Chapter 4 — Forbidden Thoughts

“This is going to be a problem, Alpha.”

The Lycan murmured in his mind, its voice low and drawn out, like a warning whispered through clenched teeth.

Dmitry didn’t respond. He moved his wrist discreetly, checking his watch as if trying to remind himself that time still followed rules. It was an excuse. A subtle attempt to pull his focus back to the surface.

“It’s late,” he said, his voice controlled, the tone perfectly neutral. “I imagine you’re tired after your first day.”

Susan smiled, a slight curve of her lips that wavered between relief and something he couldn’t name right away. Perhaps a hint of disappointment.

“A little, yes.”

“Then we’ll end here for today.” He took a step back, moving far enough away so he wouldn’t feel the scent she exuded so intensely. A discreet perfume mixed with the natural warmth of her skin that stubbornly called to him. “But I want you to send me a draft with those ideas. I want to see how you plan to develop them for the next quarter.”

She nodded, slipping back into professional mode with ease. Dmitry watched the gesture with silent attention.

“Of course. I can prepare something and send it first thing in the morning.”

“Excellent. You’re dismissed.”

Susan gathered her things, adjusting her glasses with the same unconscious gesture as before, and walked toward the door. When her hand touched the doorknob, she hesitated. She turned back, her green eyes seeking his with unexpected softness.

“Thank you, Dmitry.”

He lifted his face, his blue eyes locked on her with contained intensity.

“For what?”

“For giving me the chance to show my ideas.”

It was simple. Sincere. A small gesture that somehow slipped beneath the armor he wore every day.

He should have just nodded and let her go.

But he didn’t.

“Susan…”

She stopped and turned once more, waiting.

Dmitry took a small step forward, without crossing the line. His presence still firm, but not invasive. Just enough to make itself felt.

“You have talent. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.”

For a second, her face lit up with surprise. Then it softened, as if those words had reached a vulnerable spot she tried so hard to keep protected.

“Thank you.”

And this time, she left.

Dmitry remained there, his eyes fixed on the now-closed door. The silence in the room felt denser with her absence. His chest rose and fell slowly but unevenly, as if trying to convince himself he was still in control.

“She stirs us…” The Lycan growled with a mix of fascination and unease. “In a way that not even you will be able to pretend you don’t feel.”

He remained silent, jaw clenched. He didn’t need to answer. Because both of them knew.

It was true.

***

Susan unlocked the door to the small apartment and entered with a tired sigh, closing it behind her as if trying to contain the whirlwind that had followed her since she left Rurik Motors.

The usual silence of the space should have comforted her, but that night there was something in the air. An restlessness that didn’t come from outside — it was inside her.

She hung her bag on the hook beside the door and took off her shoes, feeling the cold floor caress her feet. Jenn and Carla were still at the hospital, trapped in the exhausting routine of night shifts.

For now, there was only Susan… and the thoughts that seemed to echo in every corner of the apartment.

She walked to the kitchen and filled a glass with water, drinking it slowly while leaning her elbows on the counter. Her eyes wandered around the living room, but she wasn’t really seeing what was in front of her.

She saw him.

Dmitry.

His name echoed inside her like a warm, uncomfortable whisper, carrying with it the memory of his voice. Deep, controlled, and yet intense enough to make her hold her breath.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and there were the words again:

“You have talent. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.”

It wasn’t just what he said. It was how he said it. The firm tone. The cutting certainty. As if that truth belonged to him and he had no intention of letting her forget it.

Susan let out a short, nervous laugh, running her hands over her face as if trying to erase something burned into her.

“Okay… That was weird,” she murmured.

She picked up her phone and opened the notes app. She needed to focus. She had work to do. Ideas to develop. An entire campaign to build.

“The best brands tell stories.” She typed, repeating the phrase she had used in the meeting, almost like a mantra to regain her sanity.

She knew what she wanted to do with Rurik Motors. She wanted to create emotional connection. Make the public see themselves behind the wheel of those cars, feel something. Belonging.

But no matter how hard she tried, her mind kept sliding back to him. To Dmitry. To the way he had looked at her.

Not like a boss. Like a man who saw something… dangerous.

Susan pushed the phone away and ran her hands through her hair, trying to suppress the shiver threatening her spine.

“My God, Susan… Stop it.”

But how could she ignore it?

Dmitry Rurik was not just an imposing man. He was the kind of presence that filled the room before he even spoke. And when he did speak… it was as if his words invaded her skin, burning from within.

Susan squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push that feeling away. It was wrong. He was her boss. And more than that… he was married.

And she was not an ordinary woman.

“He can’t know,” she whispered to herself, almost like a prayer.

She knew what she carried in her blood, even if she did everything to live like any other human. Direct descendant of the Goddess Morrigan. A name that still made many Lycans tremble, even in silence.

Witches like her could not be controlled. Could not be marked. And Lycans, creatures so instinctive and territorial, hated what they could not dominate.

“When he finds out, he’ll want to get rid of you.”

That truth hammered in her head every time she thought too much about Dmitry. She wore the necklace with the ancestral symbol, an enchanted artifact to contain the natural energy she exuded. A seal to prevent Lycans from noticing her more than they should.

It worked with everyone. It always had.

But not with him… She had seen the way he looked at her. It was as if the protection dissolved. As if her blood screamed for him, even against her will. And, worse still, as if his responded.

“I have to stay away,” she whispered, squeezing the necklace between her fingers.

It was the only safe path.

…

The soft light from her phone illuminated Susan’s face as she typed with agile but restless fingers. She wrote, deleted. Started over. Scribbled ideas for the new Rurik Motors campaign, immersed in concepts that challenged the conventional.

“Rurik cars are not just vehicles. They are journeys waiting to happen.”

She smiled to herself as she wrote that, satisfied with the image she had created. But before she could develop the rest of the concept, exhaustion took its toll. Her eyes grew heavy, and the warmth of the sofa enveloped her like a silent embrace.

The phone still rested between her fingers when sleep won. It slipped slowly and settled on her chest, blinking a soft light in the dimness of the room.