Chapter 61: A finished man

Dorian’s relatives left the next morning before dawn brightened the sky. With their chaotic, bustling presence gone, the mansion returned to its quiet, calm routine.

But Dorian hadn’t been able to get any answers from Kalista. The woman remained tight-lipped about the strange girl she had met all those years ago.

He desperately wanted to know the exact timeline of that meeting to see if it tallied with Alyssa’s age. Something in his gut told him that Rachel could very well be Alyssa’s mother.

If they could find her mother, they would finally get answers about what Alyssa truly was. But doing so was far easier said than done.

In the early hours of that morning, he sat hunched over the desk in his study, filling out reports and reviewing important tasks on his MacBook.

In just a few hours, he and Alyssa were scheduled to leave for their honeymoon. He would have preferred to cancel it, especially with so many threats beginning to rear up.

But he desperately wanted to be alone with her, completely undisturbed. He wanted to steal just one week with her before she had to officially begin her duties as Luna.

The door opened suddenly, startling him from his deep thoughts. He raised his head, a dark scowl marring his handsome face the moment Samantha stepped inside.

She walked toward his desk and set down a mug of black coffee.

"I didn’t ask for this," he muttered coldly.

"I know. I just thought you might need it. I saw the light on and knew you were still in here."

She lowered herself into the adjacent leather chair, crossed her legs, and watched him.

Now that her glamorous lifestyle was gone, she looked basic, dressed in a plain lemon dress with a white apron tied around her waist, her short hair wrapped neatly in a scarf.

Yet, she still wore her pride like armor. Her eyes still flashed haughtily, her lips curled into the familiar, smug sneer, and she carried herself with dominance even though she had been reduced to a mere servant.

"You work too hard, Dorian," she continued. "You should be resting."

"What do you want, Samantha?" Dorian growled, his voice low but sharp.

"I’m just being caring," Samantha replied. "You know I’ve always cared about you."

"I don’t need your care," Dorian replied smoothly, turning right back to his laptop and completely ignoring her.

But that didn’t deter Samantha; she was a woman on a mission. There was a time Dorian had been crazy about her, even if that craziness had only stemmed from wild sex.

She genuinely believed she could get under his skin again before he fell completely for the little brat he married.

"I know I was wrong for what I did to Alyssa," she continued, leaning forward across his desk. "I was angry and jealous, and I acted out. I shouldn’t have tried to get rid of her, but I loved you too much, Dorian. I didn’t want to lose you, and I felt threatened by her presence."

"You already lost me," Dorian retorted, not even raising his eyes from his screen. "Even before you tried to attack my wife. There was never a future between us."

"Let me make amends, then," Samantha suggested. "I’m not asking you to leave Alyssa and marry me. I’ve come to terms with that. I just want my status back."

"That is never going to happen."

"I’ll do anything," she rushed on. "Anything you want. You know I’m always ready to go to extreme lengths to make you feel good."

Dorian slowly lifted his head. The look in his eyes shifted, morphing from cold indifference to burning disgust.

"That right there is the difference between you and Alyssa," he snarled. "You can’t solve all your problems with sex, Samantha. You’ll only end up used by every male you come across, ruined and discarded."

He sat up straighter, leveling a furious, unyielding gaze at her. "Let this be the last time you ever mention getting your status back. You should be thankful I didn’t kill you for hiring that Shadow shifter. Get out of my sight!"

Samantha’s face flamed with a mixture of embarrassment and rage. She had come here in the quiet of the morning, knowing no one would disturb them, hoping Dorian would be in a receptive mood. Instead, she had only managed to make her situation worse.

She opened her mouth to protest, tears slowly welling in her eyes, when the study door opened.

Alyssa stepped in, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She froze when her gaze landed on Samantha, then on Dorian. Her initial surprise quickly melted, replaced by a confused frown.

The rage in Dorian’s expression faded the moment he looked at her. He lifted his hand to her. "Come here, my love."

Alyssa walked further into the study and shut the door. She rounded the desk, placing her hand into Dorian’s warm palm.

He pulled her straight into his lap, his lips already trailing up the gentle curve of her neck.

Unable to sit there and watch him show affection to someone she considered beneath her, Samantha lunged to her feet and stormed out of the study, slamming the door loudly behind her.

Alyssa flinched at the harsh sound, her eyes shifting to the untouched mug of coffee on the desk.

"She brought you coffee?" she whispered.

"She did," Dorian agreed, nuzzling into her neck and breathing in her comforting scent.

"What did she want?"

Dorian lifted his head and gently cupped her cheek. "Something unimportant. She wanted her status back."

Alyssa’s frown deepened. She hated the sharp twinge of jealousy she felt whenever she saw Samantha. From the moment they first met, she had felt deeply intimidated by her. Samantha was beautiful, elegant, and posh, and being reduced to a servant didn’t diminish that.

Annoyed with herself for feeling insecure, Alyssa pushed the coffee mug away and snuggled into Dorian’s embrace.

Dorian cradled her close, dropping light kisses onto her hair. "How long have you been awake?"

"Just a few minutes," she whispered. "I didn’t find you in the room, so I knew you would be down here."

Dorian pressed a soft kiss to her lips and smiled. "I wanted to complete a few pack reports before we leave for our honeymoon. I don’t want anything to disturb our time together."

Her lips finally pulled into a smile. "Are you done now?"

​"Almost." He glanced at the clock at the edge of the desk. It was just a few minutes past 5:00 AM. "Why don’t you sleep a little more? You’re up early."

"Will you come back with me?"

His smile widened, the smile of a completely finished man, or an Alpha King in this case. "Sure. I will."

Suddenly, the door flew open and Jake barged inside, holding a tablet in one hand. He looked like he had just awakened from a deep sleep, complete with messy hair, cloudy eyes, and rumpled nightwear.

The moment he realized he interrupted a private moment, he froze, then quickly turned to leave.

"Wait," Dorian snapped. He would usually punish his beta for barging in so recklessly, but the look in Jake’s eyes told him it was urgent.

Jake turned back around, a tense, apologetic smile stretching his lips. "Forgive me, Alpha, Luna. I thought the Alpha was alone."

Dorian ignored the apology. He turned to Alyssa, pressing one final kiss to her lips. "Go back to bed. I’ll join you once I’m done here."

She nodded softly. "Okay."

She slipped off his lap and walked toward the door, kindly brushing Jake’s awkward apology aside as she passed.

The moment the door clicked shut behind her, Dorian’s calm facade dropped. He turned a lethal gaze toward his beta.

"Must you barge in like a lunatic?" he snapped. "I won’t be so forgiving next time."

"I’m so sorry, Alpha. I didn’t want to waste another second."

Dorian leaned back into his leather chair. "What is it?"

"I received a call from the car company concerning the highway accident."

That instantly gripped Dorian’s full attention. "What about it?"

"They were able to identify who Arrow Rogers was," Jake reported. "The existing record for him came back as deceased. He’s dead. He was the Shadow shifter who kidnapped Luna Alyssa."

Everything suddenly clicked into place in Dorian’s mind. The reckless driver who had caused the accident was Pilate Rogers, and he was clearly trying to avenge his brother’s death.

"I take it Pilate is the older brother," he muttered, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes, Alpha. But Pilate isn’t a Shadow shifter like his brother." Jake swallowed hard, looking straight at Dorian. "He’s a shapeshifter."

Dorian’s mood plummeted instantly. Shapeshifters were deemed deadlier than Shadow shifters because they didn’t just hide in the dark; they could take the physical form and scent of any human or creature perfectly.

With Pilate being a shapeshifter, he could already be living right inside the pack, and Dorian wouldn’t even know.