Chapter 44

Kingston

I had never imagined myself standing in a boutique tucked inside a back alley of the werewolf quarter, cradling a small velvet box like it contained the moon itself.

The jeweler, a stooped old human, had nodded when I told him what I wanted: something worthy of a woman who doesn’t know how worthy she is.

The ring he created wasn’t gaudy. It was simple, elegant. A pale silver band, delicately shaped like intertwining vines, with a single opal in the center that shimmered in refracted rainbows when it was in certain lights.

I knew in an instant that she would love it.

I stared at it now, the box heavy in my coat pocket as I walked briskly toward the office. Quietly, to myself, I admitted the truth I had been wrestling with since we had last spent the night together.

I was in love.

In love with a woman who challenged me, grounded me, and peeled back layers I didn’t know I had. A woman whose strength equaled my own.

Cora.

She might have been on the lookout for her mate, but I was going to show her that I would fulfill that role. I would be the man she was seeking out, even if I had to forcibly make myself into him.

I’d spent the entire morning imagining how I’d give the ring to her. Maybe after hours, just the two of us under the city lights. Or hell, maybe in the middle of the boardroom just to see her blush and roll her eyes while secretly melting.

But when I arrived back at work, her desk was empty.

I frowned. “Where’s Cora?” I asked one of the interns.

“Oh— She left. Said she wasn’t feeling well,” Maria said, not looking up from her monitor.

Left?

I whipped out my phone, expecting to have missed something.

No text. No message. Nothing.

An icy prickle crept down my spine.

I called her. Straight to voicemail.

Something was wrong.

I continued to call her, desperately trying to get a hold of her. The last time communications had been severed, she had walked straight into danger. My stomach clenched at the memory.

That couldn’t happen again.

By the time I got her on the line a few hours later, my mind had conjured every worst-case scenario: from Riley getting hurt again, to some new threat from Zach, to—

“I just needed space,” she said flatly, voice tight and detached. “I’ve had a lot to think about recently, you know.”

“Cora,” I said, stepping into my private office and shutting the door. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Silence. Then a quiet, brittle breath.

“This thing between us… It was fun, Kingston. But it was never more than that. My mate is out there, and I need to concentrate on finding him to fully awaken my wolf.”

Her words sliced clean through my chest.

I blinked, stunned. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” she said, with an edge of finality. “Let’s keep it professional. Just boss and secretary again.”

Boss and secretary?

She couldn’t be serious. How could we ever go back to just that?

I let out a bitter laugh before I could stop myself. “Cora. You saved my life. You’ve bled for me. You think I’m doing all this because I like how you file paperwork?”

She didn’t answer.

“I love you,” I said, fiercely now. “You know that. You feel it too. Stop pretending.”

“This isn’t a fairytale, Kingston,” she whispered. “I have to do this.”

And then, she hung up.

I stood there, staring at my phone, the echo of the call still vibrating in my head. My pulse pounded behind my eyes.

She was lying. I knew her. I knew her.

This wasn’t over.

She didn’t need me. That’s what made it worse. Or better. She’d fight tooth and nail for her son, for her independence, even if it meant lying to protect her heart. And still, I saw her—every crack, every layer. And I wanted all of it.

She didn’t believe in us yet. Maybe she couldn’t. But I did.

Love wasn’t just saying it. Not for someone like her. It was showing up. It was protecting what mattered to her. It was doing the impossible because she’d never ask for it.

So, I’d show her. With actions, not promises. With truth, not pressure.

If I had to fight the whole damn world to prove it, I would.

Because I’d already decided—she was it.

And I was going to make it clear to her, beyond a shadow a of a doubt.

Twenty minutes later, I was outside her home with the ring still in my pocket and a bouquet of fresh lilies in my hand.

The lights were on.

I knocked.

No answer.

I knocked again, harder.

Footsteps.

Then the door swung open, and my world shifted.

Cora stood there, eyes rimmed red like she’d been crying.

But she wasn’t alone.

Behind her, in his perfectly ironed button-up and little smirk, stood Ethan.

But seeing him next to a crying Cora wasn’t the worst part. He was also holding a ring box.

“What the hell is this?” I demanded.“You’re engaged?” The words came out harder than I intended, but I didn’t care.

Ethan gave me a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “Kingston,” he said, like he was greeting a damn brunch guest. “Bit of a shocker, huh? We didn’t exactly plan to announce it today, but…” He gave Cora’s shoulder a light squeeze. “Sometimes life throws you curveballs.”

Curveballs.

I could barely hear past the rush of blood in my ears. My gaze zeroed in on Cora. Her eyes were glassy. Her lips trembled before she pressed them together.

“Cora,” I said, low, steady, fighting to hold the pieces of myself in place. “Tell me this isn’t real.”

She hesitated. God, that hesitation almost saved me.

But then she nodded, barely. “We’re engaged,” she confirmed quietly.

I took a step closer. “You’re crying.”

“I’m just… overwhelmed,” she whispered, quickly dabbing at her eyes.

“You don’t love him,” I said. “You’re not even looking at him.”

“Don’t,” Ethan warned lightly, but I didn’t spare him a glance.

“Why?” I asked her, barely able to keep my voice level. “Is it because of what I said? Because I meant it? Was that too much?”

Cora looked away.

And that was enough of an answer.

“You’re lying,” I said quietly. “To yourself, to me. Hell, maybe even to him.”

“Don’t make this harder,” she choked out.

“It’s already hard,” I snapped. “But not because you’re with him. Because you’re not with me, and you should be. You know it too, whether we’re mates or not, you know it, Cora.”

Ethan stepped in then, placing himself between us like a damn prop. “Maybe this conversation should end here.”

I stared at him—at both of them—and took a breath that scraped like glass down my throat.

“Right,” I said coolly, offering her the flowers. “I see. Congrats. Hope the lie keeps you warm.”

I handed them to her anyway and turned on my heel.

But I didn’t go far.

I sat in my car, wrestling with myself and trying to get my feelings under control..

This wasn’t real. She was hiding. And the more I thought about it, the more I felt it wasn’t just fear. It was pain.

It couldn’t be real. This wasn’t how our story was meant to end.