Can't risk it.

I could not look at him. My hands were still trembling against the marble counter. The bathroom felt too small, the air too thick with my own sweet, unfinished scent and the heavier, colder presence of the man who had looked at me right now with the kind of gaze that put me in this state in the first place.

What do I say or do now he's found me like this, especially when he is completely aware of the fact that my ache is for him? If my ache was truly for him why did I react like that to someone else. 

Before I can keep thinking, his voice cuts my train of thoughts and like before, it's short and jabbing

“Explain." I flinched. I'm not quite sure it's a command, but my body reacts like he is, reminding me all the more of the gap in our status, in our control...

My eyes trail down to his..  I quickly look away and muster up my courage or whatever was left of it to respond.  

“ I didn’t mean to-” what exactly didn't I mean to do. Feel such heat? Or let another wolf sense it clearly enough to approach me. I feel his fury increasing

“You left the pool.” His tone stayed low but carried the force of a command. “You locked yourself in here. Your scent is flooding the entire wing. And a pup who should have known better walked in and thought he had the right to look at you like that.” The last sentence cracked, colder and louder.

“Explain yourself, Lily.”

The use of my name in that voice made my stomach drop. Shame crashed through me so hard my eyes burned. I wrapped my arms around my middle, as if I could hold the heat and the humiliation inside.

I didn't expect him to hold my hands and appreciate me but now that he put it like that, I recoiled at myself in disgust, at my own body for reacting so strongly, for needing so openly, for being so weak that a simple rise of heat had me touching myself in a stranger’s bathroom while the entire party continued outside.

“I couldn’t stay out there,” I whispered. “It was too much. The water didn’t help. Emily and the others were… and my wolf kept pushing. I thought if I just got away for a minute I could control it.” My voice fractured. “I couldn’t. I still can’t. Another man almost...”

I could not finish. The memory of the smirk, the approaching steps, the casual ownership in that stranger’s eyes made my skin crawl. I had been one second away from being touched by someone who was not my mate. The thought made me feel sick and small and dirty. Tears welled up in my eyes involuntarily 

Dominic’s silence stretched, he did not quite make a move to comfort me but I could feel his the coldness in the room reduce. I risked a glance up. Whatever he saw on my face changed something. The sharp edge in his posture eased by a fraction. The anger was still there, but it no longer felt aimed entirely at me. He dragged a hand down his face once, then stepped closer not touching yet, just close enough that his scent wrapped around mine.

“Come here.”

The order was quieter now. I shook my head, mortified. “I shouldn’t. This is already...”  gosh I wanted to be near him. I wanted to be near him so bad but I couldn't.

“Lily.” He called my name again, lower. “You’re shaking. Come here.”

Against every warning in my head, I moved.

His arms closed around me with careful strength, pulling me against the solid wall of his chest. The contact was instant relief and fresh torment at the same time. My wolf settled the moment his scent and heat surrounded me, as if she had been waiting for exactly this. I buried my face against his shirt and tried to breathe. His hand settled at the back of my head, the other firm between my shoulder blades, holding me still while the worst of the trembling slowly eased.

For a few long seconds neither of us spoke. I could feel the controlled thunder of his heartbeat under my cheek. I could feel how carefully he was not letting his hands wander, even though the bond pulled hard enough to hurt.

When he finally spoke, his voice had lost the earlier bite. It was still cold, still final, but quieter.

“This cannot work.”

The words landed like a clean, precise strike. I went still in his arms. It wasn't a rejection. Not quite. But I still didn't want to hear it.

I swallowed and he continued, each sentence measured. “You are my daughter’s closest friend. I am the Alpha of this pack. I do not do public scandals or half-measures. Whatever this recognition is, it is a complication neither of us can afford. You felt what almost happened out there. Your control is not strong enough yet, and mine is… tested. That is dangerous for both of us.”

I nodded against his chest because my throat had closed. Of course it could not work. I had always known. I was the girl who had already been discarded once for being too late, too weak, too much trouble. Of course the most ruthless Alpha in the region would reach the same conclusion.

The shame and the fear and the sharp new hurt mixed until my eyes stung. I pulled back just enough to look at him. His expression was unreadable again, the brief softness locked away.

“I’ll try to leave,” I said. My voice came out thin but steady. “I’ll make an excuse to Emily. I’ll go back to my apartment tonight. I’ll stay away from pack events. I’ll… try.”

The bond protested the promise, a low ache under my ribs. I ignored it. The pain was already hard against my chest and I didn't want him to see it.

Dominic’s jaw tightened once. His hands fell away from me, leaving cool air in their place. He stepped back, already restoring the distance he had decided was necessary.

“That would be best,” he said.

I nodded again, even though the simple agreement felt like another rejection settling into the same old place inside me. I reached for the towel I had dropped, wrapped it tightly around myself, and moved toward the door on unsteady legs.

Behind me, Dominic remained silent. I did not look back. If I did, I was not sure I would still be able to walk out without breaking down.