Chapter 123
Ellie's POV
I stand outside the Alpha mansion far longer than I should.
My hands are curled into tight fists at my sides, and my pulse pounds loudly enough that I'm convinced even the stone lions guarding the entrance can hear it.
I don't want to be here.
The thought loops through my head like a warning.
It doesn't matter.
No one refuses an invitation from an Alpha family.
Especially not when the "invitation" arrives in the form of a carefully worded letter after you've publicly embarrassed them at a gala.
It wasn't really an invitation.
It was a reminder.
A warning.
So I straighten my shoulders, lift my chin, and knock.
The door opens almost immediately.
Dominic stands on the other side.
For a heartbeat, neither of us speaks.
Neither of us even moves.
He looks... different.
Not softer—Dominic has never looked soft a day in his life—but unsettled.
His dark hair is still damp from a shower, a few strands falling across his forehead. A fitted black shirt stretches across his broad shoulders, the sleeves rolled casually to his forearms.
He looks unfairly handsome.
The realization catches me off guard.
I shove it away just as quickly.
The last memory I have of us is still too fresh.
Too painful.
I lower my eyes and tighten my grip on my purse.
His gaze sweeps over me for only a second before shifting away.
"I told them not to do this," he says quietly.
No hello.
No welcome.
No, how have you been?
Maybe I don't deserve one.
Maybe I'm the one who should apologize.
Instead, I simply let out a slow breath.
"I know."
There's nothing else to say.
So I step past him into the house.
The heavy doors close behind me with a soft click.
For some reason, it sounds less like a door closing...
...and more like a trap locking shut.
Dinner has already been arranged.
Everything is immaculate.
Crystal glasses sparkle beneath the chandelier. Silverware gleams against perfectly folded linen. Candles flicker between elegant floral arrangements, turning the dining room into something that feels more like a stage than a place to eat.
Every detail seems designed to remind me exactly whose house I'm standing in.
Dominic's parents greet me with warm smiles.
Too warm.
His mother's hands settle lightly on my arms as she looks me over.
"Oh, Ellie," she says sweetly, "you look absolutely darling."
She smiles at my dress.
"It's beautiful."
"Thank you."
I force a polite smile.
"It belonged to my mother."
I brace myself for awkward questions.
For lectures.
For subtle reminders about what happened at the gala.
None come.
Instead...
They're perfectly pleasant.
Somehow, that worries me even more.
We take our seats.
Naturally, Dominic and I are placed beside each other.
Our chairs are close enough that if either of us shifts even slightly, our knees brush beneath the table.
Neither of us moves.
Still, the space between us feels charged.
Heavy.
Alive.
Like it's waiting for one of us to break first.
Conversation begins around us, flowing easily between his parents.
Oddly enough, neither of us is really included.
For the first time, I wonder if this is what Dominic lives with every day.
People are speaking around him instead of to him.
Decisions being made without asking what he wants.
The realization is strangely unsettling.
Most of the conversation turns toward me.
My studies.
My standing at the Healer Academy.
My future.
Compliments dressed up as expectations.
"She's exceptional," Dominic's mother says proudly, as though she's already speaking about family.
"Top of her class."
"So disciplined."
"So levelheaded."
I smile because it's expected.
My cheeks are beginning to ache from holding the expression.
Beside me, Dominic remains silent.
His father laughs as he recalls a story from Dominic's childhood.
"He couldn't have been more than eight," he says. "A visiting Alpha demanded that every child bow."
He chuckles into his wine.
"Dominic crossed his arms and refused."
His mother laughs.
"He told the poor man that respect had to be earned."
The table fills with quiet amusement.
I glance sideways.
For just a moment, I catch the irritation that flashes across Dominic's face before he buries it behind the same unreadable mask he always wears.
If I hadn't been looking directly at him...
I would've missed it entirely.