The door clicked shut behind him, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
I’d just gotten a man fired. A senior executive. The other department heads were staring at me with naked hostility.
I’d just added to my long list of people who hated me.
“Ms. Garrett?”
Dimitri’s voice pulled me from my spiraling thoughts.His expression was neutral, but there was something in his eyes—something that wasn’t quite a smile but felt like approval.
“Excellent work. Your meticulous attention is exactly what this company needs.” He paused. “Starting today, you’ll be my Executive Assistant. You’ll review all documents and deals to spot any…inconsistencies.”
“What?” Maia shot to her feet, her face flushed with fury. “That position is reserved for people who are worth it! She—” Her eyes burned with anger and disgust as they landed on me. “She deserves nothing.”
My chest tightened, waiting for Dimitri to cave. To take back the promotion. To put me back in my place.
Instead, Dimitri turned to face her, his expression carved from stone. “It's my company, Mother. Let me run it.”
Something flickered in my chest. It was hope, dangerous and fragile.
Then his gaze landed on me, and whatever warmth I'd imagined vanished. “Besides, we've invested significantly in Isabella's education and position. It's time she started repaying that investment. This role will allow her to do exactly that.”
The hope died as quickly as it had sparked.
Investment. Repayment. Debt.
Not recognition. Not merit. Just another reminder that I owed them everything, that I was here on borrowed time and borrowed grace.
I nodded, throat tight, and forced the words out. “Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Ravencrest.”
My wolf whimpered somewhere deep inside me, small and broken. There was no fierceness in her, only the dull ache of surrender.
One day, I told myself as he stood and buttoned his suit jacket with practiced ease. One day I’ll be free of this place. One day I won't owe anyone anything.
“Meeting dismissed,” Dimitri said and walked out without looking back.
The weeksthat followed were a study in torture.
Dimitri was demanding, perfectionistic, with expectations that bordered on impossible. But he was also brilliant, fair, and when I succeeded—which I made damn sure I did—he acknowledged it.
“Good work,” he’d say, those two words sending warmth through my chest that had no business being there.
Once, when a senior executive made a snide comment about my age in a meeting, Dimitri’s eyes had gone cold as winter.
“Ms. Garrett’s analysis has saved this company more money in three weeks than your entire department managed last quarter, Patterson. I suggest you focus on your own performance.”
The man had practically shrunk in his seat.
And I—Goddess help me—I’d fallen a little bit in love with Dimitri Ravencrest right then and there.
Not the stupid childhood crush I’d had at thirteen when I’d first seen him. This was something deeper. Something dangerous. Every day I spent in his office, it grew. I watched him lead with strength and intelligence, saw the way he treated his people with respect, caught those rare moments when his mask slipped, and I glimpsed the man beneath the Alpha.
It was killing me.
Because I knew it was impossible. I knew he saw me as nothing more than an obligation, his father’s dying wish. Knew that even if, by some miracle, he was not likely to feel something for someone like me with no social status. Not when he had been surrounded by beautiful socialites and debutantes all his life. Plus, his father abandoned him for my mother. Because of my mother, he didn’t get to be with his father while he was growing up. And just like everyone else, he hated me for it. Maybe even more.
We were stepsiblings, if only on paper. The pack would never accept me. And if Maia ever found out, she’d burn my whole worldto the ground.
So,I kept my feelings buried, invisible like my pain, and pretended my heart didn’t race every time he said my name.
