chapter 6: Just a confirmation

Cassian Vale – POV

I hated not knowing.

In my world, you either sensed your path or you carved it yourself. But this—this thing between Orion and me? It felt like walking in the dark, knowing something was ahead but unable to reach it.

I kept playing our last conversation over in my mind. His voice when he said he didn’t know if he could let me in. The way his eyes dropped when I told him I came for him.

Every part of him screamed don’t trust. Every part of me wanted to earn it anyway.

My wolf wouldn’t shut up about it either. It circled inside my chest like a storm without lightning. There was a pull—deep, sharp, constant—but no confirmation.

No snap. No bond. Just confusion.

And that was what worried me most.

---

Kai, my Beta and second-in-command, sat beside me as we watched the security footage of Orion’s press event from earlier that morning.

"Still playing the perfect heir," Kai said, crossing his arms. "If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was a Beta."

"That’s the point," I muttered.

Kai glanced sideways. "You still think he's your mate?"

I didn’t answer immediately. My jaw tightened.

"My wolf reacts to him," I said finally. "But it doesn’t feel complete. It’s like something is missing. I don’t feel the full bond... not yet.”

"Maybe it’s a false call. Maybe there isn't any bond"

"No," I said sharply. "It’s not fake. It’s muted. Blocked."

Kai nodded slowly. "You think it’s the suppressant."

"I know it is. He’s been on it for years. Long enough to weaken his instincts."

"So what? Wait until he stops using them? That could take forever."

I didn’t respond. Because I didn’t have an idea—not yet.

I only know that Orion didn’t need to stop forever. Just long enough to let his wolf breathe. Long enough to strengthen his wolf and pheromones.

And I… I needed to be there when it did.

---

Orion Drevenhart – POV

I sat on the edge of the private medical suite, sleeves rolled up, arm extended.

Dr. Yarrow, the only physician who knew my truth, injected the suppressant like always. The fluid burned for a moment, then settled into the numb silence I’d grown used to.

"This is the third dose this week," she said carefully. "Are you sure you want to keep up this pace?"

I nodded. "I can’t risk it slipping."

She studied me with gentle concern. "It’s not natural, Orion. Your system’s getting weaker. Eventually, the suppressant won’t work at all."

"I can handle it."

She opened her mouth to say more, then closed it. She knew better than to argue with someone holding a knife to their own throat.

But her words stayed with me long after she left.

Eventually, it won’t work at all.

And then what?

The world would know. The board. The press. The vultures.

The only reason I’d survived this long was because no one had seen me for what I truly was.

And now, one Alpha was close to undoing all of it.

---

Back in my suite, I stared at my reflection. My face was pale, lips drawn tight. I looked like my mother.

She was an Omega too. A powerful one. Brilliant, cold, regal. She married into the Drevenhart line as part of a strategic deal, then was discarded the moment her usefulness ended.

They never let her claim her place.

She told me once, before she died: "They’ll take your name, your wealth, your future. But never let them take your wolf."

Mine was barely alive now.

Because I let them.

My wolf was too quiet. My instincts, too dull. The more I obeyed, the more I disappeared.

The suppressants were working—but maybe they were working too well.

Cassian's face flashed in my mind.

The way he looked at me.

The way he saw me, like I wasn’t just a title in a suit.

I hated it, but something in me somehow liked it.

And yet...

I found myself wondering what he’d do next.

Cassian had already seen too much.

He knew. My secret. My weakness.

And now... he held all the power.

I didn’t know what scared me more—

The idea that he might expose me…

Or the fact that he hadn’t.

He said he wasn’t helping me.

That he was helping himself.

But why?

What did he want from me?