Chapter 3

Damian walked in wearing a sharp black suit, silver-grey hair slicked back without a strand out of place.

But when he saw Isabella standing in the middle of the hall looking ready to kill, and dozens of phones pointed directly at him, the composure drained right off his face.

Everyone in the pack knew.

Damian held his Alpha position largely because of Isabella's family backing.

Push Isabella too far, and one word from her could knock him off that throne.

Damian hurried over, his spine instinctively bending a few degrees.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?"

"You could've given me a heads-up."

"It's freezing outside, and you know your health isn't..."

SLAP. Isabella smacked the receipt against his chest.

"You tell me."

Damian glanced down at the receipt. His expression flickered for just a second.

But the smile came right back.

"Babe, it's a misunderstanding. A huge misunderstanding."

"There are pack members everywhere. Let's talk about this at home, yeah?"

"Home?"

Isabella's eyes went wide.

"You spent seven nights of Thanksgiving in a three-thousand-coin luxury suite, and you didn't know how to come home?"

The smile on Damian's face died. Then he slowly turned his head and looked at me.

That look. I knew it too well.

In my last life, he'd looked at me the exact same way.

No guilt. No shame. Just cold, quiet calculation.

Like he was looking at a chess piece he could sacrifice whenever it suited him.

He let out a deep sigh. "Selena."

"Some things did happen between us that shouldn't have."

"But I've changed. I cut things off with you a long time ago."

"You can't just cause a scene like this because I turned you down."

"And you definitely can't give my mate the wrong idea."

The entire hall went dead quiet.

My fingertips trembled.

Those three sentences.

In my last life, those exact three sentences destroyed me.

Elena stood in the crowd, blinked her eyes, and spoke in a deliberately pained voice.

"Selena..."

"I really had no idea you and the Alpha were..."

"Doing something wrong isn't the scary part."

"The scary part is not having the guts to own up to it."

Damian glanced at me and beckoned with his hand. "Come on."

"Let's go to the conference room and sort this out."

Isabella's brow knotted tight.

"Conference room? For what?"

"Right here. Say it right here!"

I looked up at her, then blinked twice. Fast.

Isabella paused. Something seemed to click.

She didn't stop him.

The conference room door closed.

The next second, every trace of warmth vanished from Damian's face.

He sat down in the chair, expression terrifyingly calm.

"Selena."

"I know you're a hard worker. Dependable."

"Admit it now, and I can still leave you a way out."

I tilted my head and tapped my phone twice with one finger.

"Alpha Damian, I think the seven all-nighters fried my brain."

"I'm a little confused. What exactly do you want me to admit?"

Damian smiled.

"Simple."

"When we walk out of here, you cry and apologize to my wife."

"Tell her you've been chasing me this whole time."

"The hotel was your idea. The luxury suite was your booking. Even the romantic extras were things you brought."

"Say you were obsessed with me, got rejected over and over, and finally snapped and caused today's scene out of spite."

I laughed. Cold.

"So I just take all the blame?"

Damian reached over, actually tried to touch the back of my hand.

"Think of it as taking a hit for me. I'll remember the favor."

I yanked my hand away.

He just gave a helpless little smile.

"Selena."

"Reputation doesn't really matter for a she-wolf with no background like you."

"But your parents are still out in the countryside, right?"

My fingers clenched tight.

"What are you saying?"

Damian spread his hands.

"Daughter's out here being the other woman. You think they'll ever be able to hold their heads up around the pack again?"

"And if you don't play along..."

He paused, a meaningful smile curling at his lips.

"I can't guarantee what happens next."

My head went white.

Last life.

After I died, my father stood outside the council hall and went grey overnight.

My mother clutched my death certificate and cried until she passed out.

They couldn't take the grief and the rumors. On the drive back, their minds were somewhere else. A truck ran a light and hit them head on.

I died. And they didn't make it either.

I clenched my jaw.

"And if I don't go along with it?"

Damian slowly straightened up.

The smile on his face grew wider.

"Then don't. Won't matter."

"You were just out there screaming about finding the other woman."

"But can you actually find her? You don't even know who she is."

He stared straight into my eyes, one word at a time.

"So if I say it's you, what are you gonna do about it?"

In that moment.

Seven days of Thanksgiving rage. A lifetime of being destroyed. My parents dying in blood.

And the bone-deep disgust I felt for this man across two lifetimes.

All of it slammed together inside my skull at once.

Two lives of broken pieces finally crashed into each other.

And I understood.

Everything. Every last thing. It all made sense now.

I shot to my feet.

"Damian, I'm done!"

Damian was still smiling.

"Selena, don't push your luck."

I spun around, ripped the conference room door open.

Dozens of pack members were staring right at me.

Every phone still pointing.

I charged through the hall, past every camera, straight at Isabella.

Then I screamed.

"SIS!"

"I know who the other woman is!"