Chapter 46 46
Venessa’s POV
“We need to talk, Venessa.”
The moment he said it, my throat tightened. Being alone with Denzel in a locked room was dangerous for my heart, for my control. I wasn’t sure I trusted myself not to unravel.
He gestured toward the couch, offering me a seat. I obeyed, settling there quietly. He didn’t join me. Instead, he sat at the foot of the bed, deliberately keeping distance between us. I understood why he was doing it for me, giving me space, allowing me to breathe. The consideration only made this harder.
“The day you linked me and asked me to meet you in the deserted part of the service quarters,” he began, “you said you saw two people together.”
My stomach knotted painfully.
“Did you know who they were?” he asked.
I shook my head immediately.
“If you didn’t know,” he continued calmly, “why did you call me there? You don’t strike me as a nosy woman, Venessa. Tell me what you saw.”
My mind raced. Lying to him felt wrong but telling the truth felt dangerous. I remembered the last time I had spoken out for Jalisa’s sake. The punishment. The cruel words. The pain he had inflicted in her defense.
I couldn’t live through that again.
I doubted he would believe me if I said it was Jalisa and Tyrell. Not without proof. And until I could prove it, saying anything felt reckless.
“I don’t know them,” I lied quietly.
Fear clawed at my chest. If I told him the truth now, he might decide I wasn’t worth the trouble and hand me over to the bears. Looking at him brought back memories of what he had once done to me to preserve Jalisa’s honor. He had been unwaveringly devoted to her.
I couldn’t risk it again.
I liked the man he was now the friendship, the protection, the ease of my days. There was freedom in that. There was safety. Complicating it would destroy everything.
“If something affects me, Venessa,” he said, his voice steady, “I expect you to tell me.”
I shifted uncomfortably.
“By now, you should feel safe telling me anything.”
My chest tightened. We had been here before different circumstances, same fear. His reaction back then had taught me my limits with him. Some things had changed, yes but I wasn’t convinced everything had.
“Venessa,” he said softly, “I feel like you’re hiding something. Whatever it is, I promise I won’t be angry.”
The temptation to speak nearly broke me.
Silence stretched between us. Then my courage faltered, and my fear won.
“Please, Alpha,” I whispered. “Don’t make me tell you what I know.”
My hands trembled violently. My mouth went dry. Tears burned my eyes tears I didn’t want to shed. This was a defining moment. If I told him and he reacted the way he once had, then the eight months would mean nothing.
I would have failed.
“I like the way things are,” I said, my voice breaking. “I don’t want to complicate anything. I don’t want to cause trouble or become the source of your problems. I don’t want to accuse anyone of something I can’t prove. I don’t want to tell you something that will cost me”
My voice died.
I didn’t say my life. I kept that truth to myself.
Something shifted in his expression. His eyes softened, and he moved toward me, sitting beside me on the couch. He pulled me gently into his chest, his arms secure but tender. His hand stroked my hair slowly, soothingly. He kissed the top of my head and inhaled my scent.
“I’m not asking these questions to make you cry, Venessa,” he murmured.
“I know what you saw frightened you. That’s why you don’t want to speak.”
He held me tighter.
“If you’re this afraid, then I must have failed to show you how much I trust you.”
The tears finally fell.
“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” he continued quietly. “You have no reason to lie or slander anyone. I believe what you saw was real. And I appreciate that you warned Rayon and gave me a chance to act.”
I pulled back sharply, staring at him in shock.
He met my gaze with a knowing look and nodded.
“He told me,” Denzel said. “Rayon told me about Jalisa and Tyrell.”
Relief crashed through me so violently I nearly gasped. It felt like I had been holding my breath for months years and only now could I finally exhale.
“I believe you, Venessa.”
That was all it took.
I broke down, sobbing openly, tears of relief streaming down my face. For the first time since my return, there was hope. Real hope.
Nyla and I weren’t alone anymore.
We might actually succeed this time.