut, his retreating footsteps fading rapidly down the hall.

Silence fell over the small storeroom, heavy and suffocating.

Once the guard was gone, I finally dared to tilt my chin up, looking straight into the face of the man who held me pinned to the wall.

A sharp, violent chill ran down my spine. An Alpha?

His eyes were a striking, piercing gold, gleaming in the dim light like two lit embers. His frame was massive, radiating an aura so suffocatingly dense and sharp that it made Steve the Enforcer look like a harmless puppy.

He was beyond dangerous—a predator at the absolute top of the food chain.

The golden-eyed man looked down at my pale face, his gaze scanning my weak frame with a terrifying, slow intensity.

"What’s an Omega like you doing in a place like this?" he asked, his voice dropping an octave as his thumb pressed lightly against the pulse beating wildly in my wrist. "Are you trying to get eaten?"