Seraphina’s POV
I was barely through the glass doors of Nightshadow Industries when the chaos hit like a physical wall. Raised voices echoed through the normally pristine lobby, and I could see a crowd of employees gathered near the elevators, their heads craned toward the executive floor.
"What’s going on?" I asked the receptionist, who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
"Security is... handling a situation upstairs," she said diplomatically, though her wide eyes told a different story.
The elevator ride to the top floor felt endless. When the doors finally opened, I stepped into what could only be described as a war zone. Two security guards flanked the hallway leading to Damien’s office, their expressions grim and professional. Claire stood near her desk, her usually composed deanor cracked around the edges.
And then I heard the screaming.
"You can’t do this to ! I’m his first lover! His future Luna! This is all a mistake!"
Anna’s voice, shrill and desperate, cut through the air like broken glass. I hurried toward the sound, my heart pounding with a mixture of confusion and dread.
The scene that greeted outside Damien’s office was sothing out of a nightmare. Anna stood in the middle of the hallway, her perfectly styled hair disheveled, mascara streaming down her cheeks in black rivulets. Her pink dress—the one that had always been too tight—was now wrinkled and stained with what looked like coffee.
"Please, Damien!" she sobbed, reaching toward his office door like a drowning woman grasping for a life preserver. "I love you! We’re ant to be together! That pendant proves it!"
One of the security guards stepped forward, his voice calm but firm. "Ma’am, we need you to leave the building imdiately."
"No!" Anna whirled around, her eyes wild with panic and rage. "I belong here! I’m not going anywhere! This is all her fault!"
Her finger shot out like an accusation, pointing directly at .
"You!" she shrieked, her voice reaching a pitch that made several people wince. "You manipulative little bitch! You’ve been poisoning him against from the very beginning!"
I took an involuntary step backward, shocked by the venom in her voice. "Anna, I don’t understand what’s—"
"Don’t you dare pretend to be innocent!" she snarled, spittle flying from her lips. "I know what you are! A conniving oga who spread her legs for the first alpha who showed her attention! You think you can steal him from ?"
The security guards moved closer, but Anna was beyond reason now, her face contorted with ugly rage.
"You’re nothing!" she continued, her voice breaking on the words. "A pathetic single mother who doesn’t even know who fathered her bastard child! Do you really think soone like Damien Nightshadow would want damaged goods like you?"
Each word hit like a physical blow, and I felt my cheeks burning with humiliation. Around us, the gathered employees shifted uncomfortably, so looking away in embarrassnt for the spectacle they were witnessing.
"That’s enough," one of the security guards said firmly, reaching for Anna’s arm.
But she wasn’t finished. Her eyes locked onto mine with pure malice, and when she spoke again, her voice dropped to a nacing whisper that sohow carried more weight than her screaming.
"You think you’ve won, don’t you? But you have no idea what you’re up against. You’re just a naive little girl playing in a world you don’t understand."
She jerked her arm away from the security guard and straightened her dress with shaking hands, trying to reclaim so semblance of dignity.
"This isn’t over," she hissed, her eyes never leaving my face and then the securitys’ faces. "You’ll regret."
The security guards flanked her on either side, their presence making it clear that her ti was up. As they escorted her toward the elevators, Anna’s composure finally cracked completely.
"Damien!" she wailed, her voice echoing off the walls. "Don’t let her do this to us! Rember that night! Rember the pendant! I’m the one you’ve been searching for!"
The elevator doors closed on her desperate pleas, cutting off the sound abruptly and leaving an uncomfortable silence in their wake.
I stood frozen in the hallway, my mind reeling from what I’d just witnessed. The other employees began to disperse quickly, eager to escape the aftermath of such a public ltdown. Claire approached with a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"Are you alright, dear?" she asked softly, her maternal concern evident in her voice.
I nodded numbly, though I wasn’t sure it was true. "What happened? Why was she... what did I do?"
Claire’s expression darkened. "You did nothing wrong, Seraphina. Anna’s behavior was completely inappropriate and unprofessional."
"But why was she fired?" I pressed, still trying to make sense of the chaos. “Everything seed normal before, and now..."
Before I could ask any more questions, Damien’s office door opened. He stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable but his blue eyes intense as they found mine. He was impeccably dressed as always, but I could see the tension in the set of his shoulders, the tight line of his jaw.
"Seraphina," he said, his voice carefully controlled. "Could I see you in my office, please?"
It wasn’t really a question. The authority in his tone made it clear that this was a command, albeit a politely phrased one. I glanced at Claire, who gave an encouraging nod, then followed Damien into his office.
He closed the door behind us with a soft click that seed to reverberate through the suddenly quiet space. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered their usual stunning view of Silver Moon Harbor, but the morning light felt sohow different today—sharper, more intense.
"Damien," I began, turning to face him, "what just happened out there? Anna was saying—"
"Don’t," he interrupted, holding up a hand to stop . His voice was rough around the edges, like he was fighting so internal battle. "Don’t repeat the poison she was spewing. None of it was true."
I studied his face, searching for so clue about what was really going on. There was sothing different about him today, an electricity in the air that made my skin tingle and my wolf Ayla pace restlessly in my mind.
Damien turned away from , walking to the windows and staring out at the city below. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, and I could practically feel the tension radiating from his body.
"I was an idiot," he said finally, his voice bitter with self-recrimination. "I was desperate and I made a terrible mistake in judgnt."
"Damien—"
He spun around to face , and the intensity in his silver-blue eyes took my breath away. There was pain there, and anger, but underneath it all was sothing else—sothing that made my heart race and my mouth go dry.
"There are things I need to ask you, Sera," he said, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "Things that are going to change everything between us."
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