Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four
SIXTEEN MONTHS AGO

We had just returned to Zürich that morning, the jet barely cooled from landing when Niklath insisted we stop by the office first. He said it was to check in before the week began, but I knew he missed the way our tower looked at sunrise. The familiar skyline shimmered behind panes of glass as we stepped out of the elevator, our movements in sync, his hand at the small of my back.

Marianne was waiting by my office door, tablet in hand and eyes flicking nervously between us. She greeted us politely but with a tension that did not belong to a routine Monday.

"Alpha Niklath," she said with a hesitant smile, "Luna Miara. I need to tell you something before you settle in."

Niklath slowed his steps, and I felt his grip shift slightly.

"What is it?" I asked.

She looked directly at me, then at him. "Angelica has been working in the company for the past ten days. Your father instructed both Alpha Niklath’s PA and me not to mention it to either of you."

For a second, I did not quite process what she had just said. But I felt Niklath go rigid beside me.

"Ten days?" he repeated, his tone quiet but dangerous.

Marianne nodded quickly. "She is here as an intern. Your father said it was to help her understand the business before making any decisions about her future."

My blood warmed with anger but I said nothing. Niklath’s silence was heavier. I could feel his wolf wanting to come to the surface. He opened the door to my office, held it for me, and waited until it clicked shut behind us. I turned to him, reached up and threaded one hand behind his neck, fingers sliding through the hair I knew he liked when I touched. I lifted my chin, pressed a slow kiss to his lips, and felt the burn of restraint in his chest. He kissed me back with depth, with need. Then I pulled away and looked into his eyes.

"Calm down," I said softly.

His jaw ticked once. "This is not about being calm. This is about power. He had no right to do this behind our backs."

I leaned back slightly, watching the quiet fury behind his eyes. He had always been composed, controlled, but this crossed a line he could not ignore.

"I am the CEO now. You are the COO. They handed us the reins. If this was a serious training placement, it should have gone through us. Not around us. Julian going behind my back means going behind my father’s. This can cause problems between our worlds."

I nodded in agreement, letting his words settle between us.

"This is not a family internship program. This is a billion-euro enterprise. And your stepsister is not some harmless intern who types meeting notes and learns the ropes. She is calculating. And your father knows it. Which makes this worse."

His eyes were sharp now, focused entirely on me.

"I do not care if she is here to learn. I care that they deliberately kept it from us. That tells me everything. And now I will have to fire my P.A for the disloyalty."

Niklath was a man who did not tolerate deceit. And though part of me bristled at my father's decision, another part of me felt the fierce, grounding loyalty in Niklath’s words. He was not just angry for control. He was angry for me.  And I honestly did not understand with everything that had happened with Théo and Angelica, why my father went behind our backs  and did this.

Before lunch, I enter Niklath’s office and see him standing reviewing a contract by the window, light casting sharp shadows along his suit. I rest my hand on the back of the couch and lean down until our foreheads almost touch.

"I'm going to my father's after work."

He looks up immediately, alert but not surprised. "Alright. I'll come with you."

I smile. "That's sweet. But I'd rather speak to him one on one."

His jaw shifts slightly, the protective instinct never far beneath his composure. "Are you sure?"

"I am," I murmur. "But thank you."

He nods after a moment. "Then I'll meet up with Matteo for drinks."

I lean in and press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, lingering. "Behave."

"I will if you come back to me early," he replies, his voice lower now.

"You'll survive a few hours without me."

"I'll try," he says, standing. He places a soft kiss just behind my ear, then one at the base of my neck. "Barely."

I laugh, brushing invisible lint off his lapel. "Stop seducing me in my office. People talk."

"Let them... you are my wife." he says, nipping at my lower lip before stepping away, satisfied.

I say goodbye to Marianne as I am leaving the office and drive to my father's house in silence. When I arrive, Alèyne opens the door with her usual warm smile.

"Is my father home?"

She hesitates. "No, Miara. He's having dinner with friends. Only Madam Polenya is in."

"Please let her know I'd like to speak with her."

She nods and disappears inside. Five minutes pass, and then I hear the measured clack of Polenya’s heels descending the staircase. She greets me with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Miara…What a pleasant surprise."

I return the same smile, seated and composed. "I heard my father's out. That's alright. I came to ask you something."

"Oh?" She moves toward the sitting room, motioning for me to follow.

The moment she sits, I slide my phone into my palm and, without a flicker of hesitation, hit record. My instincts never fail me. Something about the way she walks, the glint in her eyes, the syrupy tone of her voice...none of it ever felt maternal. It always felt... rehearsed.

"I'd like to know why you and my father went behind Niklas's and my back to have Angelica working at the company. Especially after everything that happened. You both know how it looks."

Polenya cocks her head slightly. "It was not a secret, dear. Your father simply did not want drama."

"We are not running a drama club," I say flatly. "Do not forget this was a merger between an Alpha family and us. We have rules and we protocols we must follow to ensure peace. And we send a message when we show that anyone working there is hired through merit and skill, not personal ties."

Her expression shifts. The warmth drains from her eyes. The mask cracks and she finally shows her true colors. As if peeling off lace to reveal rusted steel beneath.

"Oh, please," she scoffs, voice sharpening. "Do not pretend like you have any authority to preach about standards."

I keep my face still.

"You walk around with that last name, sitting at the top like some queen, forgetting you were nothing but a girl in a foster home. An orphan. No one even wanted you. If it weren't for your father, you'd be invisible. Forgotten."

She leans forward now, venom coating every word. "But now, look at you. Suddenly the princess of the castle. So entitled. So arrogant. I wonder sometimes if you actually believe all of this was meant for you."

Her voice hardens further. "Angelica was born to this lifestyle. It is in her blood. You are what your kind always are...ambitious. But ambition without class is just noise. And you have become very noisy, Mia."

I watch her quietly, not flinching, not blinking. My fingers press lightly against the recording phone, still hidden beneath the folds of my shawl.

"And Alpha Niklath?" she continues, smiling without humor. "Do you honestly believe he will always choose you? A human over family? Over legacy? You think a few years in his bed and walking into rooms on his arm gives you security?"

I inhale slowly, never letting her see me shake.

"You are a temporary indulgence. A phase. And deep down, I think you know that. He will find a werewolf like himself, someone strong and powerful.”

There it was...The raw, unfiltered ugliness that had always lurked behind Polenya’s carefully polished exterior. I let the silence stretch for a beat longer, long enough to let her own words echo back to her. I stand slowly.

"Thank you," I say, my tone soft, composed, perfectly even.

Her smile falters just slightly. "For what?"

"For reminding me why I never trusted you."

And without waiting for her reply, I turn and walk out of the room, my steps calm, my heart strangely steady. The recording was safe. Her mask was gone and I had no intention of letting her slip it back on.