Chapter 28 Ronan's POV
Moday morning were always the most fucked up. I had to work for hours unending to set the tone for the rest of the week.
I had a schedule, meetings lined up, documents waiting to be reviewed, numbers that needed my full attention. Normally I could switch into work mode without a second thought, slip into that sharp, smart version of myself that didn’t have time for distractions.
But today?
My head wasn’t cooperating.
Every time I tried to focus, Sienna’s voice echoed in my mind.
Her expression.
The way she stood there with that stubborn look on her face and actually threatened to go to someone else.
I rubbed my palm over my face and tried to read the same damn sentence on my screen for the fifth time.
Nothing stuck.
The shame sat heavy in my chest. Somehow, I hadn’t expected her to push back that hard.
I may have gone too far this time. I treated her like I would any wolf but she wasn't a wolf. She was human at least socially
stubborn
Someone who had no business standing up to me the way she did… and yet she’d done it. And the worst part?
She’d been right.
I was an asshole.
I’d pushed too far.
Pressed too hard.
Used our arrangement as leverage because I knew I had the upper hand and that wasn’t something I was proud of.
If she felt cornered enough to threaten going to another alpha, a lone wolf at that then I’d messed up badly.
Terribly.
Her thinking that someone who was on the cusp of madness was a better help than I was, was all my fault.
I’d forgotten what she was. I’d forgotten that she wasn’t a pawn or a resource or some extension of my mission.
She was a person.
And I’d wronged her.
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling, letting out a long breath.
I felt the guilt settle in.
If I planned to have any kind of good working relationship with her, if I wanted her to trust me enough to help figure out her connections with the key, then I needed to fix things.
I needed to apologize.
The thought made my stomach twist. I wasn’t one to apologize. I wasn’t good at it. But this… this was necessary.
I would do it if it helped bring me.closer to what I needed and it was well deserved
I pushed away from the desk.
Fine.
I’d do it now.
Before I talked myself out of it.
The drive to her parlor felt longer than it should have. The guilt kept weighing down on me.
. By the time I reached her door, I’d already gone through a couple versions of what I wanted to say.
I’ll keep it simple.
I’m sorry.
That was all I needed to start with.
I opened the door.
All the words evaporated instantly.
Her scent hit me first, before I even saw her, I smiled as I opened my mouth to call to her but then it hit me. Another scent under it… layered thick and sharp…
Another alpha.
Kael.
His scent clung to the air, taunting me as the realization of what happened dawned on me. It wrapped around the room like it belonged here, like he belonged in her space.
My jaw clenched on instinct.
I stepped further inside, and my eyes landed on hers. She looked up from arranging her station. her hair pulled back messily, her neck exposed
And that’s when I saw them.
Marks.
His marks.
On her.
They trailed along her throat, faint but obvious. Heat flared hot and violent in my chest. The apology I planned shriveled up and burned to ash instantly.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I breathed out, barely holding onto my control.
She blinked. “Ronan?”
"What the fuck are you doing here?" she asked dropping her pen.
I walked closer, and I could feel my anger rising with every step. “So this is what you’re doing now? Letting some random alpha put his teeth on you?”
Her expression hardened instantly. “Don’t be an asdhole. I can't deal. I have a life”
“Oh, I’m already an asshole” My voice came out harsher than I intended, but I didn’t care. “His scent is all over this place. All over you.”
“Because I fucked him, how hard is that to put together,” she shot back.
That seemed to only fuel my rage. That was bubbling dangerously close to the surface
.“He’s a stranger, Sienna. You don’t know anything about him. Who would act so stupid?" I asked trying to get myself to be calm
“I know enough and honestly it doesn't matter" she huffed stubbornly.
I just ....
“It doesn't matter?,” I snapped. “You met him five seconds ago, and suddenly you’re letting him Fucking fuck you, he left his marks on you. He could easily have bonded with you and you wouldn't even Fucking know" I cursed frustrated and furious
“Letting him what?” she yelled, dropping the stencil she'd picked up in her hand and shot up pointing at me. “Letting him treat me like a person? Letting him be kind to me? Letting him make me feel safe?”
The words hit like a slap.
“Safe?” I repeated, my voice dropping dangerously low an explosion eminent. “You think he’s safe?”
“Yes,” she said, without hesitation.
The anger twisted deeper. Bitter, sour “You’re being reckless.”
“I’m not your responsibility.”
“And yet here you are letting an alpha you barely know have his way with you”
“He’s done more for me in a week than you have in months!”
That one landed straight in the center of my chest. A direct hit.
I stepped closer, the air crackling between us. “You don’t know what he wants from you.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” I said, softer this time, but no less intense.
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” she said, chin raised. “And I don’t owe you an explanation about who I sleep with.”
My jaw tightened. “You could be in danger.”
“From Kael?” She let out a sharp laugh. “You’re the only one who’s made me feel unsafe lately.”
"I make you feel unsafe?" I asked a laugh escaping me.
"You think all I've been doing is making YOU feel unsafe?" I think I need to teach you a lesson on what is safe and unsafe.
I already had her backed up to the wall with both hands
"What are you going to do? Kill me?" she asked huffing and I let out a cold laugh.
She really did think the worst of me
I leaned in and traced my hand across her jaw and stopping on her chin to trace her lips.
"No, I'll do something even worse" I whispered as I leaned in.
I paused just right before I kissed her waiting for a push back. She didn't do anything so I kissed her.