Leonard.
The mont the word ’mate!’ echoed through my head, I felt my entire body go rigid and cold.
That was the first thing I felt, not the usual excitent nor relief. Just a strange coldness rushing through my veins as though soone had suddenly poured ice water directly into my chest.
And honestly...This was exactly what I had been waiting for.
For years.
Theresa could finally belong to alone, with no third party.
I could finally stop pretending that watching her from afar was enough. I could pull her into my arms whenever I wanted, kiss her whenever I pleased, and let the whole damn world know she was mine.
My mate.
The thought alone made my wolf stir restlessly beneath my skin but despite all that...I couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge the bond.
And worst of all, I didn’t even want her to know.
My jaw tightened at the thought.
Theresa was still adamant about carrying another man’s child.
Alex’s child.
Even now, after everything.
How was I supposed to completely accept her as mine when a part of her still belonged to soone else?
The thought irritated more than I cared to admit, It burned beneath my skin like poison.
I had told myself to stay away from her, that only by ignoring her and acting indifferent would I be sane.
Maybe if I kept my distance long enough, the bond would stop affecting this badly.
Maybe if I buried myself in work and avoided looking at her too much, I would eventually accept the situation.
But no.
The more I tried to stay away from Theresa...the more she sohow ended up right in front of .
Every single ti, and it only made things worse, harder and more unbearable.
Gosh.
I dragged a frustrated hand through my hair and exhaled sharply, because the truth was...every ti she looked at with those stubborn eyes...every ti her lips parted slightly when she was annoyed...every ti she rolled her eyes at like I was the most frustrating man alive...I lost control completely.
I just wanted to grab her by the waist and kiss the hell out of her until she forgot every other man’s na.
Until she begged to stop.
Until she finally looked at the way I looked at her.
The conflict inside was becoming unbearable.
One half of wanted to stay away from her completely.
The other half wanted to lock the damn door and keep her beside forever.
I hated this feeling and I hated how weak it made . Hated how just one woman could throw my entire self-control into chaos.
I watched silently as Theresa picked up her bag and the file from the desk before storming out of my office without looking back.
The door shut behind her softly but sohow, the sound echoed loudly in my chest and then ca that dull ache again, annoying and persistent.
I clenched my fists slightly beside , forcing myself not to go after her.
"Brother, don’t take it to heart," Bella said suddenly from beside , breaking through my thoughts. "Theresa is always like this."
I almost rolled my eyes imdiately.
Always like this?
Bella had no idea what she was talking about. No idea what it felt like to stand this close to your mate and still not be able to have her. No idea how badly it ssed with my head.
My jaw tightened again as Theresa’s face flashed through my mind.
Damn woman.
She was going to drive insane.
"Brother co on!" Bella tried to nudge and I was forced to look at her.
Was she really about to play favoritism now?
The thought irritated instantly.
Supporting Theresa over ?
Her so-called best friend?
I clenched my jaw slightly, trying hard to suppress the irritation crawling beneath my skin. Ever since Theresa returned, everything around had started becoming frustratingly complicated.
I took a slow breath before walking back toward my desk.
"You may leave, Bella," I said finally, my voice calm but distant as I lowered myself into the chair. "I still have so pending projects to attend to."
I deliberately kept my eyes on the computer screen instead of looking at her.
Maybe then she would finally understand I wanted to be left alone.
But Bella clearly had other plans.
"Are you chasing away now?" she asked imdiately, pouting her lips as she stared at with those pitiful eyes she always used whenever she wanted sympathy.
I exhaled sharply through my nose.
Honestly, I was exhausted.
"You can go et Lurgard or Lawrence, Bella," I replied flatly, finally typing sothing random into the computer just to avoid another unnecessary conversation. "Their offices are still on this sa floor."
I hoped that would end it.
But of course....
"But Le—" Bella stopped mid-sentence.
Her voice cut off abruptly, hanging in the air like she had suddenly lost her train of thought.
At the exact sa mont, my fingers froze above the keyboard.
Completely still.
I didn’t even realize I had stopped typing until the silence around sharpened everything else.
And then Voices.
Raised voices.
The sudden commotion outside imdiately pulled both of our attention away from what we were doing.
For a brief second, the entire floor felt unusually loud, as if sothing had shifted in the atmosphere itself. Distant words overlapped, tension threading through every syllable, until one voice cut through more clearly than the rest.
"You cannot tell what to do!"
The sharpness in that tone made my brows furrow instantly. It wasn’t just loud, was charged and yet familiar in a way that made my stomach tighten slightly.
Lawrence’s office.
Without wasting another second, I pushed my chair back abruptly, the legs scraping faintly against the floor as I stood up from my seat.
Bella was already reacting.
She followed imdiately behind as I moved toward the door, my pace quickening with every step as the noise outside grew louder, more defined, more tense.
The closer I got, the clearer the voices beca.
Not just one now, but several overlapping, clashing, pushing against each other like none of them were willing to back down.
Tension.
That was the first thing I felt.
Raw tension, heavy and suffocating, hanging in the air like sothing that had already gone too far.
I reached the office door too quickly and without thinking twice, I pushed it open and froze instantly.
My entire body went stiff the mont my eyes landed inside.
What the hell...?
Bernard.
For a mont, I genuinely thought my mind was playing tricks on , that maybe I wasn’t seeing clearly.
But no.
It was really him.
The sa familiar face.
The sa arrogant stance.
The sa irritating, unbothered posture that had always managed to get under my skin without even trying.
He was there and he was standing like he belonged.
My chest tightened instantly, a sharp reaction I didn’t even bother to hide.
What exactly was Bernard doing here?
Didn’t he say he would never show his face again?
The thought hit the mont I saw him, sharp and imdiate, as if it had been waiting in the back of my mind for years just to resurface now.
Especially after what he did six years ago.
The mory flashed through my head in fragnts, quick, uninvited, and unpleasant, making my expression darken instantly.
Back then, his sudden disappearance hadn’t just been unexpected. It had caused chaos, more than anyone had cared to admit at the ti.
And now...here he was, standing inside Lawrence’s office like nothing had ever happened, like ti had simply erased everything.
Like he still belonged here.
My jaw tightened slightly as I took him in more carefully, my gaze slowly narrowing. There was sothing about his posture, the ease in his stance, the way he carried himself that suggested he wasn’t the least bit bothered by the tension in the room.
My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless, alert and unhappy.
Bernard noticed almost imdiately.
Of course he did.
A slow smile spread across his lips, unhurried and deliberate, like he had been expecting this exact reaction from all along.
"Leonard," he said casually, his tone almost light, like we were old friends reuniting after years apart. "Still glaring at like that?"
I didn’t return the smile and I didn’t even bother to hide the coldness in my expression.
My stare remained fixed on him, sharp and unyielding, as if I could force answers out of him just by looking harder.
"What are you doing here?" I asked coldly.
My voice ca out steady, controlled, but there was no warmth in it, no welco.
Only suspicion.
And the quiet reminder that nothing about this mont felt right.
No wonder Lawrence was having a heated argunt with him. I wondered if he would still look so calm when Lurgard finds him here.
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