Chapter 27 SPY
The rooftop door clicked shut behind them.
Rome fell away.
Below, the city was noise and light and life. Scooters, shouting, music spilling from open windows. Up here it was just stone, wind, and the two of them.
Mia’s back hit the wall before she could get a word out.
Alex was on her instantly. Not rough. Not Alpha. Just fast, like he’d been holding himself back for days and couldn’t hold it anymore.
His hands found her waist. His mouth was close enough that she felt every word he didn’t say.
The bond between them pulled tight. Hot. Heavy.
It wasn’t the curse pulling anymore. It wasn’t the 28 day clock.
It was want.
“Alex,” Mia said. His name came out rough, broken.
He answered by pressing his forehead to hers, breathing her in. His eyes were gold. Not hunting. Not commanding. Hungry.
“You’re sure?” Alex asked.
One last time. One last check, because he remembered the hesitation earlier. Because he’d rather stop than take something she wasn’t giving freely.
Mia’s hands fisted in his shirt. She pulled him closer.
“I’m sure,” Mia said. “Stop asking. If you stop now I might kill you.”
That was all he needed.
The kiss was fast and desperate. Like they’d been starving. Like the 22 hours they had left were already gone and this was the only thing that mattered.
Hands moved. Clothes got in the way and were dealt with. Mouths found skin and didn’t let go. The bond hummed between them, hot and steady, feeding off both of them.
Mia’s head fell back against the wall with a soft gasp as Alex’s mouth found her neck. He didn’t bite. Not yet. He just breathed there, felt the pulse under her skin, felt her shiver.
“Alex,” Mia said again. Pleading now.
He lifted his head. His eyes were dark with it.
“Bed,” Alex said. Voice rough.
There was a suite attached to the rooftop. French doors, unmade bed, city lights reflecting off the glass. They made it across the room by some miracle.
Mia shoved him back onto the mattress and climbed after him.
The rest went quiet.
The world narrowed to heat and touch and the sound of both of them breathing like they couldn’t get enough air.
The room went dark.
When Mia woke up, the city was quiet. Dawn was breaking over Rome, turning the sky pale gold.
She was tangled in the sheets. Tangled with Alex.
His arm was under her head. His chest rose and fell slow and steady against her back.
For a long time she just lay there and felt it.
The bond. Steady. Warm. Real.
Her body. Sore in the good way.
Her mind. Quiet.
No fear.
No curse screaming in her head.
No clock counting down.
Just this.
Alex shifted behind her, pulling her closer.
“You’re awake,” Alex said. Voice rough from sleep.
Mia nodded. “Yeah.”
Alex kissed the top of her head. “Morning.”
“Morning,” Mia said.
She rolled over to face him.
The first thing she noticed was his eyes. Gold, but soft. Awake, but not Alpha. Just Alex.
The second thing she noticed was the absence.
The bite on her neck was still there. Silver at the edges. Real.
But unchanged.
Mia touched it with two fingers.
“You didn’t mark me,” Mia said.
Alex’s jaw tightened. He didn’t look away.
“I felt you hesitate,” Alex said. “Even now. There’s fear under the want. I’m not putting that on you.”
Mia opened her mouth to argue.
Alex beat her to it.
“When you say yes to the bite, I want it to be because you’re ready,” Alex said. “Not because you were caught up in the moment. Not because the bond is screaming at you. Because you want it. All of it.”
Mia swallowed.
“I thought I was ready,” Mia said.
“You were ready to be with me,” Alex said. “That’s different. The mark is forever, Mia. Once it’s there, it’s there. No take backs. No regrets.”
Mia sat up, pulling the sheet around her.
“So you’re saying I’m not ready,” Mia said.
“I’m saying I’d rather wait a hundred years than do it wrong,” Alex said.
Mia looked at him. Really looked.
He wasn’t holding back because he didn’t want her. He was holding back because he wanted her too much to mess it up.
That was worse.
That made her want to say yes right now just to prove it.
But she didn’t.
Because he was right.
There was still fear there. Small, buried, but real. The part of her that remembered being trapped. The part of her that remembered what it felt like to have choices taken away.
Mia nodded slowly.
“Okay,” Mia said.
Alex reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Okay,” Alex said.
They didn’t talk about it more than that.
There was no need.
400 meters away, on the roof of the Palazzo Massimo
The man lowered the binoculars.
His hands didn’t shake. They never shook.
He’d been watching for 47 minutes. Every touch. Every kiss. Every sound he could pick up through the open doors.
He’d seen Alex stop. He’d seen Mia reach for him again. He’d seen them go quiet.
He typed one message into his phone. Encrypted. Direct to Ivan.
Bond not consummated. Mate hesitant. Alpha restrained. Emotional control confirmed.
He attached one photo. Alex and Mia on the bed, tangled together, unaware.
He snapped a final shot of the rooftop, packed up his gear, and moved.
Ivan would want to know.
Ivan would want to use it.
Back on the rooftop suite
Mia and Alex were on the balcony now, coffee in hand, watching the city wake up.
The sun was fully up. Rome was gold and stone and noise.
Mia leaned against Alex’s side. He had an arm around her shoulders.
“Let them watch,” Alex said quietly.
Mia looked up at him. “What?”
“Them,” Alex said. Nodding toward the city, but meaning more than that. “Ivan’s people. The Council. Whoever’s out there with cameras and binoculars. Let them watch. They’ll see what they want to see.”
Alex had actually seen the man with the binoculars when he was deep inside Mia thrusting like a beast. Goddess, she had been damn tight. Although the vision was unclear but he was damn sure he saw a man with binocular from afar through the wall to ceiling transparent glass of their current bedroom.
Mia frowned. “And what do they see?”
“They see a Luna and an Alpha who can’t keep their hands off each other,” Alex said. “They see a bond that’s strong. They see a pair that looks dangerous.”
Mia was quiet for a moment.
“And what don’t they see?” Mia asked.
Alex looked down at her.
“They don’t see you,” Alex said. “They don’t see the part of you that hesitated. They don’t see the part of me that stopped because of it. They don’t see that this is real. Not performance. Not strategy.”
Mia was quiet for a long time.
Then she said, “Good.”
Alex smiled. Small. Real.
“Good,” Alex said.
Mia finished her coffee and set the cup down on the railing.
“What now?” Mia asked.
“Now,” Alex said, “we go back to the pack house. We face Ivan. We face the Council. And we do it as us. Not as Luna and Alpha. Not as Clause 7 and a political marriage. As Mia and Alex.”
Mia nodded.
“And the mark?” Mia asked.
Alex looked at her for a long moment.
“When you’re ready,” Alex said. “Not before.”
Mia nodded again.
“Okay,” Mia said.
They stood there for a while longer, watching the city.
Neither of them said anything else.
They didn’t need to.
Flight back to the territory
The jet was quiet.
Mia sat by the window, watching the clouds pass below. Alex sat across from her, laptop open, but he wasn’t working. He was watching her.
“You’re quiet,” Alex said.
“So are you,” Mia said.
Alex closed the laptop.
“I’m thinking,” Alex said.
“About Ivan?” Mia asked.
“About Ivan,” Alex said. “About the Council. About what happens when we land.”
Mia looked down at her hands.
“What do you think they saw?” Mia asked.
Alex knew who she meant.
“The spy,” Alex said. “Ivan’s man on the roof.”
Mia nodded.
“They saw us,” Mia said. “They saw that we didn’t finish it.”
“They saw what we wanted them to see,” Alex said. “A bond that’s strong but not complete. A pair that’s dangerous but not reckless.”
Mia frowned. “Is that what we are?”
Alex leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“We’re us,” Alex said. “And that’s enough. Ivan wants to break us by making us doubt that. He wants you to think that because I didn’t mark you, I don’t trust you. He wants me to think that because you hesitated, you don’t want me.”
Mia looked up.
“And do you?” Mia asked.
“Do I what?” Alex asked.
“Think I don’t want you?” Mia asked.
Alex shook his head.
“No,” Alex said. “I know you want me. I felt it. I felt you. The hesitation wasn’t about me. It was about everything else. And I can wait for that.”
Mia was quiet for a long time.
Then she said, “Thank you.”
Alex reached across the table and took her hand.
“Always,” Alex said.
Landing
The pack house was quiet when they landed. Too quiet.
Mia felt it immediately. The bond told her something was wrong.
Alex felt it too. His posture changed. His eyes went sharp.
“We’re expected,” Alex said.
Mia nodded.
They walked in together. Side by side.
The great room was full.
Pack members. Elders. Council enforcers.
And Ivan.
Standing in the center of the room like he owned it.
He smiled when he saw them.
“Alpha,” Ivan said. “Luna. Welcome back.”
Alex stepped forward, putting himself slightly in front of Mia.
“What do you want, Ivan?” Alex asked.
Ivan’s smile widened.
“I want to talk about what happened in Rome,” Ivan said.
Mia’s stomach dropped.
Ivan pulled out his phone.
He held it up.
The photo was on the screen.
Alex and Mia on the bed.
The caption read: Bond incomplete. Alpha hesitates. Mate uncertain
Murmurs ran through the room.
Mia felt her face go hot.
Ivan looked at her.
“Is it true, Luna?” Ivan asked. “Do you hesitate? Do you doubt him?”
Mia looked at Alex.
Alex looked back at her.
No panic. No fear. Just trust.
Mia turned back to Ivan.
“Yes,” Mia said.
The room went silent.
Ivan smiled.
“I knew it,” Ivan said.
“I hesitate,” Mia said. “Because I’m human. Because I’m not stupid. Because I know what a mark means. And I will not be rushed into it by you, or the Council, or anyone else.”
Ivan’s smile faltered.
“But I don’t doubt him,” Mia said. “I trust Alex more than I’ve ever trusted anyone. And when I’m ready, I will mark him. And he will mark me. And there will be nothing you or anyone else can do about it.”
The room erupted.
Alex’s hand found hers under the table.
Squeezed once.
Mia squeezed back.
Ivan’s face went red.
“This is unacceptable,” Ivan said.
“Then leave,” Alex said. Voice cold. Final.
Ivan looked at him. Looked at Mia.
Then he smiled.
“This isn’t over,” Ivan said.
He turned and walked out.
The Council enforcers followed.
The room was silent.
Mia looked at Alex.
“We did it,” Mia said.
Alex nodded.
“We did it,” Alex said.
The bond between them hummed, steady and sure.
Not complete.
But real.