The world knew.
Victor's hand rested on the small of Elara's back now. Not for show. It was instinct. A claim. The mating bond between them was a live wire, humming with constant, low-level awareness.
For three days, they existed in a new equilibrium. Victor was still ruthless. Still a glacier to the outside world. But with her, the ice had thawed into a fierce, focused intensity.
He sought her opinion. He trusted her judgment. His protectiveness wrapped around her like a shield.
Elara knew the peace couldn't last.
---
The first strike came as a whisper in the dark.
Her encrypted phone lit up. A message from an unknown sender. It was late. Victor was in the shower.
The message held a single, grainy photograph.
It was her mother, Lillian. Taken that afternoon. Walking out of the grocery store. Unaware. The angle was invasive. Predatory.
Beneath the image, a text appeared.
Unknown: A mother should be with her daughter. Don't you think? It would be a shame if her peaceful life were disrupted. Accidents happen so easily to those who are alone.
Elara's blood ran cold.
Another message followed. An address. A private airfield on the city's outskirts.
Unknown: Be there tomorrow. 2 PM. Come alone. Tell no one. Or the next photo I send will be of a hospital room.
The screen went dark.
Elara sat frozen. The safe world Victor built had shattered. This was Lucian. He wasn't targeting her anymore. He was weaponizing her love. Her deepest vulnerability.
He was the devil offering a bargain. Her mother's safety was the price.
---
The shower stopped.
Panic seized Elara's chest. She couldn't let Victor know. His response would be immediate. Brutal. Absolute. He would lock her down. Triple the security. Go to war.
Lucian might make good on his threat first. An "accident" could happen in an instant.
She had to think.
Her fingers flew across the screen. She deleted the messages. Erased the evidence. It felt like a betrayal. A secret kept from the man who claimed her.
But this was her mother. Her responsibility.
The bathroom door opened. Victor emerged, a towel around his hips. Water glistened on his chest. His eyes went directly to her. They sharpened.
"What is it?" he asked.
He crossed the room in two strides. His scent enveloped her. His thumb brushed beneath her eye, catching a tear she hadn't felt.
Elara forced her breathing to steady. She manufactured a shaky smile.
"It's… nothing. Just bonding hormones. The doctor said there could be emotional volatility."
It wasn't entirely a lie. The bond made her emotions raw. It amplified her terror.
Victor's eyes searched hers. The Alpha in him was alert. But her explanation was biologically plausible. He pulled her against his chest. Her cheek pressed to his damp skin.
"It will stabilize," he murmured into her hair. "I'm here."
She clung to him. Guilt was a corrosive acid in her stomach. He was her shelter. And she was lying to him.
To protect him? To protect her mother? The lines were blurred by fear.
He held her until her trembling stopped. When he released her, his gaze was still watchful.
"You will tell me if it happens again. Immediately."
"I will," she whispered. The lie tasted like ash.
He nodded, seemingly satisfied, and turned to dress.
Elara's mind was already racing. Plotting a course for tomorrow. She would have to deceive Kaelen. Evade Victor's security. Walk directly into Lucian's trap.
She was no longer just Victor's mate.
She was a woman with a secret. Caught between the devil she knew and the devil she had married.
Tomorrow, she would have to choose which one to face alone.
---
The next day, Elara moved like an automaton. Meetings. Presentations. Nods. All the while, a clock ticked in her mind. 2 PM. The private airfield.
Victor was a constant, perceptive presence.
During a coffee break, he cornered her by her office window. His gaze was sharp.
"You're pale," he stated. "The dizziness has returned?"
"A little," she admitted. "I didn't sleep well." She forced a wan smile. "Bonding side effects."
His eyes narrowed slightly. He pulled a small, sleek box from his pocket.
"I had this made for you."
Inside was a necklace. A delicate platinum chain. A single, perfect teardrop diamond. Beautiful. But its purpose was clear. It was long enough to cover the mating bite on her neck.
A gift to hide the evidence of his claim from Lucian's sight.
"A gift," he said. "To celebrate our bond."
The irony was a physical pain. He was giving her a tool to help her deceive him.
With trembling fingers, she let him fasten it around her neck. The cool diamond settled against her skin. A beautiful lie masking the primal truth.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"Whatever is troubling you, Elara, you bring it to me. That is what this means." His thumb stroked the chain near the mark. "There is no problem we cannot face together."
The conviction in his voice was her undoing. She had to look away.
"I know," she managed.
---
At 1:15 PM, she feigned a sudden, severe headache.
"Kaelen, I need to lie down. The executive lounge. No interruptions. The light is killing me."
It was a calculated risk. The lounge was closer than the penthouse.
Kaelen studied her. "Of course, Mrs. Sterling."
Elara fled to the empty lounge. Her heart hammered. This was the point of no return.
She pulled out the phone. Typed a single, shaky message.
I'm coming. Alone.
---
Slipping out of Sterling Tower was a terrifying ballet.
Service elevator. Loading dock. Hood up. She melted into foot traffic. Each step felt like a betrayal. The diamond necklace was a heavy, mocking weight.
She hailed a cab. Gave the airfield address. The city blurred past.
The airfield was desolate. Chain-link fences. Nondescript hangars. The cab sped away. The wind whipped around her.
A familiar black sedan sat near a hangar. The rear door opened.
Lucian stepped out.
He looked older. Harder. The charming facade was gone. His eyes were chips of cold flint. They raked over her.
"You came," he said, his voice flat. "I knew you would. The good daughter."
"Where is my mother?" Elara demanded.
"Safe. For now." He took a step closer. His pine-and-rain scent felt aggressive now. "Simple choice, Elara. You get in this car. We leave. You come back where you belong. Your mother lives untouched."
He gestured to the open car door. It looked like the mouth of a cave.
"And if I refuse?"
Lucian's smile was a cruel, thin line. "Then I make a single phone call. Your mother's peaceful world ends. Permanently."
He was a stranger holding a knife to the throat of her past.
"This is madness, Lucian. You can't—"
"I can!" he snarled. "He took you! He marked you!" His gaze dropped to the diamond necklace. "I can smell him all over you!"
He took another step. His voice dropped to a venomous whisper.
"Marks can be covered. Scents washed away. Get in the car. This is your only chance to save what's left of the life you threw away."
Elara stood frozen. Before her was the devil she knew. Offering safety for her mother at the cost of her freedom.
Behind her was the devil she married. A man who had claimed her. Protected her. Was showing her a terrifying version of "us."
She was trapped between salvation and damnation.
---
The wind howled across the tarmac.
Every instinct screamed at her to get in the car. To save her mother. To surrender to the devil she understood.
But looking at Lucian, she didn't see a savior. She saw a man who would forever hold this over her. His "love" was a cage.
She thought of Victor. The protectiveness in his eyes. The respect he showed her. The way he had said, "The only thing that matters is this. Us."
It wasn't just a claim. It was a choice he had made.
In this moment of terror, she realized she had made one, too.
"No," she said. The word was quiet but clear.
Lucian's face went slack. Then contorted with rage. "What?"
"I'm not getting in the car." She took a step back. "You will not touch my mother. If you look in her direction, I will make sure Victor destroys you. Not your company. You."
A terrifying calm settled over her.
"You're bluffing," he spat.
"Am I?" She took another step back. "You think he doesn't know I'm here? You think his security isn't watching us right now?" She poured every ounce of conviction into the bluff. "You've just threatened his mate. There is no hole deep enough for you to hide."
She turned her back on him. An act of supreme defiance. She started walking away.
Her heart hammered. She expected him to grab her.
Only silence followed.
She didn't look back. She walked until she reached the main road. She flagged down a car. Offered cash. A frantic story.
She had chosen.
She had bet her mother's life on the power of the man she married. She cast her lot with the glacier.
As the car sped toward the city, one terrifying thought eclipsed all others.
She now had to go home and tell Victor what she had done.