Chapter Four
1511 Words
The towering glass skyscraper of Blackwood Enterprises dominated the New York skyline, a silent reminder of the man who ruled it.
Inside the top floor, Damien sat at the head of a long, sleek conference table, his cold gaze sweeping over the executives seated before him. The air was thick with tension. No one dared to speak unless spoken to.
Marcus, his assistant, stood beside him, handing over a file. “Sir, the Meridien Group has backed out of the deal at the last minute.”
A sharp silence followed. The temperature in the room felt like it dropped.
Damien’s fingers tapped once against the table—slow, calculated. A warning.
“Why?” His voice was calm, but everyone knew that was the most dangerous state for him to be in.
One of the executives swallowed hard before answering. “They, uh, received a better offer from—”
“They dared to break a contract with me?” Damien cut in smoothly, his golden eyes locking onto the speaker.
No one breathed.
Damien leaned back in his chair, his presence suffocating the room. “Call their CEO.”
Marcus didn’t hesitate, dialing the number and placing the phone on speaker.
A nervous voice answered. “M-Mr. Vale, this is unexpected.”
“I’m sure it is,” Damien said coolly. “Tell me, why did your company think it was wise to betray me?”
The man stammered, scrambling for excuses. Damien allowed him to talk, his silence more terrifying than words.
Then, finally, he spoke. “You have one hour to fix your mistake.”
The line went dead.
Damien turned to his executives. “This is a lesson—loyalty is not optional. If they don’t fix it, I will handle it my way.”
They all understood what that meant. Lunar Enterprises didn’t just dominate the corporate world. It had connections beyond human understanding.
Marcus smirked as he collected the files. “You scared them.”
Damien’s gaze flickered to him. “Good.”
Damien didn’t need to raise his voice to command respect—his mere presence was enough to make men twice his age shrink in fear. But it wasn’t just his business acumen that made him dangerous.
It was who he truly was.
And he ruled with an iron fist.
---
A Night of Control
Later that evening, Damien sat in the dimly lit VIP lounge of one of his exclusive clubs. The scent of expensive whiskey mixed with the faint aroma of supernatural energy that only those like him could sense.
Marcus sat across from him, scanning a document. “The Meridien Group folded within twenty minutes,” he reported with an amused smirk. “They’re offering double the investment to make up for the… inconvenience.”
Damien swirled his glass of whiskey lazily. “Predictable.”
Damien held a cup of whiskey in his hand, his fingers drumming lightly against the cup. The city skyline stretched behind him, glittering with lights, but his mind was elsewhere.
Marcus stood across from him, holding his tablet, his expression unreadable. He had been Damien’s right hand for centuries, and he knew when his Alpha was troubled—even if Damien refused to admit it.
“She’s still unaware,” Marcus said, breaking the silence.
Damien exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.”
Marcus arched a brow. “For how long?”
Damien’s jaw tightened. “Indefinitely.”
A muscle in Marcus’s cheek twitched. “You do realize that’s not how mate bonds work, right?”
Damien shot him a sharp look, but Marcus didn’t back down.
“I know exactly how they work,” Damien said coldly. “That’s why I refuse to acknowledge her.”
Marcus sighed. “Because of Selene.”
Damien didn’t answer immediately. He reached for the glass of whiskey beside him, taking a slow sip before setting it down.
“I made a promise,” he said at last. “And I keep my promises.”
Marcus hesitated before speaking. “That promise was made centuries ago. Before you even knew she existed.”
“And? That changes nothing.” Damien’s voice was calm, but the tension in the room was thick.
Marcus frowned. “Damien, be honest. If Ava wasn’t your mate, would you have already married Selene?”
Damien didn’t answer. Because they both knew the truth.
He had never loved Selene the way she loved him. Their bond had been one of loyalty, companionship, and duty—but never passion.
Selene was a powerful she-wolf, an Alpha’s perfect queen. But Ava… Ava was something else entirely.
And that terrified him.
Marcus watched him for a moment before sighing. “You can ignore it all you want, but the mate bond doesn’t just disappear. The longer you fight it, the worse it will get.”
Damien clenched his fists. He didn’t need Marcus to tell him that. He already felt it—the constant pull, the restless energy in his wolf.
And the worst part? Ava didn’t even know who she really was yet.
“If she awakens,” Marcus continued, “you won’t be able to stay away.”
Damien stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. “That’s why she can’t awaken.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes. “You can’t stop it.”
Damien turned to the window, looking down at the city below. He could sense her—somewhere out there, living a simple human life.
He should have never looked into her.
Never learned her name.
Never let his thoughts linger on her.
But it was too late for that.
And deep down, he knew—it was only a matter of time before their worlds collided.
…
The night was quiet, but inside the Sinclair household, unease brewed like a storm waiting to break. The chandelier above the grand dining table cast a warm glow, but it did little to ease the tension in the air.
Ava’s father, Williams Sinclair, sat with his hands clasped, his face unreadable. Across from him, Eleanor Sinclair, his wife, paced the room, her usually composed demeanor faltering.
“She’s going to be twenty-five soon, Williams.” Eleanor's voice was laced with worry. “We have less than a year before everything changes.”
Williams let out a deep sigh. “We don’t know that for sure. The prophecy—”
“The prophecy has never been wrong,” Eleanor cut in sharply. “You heard the seer just as I did. ‘The child of light shall awaken on her twenty-fifth year, and from the shadows, the past shall rise.’” She turned to face him, eyes burning with desperation. “That child is Ava.”
Williams rubbed his temples. “She’s lived a normal life all these years. Maybe the prophecy won’t come true.”
Eleanor shook her head. “It will. The signs are already there. Have you noticed how often she’s been dreaming lately? And the way she feels... disconnected, as if something is missing?”
Williams remained silent. He had noticed. Ava had always been lively, but lately, there was a strange distance in her eyes, as if a part of her was lost.
“We should tell her the truth,” Eleanor whispered.
“No,” Williams said firmly. “We can’t ruin her life before it even starts.”
Eleanor clenched her fists. “And if she finds out on her own? If they find her before we prepare her?”
Silence fell between them, the weight of unspoken fears suffocating the air.
Dinner at the Sinclair
Ava’s father, William Sinclair, swirled the wine in his glass, his gaze distant. Beside him, his wife, Eleanor, picked at her food, her mind elsewhere. Their eldest daughter, Vivian, who had come over for dinner, noticed the shift immediately.
“You’ve both been acting strange all evening,” Vivian said, setting down her fork. “What’s going on?”
Eleanor’s eyes flickered to her husband before she sighed. “It’s Ava.”
Vivian frowned. “What about her?”
William leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “She turns twenty-five in a few months.”
Vivian’s frown deepened. “And? What’s so bad about that?”
Eleanor’s hands trembled slightly as she placed them on the table. “Because of the prophecy.”
Vivian stiffened. She had almost forgotten about that ridiculous thing. Almost.
“Mom, Dad,” she said, her tone cautious, “you’re not seriously still worried about that, are you?”
William exhaled sharply. “We were warned long before she was born. The seer told us that when Ava turns twenty-five, her peaceful life will come to an end.”
Vivian folded her arms. “That’s vague. What does that even mean?”
“We don’t know,” Eleanor admitted. “But everything in that prophecy has come true so far.”
Vivian leaned back, skepticism flickering in her eyes. “What if it’s just superstition?”
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