AlinaI couldn’t stop thinking about what Damian had said.Be ready by 8 p.m.For what? He hadn’t said. He hadn’t given the slightest clue. Just that frustrating, infuriating, intoxicating smirk and then he’d disappeared like a shadow at sunrise.I should’ve been annoyed.I wasn’t.I was…nervous. Eager. Scared. All of it mixed together, tangling in my stomach like knots I couldn’t untie. The shower didn’t help. If anything, it made things worse. The heat reminded me of the heat in his eyes. The steam clung to my skin the way his presence had filled my room.And worst of all, I kept catching myself smiling like an idiot.Get it together, Alina.I changed into something light and simple—a cream blouse and faded jeans—and slipped out of my room. The corridors were quiet. I wanted to walk. Just breathe for a while and maybe let the cool air chase away some of the jittering butterflies in my chest.It wasn’t long before I found myself standing outside the pack house, drawn by the sounds of
AlinaI woke up drenched in sweat, my breaths coming in short, panicked bursts. The room was dark, but not the kind of darkness that comforted you. This one clung to my skin like a second layer, heavy and cold.Another nightmare.I sat up, clutching the sheets like they could anchor me back into reality. My heart thudded in my chest as flashes of the dream still danced behind my eyes—shadows grabbing at me, a voice whispering that I didn’t belong, that I never had. I rubbed my temples and forced myself to breathe. Deep. Slow. Steady.It wasn’t real. I was awake now. Safe. Kind of.I swung my legs over the bed and pressed my feet to the cold floor. The ache in my chest hadn't left, but I was used to that. I’d carried it for so long, it had become a part of me.Then there was a knock.I flinched.Another knock—softer this time.I stood, unsure whether to expect another scolding, another lecture, another cold reminder that I wasn’t wanted.But when I opened the door, I couldn’t stop the
DamianBlair’s lips were parted like she had a thousand things to say, but not a single word seemed to make it past her throat. Her jaw clenched. Then loosened. Then clenched again.It was the second time I’d seen her speechless tonight—and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.I crossed my arms and leaned back against the lounge, watching her with no rush to fill the silence she was choking on. She was writhing under the weight of her own fury, and I wasn’t going to offer her a way out of it.Her fingers twitched at her sides. She opened her mouth again, like she was about to launch into another tirade.I raised a brow and cut her off before she could even breathe it out.“Save it.”Her nostrils flared. That single phrase was enough to crack through whatever performative composure she’d walked in with. The mask slipped.“Save it?” she repeated, her voice sharpening like shattered glass. “You think this is something you can just brush off like it’s nothing? Like I’m nothing?”I ro
DamianThe office was too quiet—so quiet, I could hear the wind outside pushing through the cracks in the old windowpanes. Each gust made the glass groan faintly, a fragile, aching sound that only amplified the tension pressing in from every wall. Inside, the silence wasn’t peace. It was coiled, sharp, ready to snap. It was the kind of silence that came before something broke.The Elders sat rigidly in their carved wooden seats, lined in a semi-circle like a tribunal of ghosts, each face worn by years and hardened by expectation. Not even Alpha Roth seemed relaxed; his fingers tapped once, then stilled against the armrest of his high-backed chair. Their gazes, all fixed on me, burned with scrutiny—some skeptical, others outright disapproving—but not one of them indifferent. That alone was new.Usually, I’d be standing here, spine straight, arms behind my back, nodding through every command they laid before me. I had made a reputation of obedience—silent, unquestioning, absolute. I was
Damian"What are you doing?" my father hissed, his voice laced with disbelief and quiet fury as he stepped fully into the study. The door slammed shut behind him, sealing the tension inside.I didn’t flinch.Not this time.I turned toward him slowly, glaring at the man who’d once held all my fear in his hands. He still did, in some small, buried place inside me—but now, the fear didn’t matter. Not when Alina had been hurt. Not when I had to stand and watch everyone pretend like it meant nothing."You’re going to tell me what the hell this is about?" he barked, taking another step closer."Do you really need to ask?" I shot back, voice low, cold.His brows furrowed. “Have you lost your damn mind?”“No,” I said, a hollow laugh scraping from my throat. “But maybe you have. Because if you think I’m going to sit by and let this happen—you’ve finally gone mad.”“You’re being reckless,” he said tightly. “You’re about to throw everything we’ve worked for into flames.”“Everything you worked f
DamianThe door clicked softly behind me, a sound too gentle for the violence churning in my chest.I leaned my back against it, exhaling hard through my nose, fists clenched so tightly at my sides that my knuckles cracked. Every muscle in my body ached to go back inside—to touch her, to pull her into me, to claim what was mine.Alina.My mate.And yet, I had walked away.Fuck.My wolf was howling, snapping his fangs at me from the depths of my soul. You left her. She needed you. She was hurting and you walked away.I squeezed my eyes shut and tilted my head back against the door, trying to shut him out. But I couldn’t. Not when her scent still lingered on my skin, soft and sweet, cutting through the burn in my throat like rain on fire. Not when the memory of her warm, tear-stained face looking up at me was seared behind my eyelids.I could still feel her.Her breath hitching when I touched her cheek.The way she leaned into my palm without even realizing it.The blanket clutched tigh