Chapter 8

• I stepped back quickly, putting space between us, and tried to gather what was left of my composure. The evening air felt cold against my skin where his warmth had been.
• "Thank you," I managed, my voice coming out rougher than I intended. "For helping me land it."
• He inclined his head slightly but said nothing. In the dim light, his features were all sharp angles and shadows , like the kind of face that artists would itch to paint and smart women would know to avoid. My wolf disagreed with that assessment entirely.
• The children swarmed past us to collect the drone, their excited voices filling the awkward silence. I watched them fuss over it, checking for damage, arguing about whose turn it was to hold it next.
• "Miss! Miss!" The smallest one broke away from the group and ran back to me . It was a tiny girl with dark curls and a gap-toothed smile. She crashed into my legs with enough force to make me stumble. "You saved Biscuit! You're a hero!"
• I couldn't help but laugh. "Biscuit? That's what you named your drone?"
• "Because she's golden and sweet," the girl said seriously, like this was the most obvious thing in the world. "And now you saved her life."
• "Well, I'm glad Biscuit is safe." I crouched down to her level. "But it's getting dark, sweetheart. You should head home."
• The girl's face scrunched with worry. She turned and looked at the tall man, then back at me. "But I have to give you a reward. Daddy says heroes always get rewards."
• My gaze flickered to the man automatically. He didn't correct her, just stood there with his hands in his pockets, watching the interaction with an expression I couldn't read. So he was her father. My wolf felt oddly disappointed by this confirmation, which was ridiculous. What did it matter if some stranger had a family?
• "That's very kind," I told the girl gently, "but I don't need a reward. Seeing Biscuit fly again was enough."
• "But I have to!" She dug frantically through the pockets of her little dress and came up empty. Her lower lip began to tremble. "I don't have anything to give you."
• My heart twisted at her distress. I reached into my bag, searching for something to defuse the situation, and my fingers closed around a hair clip. It was a small silver one shaped like a crescent moon. I had bought it years ago from a street vendor and carried it around like a good luck charm.
• "How about a trade instead?" I held it up so she could see it glinting in the streetlight. "You don't have to give me anything. But if you want, you can keep this safe for me."
• Her eyes went wide and round. "Really? I can keep it?"
• "As long as you promise to take good care of it."
• She nodded, then I clipped it into her curls. "It's so pretty," she breathed. "I'll guard it forever and ever."
• "It’s all yours now," I straightened up, very aware of the man still watching me. "You should get her home. The temperature's dropping."
• "Noted." His voice was low and smooth. "Do you make a habit of giving away your belongings to strangers?"
• The question caught me off guard. There was no judgment in his tone, just genuine curiosity.
• "Only to the ones who need them," I said without thinking.
• His eyes narrowed slightly, studying me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. I suddenly felt exposed, like he could see straight through me to all the broken pieces I was trying to hold together. I took another step back.
• "I should go. My ride is waiting." It was a lie. Simone was still at least fifteen minutes away but I needed to leave before I did something stupid, like ask for his name or stand there staring at him until he thought I was insane.
• "Miss, wait!" The little girl grabbed my hand before I could turn away. "What's your name? So I know who the clip belongs to."
• I hesitated. There was no reason not to tell her. It was just a name.
• "Evelyn," I said softly. "My name is Evelyn."
• I gave the girl one last smile, extracted my hand gently from her grip, and walked away down the hill without looking back.
• --
• Christian's POV
• Evelyn.
• My wolf was throwing himself against my control with a fury that caught me off guard. He howled and snarled, demanding I chase her, stop her, do something other than stand here like an idiot.
• That scent. Rain and jasmine, threaded with grief. The same scent that clung to the ring my grandmother had pressed into my palm three nights ago.
• "Find her, Christian," she had said. "The Moon Goddess brought her to us for a reason."
• I had dismissed it as romantic nonsense. The odds of finding one stranger in a city of millions were impossible. But now my wolf was going insane, and I couldn't ignore the truth staring me in the face.
• "Christian?" Ivy tugged my sleeve. "Are you okay? You look weird."
• I forced myself to breathe. It couldn't be her. The coincidence was too massive.
• It's her, my wolf insisted. Go after her. Now.
• But she had a life. A complicated one, if the mating band was any indication. I had learned long ago that chasing women who were running from something never ended well.
• "I'm fine," I told Ivy, scooping her up. "Let's get you home."
• "But the pretty lady—"
• "Is gone."
• Ivy pouted, touching the moon clip in her hair. "I liked her. She smelled nice. Like flowers after rain."
• My jaw tightened. Even a five-year-old pup could sense it. But she's mated, I reminded myself. It's not my business. As I strapped Ivy into her seat, the ring in my pocket felt heavier than ever. I had her name now. Evelyn.
• I could find her easily. I had resources, connections, an entire pack who could track her scent across the territory. But I wasn't going to be that kind of Alpha.
• I started the engine and pulled away. My wolf howled in protest the entire drive home.
• --
• Evelyn's POV
• I don't remember much about the walk down the hill or the ride back to the penthouse. Simone had picked me up at the meeting spot, taken one look at my face, and handed me a chocolate bar without comment. I ate it while she drove, not tasting any of it, my mind stuck on loop. From the dark eyes to the low voice to the way his hand had felt wrapped around mine.
• Stop it, I told myself viciously. You don't even know him. And you have bigger problems than some random stranger.
• By the time I crawled into bed, I was exhausted beyond measure. The day had wrung me dry. I smiled faintly at that memory of what happened at the Morgan house. The look on Celeste's face when the Dom Pérignon had splashed across the roast lamb had almost been worth all the pain.
• Sleep came faster than I expected. One moment I was staring at the ceiling, and the next I was asleep. I don't know how long I slept before the dream started.
• It was a strange dream. I was running through a forest, but my legs wouldn't move fast enough. Something was chasing me or something was waiting for me. I couldn't tell which was worse. But then the dream shifted, and I felt hands on my body. Cold hands slid under my shirt, pressing against my bare stomach.
• I jerked awake with a gasp. The room was dark and my heart was pounding as I realised that there was someone in my bed. For one wild, irrational moment, I thought of the stranger from the park with dark eyes and that voice that had made my wolf roll over like a puppy, then I smelled cedar and mint.
• "Easy, baby." Damien's voice was a low murmur against my ear. "It's just me."
• He was lying beside me, one arm draped across my waist, his hand resting on the bare skin of my stomach where my shirt had ridden up. His body was pressed against my back, solid and suffocating.
• "What the hell are you doing?" I snarled as I tried to pull away, but his arm tightened around me, holding me in place.
• "I missed you." His lips brushed against my neck, and I felt my stomach heave with revulsion. "You were gone when I got home tonight. Where did you go?"
• "That's none of your business. Let go of me."
• "Evelyn." His voice hardened, the fake tenderness cracking at the edges. "I'm trying to be patient here. I'm trying to understand why my wife has been acting like a stranger. But you're making it very difficult."
• I stopped struggling. My mind raced, calculating options, searching for the safest way out of this situation. "I went for a walk," I said flatly. "To clear my head after everything that happened at dinner."
• "You poured a ten-thousand-dollar bottle of champagne on my mother-in-law's table."
• "She deserved it."
• His hand tightened on my hip, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. "That's not how this works. You don't get to embarrass me and then disappear without consequences."
• "Consequences?" I twisted around to face him, fury overriding my caution. "You want to talk about consequences? You abandoned me on the side of the road to run off to your little emergency. What was it this time? Did Riley stub her toe? Break a nail?"
• His eyes flashed gold in the darkness. "Watch your mouth."
• "Or what? You'll threaten to kill me again?" I laughed bitterly. "Oh wait, you already did that."
• The silence that followed was deafening.Damien stared at me, and for a moment I saw something flicker across his face which could be surprise, maybe, that I had actually thrown his words back at him. Then his expression smoothed.
• "You're tired," he said softly. "You're emotional. You don't know what you're saying."
• "I know exactly what I'm saying."
• "No. You don't." He shifted his weight, and suddenly he was above me, his arms caging me against the mattress. "Because if you did, you would remember who you're talking to. You would remember who you belong to."
• My wolf was going berserk, snapping and snarling, demanding that I shift, that I fight, that I tear out his throat before he could hurt me. But I forced her down. I couldn't afford to lose control. Not now.
• "Damien." I kept my voice steady with immense effort. "Get off me."
• "I don't think I will." His eyes roamed over my face, my neck, the exposed skin of my collarbone. "I think we've spent too much time dancing around this. I've been patient, Eve. I've been so goddamn patient. But a man has limits."
• "I said get off—"
• His mouth crashed down on mine.