82. What She Hides.

Rose’s POV

The balcony was quiet.

Too quiet.

The kind of quiet that makes your heart beat louder than it should.

I stood there with my hands resting lightly on the cold rail, staring down at a world that didn’t belong to me. The mansion was huge, elegant, frightening. Everything here screamed power and danger, and yet I was trapped inside it like a fragile thing that didn’t know how to survive in a storm.

I was wearing a short gown they had given me.

Soft fabric.

Too soft.

It clung to my body in ways I wasn’t used to. The neckline dipped lower than anything I owned. I kept tugging at it unconsciously, uncomfortable, exposed. My skin felt too bare, like I had been stripped of more than just clothes.

I hugged myself lightly.

I still couldn’t fully remember collapsing.

I remembered fear.

I remembered running.

I remembered seeing him.

Damien.

And then… nothing.

The doors behind me suddenly slammed open.

The sound cut through the quiet like a blade.

I jumped.

My heart slammed against my chest as I turned slowly.

Damien stood there.

His presence filled the room instantly. He didn’t rush toward me. He didn’t smile. He didn’t speak. He just stood there, staring at me like I was something unfamiliar… something that didn’t belong.

His eyes dropped for just a second.

I felt it.

That look.

The way his gaze lingered on my exposed skin, on the way the gown rested on me.

Something unreadable crossed his face.

Then it vanished.

His expression hardened again.

“What do you know about Werewolves?” he asked.

The question hit me like cold water.

My breath caught.

“What?” I asked, pretending confusion.

Inside, panic exploded.

My mind raced.

Wolves.

Alpha.

How did he know?

How much did he know?

I forced my face to remain calm, my voice steady.

“ Werewolves are fairytale my mom used to read to me when I was little,” I said carefully. “What about them?.”

His jaw tightened.

I felt it shift.

That slight movement told me everything.

He didn’t believe me.

In a blink—

He was in front of me.... Fast speed.

His hand closed around my wrist and slammed me against the wall.

The impact knocked the air out of my lungs.

Pain shot through my back.

I gasped.

His body caged me in completely. His grip was strong—too strong—but not crushing. His other hand came up to my neck.

Not tight.

Just enough.

Enough to remind me that he could end me if he wanted to.

My eyes filled with tears.

He leaned closer.

So close I could feel his breath against my lips.

For a terrifying second, I thought he was going to kiss me.

Instead, his voice dropped low.

“I know you’re lying,” he said quietly. “Tell me the truth. Or I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Fear wrapped around my chest like chains.

I tried to push him away.

I couldn’t.

I shook my head, tears spilling now.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I whispered desperately. “I swear.”

The door creaked open behind him.

“Enough.”

A cold voice cut through the tension.

Kate stepped into the room.

She was holding something.

A photograph.

My breath stopped.

She lifted it up so I could see.

It was me.

And my mother.

My legs went weak.

“How…” I whispered. “How did you get that?”

"Were you at my house... Why?" Why were there at my house.

"Yes, we were at your house, apparently it's not only us that went them... A wolf... The Alpha was there before us."

"What were you doing there... What are you looking for... Who is the Alpha" I lied.

Kate’s eyes were sharp. Calculating.

Damien released me slowly.

I slid down the wall, barely holding myself up.

“ I know you're lying ” Damien said calmly. “You know too much, And you're tied to wolves.”

My heart jumped.

A wolf.

An Alpha.

Adrian.

He had been there.

Checking on me.

The realization sent a strange warmth through my fear.

I smiled.

Just for a second.

Then I composed myself.

That smile didn’t go unnoticed.

Damien’s eyes darkened.

“You don’t know what I’m talking about,” I said quickly. “I don’t know what an Alpha is. I don’t know what wolves are.”

Kate stepped closer.

“If we can’t kill you,” she said coolly, “we’ll kill your mother.”

“No!” I cried.

I stood up fully now, panic consuming me.

“Please don’t touch her,” I begged. “She has nothing to do with this.”

Damien stepped closer again.

He lifted my chin gently.

Too gently.

His eyes locked onto mine.

And I knew.

He was going to enter my mind.... Like what Adrian did when we first met.

Damien’s POV

She was standing by the balcony when I returned.

Alive.

Unharmed.

Beautiful.

The sight hit me harder than I expected.

The gown clung to her body in ways that made my chest tighten. Her skin glowed under the dim light. She looked fragile. Dangerous.

I forced myself not to react.

I asked her about the wolves.

She lied.

Badly.

I lost patience.

I pinned her against the wall, feeling her pulse jump beneath my fingers. Her fear was real. Her denial wasn’t.

When Kate entered with the photograph, everything clicked.

She wasn’t just strange.

She was protected.

Claimed.

By an Alpha.

And I needed to know why.

When I looked into her eyes, I made my decision.

I would enter her mind.

Whatever she was hiding—

I would take it.

Kate’s POV

I watched him.

And I hated what I saw.

Damien was softening.

Over a human.

A useless, fragile thing that should have been dead the moment she became inconvenient.

I wanted her gone.

I wanted her blood spilled.

And if Damien wouldn’t do it—

I would.