11. Celina #2
But she already knew the answer. The mate bond might have brought them together, but everything else—the laughter, the shared passions, the way he made her feel seen and valued—that was just them.
Once at the studio, Celina headed straight for her trailer while Osias followed, his presence a comforting constant in the controlled chaos of a film set. Inside, Tasha was already waiting with the makeup kit and costume rack, her expression brightening when she spotted them.
“Morning, you two. Ready for the big finale?”
Celina settled into the makeup chair, watching in the mirror as Osias claimed his usual spot on the small sofa.
During the past week, Tasha had proven surprisingly adaptable to the revelation about lion shifters, taking the supernatural world in stride with the pragmatic acceptance of someone who’d worked in Hollywood long enough to know that reality was often stranger than fiction.
“More than ready,” Celina said as Tasha began applying foundation. “I’m excited to focus on other projects.”
“Speaking of which,” Tasha said, wielding a concealer brush with surgical precision, “I heard through the grapevine that A Promise to Keep is generating some serious buzz already. Industry insiders are calling it the collaboration of the year.”
Warmth spread through Celina’s chest. The project meant everything to her—a chance to prove that Bates Films could create something meaningful with the right support.
Having Osias believe in her vision enough to invest both financially and creatively felt like validation she hadn’t realized she’d been craving for years.
The morning routine continued in comfortable silence until Osias’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, and Celina watched his expression shift from relaxed contentment to sharp alertness.
“I need to take this,” he said, already rising from the sofa.
Through the mirror, she watched him step outside the trailer, his voice too low to make out specific words. But his body language spoke volumes—the rigid set of his shoulders and the way his free hand clenched into a fist at his side.
Something was wrong.
Tasha continued working, applying eyeshadow with steady hands, but Celina could feel tension creeping up her spine. When Osias returned five minutes later, his eyes had darkened to storm clouds.
“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately.
He hesitated, glancing at Tasha, who didn’t pause in her work. During the past week, they’d grown comfortable discussing pride business around the makeup artist, trusting her discretion completely.
“The enforcers finished their investigation into the attack,” he said finally. “The men who tried to take you—they were rogue lions.”
Celina felt the blood drain from her face as the implications hit her. “Rogue lions?” Her voice came out smaller than she’d intended.
Osias moved closer, his presence immediately grounding her spiraling thoughts. “Yes, it means another lion shifter orchestrated the kidnapping attempt. Someone who wanted you taken for reasons we don’t understand yet.”
But who would?
The question died on her lips as Osias’s expression grew even more grim. He looked like a man preparing to deliver news that would shatter everything she thought she knew.
“Celina, there’s something else. Something I should have told you before, but I wasn’t sure when the right moment would be.” He took a deep breath, his blue eyes meeting hers in the mirror. “Rennick is a lion shifter.”
Her world tilted sideways. Celina gripped the arms of the makeup chair as nausea rolled through her stomach in waves.
Thirty years. Thirty years of Rennick managing every aspect of her life, making decisions for her, controlling her schedule and her choices, and he’d been a predator the entire time.
How could I not have known?
But even as the question formed, she realized how perfectly it explained everything. The way he always seemed to anticipate her needs before she voiced them. His uncanny ability to read people and situations. The subtle but constant pressure to let him handle everything.
“Celina?” Osias’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “Are you alright?”
She forced herself to focus on his face in the mirror, using his steady presence as an anchor. “I’m just... processing.”
The betrayal cut deeper than she’d expected.
Not because Rennick had kept his true nature secret—she could understand the need for discretion in a world where shifters remained hidden.
But because it cast everything else in a different light.
Every decision he’d made for her, every opportunity he’d steered her toward or away from, every relationship he’d discouraged.
Had any of it been about what was best for her? Or had it all been about maintaining control?
“Why wouldn’t he tell me?” she asked, though she suspected she already knew the answer.
Osias’s jaw tightened. “Maybe he didn’t want to risk scaring you off. Or maybe...” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “Maybe he knew that if you understood what he was, you’d start questioning whether you needed him as much as he wanted you to believe.”
The truth of it settled in her chest like a lead weight.
Rennick had built his entire relationship with her on the foundation of her dependence.
If she’d known he was a lion shifter—a creature with enhanced senses and instincts that gave him advantages she couldn’t match—would she have been so quick to defer to his judgment?
A knock on the trailer door interrupted her spiraling thoughts. “Celina? They need you on set in five minutes,” came the assistant director’s voice.
She stood on unsteady legs, Tasha quickly touching up her makeup and adjusting her costume. The familiar routine helped center her, reminding her that whatever personal chaos was unraveling around her, she still had a job to finish.
Osias walked with her toward the set, his hand a steady presence on her back. The action sequence they’d be filming today required her to trust Braxton completely—a car crash scene staged on a platform ten feet off the ground, where he’d need to catch her and pull her to safety.
Trust.
The word felt foreign after everything she’d just learned.