Chapter 14
Calhoun’s POV
“Calhoun p>
Carmela’s voice sounded far away, even though she stood right in front of me. Sweet. Coy. But I couldn’t feel anything but the ice crawling up my spine. I stared at her, letting the silence stretch between us, letting my eyes pin her where she stood. Her smile faltered, unease flickering across her face.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, softer now, like she sensed the shift.
I should’ve stayed quiet. Should’ve let it pass. But the words tore out of me, sharply.
“Why did you do it p>
Her head tilted. “Do what p>
My control snapped.
“Don’t play with me, Carmela. Why the fuck did you set Elodie up p>
The name hit her like a slap, but instead of guilt, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, this again? She’s just some Gamma. Why are you even this worked up? You said it yourself, she was nothing but an assistant p>
And she was right. I had said that. Over and over, I’d forced those words out like they meant something, like if I said them enough I’d believe them. But hearing them from her mouth made bile rise in my throat.
Because no matter how many times I told myself Elodie was nothing, my chest still burned like fire every time I remembered her eyes. The betrayal in them. The hurt I’d put there.
Carmela stepped closer, her perfume choking me. She reached for my arm, a fake smile curving her lips. “You’re tired. Let’s eat. You’ll feel better p>
Her touch felt wrong. I shoved her hand off me, not hard, just enough to make her stumble back.
“Eat alone.” My voice was ice, stripped of every ounce of patience.
The shock on her face almost amused me. Days, weeks, I’d played along, given her whatever she wanted, covered her tracks. But now? Now she saw something else. The wolf in me staring back at her, not the polished CEO she paraded around.
“What the hell, Calhoun?” Her voice sharpened, anger replacing her surprise. “You’re pushing me away, for her? For Elodie? That pathetic little secretary p>
Her words clawed into me, twisting, digging deeper than I wanted to admit. She made Elodie sound like nothing. Like dust beneath her heels. And maybe that’s how I’d treated her too. But the thought of Carmela spitting her name like that, like venom, made me want to break something.
I bit down hard, jaw aching, fists trembling against the desk as I forced my voice level. “Get out p>
She scoffed, livid. “You’ve lost your fucking mind.” Then she stormed out, slamming the door so hard the glass rattled.
And just like that, silence swallowed me whole.
I dropped into my chair, elbows braced on the desk, dragging my hands down my face. For hours I drowned myself in work, reports, numbers, deals. All of it meaningless noise to keep from hearing my own thoughts. The skyline outside bled from gold to black, and still I kept at it, clawing for distraction.
But no matter what I buried myself in, I couldn’t shake off Elodie’s face.
The way she looked at me the last time, her eyes shining, but not from tears. From fury. From heartbreak. Like she’d given me every last piece of herself, and I’d ground it into ash beneath my heel.
The ache in my chest spread until I could barely breathe. My wolf clawed under my skin, restless, agitated, howling her name through every vein in my body.
I checked my phone. Nothing. No call. No message. Nothing.
And then quietly, like admitting I sinned, I let it slip out.
“Elodie p>
Her name cracked in my throat, broke me open. Just two syllables, but it was enough to gut me. The office felt too big, too cold, too empty without her.
And for the first time in years, I felt something close to fear.
Because I’d lost her.
No matter how late I stayed at the office, she had always been there. Elodie never complained, never asked for more than I gave. She ran my world with quiet efficiency, like it was second nature to her. And I had destroyed her for it.
My chest tightened as memories clawed at me. The nights we stayed too late and lines blurred, the times I had her pressed against the glass, the city sprawling below us like a kingdom we owned. I fucked her with every fiber of my being and I enjoyed it. Her body trembling beneath mine, her beautiful face flushed, so soft and innocent it made me lose control. I had taken too much from her, too rough, too demanding, yet she never stopped looking at me with those eyes like I was more than I really was.
Fuck.
I dug my fingers into my hair, trying to stop the avalanche of memories, but they kept coming. The tears in her eyes when she broke, when she finally realized I would never choose her. The look that cut deeper than any blade.
I snatched my phone and dialed Mila. Each second it rang stretched on, ringing repeatedly and I waited with bated breath. When she finally picked up, I didn’t even breathe, I just spilled it out.
“Mila, tell me where she is. Where did Elodie go p>
For a moment, silence followed. Then a laugh. Bitter. Empty. “Are you out of your fucking mind? You’re still playing house with Carmela and now you want to hunt Elodie down? What the hell for, Calhoun p>
I swallowed hard, my throat raw, gripping the phone so tightly it creaked. “I know now. I know everything. Carmela set her up, every lie, every piece of it, she staged it all. I’ll make her confess. I’ll drag her to Elodie myself and make her apologize. I’ll give Elodie her job back, her life back. I’ll p>
Mila cut me off, her voice slicing through me. She meant business. “Save your bullshit. Elodie doesn’t need your scraps of guilt. And you’ll never find her. Not now. Not in this lifetime p>
Then the line went dead.
The sound of the dial tone filled the room. For a moment, I just stood there, listening to it, breathing through the rage tearing at my ribs. Then I snapped.
The phone left my hand and smashed against the floor, pieces scattering like glass teeth. My wolf snarled beneath my skin, pacing, hungry for violence. But violence wouldn’t bring her back. Nothing would.
And then I heard it. The door creaked open behind me.
My heart stuttered, hope striking like lightning through a storm. My body moved before I could think, spinning toward the sound. My voice cracked out, raw, so desperate and called p>
“Elodie p>
Her name ripped from me, broken and reverent all at once. For half a second, I let myself believe she was standing there. That she had come back. That I hadn’t lost her.
Then the silhouette there turned to face me.