(DARIAN)

I look at my second-in-command. "Are you sure about this?"

Jimmy has his hands in his pockets as we walk down the street from the hotel. "That’s what I found out. She was on track for partnership. With you getting her pulled her from this project, chances are she will not be considered a candidate anymore."

Troubled, I look straight ahead with a distant gaze. Getting in the way of Alice’s career wasn’t what I wanted.

"I’ll talk to Katherine. You go deliver these papers to the bank and look into the excess charges I pointed out. This account should be dormant. I want to know where these funds are going and when the account was activated.

Make sure the bank manager understands discretion, Jimmy."

"Wait." He holds out his hand to stop me. "I thought the plan was not to get involved with Alice."

"I don’t know what the plan is," I say grimly. "But I’ll be damned if I let her get hurt because of me. Go deal with the bank situation. I’ve got this."

As he leaves, I consider this new development. A bank account belonging to my father, which should have been dormant, has been reopened. One of Jimmy’s connections in the palace forwarded a bank statement to him. The man found it in the office of the shifter who’s in charge of the royal treasury. How did a personal bank account get activated without my knowledge or, obviously, my father’s?

I make my way to Pinnacle Group’s office building. It’s been a few days since the meeting. I’m going to see Katherine tomorrow night, but I would prefer that this conversation take place in a private setting.

When I enter her office, her expression is cool and aloof. "Mr. Wild. How can I help you?"

"I believe my assistant reached out to inform you that we didn’t want Miss Lane working on our collaboration."

Her demeanor turns frosty. "Yes. We have discussed that with her."

"It seems that there was a miscommunication. What he was supposed to say was that we were very happy with Miss Lane, and we would prefer that only she work on this project."

Katherine gives me a wary look. "You expect me to believe that you asked your assistant to send me a message praising Miss Lane’s work and saying you will only work with her? I hope you understand when I say I find that hard to believe."

I stare at her. "What’s hard to believe?"

"Did you think we would switch lawyers for some reason after our meeting took place?" she asks coolly.

I curse myself silently. "Well, it has been our experience that changes can occur. In any case, please have Miss Lane present at the dinner meeting tomorrow."

I’m about to leave when she says, "Unfortunately, before your assistant passed on the erroneous message, Miss Lane declined to continue with this project."

I turn around to face her again. "Alice didn’t want to work—" I cut myself off, but it’s too late.

"Alice? So, it’s true, then. You do know each other."

"She’s an acquaintance—" I begin, only for Katherine to make a stifled sound, her arms crossing over her chest.

"I never do this, Mr. Wild. I would never jeopardize a business deal, especially one so important to my company. However, Alice is dear to me. She’s a very close friend. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I do know that you broke her heart. She doesn’t wish to be around you. Whatever happened between the two of you, I will not jeopardize her mental health for anything, including this project. She will not be working with you on it." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Her mental health?" I frown. "What is wrong with her?"

"You saw her. She was physically ill after the meeting with you. Whatever happened in the past must have been terrible for her to have such a harsh reaction. I will not let you two be in the same room together."

I stare at her. "So, she’s going to avoid me?"

"There is only one man that Alice has ever loved, and that is her deceased husband. I will not let you wreck her life. She has no interest in you. I saw the way you were looking at her, and I saw how she reacted to you. You clearly have some intentions when it comes to her. Those intentions are not going to come to pass."

My anger stirs, along with a vein of ugly jealousy.

The only man she has ever loved? That human?

I’m her fated mate, and she gave her love and her heart to some insignificant human?

Listening to the way Katherine describes Alice’s relationship with her deceased husband has my blood boiling. The man may be dead, but he died with Alice’s heart. This anger and jealousy are irrational, but my wolf is a beast. It doesn’t care about rationality. All it cares about is that our fated mate gave her heart to someone else. She mourns the loss of a different man. And in her eyes, I am nothing.

"If you want to continue with this collaboration, you will ensure that Miss Lane is part of it. If not, you are welcome to wait another couple of decades for somebody else to produce this technology, Miss Lockhart."

The way the color drains from her face makes me smile callously. She should never have admitted how important this project was to her. She showed all her cards.

"You can’t do this—"

"I can," I say simply. "We will not cooperate with any lawyer other than Miss Lane. If she does not show up tomorrow night, you can consider our agreement off."

With that, I walk out of her office.

As king, the weight of the responsibilities on my shoulders has always forced me to think with my head, ignoring my animalistic instincts. For the first time, I am letting those instincts take control.

Another man? She gave her heart to another man?

My beast is raging within me, desperate to get to Alice. It needs to claim her, to mark her, to make sure that ghost from her past no longer reigns in her heart.

The voice of reason inside my head is fading.

When I find myself outside Alice’s office building, I feel a hint of hesitation, but I crush it.

"There is only one man that Alice has ever loved, and that is her deceased husband."

"She has no interest in you."

I make my way inside. I don’t know if Katherine will tell her friend about my ultimatum, but I’ll make sure she knows.

What am I doing?

My claws dig into my palms. I need to find out. Did she ever care? Was our bond so weak that she fell into another man’s arms with such ease?

She slept in his bed. She gave birth to his child. While I suffered these past seven years, miserable and unhappy, she was in love with another man.

My wolf is pissed.

The receptionist tells me Alice’s office number, and as I head to the top floor, I try to decide what I’m feeling. Anger? Hurt? Jealousy?

Seven years. Seven years I spent crushing my heart into nothing, into dust, and she spent it giving hers to someone else.

A woman is sitting outside Alice’s office, and she looks up at me. "Can I help you?"

"Is Alice in?"

"Yes, but—"

I walk past her and open the door.

Alice is sitting at her desk, a pen in her mouth as she looks at some papers. "Holly, set up a meeting with Richard Gre—"

She sees me and goes pale.

I close the door behind me quietly, gazing at her. The anger drains into something else. "It’s been a long time, Alice."

She doesn’t say anything, just watches me.