Leonard.

The moment the word ’mate!’ echoed through my head, I felt my entire body go rigid and cold.

That was the first thing I felt, not the usual excitement nor relief. Just a strange coldness rushing through my veins as though someone had suddenly poured ice water directly into my chest.

And honestly...This was exactly what I had been waiting for.

For years.

Theresa could finally belong to me alone, with no third party.

I could finally stop pretending that watching her from afar was enough. I could pull her into my arms whenever I wanted, kiss her whenever I pleased, and let the whole damn world know she was mine.

My mate.

The thought alone made my wolf stir restlessly beneath my skin but despite all that...I couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge the bond.

And worst of all, I didn’t even want her to know.

My jaw tightened at the thought.

Theresa was still adamant about carrying another man’s child.

Alex’s child.

Even now, after everything.

How was I supposed to completely accept her as mine when a part of her still belonged to someone else?

The thought irritated me more than I cared to admit, It burned beneath my skin like poison.

I had told myself to stay away from her, that only by ignoring her and acting indifferent would I be sane.

Maybe if I kept my distance long enough, the bond would stop affecting me this badly.

Maybe if I buried myself in work and avoided looking at her too much, I would eventually accept the situation.

But no.

The more I tried to stay away from Theresa...the more she somehow ended up right in front of me.

Every single time, and it only made things worse, harder and more unbearable.

Gosh.

I dragged a frustrated hand through my hair and exhaled sharply, because the truth was...every time she looked at me with those stubborn eyes...every time her lips parted slightly when she was annoyed...every time she rolled her eyes at me like I was the most frustrating man alive...I lost control completely.

I just wanted to grab her by the waist and kiss the hell out of her until she forgot every other man’s name.

Until she begged me to stop.

Until she finally looked at me the way I looked at her.

The conflict inside me was becoming unbearable.

One half of me wanted to stay away from her completely.

The other half wanted to lock the damn door and keep her beside me forever.

I hated this feeling and I hated how weak it made me. Hated how just one woman could throw my entire self-control into chaos.

I watched silently as Theresa picked up her bag and the file from the desk before storming out of my office without looking back.

The door shut behind her softly but somehow, the sound echoed loudly in my chest and then came that dull ache again, annoying and persistent.

I clenched my fists slightly beside me, forcing myself not to go after her.

"Brother, don’t take it to heart," Bella said suddenly from beside me, breaking through my thoughts. "Theresa is always like this."

I almost rolled my eyes immediately.

Always like this?

Bella had no idea what she was talking about. No idea what it felt like to stand this close to your mate and still not be able to have her. No idea how badly it messed with my head.

My jaw tightened again as Theresa’s face flashed through my mind.

Damn woman.

She was going to drive me insane.

"Brother come on!" Bella tried to nudge me and I was forced to look at her.

Was she really about to play favoritism now?

The thought irritated me instantly.

Supporting Theresa over me?

Her so-called best friend?

I clenched my jaw slightly, trying hard to suppress the irritation crawling beneath my skin. Ever since Theresa returned, everything around me had started becoming frustratingly complicated.

I took a slow breath before walking back toward my desk.

"You may leave, Bella," I said finally, my voice calm but distant as I lowered myself into the chair. "I still have some pending projects to attend to."

I deliberately kept my eyes on the computer screen instead of looking at her.

Maybe then she would finally understand I wanted to be left alone.

But Bella clearly had other plans.

"Are you chasing me away now?" she asked immediately, pouting her lips as she stared at me with those pitiful eyes she always used whenever she wanted sympathy.

I exhaled sharply through my nose.

Honestly, I was exhausted.

"You can go meet Lurgard or Lawrence, Bella," I replied flatly, finally typing something random into the computer just to avoid another unnecessary conversation. "Their offices are still on this same floor."

I hoped that would end it.

But of course....

"But Le—" Bella stopped mid-sentence.

Her voice cut off abruptly, hanging in the air like she had suddenly lost her train of thought.

At the exact same moment, my fingers froze above the keyboard.

Completely still.

I didn’t even realize I had stopped typing until the silence around me sharpened everything else.

And then Voices.

Raised voices.

The sudden commotion outside immediately pulled both of our attention away from what we were doing.

For a brief second, the entire floor felt unusually loud, as if something had shifted in the atmosphere itself. Distant words overlapped, tension threading through every syllable, until one voice cut through more clearly than the rest.

"You cannot tell me what to do!"

The sharpness in that tone made my brows furrow instantly. It wasn’t just loud, was charged and yet familiar in a way that made my stomach tighten slightly.

Lawrence’s office.

Without wasting another second, I pushed my chair back abruptly, the legs scraping faintly against the floor as I stood up from my seat.

Bella was already reacting.

She followed immediately behind me as I moved toward the door, my pace quickening with every step as the noise outside grew louder, more defined, more tense.

The closer I got, the clearer the voices became.

Not just one now, but several overlapping, clashing, pushing against each other like none of them were willing to back down.

Tension.

That was the first thing I felt.

Raw tension, heavy and suffocating, hanging in the air like something that had already gone too far.

I reached the office door too quickly and without thinking twice, I pushed it open and froze instantly.

My entire body went stiff the moment my eyes landed inside.

What the hell...?

Bernard.

For a moment, I genuinely thought my mind was playing tricks on me, that maybe I wasn’t seeing clearly.

But no.

It was really him.

The same familiar face.

The same arrogant stance.

The same irritating, unbothered posture that had always managed to get under my skin without even trying.

He was there and he was standing like he belonged.

My chest tightened instantly, a sharp reaction I didn’t even bother to hide.

What exactly was Bernard doing here?

Didn’t he say he would never show his face again?

The thought hit me the moment I saw him, sharp and immediate, as if it had been waiting in the back of my mind for years just to resurface now.

Especially after what he did six years ago.

The memory flashed through my head in fragments, quick, uninvited, and unpleasant, making my expression darken instantly.

Back then, his sudden disappearance hadn’t just been unexpected. It had caused chaos, more than anyone had cared to admit at the time.

And now...here he was, standing inside Lawrence’s office like nothing had ever happened, like time had simply erased everything.

Like he still belonged here.

My jaw tightened slightly as I took him in more carefully, my gaze slowly narrowing. There was something about his posture, the ease in his stance, the way he carried himself that suggested he wasn’t the least bit bothered by the tension in the room.

My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless, alert and unhappy.

Bernard noticed me almost immediately.

Of course he did.

A slow smile spread across his lips, unhurried and deliberate, like he had been expecting this exact reaction from me all along.

"Leonard," he said casually, his tone almost light, like we were old friends reuniting after years apart. "Still glaring at me like that?"

I didn’t return the smile and I didn’t even bother to hide the coldness in my expression.

My stare remained fixed on him, sharp and unyielding, as if I could force answers out of him just by looking harder.

"What are you doing here?" I asked coldly.

My voice came out steady, controlled, but there was no warmth in it, no welcome.

Only suspicion. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

And the quiet reminder that nothing about this moment felt right.

No wonder Lawrence was having a heated argument with him. I wondered if he would still look so calm when Lurgard finds him here.