21 Chapter 21


    Damien’s POV 1


    The office space felt smaller with both of us in it, our breaths mingling in the charged air between us. Sera seemed nervous, her emerald eyes darting away from mine before meeting them again with obvious effort. My hand was still wrapped around her wrist like a steel band, my mind racing with images fromst night-her in my arms, the way she’d felt beneath me, and then… Adrian.


    Those silver-blue eyes. So familiar. So impossible to ignore.


    Sera shifted slightly, but I didn’t release her. She couldn’t escape-not yet. Not until I had answers. She lifted her chin to look at me, confusion clouding her beautiful features.


    “Is there… is there something else you needed, Mr. Nightshadow?”


    The question that had been burning in my chest all day finally forced its way out. “Have you ever thought about finding him? Adrian’s


    father?”


    Sera’s entire body went rigid, every muscle tensing as if I’d struck her. The blood drained from her face, leaving her pale as moonlight.


    “I…” she started, then stopped, swallowing hard. “I tried. Once. But there were no leads.” Her voice grew smaller, more vulnerable. “Maybe he was just there for fun that night. I didn’t want to cause problems for anyone.”


    “He didn’t leave you anything?” I pressed, my voice rougher than intended. “Any way to contact him? A note, a card… anything?”


    The golden wolf pendant. I’d left it on her pillow that morning, engraved with my initial. 1


    “Nothing,” Sera shook her head, and her voice held the finality of old grief. “When I woke up, he was just… gone. Like he’d never been


    there at all.”


    The words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. Nothing?


    My hand slowly released her wrist as the implications crashed over me.


    “That’s… unfortunate,” I managed, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears. Alex was howling in my mind, a sound of pure anguis


    “Is that all?” Sera asked quietly, taking a step backward now that I’d released her. “If there’s nothing else, I should get back to—”


    “Yes,” I cut her off, perhaps too sharply. “That’s all. Get back to work.”


    She nodded, confusion still evident in her expression, and moved toward the door. I watched her go, my eyes tracking the graceful line of her spine, the way her hair caught thete afternoon sunlight streaming through the office windows. When the door closed behind.


    her with a soft click, I slumped into my chair and buried my face in my


    hands.


    The uncertainty was torture. I’d left the pendant. I was certain of it. Maybe I was grasping at shadows, seeing connections that didn’t


    exist because I was so desperate to find the woman who’d haunted my dreams.


    For five years, I’d been searching for a ghost, for a woman whose face I could barely remember but whose scent, whose touch, whose


    very essence had been seared into my soul.


    00 200


    The need consumed me, urgent and desperate. I reached for my phone with shaking hands and dialed Lucas’s extension, my heart


    hammering against my ribs as I waited for him to answer.


    “What’s up, Alpha?”


    I pulled open my desk drawer and withdrew the small wooden box I’d kept there for the past five years. Inside, nestled in ck velvet,


    was half of a golden wolf pendant-the other half of the one I’d left on pillow that long-ago morning. I’d had it specially made, designed


    so that the two halves would only fit together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle.


    “I need you to do something for me,” I said, lifting the pendant and watching it catch the light. “I need you to search for something.”


    “Search for what? I can’t see what you’re talking about over the phone.”


    “Come to my office. Now.”


    Within minutes, Lucas appeared in my doorway, his sandy hair slightly disheveled and his expression curious. I held out the pendant,


    watching his eyebrows rise as he took in the intricate craftsmanship.


    “It’s beautiful,” he said, settling into the chair across from my desk. “But I’m not following. Search for what, exactly?”


    “The other half,” I said simply. “I need you to find the matching piece.”


    Lucas studied the pendant more closely, turning it over in his palm. “This looks like custom work. Expensive. One of a kind.” He looked up


    at me with growing understanding. “This is about that woman from five years ago, isn’t it?”


    I nodded, my jaw tight. “I left the other half with her. I need to know what happened to it.”


    “Damien.” Lucas’s voice carried the patient tone he used when he thought I was being unreasonable. “We already searched for her five


    years ago. We checked every hotel registry, every guest list, every-”


    “I know what we did,” I cut him off. “And I know we didn’t find her. But this time is different.”


    “Different how?”


    I met his gaze steadily. “This time, I want you to expand the search. Pawn shops, jewelry stores, antique dealers, online auction sites.


    Anywhere someone might sell or trade a piece like this.”


    Lucas was quiet for a long moment, studying my face. “You think she’s here, don’t you?”


    “I don’t care about the cost,” I said. “I just want that pendant found.”


    Lucas was quiet for another moment, then pocketed the pendant with a nod. “Alright. I’ll start making calls tonight. But Damien… can I


    ask why this is so important now? After all this time?”


    “Because,” I said quietly, “I think I’m closer to finding her than I’ve ever been before.” 1


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