Chapter 225 When are you going to tell your family you’re okay?
"About Victor and Sylvia. About the pack alliances shifting. About..." She trailed off. "About you being in danger."
My heart skipped. "What did he say exactly?"
"He said there are people who want you gone. People who think a human shouldn’t be running a company with this much influence in wolf territory."
Her voice was tight with worry. "He said Sylvia’s been making calls. Forming alliances. That she’s planning something big."
"Did he say what?"
"No. He got a call from her in the middle of dinner and had to leave. But Aria..." Jennifer’s voice cracked.
"Please be careful. I don’t trust Nathan. I don’t trust Victor. I don’t trust any of them. And I’m terrified that while you’re gone, they’re going to do something that you can’t come back from."
The raw fear in her voice hit me harder than any threat could have.
"Thank you," I said quietly. "Thank you for watching my back, Jennifer. For caring enough to take risks you shouldn’t have to take."
"You’re not alone in this." Her voice was fierce now. "I know it feels like it sometimes, but you’re *not*. Diana, Leo, Kyle—all of us. We’re with you. Whatever happens."
My throat tightened. "I know. I just need a little more time."
"How much time?"
"I don’t know yet." I glanced back at the bed where Damian was still sleeping.
"But I promise I’ll come back as soon as I can. And when I do, we’re going to deal with Sylvia and Nathan and whoever else thinks they can take what’s mine."
"I’ll hold you to that."
We said our goodbyes, and I ended the call feeling simultaneously better and worse. Better because I knew I had people watching my back. Worse because the scope of what I was dealing with felt bigger than ever.
Damian’s attempted assassination wasn’t an isolated incident. It was part of something larger. A coordinated effort to destabilize both of us.
And the people behind it were patient. Strategic. Willing to wait for the perfect moment to strike.
A soft knock on the door interrupted my spiraling thoughts.
"Come in," I called softly.
The door opened to reveal one of Ronan’s staff—a young woman with kind eyes and a tray of food that smelled absolutely heavenly.
My stomach growled in response, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since... God, I couldn’t even remember.
"Alpha Ronan thought you might be hungry," she said with a small smile, setting the tray on the dresser. "There’s enough for two if the King is feeling up to eating."
"Thank you." I meant it.
She nodded and slipped back out, closing the door behind her with a quiet click.
I turned back to the bed to find Damian’s eyes open, watching me with that intense gray gaze that always made me feel like he could see straight through me.
"You’re awake," I said unnecessarily.
"Hard to sleep when you’re plotting strategy in the corner." His voice was rough with sleep, but there was amusement in it too. "Everything okay?"
"Define okay."
He shifted carefully, wincing as the movement pulled at his injuries. "Come here."
I crossed back to the bed and perched on the edge, close enough that I could feel his warmth. "You should eat something. Ronan sent food."
"In a minute." His hand found mine, fingers lacing together. "Talk to me first. What’s going on?"
So I told him. About Victor’s meetings with Sylvia. About the pharmaceutical project delays. About Jennifer’s warnings and Nathan’s cryptic comments.
Damian listened without interrupting, his expression growing darker with every detail.
"They’re making a move," he said when I finished. "While we’re both vulnerable, they’re positioning themselves."
"That’s what I’m afraid of."
"The question is whether Victor’s working with them or just being used."
I bit my lip. "I want to believe he’s on my side. He’s the one who helped me in the beginning. Who introduced me to you."
"Which could make him the perfect inside man if someone got to him." Damian’s jaw tightened. "We need to assume the worst until we know otherwise."
"I set up safeguards," I said quietly. "Before I left. Project approval authority was distributed across the board—Victor can’t sign off on anything major without full shareholder agreement.
And I created a shadow review team that’s feeding me real-time updates on everything happening with the pharmaceutical launch."
Damian’s expression shifted to something that looked almost like pride. "Smart."
"I learned from the best." I squeezed his hand. "But Damian... what if this isn’t just about business? What if someone orchestrated your accident specifically to get me out of the way? To create an opening?"
"Then they severely underestimated you." His free hand came up to cup my cheek. "And they’re going to regret it."
The certainty in his voice steadied something inside me.
I fed him the last few bites of food, then set the tray aside and settled back against the headboard beside him.
For a while, we just sat there in comfortable silence, his hand still wrapped around mine.
Then a thought occurred to me.
"Damian," I said slowly. "When are you going to tell your family you’re okay?"
His expression shifted, something guarded sliding into place. "When I’m healed."
I frowned. "That could take weeks. Don’t you think they deserve to know you’re alive?"
"They do." His jaw tightened. "But right now, the kingdom thinks I’m dead. Or missing. Either way, there’s a power vacuum. And power vacuums make people... reckless."
Understanding dawned slowly. "You want to see who makes a move."
"Exactly." He turned to look at me, his gray eyes dark. "A kingdom can’t be without a king, Aria. Even for a day.
Someone will try to fill that void—whether through legitimate channels or otherwise. And when they do, I’ll know exactly who I can’t trust."
"Even if it means letting your family think you’re dead?"
"Even then."
The coldness in his voice sent a shiver down my spine.
This was the side of Damian I’d only glimpsed in passing—the ruthless Alpha King who’d clawed his way to the top and stayed there through sheer force of will.
It should have scared me.
Instead, it made me feel safer than I had in days.
Because if someone was trying to kill him, they’d just handed him the perfect opportunity to find out who.
And when he did?
God help them.
"Okay," I said quietly. "But once you’re healed—once you’ve figured out who’s behind this—you contact Rick and your family. No arguments."
His lips curved into a faint smile. "No arguments."
I squeezed his hand, then leaned my head against his shoulder, careful not to jostle his injuries.
Outside, the wind picked up, rattling the window in its frame. Somewhere in the distance, I heard the low howl of a wolf—one of Ronan’s pack members, probably, out on patrol.
It should have felt strange, being surrounded by wolves in a world I barely understood.
But with Damian’s warmth beside me and his heartbeat steady under my ear, it felt like exactly where I was supposed to be.