Chapter 181

Chapter 181: Chapter 181

Lena’s POV

“She’s not coming,” Dominic said, setting his phone down. “Something came up last minute. We’ll do it another day.”

He signaled for the server to bring the food.

“Who was that just now?” Samuel leaned forward, eyes practically glowing with curiosity. “A woman?”

Dominic glanced at him and said nothing.

Samuel turned to me, clearly fishing for something.

“You’ll meet her sooner or later,” I said, leaving it there.

“Oh, so now both of you are keeping stuff from me?” Samuel crossed his arms, looking annoyed. “After everything we’ve been through?”

We ate, talked, and the mood stayed pretty good. At some point, I made an excuse and slipped out. Anna followed me.

In the hallway by the restroom, she caught my arm. “Who was supposed to come tonight?”

“Eliza’s sister, Gemma,” I said in the same tone someone might use to read a weather report. “The woman Dominic fell for before he ever knew us.”

Anna opened her mouth, but no words came out.

I was already two steps ahead before she hurried after me and grabbed my sleeve. “Wait. He has a sister? And she’s also his ex? Why are there always other women?”

“Eliza chased Dominic. Gemma chased Dominic,” I said with a shrug. “Not the same thing.”

“Oh, that is bad.” Anna’s voice jumped up a notch. “Eliza was obsessed with him, and the one he was obsessed with was Gemma? And now she’s back?”

“She disappeared eight years ago. She only showed up again now.”

“Oh my God.” Anna pressed both hands to her temples. “So you let Eliza hang around him for months, and now his actual great love is back? How many women does this man even have?”

“Counting Eliza, two. Still manageable.” I linked my arm through hers and guided her back toward the dining room.

“Lena, this is serious. A man’s first love never really dies. They always go back.”

“If they want to be together, I’ll step aside.” I kept walking, smiling the whole time. “Dominic and I didn’t start with love. You know that.”

I lightened my tone and added, “There’s a little something between us now. Just... a little.”

I was smiling, my voice even, my arm looped with Anna’s, my steps slow and steady.

Anna wasn’t buying it. I could feel her eyes on my face, like she could read every word I didn’t say out loud.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine.” I squeezed her arm. “Come on. If we don’t go back, they’re going to finish all the food.”

At dinner, I drank more than usual.

By the time we left, Dominic was basically half carrying me out the front door. He laid me down on the bed and started taking off my coat.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. My eyes were hazy, my lids heavy, and I knew exactly how I looked. I’d seen what happened to his pupils when I looked like this.

He swallowed. “What?”

“How are you this attractive?” I turned his face to the left, then to the right, studying him with drunk fascination. “Honestly, it’s kind of offensive.”

He drew in a slow breath and caught my wrist. “Are you sober enough to have this conversation?”

“No.” A smile tugged at my lips. “That’s exactly why I want you right now.”

The second I said it, his breathing changed.

We hadn’t touched each other in weeks. There was hunger in my voice, and it hit a nerve he’d kept locked down tight. I could feel his control starting to crack beneath my fingertips.

He kissed me. I dragged him down with me, grabbed the back of his neck, and kissed him back with everything I had, eyes shut, body arched up against his.

Tonight felt different. I wasn’t teasing him. I poured myself into him completely, like water filling a vessel.

He felt it. His hands slowed. His mouth stayed soft against mine at first, then turned deeper, rougher.

When his skin pressed against mine from chest to hips, I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him into me.

The moment he entered me, the mate bond surged alive, heat rushing through my whole body. His need tangled with mine until I couldn’t tell my heartbeat from his.

His teeth brushed the mark on my neck, the place where he’d claimed me, and the sensation dragged a helpless sound from my throat.

His hand pinned my wrists to the mattress. Every movement carried a weight that went way beyond flesh. I held on to him like I was trying not to lose something already slipping away.

Afterward, I lay face down on the sheets, worn out and unable to move. Dominic was stretched across my back, our fingers still entwined, both of us breathing hard.

Tonight, I gave him everything. No holding back. And deep down, I knew exactly why.

His lips touched my spine. “Don’t overthink it. What I promised you still stands.”

My lashes trembled against the pillow. I didn’t answer.

The next morning, I didn’t wake up until after ten. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

I needed to go see my mother.

Dominic went with me.

Someone had already been there. There was a bouquet beneath the headstone. I stared at it, jaw tight, then moved it aside and placed my own flowers where it had been.

“Hey, Mom. Sorry I’m late this year.” I crouched down and wiped a smudge off the stone with my thumb. “I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.”

I had a hundred things I wanted to say, but not a single one came out. I stood there for a long while before we left.

In the car, Dominic brought up something I wasn’t expecting. “Your father’s pack is strapped for cash. He can’t secure any new contracts and he’s looking for investors. He called me.”

“You’re a businessman. You know what to do.” I looked out the window. I wasn’t going to help my father. Everything he built after my mother died had gone into supporting himself and Celia. If his pack collapsed, I’d sleep just fine.

Dominic understood my anger. He didn’t try to talk me out of it.

“Okay.”

While we were driving, Celeste called. Her voice came through the car speakers.

“Where are you?” Her warm voice filled the whole car.

I glanced at the display.

“On the way back to Blackstone Ridge,” Dominic said.

“Come to the manor for lunch.”

Dominic looked at me. I raised a brow and said nothing. It was his call.

“All right.”

After he hung up, I tilted my head. “Maybe I shouldn’t go.”

“You’re coming.”

“Your mother wasn’t exactly thrilled to see me last time. I don’t want to ruin her holiday.”

“We’re mates. Where I go, you go.” Dominic’s voice was firm. “That’s final.”

I liked hearing him say that, even if I didn’t want to admit it.

He treated this bond like it was real. Like it mattered. Like it was something forever, something he meant to protect.

“Fair enough.” And honestly, I wanted to see Celeste’s face when she found me next to her son.

We drove through the manor gates. A staff member opened them, and the car rolled slowly into the garage.

The butler saw me, paused for half a beat, then lowered his head respectfully. “Luna.”

Smiling, I took several small envelopes from my bag, each one filled with a holiday bonus. I’d prepared them in the car. “Happy New Year. Thank you for everything you do.”

“Thank you, Luna.”

We went in through the front door. The house was warm, full of laughter and conversation drifting through the living room. There were other guests there too.

Celeste appeared, smiling brightly. “Dominic—”

Then she saw me, and her smile dimmed a little.

“Lena came too.”

“Hi, Luna Celeste. Happy New Year.”

She nodded. “Come, sit.”

I turned to set down the gift box, and that was when I saw her.

A young woman was sitting on the sofa across the room.

She was looking right at me.

Our eyes met, and my heart flat-out stopped.

“So it’s you,” I said.

Both Celeste and Dominic turned, confusion written all over their faces.

“You two know each other?” Celeste asked.

The girl smiled gently. “We’ve met before.”

The second I noticed the folded wheelchair beside the sofa and the crutches resting against the armrest, I knew who she was. That soft face was the same one I’d knocked over outside the shopping mall.

Gemma.

“Are you okay?” I looked at her hand, remembering the scrape on her palm, the blood, the guilt I’d taken home with me that day. “Did your hand heal?”

Gemma opened her palm and gave a small wave. “A long time ago. Don’t worry.”

“That’s good.”

“How do you two know each other?” Celeste looked between us, genuinely curious.

“We ran into each other on the street,” Gemma said simply. She didn’t mention that I had literally crashed into her and knocked her right off her crutches.