Alina’s POV

Tears slipped down my cheeks no matter how hard I tried to hold them back. I stood frozen, watching the construction crew tear into the walls of my café. Each swing of the sledgehammer landed like a blow to my chest. How could Aiden do this? This place was all I had left. My hands trembled as I wiped at my wet face.

"Ma’am?"

I turned at the soft voice behind me. Elena stood there, eyes glistening, tears already carving shiny paths down her cheeks. "This is so cruel and wicked," she whispered, her voice breaking into a sob.

I forced the corners of my mouth upward into something that barely passed for a smile. "What are we going to do?" she asked, shoulders shaking.

"You don’t have to worry about me, Elena. You should go find yourself another job so you don’t get pulled into my mess." My voice came out steady, almost too calm, like it belonged to someone else.

"No, ma’am. I want to be here for you. You don’t deserve any of this cruelty." Concern thickened her words; her fingers twisted together as if she could physically hold back the pain for both of us.

I stepped closer and took her hand in mine, her skin warm against my cold fingers. "You’re a young beta. You have so much ahead of you. As your ex-Luna and your boss, I’m ordering you not to come back here." My throat tightened. "You have served me well, and I will forever be grateful, Elena, but it’s time we part ways."

The hurt that flashed across her face hit me harder than any demolition hammer. Her eyes shimmered, lips pressed thin. She gave a small nod, the movement heavy.

"As you wish, ma’am," she murmured, offering a faint, trembling smile. She bowed her head and walked away, footsteps fading behind me.

Where do I even begin? I couldn’t just sit at home doing nothing—that would only give them more room to crush me. I needed something, someone. Lucian’s face flickered in my mind, but I shoved the thought away. No. Not him. This whole nightmare existed because of him. If Aiden found out Lucian was helping me, he would make everything ten times worse.

More than anything, I wanted to grab my son and run—leave the city far behind. But I had already signed those papers promising I wouldn’t leave, promising I would stay near Aiden. The memory of my own signature burned now. What a stupid, desperate decision.

The roar of machinery finally died. Silence pressed in, heavy and wrong. I lifted my gaze. My café lay in ruins around me, the crew long gone, leaving only dust and me. I stepped inside the wreckage, shoes crunching over broken concrete and shattered tiles. The familiar sweet scent of fresh bread and pastries had vanished, replaced by the sharp, choking smell of dust and wet cement. Tears overflowed, hot and relentless, blurring everything.

Then—a low creak sliced through the quiet. My head snapped up. A heavy block of concrete teetered above me, breaking free. My eyes widened, breath locking in my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

Nothing came.

When I opened them again, a solid body towered over me, shielding me completely. I looked up. Lucian. A thin line of blood trickled from a cut on his forehead, tracing a red path down his temple.

"You should be careful next time," he said, voice light with that familiar amused edge. "You could have gotten injured."

"Oh no," I breathed, worry tightening my chest. "You’re injured."

Lucian smiled. Before my eyes, the cut on his forehead knit itself closed, skin smoothing over as if it had never been there. One of his unique Alpha abilities. Thank goodness.

"Why are you here?" I asked, my voice coming out colder than I intended.

His gaze shifted, studying me for a beat.

"Is this your other way of saying thank you?" he replied, that amused tone wrapping around the words.

I didn’t find it funny. Not even close.

"I’m here because I wanted to see you," he continued, eyes wandering over the ruins around us. "But I wasn’t expecting the place to look like this. I mean, I was here yesterday. What happened?"

Annoyance flared hot in my veins. I clenched my fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms.

"This is all because of you," I snapped.

His gaze snapped back to mine. "Me? What did I do?"

"I told you so many times not to come here, and now because of that I lost my café." My voice cracked despite how hard I fought to keep the tears locked behind my eyes.

"Aiden did this?" he asked.

I didn’t answer.

"What a pathetic loser," Lucian muttered, confusion threading through his words. "He destroyed your café because of me, and you’re blaming me instead of him?" He shook his head. "Come on now, Alina. Aiden had no right to do this. Just because he’s jealous of your freedom doesn’t mean he can whine about it and destroy what you worked so hard for."

When he put it like that... he was right. Why did I have to suffer? He had Emily now. The one thing I still loved—my café—he couldn’t even let me keep. My gaze drifted back to Lucian. Even so, I still didn’t want to be around him.

"Aiden did this not just because of you," I said, forcing my voice steady. "Scared rogues are on a killing spree. A lot of omegas and betas have lost their lives because of this. So I need you to answer me, Lucian—do you know anything about it?"

His eyes flickered. He looked away.

"Answer me," I said calmly, though my pulse hammered in my ears.

He shifted his gaze back to me and smirked.

"Like you said, they’re rogues. I don’t have a say in what they do. I don’t command them, and they do things their way. I have no idea who did this or anything about the killing spree." His tone rang with confidence.

I wanted to blame him, but the truth was... at the time it happened, he had been fucking my brains out. He probably really didn’t know anything about it.

"You don’t need to trust me, Alina. No one ever trusts a rogue. But what you should trust is the love I have for you." A smirk played on his lips as he said it.

"Lucian, this isn’t the time for this. Oka... I—"

"I know, it isn’t romantic right now," he cut in, amusement still lacing his voice. He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. "I want to kiss you."

I opened my mouth to speak, but he leaned in anyway. His lips met mine—slow at first, then deepening into something desperate and hungry. He grabbed my waist and pulled me flush against him. Fuck. Heat flooded through me. This whole situation was crazy, the café in ruins around us, yet I was horny. So fucking horny. I might actually need him to bend me over right here.

We broke the kiss, both breathing hard. He smirked, then pressed one last small kiss to my lips.

"Your body wants this too," he murmured.

"Fuck it," I whispered, voice shaky with need. "Bend me over!"