Chapter 4 Cracks in the mask

Zara

I left the gala feeling drunk, but not from wine.

It was him.

The way he looked at me like he could see under my skin. The way his voice wrapped around my thoughts even when he wasn't in the room. The way my wolf-stupid traitor-leaned toward his presence like it still belonged there.

I didn't sleep that night either.

I stared at the ceiling in the tiny apartment I'd rented under a fake name, heart racing like I was being hunted again. But the worst part?

I didn't hate it.

I should have hated every second. But something in me - something primal, something I'd buried with the name Zara D'Lune - was stirring.

And it wanted him.

Not his money. Not his empire.

Him.

But I wasn't that girl anymore. I couldn't afford to be. I was here for one reason only: to destroy him from the inside out. Tear down everything he built on the back of my betrayal.

And yet... the longer I stayed, the harder it was to remember what betrayal looked like.

---

The next morning at the office, I was hoping for distance.

No such luck.

Damian's voice hit my spine the second I stepped off the elevator.

"Miss Kade. My office."

I turned, pulse quickening despite myself. "Good morning to you, too."

He didn't smile.

Just nodded toward his door. "Now."

Great. Sexy and bossy.

I followed him inside. The door clicked shut behind me.

He leaned against the edge of his desk, arms crossed. "So. You're not going to tell me, are you?"

I blinked. "Tell you what?"

"Who you really are."

I forced a laugh. "This again?"

"I stayed up last night looking for you."

"You stalk all your employees?"

He didn't flinch. "Only the ones who smell like ghosts."

I crossed my arms. "What do you want from me?"

He didn't answer right away. Just watched me.

Too close. Too quiet.

Then, finally- "I want to know why I can't stop dreaming about you."

I swallowed. "Dreams are just dreams, Damian."

"Not when you're a wolf. Not when they start with your mate screaming in the snow."

My breath hitched.

He took a step closer.

"I remember her face. The way she looked at me when I gave the order. I thought I was saving the pack. I thought she was dangerous."

Another step.

"And now you're here, wearing her eyes, her scent, her fire."

He was close enough now to touch me.

"Are you her?" he whispered.

I shook my head. "No."

Liar.

---

Damian

I didn't believe her.

Not really.

But I wanted to.

Because the truth?

If she was Zara, and she survived what I did to her...

I didn't deserve forgiveness. I didn't even deserve answers.

But I needed them.

So I backed off. Just enough to let her breathe. Just enough to not scare her away.

"We've got a problem," I said, changing the subject.

Her eyes narrowed. "What kind?"

"Your old pack's in town."

She went still.

No blink. No breath.

"I saw the name come across my security feed this morning. Black Ridge wolves. A few of them are attending our acquisition meeting this week."

"Which ones?"

"Jonas. Kye. And... Elin."

Elin.

Zara's cousin.

The one who testified against her.

Her fingers clenched at her side.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"I'm fine."

Another lie.

But I let it go.

For now.

"Do you want me to keep them away?"

She looked at me like I'd grown another head. "Why would you do that?"

"Because you're mine," I almost said.

Instead, I said, "Because they don't deserve to be anywhere near you."

Her expression softened. Just slightly.

And for a moment... she looked like the girl I lost.

---

Zara

I didn't expect to see her.

Elin.

She walked into the conference room two days later, heels clicking, blonde hair swept up like she hadn't destroyed me with one sentence.

"She's the traitor," she'd said four years ago.

And that was all it took.

I watched her now from the end of the table, silent and shaking.

She didn't recognize me. Of course she didn't. My hair was darker now. My face sharper. I wore clothes the old Zara could never afford.

But her voice still made my stomach turn.

And when she laughed at one of Damian's jokes, I nearly snapped the pen in my hand.

Stay focused, I told myself. Stay cold.

But then her eyes landed on me.

And something flickered.

Not quite recognition. Just... suspicion.

Later, she cornered me in the hallway.

"You new?" she asked.

I nodded. "Consultant."

"Hmm," she said, eyes narrowing. "You remind me of someone."

I forced a smile. "Lucky her."