Chapter 196 The Takeover
Damian’s POV
Late that night, we arrived at the hotel. Rick got out first to open Vanessa’s door.
There was only one decent hotel in this remote mountain region, but I’d still made sure Vanessa’s room was on a completely different floor from mine.
I was already turning toward the entrance when her voice cut through the cold air.
"Damian." Not *Mr. Blackwood* or *Alpha Blackwood*. Just my name. "You haven’t told Aria the truth about yourself, have you?"
Everything in me went still.
My wolf surged forward, hackles raised, teeth bared. The night seemed to press in tighter, the shadows deepening around us.
Vanessa hurried around to stand in front of me. Rick immediately stepped between us. "Miss Crane—"
"Do you really think she’ll stay with you when she knows?" Vanessa’s voice cracked slightly, desperation bleeding through her composure. "When she knows what you really are?"
This was it, then. Her last desperate play.
"She will." My voice came out cold, certain. But I felt my spine stiffen, felt the old fear try to claw its way up my throat. "And it’s none of your damn business."
"Then why haven’t you told her?" She was shaking now, but she held my gaze. Even smiled, bitter and knowing.
"Why hasn’t she heard it from you—that the man sleeping beside her every night might lose control? That when your wolf takes over, you can’t promise you won’t hurt her?"
"*Shut. Your. Mouth.*"
The words came out as a growl, my Alpha dominance rolling off me in waves. The air itself seemed to thicken with it.
Vanessa went white, stumbling back half a step. But she rallied, forcing herself to meet my eyes.
"You don’t even trust her enough to tell her the truth," she whispered. "Do you?"
"I said it’s not your business." My voice dropped lower, the wolf’s rage simmering just beneath my skin. I could feel my canines lengthening, my eyes starting to shift.
"And I have *never* hurt an innocent person."
Rick’s heart was pounding—I could hear it. He looked at me, saw how close I was to the edge, and turned on Vanessa with uncharacteristic sharpness.
"Miss Crane! That’s *enough*. This is a business trip. Whatever personal history you think you have with Alpha Blackwood, you need to leave it alone. Go back to your room. *Now*."
Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she blinked hard, refusing to cry. "Damian, I—"
"I thought I made myself clear." I took one step forward, my wolf’s fury radiating from every inch of me. Rick didn’t even try to stop me this time. "As for Aria and me..."
I moved closer, near enough that Vanessa could probably feel the heat rolling off me, see the predator looking out through my eyes.
She shook. Actually *trembled*. Took another step back.
I forced myself to breathe, to pull the wolf back just enough. The night air bit cold against my skin, sharp and clarifying.
"If she can’t accept me," I said quietly, the words like stones dropping into dark water, "then I’ll accept that."
I turned and walked away before the wolf could surge forward again.
Behind me, I heard Rick let out a shaky breath.
"Miss Crane," he said, his usual politeness strained to breaking. "Have a good night."
---
Vanessa’s POV
My legs nearly gave out the moment he turned his back on me.
I caught myself against the car, my whole body shaking—from fear or rage or heartbreak, I couldn’t even tell anymore.
That’s when my assistant came jogging up from the shadows, her face anxious. "Miss Crane..."
"Is it done?" My voice came out rough. I couldn’t catch my breath properly. My eyes locked on the camera in her hands.
She nodded quickly, holding it out. "I got what you asked for. But Miss Crane... doing this to Alpha Blackwood—are you sure this is a good idea?"
I checked the photos on the camera’s display, flipping through the shots. From a distance, the angles made it look like Damian and I were standing close. Too close. Some of the frames could definitely be interpreted as intimate.
The bitter irony wasn’t lost on me.
The only reason he’d stepped toward me at all was because he *hated* me. Because his wolf wanted to rip me apart for even *suggesting* he’d hurt his mate.
"Miss Crane?" My assistant’s voice was small, uncertain.
I deleted one photo—the one where you could too clearly see the fury in his eyes—and kept the rest.
"It’ll be fine," I said, my voice hollow even to my own ears. "I know what I’m doing."
But my hands were still shaking as I handed the camera back.
Because the truth was, I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything anymore except that I’d just burned the last bridge between us.
And tomorrow, Once these photos got out, there’d be no going back.