Aria didn't move for a long time after Damien left the control room.
She stood there, staring at the screens showing Liam pacing like a caged animal, shouting her name with the desperation of a man who suddenly realized he had thrown away something precious.
Too late.
Way too late.
A part of her—the wounded part—almost felt sorry for him.
But the rest of her was done feeling small.
She exhaled shakily and stepped back from the monitors. The tension in her chest eased just a fraction.
Liora appeared in the doorway, hands clasped politely. "Aria? Mr. Blackwood asked me to escort you to the East Wing while he handles the gate situation."
"Handles," Aria repeated. "Meaning…?"
Liora winced. "He didn't explain, and to be honest, I've learned not to ask."
Fair enough. Damien seemed like the kind of man you didn't interrogate unless you had a death wish.
Aria followed Liora down the hall, nerves buzzing.
"What's in the East Wing?" she asked.
"A training room," Liora said lightly, as if talking about a nice sunroom or library. "And a few things Mr. Blackwood believes you should start learning."
Aria stopped mid-step. "Training? I'm not a fighter. I can barely sense my own wolf."
"That's why he wants you there," Liora said, turning around with a gentle smile. "He's not forcing you. But he thinks preparation is better than fear."
Preparation.
It made sense.
It also made her stomach flip.
"Why is he doing all this for me?" Aria whispered.
Liora's expression softened. "Sometimes people help because it's the right thing. And sometimes because they see something others overlooked."
Aria wasn't convinced she was worth this level of effort—or security—but she wasn't going to argue with a woman who clearly adored her boss.
Half of the household seemed to adore him, actually.
Which was wild, considering he acted like emotions were a tax he refused to pay.
They reached a pair of wide double doors. Liora pushed them open.
Aria's breath caught.
The room was enormous—high ceilings, polished floors, reinforced walls, racks of training gear, and weapons locked in glass cases. A whole section was dedicated to physical conditioning, another to wolf forms and shifting.
It looked like a cross between a gym, an armory, and a safehouse.
"What… is all this?" Aria murmured.
"Mr. Blackwood's personal training environment," Liora said simply. "For wolves he trusts."
Wolves he trusts.
That sounded like a very short list.
Before Aria could ask more, the ground under their feet rumbled.
Roaring engines.
Raised voices.
Something metallic slamming.
Liora stiffened. "He's already at the gate."
Aria's pulse skyrocketed. "What's happening? What's he doing?"
She turned toward the window. The training room overlooked the front grounds from the second floor—and from here, she could just see the tops of the SUVs, the guards, the gate—
And Damien.
He was standing on the driveway, facing Liam.
Aria sucked a breath in.
Damien looked nothing like the man who'd quietly reassured her moments ago. His coat billowed behind him like a shadow. His eyes were cold steel. His posture radiated raw, controlled power.
Liam was shouting, but Damien stood there like a wall.
"Let's… maybe stay inside the room," Liora said shakily, guiding Aria away from the windows. "Gate disputes between Alpha-bloods can get… intense."
Aria should have listened.
But she couldn't tear her eyes away.
She edged closer to the window, watching as Damien finally stepped forward. Liam leapt toward him—furious, desperate—but the guards caught him before he got close.
The air shifted. Even from a distance, Aria felt the tension like static along her skin.
Liam's voice split the air.
"Aria is MY mate!"
Aria flinched as if slapped.
Damien didn't even blink.
"She's not yours," Damien said calmly. "You made sure of that. Loudly."
Liam shoved against the guards, fury distorting his features. "I didn't know she'd run to you!"
Damien smiled. A cold, dangerous smile. "Funny how she isn't running anymore."
Aria's breath caught.
Even Liam seemed thrown by that.
"Let me talk to her," Liam demanded, voice cracking. "I need to explain."
"There's nothing you can say that she wants to hear," Damien replied.
"You can't keep her! She's weak—"
The second the word left Liam's mouth, the energy shifted.
Damien's expression darkened so sharply that Liora actually stepped back from the window.
"Oh no—" she murmured.
Damien moved.
It wasn't dramatic or violent.
It wasn't even threatening.
He simply took one step closer to Liam and said, low enough for only Liam to hear — but Aria saw his lips form the words:
"Say she's weak again."
Liam's jaw snapped shut.
"I won't let this stand," he growled. "She's still pack."
"She's not your pack anymore," Damien said. "And she's not your responsibility."
"But she's—"
"Rejected," Damien finished. "Not something you can undo."
The words hung in the air like a blade.
Liam deflated visibly, running a hand through his hair. His voice cracked. "Damien… please. I just want to see her."
Damien's response was immediate and absolute.
"No."
Liam stared at him, breathing hard, then pointed sharply at the mansion.
"Aria!" he shouted. "I know you can hear me!"
Aria stepped back from the window instinctively. Liora touched her arm gently.
"You don't have to go out there," Liora whispered. "Not unless you want to. You're in control now."
Aria swallowed hard.
Control.
Her.
Unbelievable.
Liam screamed her name again.
Damien's head tilted slightly, as if deciding something.
Then he turned away from Liam, heading back toward the mansion. "Get him off my property," he called to the guards. "And tell the sentries to reinforce the perimeter."
"Yes, sir!"
The guards closed in around Liam. He resisted, shouting Aria's name until the SUVs swallowed his voice.
When the gate finally shut behind him, Aria felt something inside her unclench.
But the silence that followed was heavy.
She turned to Liora. "He's never going to leave me alone now, is he?"
Liora bit her lip. "Truthfully? Probably not. Men like Liam always want what they can't have."
Aria's stomach twisted.
"And what does Damien want?" she whispered before she could stop herself.
Liora's eyes widened slightly — but she answered honestly.
"Something he once lost," she said quietly. "Something he protects now at all costs."
Before Aria could ask what that meant, the door to the training room swung open.
Damien walked in.
Aria stepped back, heart hammering.
He looked… dangerous. Still vibrating with authority. Still holding the remnants of that Alpha-level confrontation in his shoulders and eyes.
But when his gaze landed on her, some of the hardness eased.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Aria nodded — then stopped. "Actually… I don't know."
"Let's fix that," Damien said.
He walked closer, stopping just an arm's length away. "Liam won't get near you again. I made that clear."
"You didn't have to defend me," Aria whispered.
"Yes," Damien said softly. "I did."
Her breath hitched.
Damien studied her face — really studied it — like he was memorizing each line.
"You saw him at the gate," he said. Not a question. A fact. "Tell me what you're feeling."
Feeling?
Seriously?
From the man whose emotions were locked behind titanium vault doors?
Aria opened her mouth — but her voice cracked. "I… I don't know."
"Then we'll figure it out together."
Those words.
That tone.
It startled something deep inside her wolf. A faint stirring, like embers glowing in old ash.
Aria pressed her hand to her chest. "Why do I feel like my wolf is waking up whenever you're near?"
Damien didn't answer for a long moment.
Then he stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Because," he murmured, "your wolf recognizes what you are. And she recognizes what I am."
Aria's breath stopped.
"What… are you?" she whispered.
Damien's eyes glinted with something ancient and electric.
"Not what Liam is," he said. "Not what your pack thinks. Not what anyone believes."
He reached out — slowly — giving her plenty of time to pull away.
She didn't.
His fingers brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, sending a shockwave down her spine.
"I am the one who will keep you alive," Damien said quietly. "Until your wolf wakes fully. Until you understand what you were meant to become."
Her heart pounded so loudly she was sure he could hear it.
"And what is that?" she whispered.
Damien's lips curved — not a smile, but something darker. Something like awe.
"A Queen."
Aria staggered back at the word, breath catching.
A Queen.
Her?
Impossible.
Damien watched her carefully. "You don't have to believe it yet. But your wolf will. Soon."
Her mind raced.
"Damien…" she whispered. "What aren't you telling me?"
His jaw flexed. "Everything. For now."
That was not reassuring.
Before she could press him further, a guard burst into the room.
"Sir! We found something else at the gate!"
Aria stiffened. "What now?"
The guard handed Damien a small folded note.
Damien opened it.
His expression went from cold to lethal.
"What does it say?" Aria whispered.
Damien looked at her with a darkness she'd never seen before.
"It says," he murmured, "that someone wants you delivered back to the pack. Dead or alive."
Aria's blood froze.
Liora gasped.
Damien crushed the note in his fist.
Then he looked at Aria — his voice low, sharp, and absolute.
"You're not leaving my side."
And for the first time since the rejection, Aria didn't feel afraid of the threat.
She felt afraid of how safe Damien made her feel.