Chapter 2: Truths Better Left Buried
1162 Words
Alina's mind spun like a carousel on overdrive.
Fated mate?
Lycans?
This wasn’t just some business reunion. This was something else entirely—something ancient, dangerous, and far too personal.
She stood in his office like the walls had caved in, her vision blurring at the edges. The Dominic she had once loved—no, still loved in some buried corner of her heart—was not just the cold, emotionally distant CEO she had married. He was something other.
“You’re not making any sense,” she said, her voice cracking. “You’re telling me you’re… what? A werewolf?”
“Not a werewolf. A Lycan,” he corrected, stepping toward her. “There’s a difference.”
She backed up instinctively, hitting the polished edge of his desk. “Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t come near me.”
He stopped, hands raised, as if calming a frightened animal. “I would never hurt you, Alina. You know that.”
She didn’t know anything anymore. The man who once made her feel safe now seemed like a stranger—one cloaked in shadows and secrets. And worst of all, a part of her still wanted to run into his arms and feel his warmth again.
“I can prove it,” he said quietly.
“I don’t want proof,” she snapped. “I want the truth.”
“That is the truth.”
She clenched her fists, trying to keep her composure. “You lied to me our entire marriage. You kept this… this part of yourself hidden while I wasted years wondering why you always seemed so distant.”
He looked at her then—really looked at her—with the weight of years in his gaze. “Do you know how hard it was to stay away from you? To keep this secret when everything in me wanted to tell you? I thought I was protecting you.”
“By divorcing me?” she asked bitterly.
He flinched.
“By letting me think I wasn’t enough?”
“No,” he said, stepping forward again. “By letting you go before I dragged you into a world that would destroy you.”
She let out a breathless laugh. “Too late for that.”
A heavy silence settled between them. She felt it in her bones—in the stretch of time between heartbeats. It was like something ancient had woken up inside her, and no matter how much she denied it, something had changed.
“Why now?” she asked after a long pause. “Why tell me now?”
“Because you came back,” he said simply. “And because I can’t let you walk away again. Not when I know what we are.”
“We were married, Dominic. That didn’t stop you then.”
“It almost killed me.”
His voice cracked, and for the first time in years, she saw something real in his eyes—pain. Regret. Love.
Or maybe it was just a trick of the light.
“I filed those divorce papers because I thought it was what you wanted,” he continued. “You were miserable, afraid. I couldn’t keep lying to you.”
She looked away, hating the way her heart clenched at his words.
“Do you remember that night in Aspen?” he asked softly.
She blinked. “What?”
“Four years ago. You wore that ridiculous green scarf and spilled hot cocoa all over my laptop.”
Despite herself, her lips twitched. “You deserved it. You ignored me for six straight hours.”
He chuckled—a low, familiar sound that sent chills down her spine. “I was trying to finish a contract with the European division. But I remember thinking, if I had to choose between my empire and you… I’d pick you.”
“Then why didn’t you?” she whispered.
His jaw tightened. “Because I was a coward.”
They stood in the silence of the office, the city buzzing beyond the glass, oblivious to the storm unraveling inside.
Finally, Alina shook her head. “None of this changes anything. I’ve built a new life, Dominic. I’m not the same woman you left.”
“I know,” he said, stepping closer again, slowly this time, as if approaching a wounded creature. “You’re stronger. Fiercer. More beautiful than ever.”
She scoffed, trying to ignore the flutter in her chest. “Flattery won’t work on me.”
“Good,” he said. “Because I’m not here to flatter you. I’m here to fight for you.”
Her eyes locked onto his, wary. “Even if I say no?”
“I’ll walk away,” he said, voice tight. “But I need you to know. What we had… it wasn’t just love. It was a bond. A soul-deep connection Lycans only get once.”
She bit her lip, trying to suppress the storm of emotions inside her. It was too much. Too sudden. Too… terrifying.
“Why did I never feel it then?” she asked, searching his face.
“You did,” he said, gently. “You just didn’t know what it was. That feeling that you couldn’t breathe when we were apart. The ache when I shut you out. The fire when we touched. That was the bond.”
Her breath hitched.
And just like that, the memories came crashing in—nights where his absence felt like suffocation, mornings she couldn’t explain the dull ache in her chest, and the nights they made love, when it felt like the world had narrowed down to just the two of them.
God, was it real?
“I need time,” she whispered.
His expression softened. “Take all the time you need.”
Alina turned toward the door, heart pounding, brain screaming. She needed air. Space. A minute to remember who she was before she walked back into the gravity of Dominic Blackwood.
Just as her fingers touched the handle, he said quietly, “There’s more, Alina.”
She froze. “Of course there is.”
“You’re not entirely human either.”
She turned slowly, eyes wide. “What?”
“You’ve always been different. That connection you feel—it’s because you have Lycan blood, too. Distant, but strong enough to feel the bond. Strong enough to be my mate.”
She stared at him, stunned. “That’s impossible.”
He shook his head. “You’ve just never been awakened. But that’s changing.”
The room tilted.
She didn’t remember walking out, or how she ended up in the elevator, but when the doors closed, her knees buckled and her back hit the mirrored wall.
Mate. Lycan. Bloodlines.
Her life had flipped upside down in less than ten minutes. And the worst part?
A traitorous part of her didn’t want to run.
It wanted to go back.
Back to him.
- Writer
