Nathan’s POV
Aria’s words made flinch as if she had driven a silver dagger through my heart. They didn’t just feel like a promise, they felt like a curse.
“Impossible.”
The word ripped out of my throat like a snarl.
My fangs pricked painfully against my gums from holding my wolf back. The anger boiling in my blood made my vision blur at the edges.
Aria stood across from , her lips parted, her scent sharp with hurt and defiance. When she bit down hard enough to draw blood, my wolf roared inside because even injured, even furious, she was mine.
And she stared at like I was her enemy.
I stepped forward, blocking the entire doorway without even trying. My hand clenched around the doorknob.
She wanted to leave.
No—she wanted to run from again.
That thought alone made a low growl vibrate in my chest.
But Aria only hugged Lana tighter, refusing to look my way.
Then, without another word...
She slamd the door in my face.
The gust of wind rattled the hall. Or maybe that was just my wolf.
I stood there frozen for a long mont, feeling strength bleed out of like soone had just driven silver through my ribs. My wolf snarled at the barrier between us, wanting to break it, wanting to break everything, but I forced myself to stand still.
Calm down...Calm down.
But there was nothing calm in . Only a cold, heavy ache that settled over Hemsworth Villa like a storm cloud.
Hours later, I was still sitting in the living room, the cigar burning between my fingers, smoke curling around my face like a ghost. My wolf paced restlessly under my skin—agitated, frustrated, craving the scent of the mate who hated .
I finally answered Collins’s call, irritation spiking as I listened.
A patent leak, a crisis.
Perfect.
I exhaled sharply, stood, and walked out the door.
The warm afternoon wind hit my face as I sped down the road with the windows open, but it did nothing to ease the fury pulsing behind my temples. My wolf hated being away from the house, away from her, but the company needed .
“Alpha Nathan,” Collins said, his voice tight, “the application was leaked by a new company. The entire departnt is eting now. Also... Sophia Darvin left earlier.”
I gritted my teeth. “And?”
“We can’t reach her. All calls are blocked. You may have to contact her personally.”
His tone hovered between pleading and panic. Rumors about Sophia and Aria...clashes, tension, public confrontations, had already beco a headache. Now this.
“Handle it until I arrive,” I ordered, then hung up.
I called Sophia.
She picked up instantly.Of course she did.
“Alpha Nathan,” she said softly. My wolf bristled. Her voice was gentle, but her tone was distant and punishing.
“Where are you?” I asked.
She turned stiff. I could hear it in her voice. “I know why you’re calling. Since you distrust , I’ve decided to temporarily step away from Hemsworth matters. I don’t want today’s turmoil to affect .”
Her heartbeat was racing. She
My patience stretched thin as a thread.
Since Aria’s imprisonnt, the company had lost half its backbone. The legal departnt was bleeding talent. Sophia was the only competent wolf left to hold it together.
So I did what I loathed doing: “It’s a misunderstanding,” I said. The words tasted like ashes.
Sophia lit up instantly but tried to mask it.
“Nathan... it’s not that I don’t want to help. But you and Collins were... extrely hurtful today.”
Then she started crying.
My wolf recoiled, annoyed. Not at the crying, but because none of this mattered. None of it. Not when Aria’s face was still burned into the back of my mind like a brand.
I rubbed my temples. “It’s a misunderstanding. Collins will apologize later. Where are you?”
“...Skyville Café,” she murmured.
“Wait,” I said, and hung up.
---
I arrived minutes later.
As soon as I entered, eyes turned toward . They always did.
Sophia straightened imdiately when I approached.
I tapped the table lightly. “What do you want to eat?”
She pretended to hesitate. “Nathan... you shouldn’t be having dinner with . Not when the company is in trouble.”
Her attempt at Aria’s stubbornness was almost laughable. But sothing about her expression sparked a strange familiarity I couldn’t place.
I ordered anyway. “One of each signature dish. And a passion fruit mousse.”
Her breath caught. She thought it ant sothing.
My wolf snorted.
“You’re important to the company,” I said absently. “I’m just having dinner.”
She lowered her head shyly.But in my mind, all I could see was—
Aria’s pale face. Lana’s tiny hands. Rowland leaning too close.
The mory stabbed .
So I cut Sophia’s steak for her just to occupy my hands.
“After dinner,” I asked, “will you co back to the company with ?”
“Yes, Nathan! I’ll do everything I can to help you!”
I nodded, forcing a polite smile. “Good.”
Then I reached out and wiped a bit of cream from her lips with a tissue.
She nearly lted.
Aria’s POV
I was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, Lana resting quietly in my arms as I stared into the garden. Jasmine and white roses stretched across the villa’s courtyard, their fragrance usually calming... but today it was suffocating.
My eyes burned.
I blinked once, then twice.
In the next heartbeat, the shimring railing warped until all I could see was a cage. My cage, my prison.
My wolf whimpered inside , feeling trapped again.
Lana sensed it imdiately. My daughter lifted her tiny hand to my cheek, her little fingers brushing against my skin as if trying to pull back from the edge.
But I couldn’t co back.
Not yet, Not when my world didn’t feel real anymore.
A soft tap on the glass snapped out of my daze. My whole body tensed, instincts flaring. I turned and my breath caught.
No. It couldn’t be.
Soone stood outside the window, staring at .
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