Chapter 38

Dominic’s POV

The walls felt like they were closing in, squeezing the breath out of me. All I could hear in my head were Elora’s words, haunting me like some ghost. The promises that fire in her eyes when she barked Dante’s name, as if daring me to remember he was supposed to be the Alpha. Her accusations stuck harder than anything.

I needed out.

So I shoved the door open, I didn’t care how loud it slammed, and walked into the hallway, boots echoing. The guards straightened. I didn’t even glance at them. My wolf wouldn’t let me. He was pacing and growling, ready to tear someone up, and that echoing silence in the palace made everything twice as loud in my head.

Thought about punching it out. I tried to talk myself down, head out to the training grounds, crack some knuckles, sweat this mess out of me. But fate’s got jokes, and it pulled me somewhere else.

I heard crying. Real, ugly sobs, barely muffled. Instinct just yanked me toward the study. The door hung half-open, and the sound… yeah, no hiding that pain.

Mira.

I just paused, leaning in the doorway with my heart pounding. She had folded into herself on my desk, shoulders shaking so hard her hair spilled over like she was trying to hide. She looked so breakable, it almost hurt to look.

And despite every fight, every curse, all the poison we’d spat at each other lately… She was still my mate. That bond hadn’t snapped, not fully. It just felt… worn out. Hanging by a thread, but annoyingly still humming away under my skin.

I made myself step inside. “Mira.”

She looked up, eyes all swollen and red, mascara streaked. “Dominic.” My name cracked right out of her.

I hesitated. My wolf inside was howling for Elora. Wanting the girl who had been loyal when I was too stupid to see it. But my feet pulled me toward Mira, like there were invisible strings. I took a knee beside her and reached for her hands, she kept trembling, but didn’t pull away.

“What happened?” My voice came out way gentler than I had planned.

Her lip did this small, pathetic quiver thing. “You don’t love me, Dominic. Not anymore.”

That hit like a knife between the ribs. And, worse, she was probably right. I had been thinking the same thing, hadn’t I? That something was broken now, had been for a while. But hearing her say it, seeing how it crushed her straight down, that did something nasty in me.

“That’s not true,” I managed, though my voice wasn’t convincing, and I think she heard that. “You’re my mate. Doesn’t just go away.”

She zeroed in on me, desperate. “Prove it. Mark me. Now. If you mean it, if you really love me, if you want me the way you say, finish the bond. Make us forever.”

I swear, the second she said that, everything inside me seized up.

Mark her.

I’ve thought about it. But every single time, there’s something in me, maybe it’s my wolf just slamming the brakes. Refusing to go to that last step.

And with Elora, her loyalty burning in my gut like I swallowed fire, Mira’s demand hit even harder.

“Mira…” My voice cracked out rough. “Not now. Everything’s too...”

“Too what?” she snapped, snatching her hands away. “Too unstable? Yeah, you think I don’t see it? The way you look at her.”

Elora. She didn’t have to say her name. Didn’t have to.

I just shut up.

Mira’s face twisted, crying and fuming at the same time. She shoved her hair back, staring me down with blazing eyes. “She’s poisoning you. She’s making you forget us. She’s always in the way. And now Dante...” She broke, harsh laughter scraping out of her. “Yeah. Of course. I should’ve known. They’re in this together.”

I blinked, totally thrown. “What?”

“You think she’s loyal? Please.” Mira’s voice was all venom now, dripping slowly and coldly. “You think she hasn’t touched him? Or whispered things in his ear? I’ve seen it, Dominic. The way she looks at him, the way he keeps her close. It’s not just friendship. They’re plotting against you. Against your stupid Alpha throne.”

I shook my head, trying to reject it, but the doubt was already slithering in. Elora and Dante… Their secret talks in corners, that kiss I busted in on, Elora’s defiance when she backed Dante in council, like she had forgotten whose side she was meant to be on.

“You’re wrong,” I finally forced out, but yeah, my voice wobbled. “Elora hasn’t done anything except...”

“Protect Dante,” Mira spat, fever in her eyes. “Always him. Always at his side. That’s not for you. You know it, and you hate it. But you can’t unsee it, can you?”

My fists clenched. The memories went wild, Elora and Dante, giggling at the market, late-night huddles I wasn’t invited to, that damn kiss.

When had everything gotten so complicated?

No. No way. She’d been loyal, she swore it. Yelled it at me, practically burned the words right in my face. Still, Mira’s so-called comforting little comments? Like she had jammed a splinter in my brain and twisted it every time I tried to remember the truth.

“Dominic,” Mira breathed, all soft and sad now. She scooted closer, fingers searching for a heartbeat through my shirt. “I can’t lose you. Won’t. Make the mark and it’ll all be clear, promise. You’ll see who actually fits with you. It's me, not her, not Dante. Me.”

Her scent was all honey, and memories started to wrap around me. Made the wolf in me freeze up. It wasn’t Elora’s crazy, wild spark. It was this weird sense of comfort. A flash of what home used to feel like; safe, kinda… easy.

But love? Is that what this was?

Or just some old bond that refused to die nice and quiet like it should?

My chest wanted one thing, my wolf wanted another, and Mira’s hands weren’t really helping. I just kind of wilted there, stuck on the rug, staring up at her poor, smudged face, all that need in her eyes. And for the first time, I didn’t even know where I stood.