Dominic POV
"That's not my father," Maya whispers, looking at her phone screen. "My father died two years ago."
Victoria's smile falters for just a second. Just long enough for me to see the crack in her perfect face.
She's lying.
"Maya, don't listen to her," I say quickly, stepping between them. My wolf is still close to the surface, growling threats. Victoria is dangerous—more dangerous than Marcus ever was because she uses words instead of claws. "Victoria is trying to manipulate you."
"Oh, am I?" Victoria tilts her head, all fake innocence. "Then explain the picture, darling. Explain why you had your arm around me three months ago at the Moonstone Gala."
The Moonstone Gala. My chest tightens. That night was a nightmare—pack politics, forced appearances, Victoria clinging to me like a leech while I tried to stop our arrangement publicly.
"That photo is out of context," I growl. "I was breaking our engagement that night. Publicly. In front of the full shifter council."
Victoria laughs. "Is that what you tell yourself? Because I remember you asking me to give you another chance."
"Liar." The word comes out as a snarl. My power is slipping again. Too much stress, too much adrenaline, too much mate-scent filling my nose and driving my wolf crazy.
Maya is looking between us, her face pale. "I don't understand any of this. Engagement? Shifter council? What is happening?"
"What's happening," Victoria says kindly, "is that Dominic has been playing with you like a toy while planning to marry me. Didn't he tell you? Alphas married for power, not love. You're just his—how should I put this delicately—his office entertainment."
Red floods my view. My wolf lunges for control, wanting to rip Victoria's throat out for insulting our mate.
But Maya's hand on my arm stops me cold.
"Is it true?" she asks softly. Her voice is calm, but I can smell her pain—sharp and bitter. "Were you engaged to her?"
I force myself to meet her eyes. To tell the truth, even though it might destroy everything.
"Yes. It was planned by our families when we were teenagers. A political alliance between packs." The words taste like ash. "But I broke it off two years ago. Victoria refused to accept it."
"Two years ago," Maya repeats slowly. "The same time you became CEO of Kane Enterprises."
"Yes."
"And when did I start working for you?"
My stomach drops. "Eight months ago."
I see the math clicking in her head. See the moment she understands.
"You hired me right after your mother's death anniversary," she says. "Right after you told me in the lift that your mom was killed when you were fifteen. That was twenty years ago, which means—" She stops. Swallows. "You hired me because I remind you of her."
No. God, no. That's not— Except it is.
The truth hits me like a freight train. Maya has my mother's coloring—the same dark hair, the same warm brown eyes. Even her smell is similar, that jasmine note that makes my wolf feel safe.
I hired her because some broken part of me was looking for my mother in her.
And then I fell in love with her for completely different reasons.
"Maya, that's not why I—" I reach for her but she steps back, right into Victoria's personal space.
Victoria's hand snakes around Maya's shoulder, possessive and dangerous. "Poor dear. You really didn't know you were just a substitute for his dead mommy, did you?"
"Get your hands off her." My voice drops to alpha command—the tone that makes other dogs obey instantly.
Victoria just smiles. "Or what? You'll kill me like you killed Marcus? In front of security cameras?" She points up.
My blood runs cold. There, in the corner of the hallway, is a camera with a blinking red light.
It caught everything. The fight. Marcus's body. My shift.
"I've already sent the footage to my lawyers," Victoria purrs. "Along with evidence that you've been stalking poor Maya Chen for months, making her life miserable because you're obsessed with her resemblance to your dead mother. That you shifted and killed a man right in front of her. And now you're holding her hostage."
"That's insane," I snarl. "None of that is true!"
"Isn't it?" Victoria's eyes gleam with victory. "You accepted you were cruel to her. You admitted you hired her because she looks like your mother. And there's a dead body in that elevator with your DNA all over it." She looks at Maya. "Tell me, sweetheart. Do you feel safe with him right now?"
Maya is shaking. I can see her mind working, trying to understand everything—the shifters, the violence, the manipulation, the revelations.
And I can see the moment she makes her choice.
She pulls away from Victoria and walks toward me. Slowly. Carefully.
"No," she says clearly. "I don't feel safe."
The words hurt me. My wolf howls in pain.
"But I don't feel safe with you either," Maya adds, now looking at Victoria. "Because you made a mistake."
Victoria's smile freezes. "What?"
"You said my father was taken. But my father died two years ago in a car crash." Maya's voice gets stronger. "Which means you don't have him. You were joking. And if you were joking about that—" She pulls out her phone, hands shaking but determined. "—then maybe you're bluffing about Sophie too."
She calls. Puts it on speaker.
It rings once. Twice. Three times.
Then: "Maya? Oh my god, I've been calling you for hours! Where have you been?"
Sophie's voice. Alive. Safe. Not taken.
Victoria's face goes white with rage.
"You stupid little—" She goes for Maya.
I move on pure instinct, grabbing Victoria mid-leap and slamming her against the wall. My hand is around her throat before I realize I've shifted halfway—claws, fangs, eyes glowing gold.
"You threatened my mate," I growl into her face. "You faked proof. You tried to make her think her friend was in danger."
"Your precious mate isn't as smart as she thinks," Victoria chokes out. "I may not have her friend. But I have something better."
She hits a button on her phone.
The building's fire alarm screams to life.
And I smell it—smoke. Real smoke, coming from below us.
"Floor forty-two," Victoria wheezes, smiling through the chokehold. "Your brother's room. With him locked inside. You have two minutes before the entire floor is covered. So what will it be, Dominic? Teach me a lesson? Or save Lucas?"
My hand loosens on instinct. Victoria drops to the floor, gasping.
"Tick tock," she sings.
I look at Maya. At Victoria. At the smoke monitor screaming warnings.
My brother is dying forty stories down.
My mate is standing here, defenseless, with a psychopath.
I can't save them both.
"Go," Maya says. Her voice is steady despite her tears. "Save your brother."
"She'll hurt you—"
"I can handle her." Maya picks up the fire extinguisher she used on Marcus, hefting it like a weapon. "Go. Now."
My wolf is screaming. Every urge tells me to stay, to protect our mate, to never leave her.
But Lucas is my baby brother. My duty.
I run for the stairs, shifting as I go, hoping I'm fast enough.
Behind me, I hear Victoria laugh.
"Alone at last," she says. "Let's have a girl-to-girl chat, shall we?"
Then I hear Maya scream. And I'm too far away to help her.