Chapter 29

Several things happened at the same time. I was left speechless as soon as I saw his face, my heartbeat sounded like guns blazing, and then a familiar growl inside my head made me panic since my wolf had immediately reacted at the presence of my mate. So I did the only thing that I could do, and that was to run. With Zenith on my arms, running and getting away from Darren felt like I was climbing up a tall staircase. I was also holding my breath while he called my name repeatedly as I ran away from him. I only stopped when I reached the second floor of the atrium where Marcus' office was located.

Zenith was already asking me why we were running, but I didn't talk until I was able to reach for the door of the office and get inside. I even locked the door as soon as we got in, and that was the only time that I was able to breathe. I then put Zenith in a chair and took my phone out from my handbag and dialed Marcus' number. "Please answer," I whispered desperately to myself.

Luckily, Marcus immediately picked up my call. "Hello? Milena, where are you? Are you not coming here?"

"W-we're already here, Marcus," I told him. "Zenith and I are in your office. Please come... I need to talk to you."

He must've sensed the urgency and panic in my voice. "DId something happen? Milena, are you okay? What happened?"

"D-Darren... He's here... And my wolf..."

"Wait for me. I'll be there." He ended the call as soon as he said that, and finally I felt relieved. I also could no longer sense my wolf growling, but I was still on edge since Darren's presence must've shocked it big time. Zenith became restless too so I played with him until Marcus came. He looked very worried when he came into the room. And I guess if it weren't for our son happily calling him and raising both his hands so that his father would carry him, maybe Marcus would have rushed to my side to hug me. "Milena... Where did you see him?" he asked while Zenith was in his arms.

I walked up to him with my hands shaking. "Downstairs at your store's event. He was there..."

"I didn’t see him there. I can't believe he's here. Did he perhaps know that we own this place? He wasn't on my guest list."

"I don't know. I came here because Ava told me Devon was here."

"Oh right. I forgot about him. He's one of my newly-hired managers. He said that he knows you. Milena, do you think that guy told Darren that you were here?"

I paused for a moment because I tried to picture Devon and Darren cooperating with each other but somehow my brain found it weird. "I'm not sure, but Devon wasn't close with Darren."

"Well, it's been five years. Maybe they got close."

"But even if that was the case, Darren was too quick to get here. Don't you think he'll get here from my old place that fast?"

"Yeah, you have a point. I guess it wasn't Devon who told him about you after all. But still, we have to do something since you don't want to meet him, right? So tell me, what do you want to do, Milena? Should we just go home?"

I liked how Marcus was asking me what to do instead of deciding on his own, but I was still nervous that we might bump into Darren if we left his office. So what I did was tell him that I'd just stay for a while until I see Devon whom I was still excited to meet again. Marcus called Devon and told him to come to his office, but asked him first if he was the one responsible for Darren's presence at the event. Marcus said that Devon denied it and it made me feel safer to meet and talk to him again.

When Devon entered the office I ran to him and hugged him tightly. I even cried softly as we looked at each other. He didn't change much. He was still the Devon I knew, only taller and older. He looked mature wearing his suit, and he couldn't contain his happiness too when we finally met. "I couldn't believe this. You really are here, Milena!"

We talked for hours inside Marcus' office, catching up with each other's lives as Marcus went back to the event since he was still needed there. He promised that he'd take care of Darren, reassuring me. Meanwhile, Devon and I continued our chat. He was still surprised that I had now a family of my own, even if Marcus had already told him earlier about it. Then he also shared his story. Two months after I left our pack, he also moved out from his parents' house to look for better-paying jobs. He ended up in an agency where he worked for the last five years as a CEO's assistant before resigning and taking his chance here at Marcus' new company, which was offering higher pay. He was immediately hired because of his good credentials, and now he was a branch manager of one of Marcus' jewelry stores.

"Your husband is a big shot, Milena. He's also very well-known. I'm pretty sure he's the reason why Darren is here."

"What do you mean? Devon, do you know anything about Darren?"

"Of course!" he said proudly. "I go home from time to time to visit my parents, who misses you by the way. That's the reason why I know a lot about Darren. And speaking of the devil, the last thing I heard about him was that he was in search of a good business opportunity too. I heard he went to a lot of wealthy packs just to ask them if they could give him a nice job."

"What? Why is he looking for a job? Is he not the alpha of our pack anymore?"

"He's still the alpha. But after you left the pack, everything started going downhill. Madam Dolores, his mother, even blamed it on you saying you jinxed the pack."

I laughed at that. "That’s very like her. But what exactly happened to the pack?"

"Oh, a lot, Milena," Devon replied with a very meaningful look at me. "First, some rogues attacked Darren's father and that caused him to lose his left leg."

I gasped. "No way..."

"It did happen. And after that a series of unfortunate events started. First, Darren found out that Valerie, that wench he chose over you— was a fake. She wasn't his mate to begin with. She and her family fooled Darren and his parents."

I was speechless again and my blood suddenly started to boil, but I was not sure who I was angry with. "What a surprise," I just said.

"Right? It was you alone, Milena. You were Darren's only mate, and Valerie's claim turned out to be false. She drank a potion that made it possible for her to manifest as Darren's mate. Their pack has a witch as a slave who makes potions for them. That's how they were able to get that illegal potion."

I gasped since I knew about that particular potion as I happen to read it in my mother's book. "But that means..."

"Yes. They're no longer together, Milena."