Alpha Was Betrayed by Kisses, Saved in Silence

Twyla Nightveil’s POV

“A friend volunteered to take care of your son an hour earlier than usual?” Mrs. Monroe greeted me with a sweet smile.

“We can say that,” I nodded and smiled back while adjusting my uniform jacket.

The Grand Stardust Hotel was busy tonight. For four years I’d hidden here, gliding through shadows, keeping my head down, making sure no one looked at me too closely. It was just another shift. And it would have stayed that way if Stella hadn’t been so nervous.

The new girl was shaking so hard the water pitcher in her hands trembled, and before I could even step in to stop it, the glass tipped. Clear water splashed across the front of the emerald silk gown worn by Britt Samson, daughter of one of the city’s most powerful real estate tycoons.

“Are you kidding me?! Do you have any idea how much this cost?!” Britt shrieked, loud and sharp, rising from her chair like she’d been burned. Stella froze, her face draining of all color, ready to dissolve into tears.

I stepped forward instantly, my hand resting gently on Stella’s shoulder, my voice calm and steady. “It’s alright. Go take a breath in the back. I’ll handle this. I’ll take their orders from here.” Stella fled, and I turned my attention to the furious woman before me, bowing my head slightly. “My deepest apologies. It was an accident. Please allow me to bring you fresh towels and comp your entire table for the inconvenience.”

That was when the air shifted. When I lifted my eyes to meet the man sitting opposite Britt, the man I’d spent four years praying I’d never see again, the words died in my throat.

Cody Valtier didn’t look like he belonged in a hotel restaurant. He looked like he owned the building, the city, and everyone in it—broad shoulders clad in a tailored black suit, jaw set hard, those bluish-green eyes that had once known every inch of me now locked on my face like he was seeing a ghost. The glass in his hand didn’t move. His breathing didn’t change. But the temperature around us dropped ten degrees. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I was certain he could hear it over the music.

Britt was still complaining, dabbing at her gown with a napkin, but I barely heard a word. I couldn’t look away. He was closer than he had been in four years, taller and sharper. More devastatingly handsome than any memory had allowed me to keep. And he was on a date. Of course he was. I’d been gone four years. He’d built his own stronger name and moved on while I’d been hiding in a tiny apartment raising his son alone. The realization twisted inside my chest, sharp and bitter. He looked at me like I was a stranger, and that hurt more than any accusation ever could.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. I turned to leave, needing air, needing distance, before I shattered completely.

“Excuse me one moment,” Britt said, smoothing her dress. “I need to fix this.” She swept toward the restrooms, and we were alone.

Cody stood. He didn’t walk. He simply closed the space between us in two long, predatory strides, his hand wrapping around my wrist in a grip that was bruisingly firm, and he backed me straight into the shadowed wall behind the centerpiece. My back hit the marble hard, and before I could speak, he pressed his body into mine. It was heavy, unyielding, and inescapable. His other hand came up to grip my waist, his fingers digging in like he wanted to leave marks, like he wanted to claim every inch of me right there in the dark.

“You thought you could ruin me and get away with it?”

His voice was a low, dangerous growl, vibrating through my chest, and his eyes blazed into mine with pure, unmasked hatred. This wasn’t longing. This certainly was fury. He looked at me like I was trash, like I was the worst mistake he’d ever made, and my heart splintered. He thought I was still Flint Seymour’s spy. He thought this was all part of the job.

I opened my mouth to speak, to say anything, but he didn’t give me the chance. He lowered his head and his mouth crashed into mine, hard and demanding and punishing. It wasn’t a kiss of reunion. It was possession. He took what he believed was his to take, his hand tightening on my waist, his body pinning me completely to the wall, his scent, cedar and alpha and everything I’d missed, flooding my senses until I was dizzy.

I should have pushed him away. I should have screamed. But my traitorous body melted into his hands, every nerve ending screaming that I was home, even while his eyes told me I was nothing to him but a thing to be conquered.

He pulled back only an inch, his forehead pressed to mine, his breath ragged, his eyes still burning with that same, searing hatred.

“You’re not running this time. Not from me. Not from what you did. You belong to me now, Twyla. Every second, every move, every breath. And I never let my enemies go.”

I stared up at him, my heart breaking all over again. He thought he’d captured a traitor. He had no idea he was holding the mother of his child. He had no idea that somewhere in this city, a little boy with those exact same bluish-green eyes was waiting for his mother to come home.

“Cody—” I whispered, my voice trembling. I had nothing I could safely say. He saw the silence as guilt, his grip tightening as we heard Britt’s footsteps approaching. He stepped back instantly, his face shifting into a cold, impassive mask, leaving me breathless and trembling against the wall.

“Not here,” he murmured. “And not anywhere you choose. I’ll find you.”

I stood there, pressed to the wall, my hand covering my mouth, feeling the ghost of his kiss burning on my skin, knowing with absolute certainty that my quiet life was over. He had found me. And this time, there was nowhere left to hide.