Chapter 7 Echoes of Recognition

Alaina

I wasn't prepared for yesterday at all.

Running into Adrian felt like the universe playing some cruel joke on me. Of all the ways our paths could have crossed again, it had to be the most awkward imaginable. And as if the encounter wasn't bad enough, he had the audacity to invite me into his bed.

His bed.

The memory made me cringe. Thank the Moon Goddess I had the sense to turn him down. What was he thinking?

"You really need to stop obsessing over this and focus on your shift," Edith said, breaking into my thoughts. She didn't even glance up as she wiped down a nearby table. "Although..." she added, her voice dipping into something suspiciously teasing, "I have this gut feeling there's a reason you can't stop thinking about him."

I shot her a look, raising an eyebrow as I continued sweeping through the lobby. "Right. Because I've clearly been dreaming about getting propositioned like that." My voice dripped with sarcasm, but the tightness in my chest betrayed me.

Edith smirked knowingly. "Exactly."

The truth was... maybe there was a reason I couldn't shake the moment from my mind.

I hated admitting it to myself, but this could be an opportunity. A wrong one? Maybe. But also a chance to change everything. He didn't even recognize me, and yet I had once admired Adrian from afar like a fool with a crush on someone far beyond her reach.

Back in the Moonridge Pack, When he visited, I'd studied his every move. His leadership. His strategies. His confidence. I quietly absorbing the way he carried himself. He was focused. Powerful. Practically flawless.

And now... this man, who once seemed untouchable, had unknowingly walked back into my life.

But why would someone like him show even a flicker of interest in someone like me?

Cole never thought I was enough. Not pretty enough. Not clever enough. Not valuable enough. If someone who claimed to love me couldn't believe in me, why would Adrian be any different?

Maybe no one ever would.

"You're doing it again," Edith muttered, her tone lightly accusing. I blinked, startled. Somehow, I'd already wandered into the hotel restaurant.

"What?"

"You've got that faraway look on your face. The one that says you're imagining all kinds of things you shouldn't be."

"I'm not!" I said quickly, a little too defensively. My cheeks burned as I adjusted my apron and turned to the next table.

I had barely taken a step when I felt the air shift behind me stiff and heavy.

I turned... and froze.

Adrian.

He stood there, hands tucked into his pockets, his gaze pinned directly on me. His expression was unreadable, but those storm-grey eyes cut straight through me.

"May I help you, sir-?"

"Sit." His voice was low and commanding, and it cut clean through my words. I hesitated, heart thudding in my chest.

"I want to talk," he added, already sliding into a booth.

There was something about the way he looked at me, like I was a puzzle he couldn't quite solve. And maybe... maybe I didn't want him to.

I reluctantly walked over and took the seat across from him.

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "So, you're really turning me down?"

My lips parted, but I couldn't speak.

He let out a slow chuckle, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You're clearly exhausted, struggling to keep up here. You wouldn't burn out in my pack, Alaina."

His eyes swept over me slowly. The weight of his gaze settled over my skin, and a strange heat bloomed in my chest-part fear, part... something else. Something unfamiliar and unwanted.

I straightened my spine. "Let's not pretend you're offering out of kindness."

That made him pause.

"You don't even remember me, do you?" I asked quietly.

His brows furrowed slightly. "Should I? You're just a rogue. A pretty one, sure. But a stranger all the same."

Ouch. His tone was laced with arrogance, and I hated how deeply it stung.

I clenched my fists beneath the table. "Your pack may be strong, Adrian, but it's still new. Barely a year old. A structure like that can crack easily. Loyalty's not built in a day."

His jaw twitched.

"I'm just saying," I continued cautiously, "I've seen what happens to young packs. Loyalty is earned, not assumed. You'll have to be ready for betrayal."

His eyes narrowed.

"What makes you think I haven't already thought about that?" His voice turned cold. "You think you're offering insight? You know nothing about Blackwood Pack."

"I know you," I said quickly, heart thudding.

That made him blink, just for a second.

"I've observed you-how you operate. I pay attention. It's just who I am."

A silence fell between us. His expression didn't change, but something in the air did.

"So, you're the quiet type with sharp eyes. Is that it?" he said with a dry laugh. "Makes sense. You'd have to be, to still be breathing."

Then his tone shifted. "But don't try to play games with me. I don't like being led in circles. I saw what you were trying to do-trying to impress me, show off your brain. But all I see is someone trying too hard."

My throat tightened. "That wasn't my intention."

"Wasn't it?" His voice cut sharper now, more biting than before. "You talk a lot for someone who doesn't know when to shut up."

His words sliced deeper than I expected.

He stood up abruptly, dragging a hand through his hair, frustration rolling off him in waves. "I thought I'd hear something useful. Something worth my time."

He stared down at me like I was nothing. Like I was invisible again.

"But clearly, I was wrong."

The sting in my chest intensified as he turned and walked away without looking back.

And just like that, the illusion I had carefully built around him, the one of power, control, and integrity, began to crack.