Aria’s POV
It was Rowland. He had returned.
“Bad luck?” Rowland’s deep voice carried effortlessly through the air, smooth and angerous. A hint playful, but layered with mild rage. “If you know it’s bad luck, why show up? How does this event even screen guests? Letting in all kinds of riffraff.”
The man stiffened like he’d been hit with a stun spell.
Rowland spun him around with ease.
My heart kicked up a little fearing what might happen. This could get ugly pretty quickly. I glanced around, a few heads turned, but most ignored us. Good, I hated drama.
I touched Rowland’s arm lightly. It’s fine, Let it go.
He paused, then gently removed my hand, giving a warm reassuring look as if to say, I’ve got you.
The portly man saw the exchange. His face blanched.
He looked Rowland over, the high-end suit, the sleek polish, the pink crystal tie clip that shimred like fresh moonstone and panic flickered across his features.
“Hey, guys, misunderstanding!” he squeaked. “I saw your wife’s outfit and wanted to buy one for my wife!”
“Really?” Rowland’s voice dropped several degrees. This wasn’t the warmth he gave . This was ice.
The man nodded so fast I thought he’d snap his own neck.
Rowland gave a cold smile. “Soone revoke his access. Throw him out.”
He flicked his hand casually, like tossing out garbage.
The man’s eyes nearly fell out of his skull.
His scent spiked hard with a mix of fear and desperation. Then he made a mistake, a fatal one.
He looked Rowland up and down again, calculating. And decided wrongly that Rowland wasn’t a threat.
The shift in his scent was instantaneous: arrogance seeping back in.
He slapped the table beside him loudly. “Who do you think you are? Acting like you can kick people out? I should call security on YOU!”
Rowland’s eyes narrowed, glowing faintly with his wolf.
He looked at the man like he was already a corpse.
“Say it again,” Rowland murmured.
The fool took Rowland’s calm for weakness.
He repeated himself louder, much louder.
Within seconds, n and won drifted closer, forming a half circle around us, whispers spreading like fire.
And my wolf inside ?
She lifted her head, a low rumble building.
Because things were about to get pretty ugly, exactly what I had feared.
Nathan’s POV
I was at a lounge drinking and trying to clear my head before the show begins when a ripple of unsettled energy brushed across my senses like a faint disturbance in a still lake.
I could sll trouble.
Collins imdiately called my attention. He leaned closer, murmuring, “Alpha, guests say there’s so guy inside making a scene... pretending he’s soone important.”
I didn’t let even a muscle twitch. I simply shifted my gaze toward the commotion, letting my senses expand. A faint crackle of agitation carried through the crowd; fear from so, excitent from others.
“Let’s not bother with them for now” I said coolly.
My voice ca out calm and controlled,
but beneath that composure, my wolf growled low, irritated.
Who’s causing problems in my territory? At my event?
Whoever it was... they were either stupid or suicidal.
A faint scowl tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Rowland told he had already arrived, tell him to get over here. Now.”
Collins nodded sharply. “Right away, Alpha.”
He hurried out, pulling out his phone to call Rowland.
A couple of minutes later, Collins’ returned and told he had called Rowland and delivered my ssage to him.
Simultaneously, my phone beeped. A ssage dropped.
I glanced at the screen, it was from Rowland. The ssage read:
[Uncle, I got into a minor hassle with my date. I will be there in a jiffy.]
Another ssage ca in almost imdiately:
[She’s soone I’ve been hunting for months. Gotta let you check her out.]
I exhaled slowly.
Great. Rowland dragging in a mystery girl he apparently “found.”
And Aria, she was sowhere in this building. That alone was enough to put my wolf on edge. In fact, it was the real reason I was sitting here drinking.
I’d sensed her the mont I stepped into the hall. Her scent was faint in the air, but unmistakable.
The instant it hit , I scanned the room, ready to find out what the hell she was doing here after turning down my invitation to be my plus-one for this auction.
Then I rembered...I rembered I’d promised her I wouldn’t pry into her life, wouldn’t ask questions she didn’t want to answer.
And if I sought her out now, I knew exactly how it would go. A confrontation, a clash. And then she would leave the villa.
I couldn’t risk that.
My pulse tightened—not from anger, but from sothing far more inconvenient.
Who had Aria co with?
Who had she rejected for?
I tipped back my glass and muttered to the restless creature inside ,
“Let’s just get through this night without ripping soone’s throat out.”
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