Chapter 146

Dominic

Her tequila was balanced perfectly in the crook of her collarbone, and she held a slice of lime between her teeth. She whispered something obscene in my ear when I took the shot, I didn’t quite catch and didn’t want to.

The whole boat whooped, cheering, clapping, happy. To think that the people on this boat knew who I was and weren't freaking out because I was behaving like a normal person, I guess. It had been a long time since I had considered myself a normal person. Neil clapped and whooped louder than anyone, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

By the time we stumbled onto the deck again, the sky was streaked with pink and gold. The ship was cruising gently up the river, quieter than earlier now except for the rhythmic slap of water against the hull.

We sat on the floor eating greasy pizza slices from a box and picking crumbs out of the frosting of the cake that someone insisted we take with us.

“You’re ridiculous,” I said, mouth full, slumped, drunk, and exhilarated.

Alive.

Neil leaned back on his hands. “And yet, you’re smiling.”

I snorted. “I’m drunk.”

“You’re happy.”

I paused. Was I?

I hadn’t thought about Hazel all night. Hadn’t thought about Vivian. All the trouble brewing on the shore. Or whatever the hell was happening to all of us. For the first time in years… I was just Dominic.

“Thank you,” I said, genuinely. “I don’t remember the last time I had fun like this. Especially not on my birthday.”

Neil tipped his beer toward me in a mock salute. “Happy birthday, Dominic. First of a lot of good ones.”

Vivian

I woke to a pounding headache and the sour taste of old sugar on my tongue. My mouth was dry, and the mattress I was sprawled across did nothing to cushion the sharp pain in my lower back.

I sat up slowly, groaning.

Light streamed through the gap in the window curtain, slicing across the hardwood floor like knives into my brain. I rubbed my face and reached blindly for my phone on the nightstand.

One percent battery. Of course. There were a bunch of glass vials that were all empty nearby along with a few that were still full of whatever the hell that man gave me.

I opened my phone anyway and was immediately greeted by dozens of notifications. Most of them were irrelevant. One, however, stopped me cold.

BREAKING: Alpha Brightclaw & Lord Blackfang Partying on River Cruise for the Alpha's birthday.

A picture loaded under the headline. There was Dominic: laughing, flushed, sloppily drunk with a sash on his chest and glitter in his hair. His jacket was covered in white lunar flowers.

And next to him?

Neil.

They were side by side at a casino table, both mid-laugh, both very much at ease. The next photo was even worse: Dominic with a woman in his lap, lime between her teeth, tequila dripping down her chest. Neil was egging it on, drink raised in salute. I recognize a few other faces as a few of Dominic's friends from college.

My fingers tightened around the phone.

The caption read: “Birthday Blowout? Dominic Brightclaw and Neil Blackfang seen celebrating the alpha's birthday, but is that all?”

My stomach twisted.

Just beneath it was coverage on the progression of my case. Being subtle about it. How could he do this? How can you think I'd let him get away with this?

This was what I got? Public humiliation, no job, no money, no one willing to help me, and they were out celebrating. Laughing. Free.

I flung the phone across the room. It hit the wall with a hollow crack and slid to the floor, screen shattered, useless.

My breath came fast and shallow. I was invisible to them now. And if they thought I was done… they were going to learn just how dangerous being forgotten made me.

Renee

The first thing I saw that morning was the headline.

ALPHA BRIGHTCLAW & LORD BLACKFANG THROW RIVER CRUISE BIRTHDAY BASH.

The photos were… something else. I didn't even know it was Dominick's birthday. It wasn't exactly public knowledge, though. Everyone knew he was the Alpha.

One had Neil and Dominic at an oyster bar, laughing like old friends, drinks and oyster shells in hand. Dominic with a sash across his chest that read Birthday King. The next was of Dominic with a very forward woman leaning into him with a shot glass balanced between her collarbones. Neil was beside them, grinning like the devil himself.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

Honestly, I was more relieved than anything else. They’d clearly survived the date Arielle and I set up, and judging by these photos, they hadn’t just tolerated each other… they’d actually had fun.

I grabbed my phone and fired off a text to our group chat:

Me: Well… I see you two made friends. Hungover?

Neil responded first.

Neil: Not a chance. We’re professionals.

Dominic’s reply came a moment later.

Dominic: …

Then Neil again.

Neil: Don’t worry, I’ll give him back to you in one piece when we dock.

Dominic sent nothing else, which only made me grin harder.

The rest of the weekend passed without much fanfare. The guys were still away, and I threw myself into preparing for the gala. Arielle, grandpa, and I hit the city for a marathon shopping day.

I’ve never been the type to look forward to trying on clothes, but Arielle made it impossible not to have fun. She swept through the racks like she was planning a war strategy, pulling dresses I never would have touched myself. Plunging necklines, hip-high slits, shimmering fabrics that caught the light in ways that made me blush in the mirror.

“You keep reaching for safe,” she chided, plucking a muted gown from my hands and replacing it with a deep red silk number that looked dangerous just hanging on the hanger. “This is a gala. You want their eyes on you from the second you walk in until the second you leave.”

Grandpa nodded approvingly. “Red has always been your color.”

I laughed, but something in me was thrilled at the thought. Maybe I was ready for dangerous. After seeing Dominic and Neil doing bodyshots, it seemed a little silly to go for something reserved. My God, my head hurts.

I finally stepped out of the fitting room in the gown: a floor-length ruby red silk with a neckline that dipped scandalously low and a slit that teased just enough.

I felt different. Taller somehow. Braver. But as I turned to look in the mirror again, my reflection blurred.

And in that blur, I saw the shadowed figure from my dreams standing close behind my mother, his hand reaching out, his presence a suffocating, violent promise. I felt his presence more solidly, threatening me. Closer than ever. I could feel his hands around my neck.

My chest tightened. The store around me felt suddenly too loud, too bright.

I blinked hard, and it was gone.

Arielle’s eyes were on me instantly. “What did you just see?”

I hesitated, but she knew. She always knew.

So I told her. About the dreams that had been growing sharper, about the fragments of my mother’s voice, the cold, the struggle, and now this figure that felt too real to be some nightmare. Arielle’s expression shifted into something dark. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me, her voice low near my ear.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and there was a tremor in her words. “I didn’t realize you remembered that much. I didn't know you'd been there. When the full memory comes, when you can see who it was… I’ll take care of it.”

The promise in her tone sent a shiver down my spine.

I drew back just enough to look at her. “Arielle—”

“Not now.” She smoothed the silk over my hip and forced a small smile. “Don’t let this ruin it for you. You deserve to feel good for the gala. And that,” she nodded to the dress, “is exactly the way to do it.”

I didn’t argue. I bought the gown. I let Arielle pick my shoes, and I tried to push the flash of violence I'd seen in the mirror away. I couldn't let the past own me. I couldn't let it stop me either.

This gala was going to be the first time I saw Neil and Dominic in the same room with the rest of the world watching, and I was going to walk in feeling unstoppable. I can exactly show up not feeling that way, considering the mayhem they were raising on that cruise ship right now.

But a large part of me was worried because it felt like that man, whoever he was, wasn't just in my past, he was drawing closer and closer.

My real fear was not knowing who he was, how to stop him, and what he might still want with me.