Chapter 11 – REAL OR FAKE?

The sound of her voice stopped me in my tracks.

I had just stepped out of the elevator, ready to head to a board meeting, when I heard her.

Not loud.

Not dramatic.

But sharp fierce and unapologetically bold.

Her voice came from down the hall, through the partially open door of Room 1906. I paused, turning just slightly, and listened.

“I’ve raised eight kids without help, Evan. I’ve scrubbed toilets, worked six jobs, and walked through storms to keep them fed. You think I’m scared of some sleazy little man in an overpriced tie?”

That voice.

It pierced through the silence like a blade. My wolf stirred instantly.

That scent.

Faint… but there.

It hit me like a memory. Wildflowers. Rain-damp earth. Something electric.

My wolf pushed forward again, restless.

Mate.

I didn’t need to see her face to know. I felt it in my bones. Heard it in my blood. The same feeling from five years ago, that night I’d tried to bury for so long.

It was her.

She walked out of the room a moment later, head held high, fists clenched, face flushed with anger. She didn’t see me. Not right away as she marched toward the elevators like the hallway belonged to her.

And then she looked up.

Our eyes met.

There was no flicker of recognition on her face. No hesitation. No spark.

Just a moment of stillness… and then nothing. She looked away.

She didn’t feel it.

Not like I did.

My jaw clenched.

She stood two feet away from me. I could smell her clearly now. That scent wasn’t something you forgot. It lived in my memory like a scar. And yet… she looked at me like I was just another man in a suit.

She stepped into the elevator. I didn’t stop her.

I couldn’t.

I stood there, motionless, long after the doors closed.

Why didn’t she feel it?

I pressed the button for the top floor and walked into the boardroom late.

I didn’t say a word during the meeting. My thoughts spun too fast. My wolf clawed at the walls of my mind.

Confused.

Frustrated.

Mate?

But she didn’t act like it. She didn’t even flinch.

Could it be… that she doesn’t know?

I left the meeting early and walked straight into my office. My assistant, Daron, looked up from his desk.

“Cancel my lunch.”

“Sir?”

“I want employee records. Floor 19. HR Department. I need the file for a woman named Mannie Twain.”

Daron blinked. “You want HR files?”

“Yes. Now.”

He didn’t ask questions. He moved fast, like always. Within ten minutes, he handed me a slim folder.

I took it to my desk and opened it slowly.

Name: Mannie Twain

Position: Junior Marketing Assistant

Hire Date: Five weeks ago

Start Date: Four weeks ago

Department: Marketing – Floor 19

Status: Full-time (contract basis)

Five weeks ago?

I frowned.

That was just a few days after Zarah—returned to her hometown. I remembered the text the butler sent to me. She claimed she needed “space,” said she missed her roots. I didn’t think much of it then. She left the city without much warning. Claimed she’d be back in a month.

But now, that timing…

I leaned back in my chair, staring at the name again.

Mannie Twain.

Same last name.

Same scent.

Same voice from that cursed night.

But a different woman entirely.

Zarah had never smelled like this. She had always seemed… wrong. Off. Like a bad copy of something real. I tolerated her because I had to—because my people believed she was the one. She wore the watch. She had the name. And she never questioned a thing.

But this woman—Mannie—burned with fire.

I heard it in her voice. I saw it in her eyes.

She was the one I claimed that night.

She was the one I bit.

And now she was here, in my company, acting like I was nothing more than another man in a suit.

Why?

I stood and walked to the window.

The city stretched before me, bright and loud. But all I could focus on was the way she looked right through me in the hallway.

I didn’t understand it.

My wolf didn’t understand it either. He growled softly, pushing harder against my chest.

“She doesn’t know,” I whispered to myself.

That had to be it.

She didn’t remember.

She didn’t feel the pull—because she was human.

And if she was human… maybe the bond only worked one way.

I turned sharply. “Daron.”

He appeared immediately. “Yes, sir?”

“Have someone monitor HR activity for the next 48 hours. I want to know if Evan Lin does anything suspicious.”

Daron didn’t ask why. “Understood.”

“And keep an eye on Mannie Twain. Discreetly. I want a full background. Family, housing, work history, everything.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

I sat back down and opened her file again.

No husband listed.

Emergency contact: Her mother.

Number of children: Not listed.

But something about her made my chest tighten.

The fire in her voice.

The way she didn’t cower when Evan tried to intimidate her.

She was still her.

Even after all these years.

Even if she didn’t know it… she still belonged to me.

My wolf rumbled low in agreement.

I ran a hand through my hair and leaned forward.

If she was pretending not to know me, she was doing a damn good job.

But I didn’t think she was faking.

Her reaction—no recognition, no fear, no calculation—felt real.

Too real.

I looked down at the employment file again, reading it a second time. The hiring manager was Evan Lin.

Of course.

I narrowed my eyes.

He hired her. Then tried to harass her. And when she rejected him, he tried to threaten her.

If I hadn’t heard her shouting at him myself, I might not have believed it.

But I did hear it.

And now, everything lined up far too perfectly.

She gets hired five weeks ago. Zarah disappears around the same time. Evan’s her supervisor. He’s also related to my vice president by blood. That makes him arrogant, entitled and reckless.

But not stupid enough to go after someone under my protection.

Except he doesn’t know.

Or which scheme could they be playing at now.