LOGINDamien POV:My hands shook as I raised the crystal glass of amber liquid to my lips. The pain was striking and hot like a metal rod that had been left to soak in the starving flames of the fire, pressing into my heart. He was touching her, doing more than the pain would allow me to imagine. My wolf howled in pain. Sweat dripped like rain off my brow as I pushed myself to the single seater couch, falling onto it and spilling some of my drink. I needed the pain to dull or to stop. The room felt too small, the walls closing in as if they knew what was tearing through me. I leaned forward, elbows braced on my knees, breath coming out in rough, uneven pulls. The fire crackled across from me, its warmth useless against the cold spreading through my chest.I could feel it—feel him—like a brand pressed straight into my soul. The bond screamed, raw and furious, and my wolf paced beneath my skin, claws raking at the inside of my ribs. Every instinct demanded I go to her, tear through whatever s
Olivia POVI didn’t know when standing so close to him had become dangerous. Dimitri hadn’t touched me again—not properly—but his presence pressed in from all sides, thick and inescapable. I could feel him behind me, feel the heat that shouldn’t exist radiating off his body like a promise my instincts didn’t trust. "You kissed me," he said quietly, almost thoughtfully. "And yet your heart is racing like you regret it." I turned slowly, meeting his gaze. His red eyes were darker now, less molten, more… intent. Studying me. Waiting. "I don’t regret it," I said, though the words tasted uncertain. "I regret how easy it was." His mouth curved—not quite a smile. "Ah." He stepped closer. Not enough to touch. Just enough that I could feel the brush of his breath against my cheek, the faint metallic sweetness that followed him everywhere. "That is the part you don’t understand yet," he murmured. "It was never meant to be hard." My pulse thundered traitorously. "You planned this." "I anticipate
Olivia POV:His hand clamped around my wrist like a steel shackle, and before I could react, Dimitri yanked me forward—hard. My heels scraped against the polished marble as he dragged me down the corridor, past the staring courtiers, past the flickering candelabras, past the music that suddenly felt too sharp, too loud. The double doors to his chambers stood open like a gaping mouth. And he shoved me straight through. I stumbled but caught myself before hitting the floor, breath ragged, heart thundering. Dimitri stalked inside behind me, closing the doors with a harsh, echoing thud that swallowed the last bit of sound from the ballroom. "So," he said, his voice curling like smoke, "you remember?" He stepped closer, slow, deliberate—predatory. The shadows clung to him like loyal servants, and his eyes glowed in the dimness, a molten, dangerous red. I lifted my chin. "Yes." He laughed once—short and sharp. "My little diamond finally has her memories back." His tone dripped with mockery.
Olivia POV:His cold, iron–strong hands clamped around my wrists before I could take another step. The force of it jolted me, dragging a gasp from my throat as he spun me to face him. The world blurred for a heartbeat—candles, marble, velvet shadows smearing together—until all that was left was Dimitri’s face inches from mine. His eyes weren’t the soft molten red he used when he wanted me pliant.They were darker. Sharper. Ancient. "So you remember?" he asked, voice dangerously calm—too calm. Like a blade wrapped in silk.My breath hitched. Remember? I didn’t know what he meant. I didn’t know why my chest hurt or why the night air had felt like freedom or why a name—Damien—echoed inside me like a half-forgotten lullaby.But I knew the way he was looking at me now wasn’t the same as before.This wasn’t seduction.It was suspicion.Possession."I—I don’t know what you’re talking about," I whispered, my voice barely mine. His fingers tightened, cold pressure biting into my skin. "Olivia,
Olivia POV:The sparkling sheer black dress made me stand out in the candle-lit room, but I knew that was exactly what he wanted. The fabric clung to me like darkness spun into silk, every step catching the warm glow of the chandeliers overhead. Music drifted through the hall—soft, elegant, eerily calm—but my pulse thrummed far too loudly beneath my ribs. I watched him from the corner of the magnificent hall.Dimitri.Commanding. Effortlessly regal. A predator dressed in tailored midnight. He moved through the crowd with a kind of lethal grace that made people part for him without even realizing they did. His eyes—those cold, starless things—kept flicking toward me, like a silent tether wrapped around my throat. He wanted me seen. Displayed. Marked as his. Every instinct in me bristled at the thought.Even from across the room, I could feel the faint ripple of satisfaction rolling off him, like he was drinking in the sight of me. I lifted a glass from a passing tray, not to drink but
Damien POV:I opened my eyes and sat up. Immediately I could feel the difference in me. It was quiet. The kind of quiet I hadn’t felt since the day my wolf first surfaced—no growling, no pacing, no tearing at my insides demanding Olivia, demanding mate. Just… silence.My chest rose and fell without the usual burn. My head didn’t pound. My veins weren’t on fire. For the first time in weeks, I wasn’t being torn in two. I flexed my fingers slowly, testing the foreign stillness inside me. It was like walking into your childhood home and realizing someone had removed all the furniture—familiar walls, but empty, echoing."Good," the High Priestess murmured, her voice drifting in from somewhere to my left. "The separation held." I turned my head toward her. Even that simple motion didn’t hurt. "How long…?" My voice was hoarse. "How long do I have without him?" She stepped closer, her robes whispering over the stone floor. Her eyes—ancient, silver, knowing—rested on me with something like pit







