15. Fury Ignited

Mason arrived at the Noctis Palace Hotel, well, very late at night. He should’ve been home with Nina, but he couldn’t risk delays. 

He needed answers now. The insider wanted a meeting first thing in the morning, and Mason intended to be done before the sun reached its peak so he could return to his daughter and bring her to the specialist she desperately needed.

The moment he stepped out of his car, handed the keys to the valet, and turned toward the entrance, his entire being shifted.

That scent. The one that he had been trying to remove from his mind all this time.

A faint trace in the air, like a whisper that reached into his bones and grabbed hold of something primal. His wolf stirred violently inside him—restless, wild, elated.

'Don't just stand there, move!' he heard his wolf complain.

Without thinking, his feet moved faster, carrying him past the glimmering glass doors, toward the elevator lobby. His heart pounded in his chest, not from excitement, but from a strange anticipation. A pull. Something that he had been controlling himself from.

Then he saw her.

Frozen in place, Mason’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes landed on the woman whose presence made his wolf want to howl.

But it wasn’t her scent or the surge in his chest that held him still this time.

It was the blood.

His sharp gaze caught the jagged cuts along her arms, the angry bruises that stained her pale skin. Her lips were cracked, raw. The oversized sunglasses couldn’t fully hide the purpling blotches at the edges—proof of violence, fresh violence.

Mason’s fists were clenched by his sides. Those wounds weren’t from the crash. He would’ve noticed—he did notice. These were new. These were brutal. And worse, they were personal.

Only someone in rank and in power could hurt her like that.

His wolf snarled inside him, surging forward with an overwhelming urge to shield her, to tear through anyone who laid a hand on her. 

Mason began to walk toward her, his mind blank but his chest burning. He had let her fight alone for too long. Let her suffer in silence. Let her walk away.

Not anymore.

He was just steps away when her phone rang.

She answered.

The elevator behind her dinged open.

And before he could speak, before he could reach her, save her, she turned and stepped inside, vanishing behind the mirrored doors with the same silence she’d always carried.

Mason stood there, jaw clenched, shoulders tense, watching her disappear like smoke through his fingers.

Again...

But this time, something inside him snapped. Watching wasn’t enough. Being close wasn’t enough. His wolf didn’t want to pace behind her like a shadow anymore.

He wanted to claim what was his to protect.

Mason Larkin was finally ready to stop holding back.

Inside the elevator, Aria stared at her phone as it rang, confusion flickering across her bruised face. The number was familiar, yet distant—someone she hadn’t heard from in what felt like another lifetime.

The moment she answered, the voice on the other end cracked through the silence like thunder.

[Luna Aria, your removal from the company is as painful as my breakup!]

The voice trembled, thick with tears, and Aria’s eyes widened as the sobbing intensified.

“…Betina?” she whispered, stunned.

[You still remember me!] Betina wailed even louder, as if Aria’s voice had unlatched a dam inside her.

“Of course, I do,” Aria said gently, a soft smile ghosting across her face despite the heaviness of her day. “Now, now, don’t cry. If you keep that up, you’ll make me cry too.”

It was a strange moment of irony. She was the one who had been betrayed, publicly shamed, and discarded like trash, yet it was Betina who wept like her soul was breaking.

Aria closed her eyes, breathing in deeply as the elevator softly dinged and opened. She walked forward slowly, Betina still sniffling on the other line.

“I’m the one who’s shocked that you called. No one from Crimson Claw even dared look at me… but here you are. Remembering me.”

Betina gasped between sobs. [Are you joking? How could I forget you? I owe you everything, Luna! Because of you, I got promoted. My life changed. My family’s life changed!]

The word Luna stung like a dagger dipped in longing. It felt foreign now, though once it had been her title, her pride.

Betina didn’t stop.

[Even after I left your team, I never stopped admiring you. You always thought about us, fought for us. I was transferred back to the main office. When I found out what happened… I swear, I wanted to burn those snakes alive! Every single one of them who turned on you!]

Aria couldn’t help but laugh, the sound soft and broken. Bittersweet. The ache in her chest loosened—just slightly. The heaviness she carried felt a little lighter, like someone had come back to remind her she wasn’t entirely alone.

By the time she and Cecil reached the hotel room, Aria had calmed Betina down. Still holding the phone between her shoulder and ear, she asked Cecil to order a bottle of wine, then disappeared into the bathroom and put Betina on speaker. 

The water stung as she cleaned her wounds, but Betina’s voice soothed the rawness in her heart. After they ended the call, the wine arrived. She poured herself a glass and turned on the TV, hoping for distraction.

But fate was cruel.

The screen flickered to life, and there it was—the breaking news. The wedding of Elliot Riggs and Stella Kursen. Their names were everywhere. Video clips of the preparations, flashy footage of the soon-to-be couple, guests gushing over the upcoming "union of power."

Aria’s jaw clenched. The glass in her hand shook slightly.

She stood. “I need air,” she muttered.

“Aria…” Cecil tried to stop her, but the look in her eyes said it all.

Aria stormed out, bottle in hand. She walked toward the bar but halted at the entrance. Too many people. Too many eyes.

Instead, she turned toward the rooftop.

The air was crisp and biting as she pushed open the heavy door. She stepped out into the open night, the city glowing below her in manic celebration. Light shows beamed into the sky. Music thundered from below. A concert stage had been set up in the plaza. Fireworks. Streamers. Neon. Joy. Noise.

All for them.

She looked down at the bottle, now half-empty, and took another long swig. Her head spun, emotions swirling like a storm in her chest.

And then—rage.

Fury ignited in her like gasoline meeting a match.

Aria threw her head back, tears streaking down her cheeks. “I gave everything to him! Everything! Fucking user!” she screamed into the night, raw and broken. 

“And this is how he repays me? Marrying her while the world celebrates? I didn’t even get a freaking cheap ceremony! You are such as asshole, Elliot!”

She screamed louder, not caring who heard. In this moment, she didn’t care if the city collapsed beneath her.

But someone did hear.

From the shadows at the rooftop’s edge, a figure emerged. Silent. Watching. Waiting.

Aria gasped and spun, nearly stumbling as she clutched the neck of the bottle. Her breath caught.

She wasn’t alone.

And the look in his eyes told her… he had seen everything.