The Tattoo
1569 Words
Chapter Five
Adele’s POV
Monday couldn’t come quickly enough.
My weekend had gone completely off track, and I had decided the best thing to do was focus on work and pretend none of it had happened.
I was standing in front of the mirror drying my hair when Laura’s voice came from behind me.
“Adele…”
There was amusement in her tone already, which made me suspicious.
“When did you get a tattoo? You’ve become surprisingly bold these past few days.”
I frowned and turned slightly.
“What tattoo?”
She raised a brow.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Act innocent. I already saw it.”
I switched off the hair dryer completely and stared at her.
“I’m serious, Laura. I didn’t get a tattoo.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Well, unless a tiny artist broke into our apartment overnight, there’s a crescent moon behind your right ear.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
Laura had already reached for her phone.
“Hold on.”
She stepped closer, moved my hair aside and snapped a picture before handing me the phone.
I looked at the picture on her phone and I froze.
Just beneath my right ear sat a faint crescent moon shape against my skin.
Small and dark but clear enough and it didn’t look like a bruise.
My fingers immediately touched the spot.
“How…”
The word barely came out of my mouth.
That wasn’t there before.
I was sure of it.
Laura was the one who had practically forced me into that dress on Friday night. She had done my makeup, my hair... everything.
She would have seen it.
Her expression changed slightly, the teasing easing for a second.
“That wasn’t there before,” she said more quietly.
I looked at her.
Then back to the picture.
A strange feeling settled in my chest.
I was confused, how did the tattoo get there. I asked myself.
Laura suddenly smirked again, like she caught herself getting serious.
“Or…” she dragged the word out, “were things a little unusual with your mystery man?”
My face heated immediately.
“Laura.”
“What? I’m asking.”
I handed her phone back too quickly.
Because for the first time since Saturday
The thought of Killian didn’t just make me embarrassed.
For the first time since that night, it made me uncomfortable.
Maybe because I could barely remember half of what happened.
The alcohol hadn’t helped.
The only thing I remembered clearly was his face, voice, the hotel… everything after then was hazy.
I only knew one thing for certain.
I woke up sore the next morning and the days that followed I had been very ill. I had asked Laura if that was ok, to feel sick after getting one’s cherry popped, but she said it should not but can be different for everyone.
My stomach tightened.
I pushed the thought away quickly and reached for my phone.
Then my eyes widened.
“Shit.”
Laura looked up immediately.
“What?”
“We’re going to be late.”
I dropped the dryer, and hurriedly started dressing.
“It’s already 7:30.”
That got her moving.
We rushed out of the apartment barely looking put together.
By the time we arrived at the office, something felt off.
The usual Monday morning noise was there, but quieter, everyone looked tense.
Most of the staff were standing straighter than usual.
Laura noticed it too.
“What’s going on?” she muttered.
Before I could answer, our supervisor appeared.
“Adele. Laura. Let’s meet in the meeting room now.”
Her tone alone made me straighten up.
The meeting was brief.
An important visitor is coming to the company today.
Someone powerful enough that every department had been warned ahead of time.
There were already rumours of a takeover.
Which meant everyone was expected to be on their best behaviour.
Our supervisor folded her arms and looked around the room.
“And please,” she said sharply, “try to smile today. If the rumours are true, your jobs may depend on it.”
Nobody laughed.
I remember thinking then that maybe Monday would finally feel normal again.
I was wrong.
Things somehow got worse.
Around 10 a.m, word spread that the visitor had arrived.
Most of the executives came downstairs to receive him personally.
Laura and I stood near the front desk with polite smiles fixed on our faces, because if the rumour was true, then the person coming held the fate of our jobs.
The glass doors slid open.
A few men walked in first.
Then he stepped inside.
For a second, my brain refused to process what I was seeing.
No.
My stomach dropped immediately.
Because standing beside the executives
The important guest.
The man buying the company.
The man everyone seemed nervous about was Killian.
The same Killian from Friday night.
The same man I had lost my virginity to.
My breath caught.
I suddenly understood why he looked expensive.
Why he carried himself like people moved around him instead of the other way around.
He wasn’t an ordinary man.
I should have known on friday, he was out of my league, with the wristwatch, his composure, his clothes.
Shit, the Tesla, even the hotel. I should have known, but the alcohol had taken away my common sense.
His eyes landed on me briefly.
Just for a second.
Something unreadable crossed his face
Relief maybe.
Or surprise.
Then it disappeared.
His expression hardened instantly.
And he walked past me like we had never met.
Like Friday night never happened.
Beside me, Laura lowered her head politely as he passed.
Her elbow hit my side lightly.
I realised too late she was trying to get me to do the same.
I stood there frozen.
Still staring.
Still trying to understand how my life had become this strange in less than three days.
I barely remembered the instructions from earlier.
Smile.
Be polite.
Act professional.
I had failed all three.
The group moved toward the elevator with the executives surrounding him.
Only when the doors closed did Laura turn to me.
“What was that?” she whispered.
I was still staring at the elevator.
My mouth opened before my brain caught up.
“That was Killian.”
Laura frowned.
“Who is Killian?”
I swallowed.
“The man from the club.”
Her eyes widened immediately.
Then it widened even more.
“Hold on”
Realisation settled on her face.
“Holy God, Adele.”
She grabbed my arm.
“The stranger from Friday is practically your boss?”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Because when she said it out loud
It sounded worse.
Much worse.
Killian POV
As I walked into Maximal Groups, the company I had come to acquire, the first thing that caught my attention wasn’t the building itself.
It was the name.
Maximal.
My eyes stayed on it a second longer than necessary.
Maxim would suit it better.
The thought came easily.
It would be changing soon anyway.
I wasn’t used to this kind of reception during a takeover.
Executives waiting downstairs. Forced smiles. Extra politeness.
Most of them were probably wondering the same thing.
Would people lose their jobs?
The answer was simple.
If changes needed to be made, they would happen.
I had never believed in keeping people around for sentiment.
Business was business.
One of the executives beside me kept speaking, but his words faded the second a familiar scent reached me.
My steps slowed.
My body recognised it before my mind did.
My jaw tightened immediately.
No.
The scent from Friday.
The same one that had followed me through restless nights, endless runs, and questions I never thought I would ask.
Then I saw her.
Adele.
Standing near the reception desk beside another woman.
For the first time in two days, the tension in my chest eased.
She was alive.
The relief lasted barely a second.
Because anger came right after it.
She left without a word.
No explanation.
No way to reach her.
And while my wolf refused to settle, I spent the weekend wondering whether she survived what happened between us.
Helen’s words returned whether I wanted them or not.
If the crescent moon mark appears and the human survives, rejection becomes impossible.
I hated that.
More than that, I hated not knowing whether ancient stories held any truth.
Because those same stories said another thing.
The last human mated to a Lycan died giving birth.
My expression hardened before anyone noticed the shift.
Then her eyes met mine.
Wide.
Uncertain.
The same eyes from Friday night.
Only this time, there was discomfort beneath them.
Good.
Because I was still angry.
At her.
At myself.
At the fact that out of everyone in the world, fate had chosen her.
A human.
My wolf stirred again.
Not restless.
Aware.
Possessive.
I broke eye contact first.
Not because I wanted to.
Because walking past her was already taking more control than I cared to admit.
And in a room full of employees and executives, the last thing I needed was my wolf reacting to a woman who didn’t even know she carried my mark.
I kept walking.
Her scent followed.
For the first time in years, I wasn’t certain control would be enough.
- Writer
