Chapter 81
ELODIE’S POV~
I saw them coming before Johnny did.
The conference hall was filling up with voices bouncing off the high ceilings, chairs scraping, that weird echo that happens when too many people try to talk at once. Johnny was showing me something on his tablet, some note about Professor Nolan’s previous presentations, but I wasn’t really paying attention.
I felt it first. That pull.
God, I hated that I still felt it.
My wolf perked up, alert, and I wanted to tell her to stop, to just stop because it didn’t matter, he didn’t want us, but she never listened. She never learned.
Dante walked in.
And right behind him, Sienna’s hand tucked into the crook of his arm like it belonged there.
They were headed toward the front. Of course they were. Dante’s company had one of the biggest exhibitions here, and he was… he was Dante. Alpha of the Bellini Pack. He could probably sit on the damn stage if he wanted.
My chest hurt.
I looked down at my tablet. Focused on the screen even though the words blurred together into nonsense.
“Elodie?” Johnny’s voice, quiet beside me.
“I’m fine p>
I wasn’t fine.
They were getting closer. Walking down the center aisle, and we were sitting right there, middle section, fourth row, and they were going to pass right by us, and I couldn’t p>
I couldn’t breathe properly.
Sienna’s perfume reached me first. That expensive floral scent. Then Dante’s scent underneath it, filled with pine and winter and something that used to mean home and my wolf whined so pathetically I wanted to claw her out of my chest.
Stop it. Stop.
I kept my eyes on the tablet.
Johnny shifted beside me. Protective, maybe. Or just uncomfortable. I couldn’t tell without looking at him, and I wasn’t looking up, wasn’t watching them pass, wasn’t… didn’t even want to.
Sienna’s heels clicked against the floor as They passed our row and Kept walking.
They Didn’t stop. Didn’t pause. Didn’t even glance over.
Like we weren’t there.
Like I wasn’t.
My fingers tightened on the tablet. The edge bit into my palm.
Breathe, Elodie. Breathe.
“Elodie.” Johnny again. His hand touched my arm, gentle. “You okay p>
“Yeah.” My voice sounded normal. I was getting good at that. “Yeah, I’m fine p>
The whispers started a few seconds later, right Behind us. Two rows back, maybe three.
“—sitting in the front row p>
“—of course they are, did you see p>
“— this is the chance to talk to Professor Nolan p>
“God, how lucky is that p>
Lucky. Right.
I watched them take their seats at the Front row, and at the center. The best seats in the hall. Sienna smoothed her skirt as she sat, crossed her legs, leaned slightly toward Dante to say something that made him nod.
They looked… good together.
That’s what people would think, anyway. Alpha and his… whatever she was. Mate? No, they weren’t bonded. But they looked like they could be. Like they *should* be.
Like they made sense in a way I never had.
Johnny leaned closer, his shoulder brushing mine. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “Even if she gets to talk to Professor Nolan, she won’t impress him. I’ve met her before, remember? She doesn’t have the technical knowledge to p>
“What if she’s better than we think?” The words came out sharper than I meant them to.
Johnny blinked. “What p>
“What if she’s just been… hiding it? Playing dumb?” I don’t know why I said it. Don’t know why the thought even occurred to me except that I was tired… so tired… of underestimating people who kept winning anyway.
Johnny frowned. Opened his mouth and then Closed it.
“I mean He shifted. “I guess that’s possible, but p>
The host walked onto the stage, and the room started settling. All the voices dropped. And Chairs stopped their scraping.
I looked down at my tablet again. Unseeing everything happening in my surroundings.
Johnny was probably right. Sienna didn’t have the background, didn’t have the expertise. She was PR, marketing, pack politics. Not tech.
But she was sitting in the front row next to Dante, and I was sitting here in the middle section, and somehow that felt like it mattered more than expertise.
The host was talking. Doing his Introductions, giving his thank-yous, the usual pre-speech nonsense that no one really listened to.
I tried to focus. Tried to care.
My wolf was still whining. Still pulling toward the front row, toward the scent of pine and winter that meant alpha, that meant mate, that meant everything we weren’t allowed to have anymore.
He doesn’t want us, I told her again. He made that clear.
She didn’t believe me.
God, I wished she would.
“—let’s welcome Professor Nolan to the stage p>
Applause erupted. I clapped too, automatically, not really thinking about it.
Professor Nolan walked out, and the whispers started up again, filled with excitement this time, even anticipation. He was younger than I expected. Early forties, maybe. Tall, and slim, wearing this frameless glasses that caught the stage lights.
He looked… intimidating, actually. That sharp, analytical expression that some geniuses got. Like he could see through you, see all the ways you were inadequate, and wasn’t impressed.
The applause faded.
Silence then settled over the hall.
Professor Nolan stood at the podium, adjusting his glasses. His cold gaze swept the audience, his gaze was extremely detached when it passed over our section that I felt myself wanting to shrink down, to be smaller, less visible.
Then his eyes landed on the front row.
On Dante. On Sienna, sitting beside him.
Something flickered across Nolan’s face. I didn’t even know what it was.
Professor Nolan cleared his throat, and the room fell silent again.
“Good evening,” he began. His voice was calm, measured. “I’d like to start by thanking the organizers for this opportunity p>
________________
SIENNA p>
Professor Nolan’s voice filled the hall, and I smiled.
Perfect. Everything was going exactly how I needed it to.
“I’d like to thank the organizers for this wonderful opportunity p>
He was giving a polite speech. The kind of speech important people gave when they were being diplomatic. I wasn’t really listening to the words, I didn’t need to. What mattered was that I was sitting here, front row, right next to Dante, where everyone could see me.
Where she could see me.
I didn’t turn around to check, but I knew Elodie was back there somewhere. Middle section, probably. With Johnny and his little tech team, pretending she belonged at an event like this.
God, the audacity.
She’d looked so calm earlier, explaining those systems to the investors like she actually mattered. Like she was someone worth listening to. It was almost impressive, really, how well she played the part.
But that’s all it was. Playing.
I was the one sitting next to the Alpha of the Bellini Pack. I was the one people would remember.
Professor Nolan was answering questions now. Some boring technical thing about encryption protocols that made my eyes want to glaze over, but I kept my expression interested. Engaged. The trick was to nod at the right moments, to look thoughtful when he paused.
People around me were scribbling notes, whispering to each other about algorithm applications or whatever. I just smiled.
Didn’t need to understand it. Just needed to look like I did.
Beside me, Dante shifted slightly. His arm brushed mine, and I let it stay there. Didn’t pull away.
Half an hour crawled by, Professor Nolan’s voice kept droning on about innovation and security measures and then finally, finally, he stepped down from the stage.
This was it.
The organizers had prepared a seat for him. At the Front row, in the center of the hall. Right in the middle of all of us.
As he walked down the aisle, everyone in the front row stood.
I stood too, smoothing my skirt, making sure my posture was perfect. My Shoulders back, keeping my chin up. The kind of confident elegance that photographs well.
The other alphas and executives were already extending their hands, greeting him like he was royalty.
Professor Nolan moved down the line, shaking hands with that cold, detached expression he wore like armor. He didn’t smile much. Didn’t seem impressed by any of them.
But it was good though. It made it more of a challenge.
Dante stepped forward when Nolan reached us.
“Mr. Nolan.” Dante’s voice was smooth. “It’s been a long time p>
Nolan’s expression didn’t change, but he extended his hand. “It has p>
They’d met before, apparently. Years ago. Dante had mentioned it once, briefly, but hadn’t elaborated on it.
I didn’t waste time wondering about it.
I stepped forward, my hand already extended, my smile already in place. “Hello, Mr. Nolan. I’m Sienna Brown. It’s such a pleasure to meet you p>
His eyes flicked to me. Cold and Assessing.
For a second I wondered if he’d dismiss me entirely, but then his hand met mine. Briefly and. Professional. His grip was firm but not warm.
“Miss Brown.” He gave a nod. Nothing more.
Then he moved on, shaking hands with the others behind me, and I stepped back, satisfied.
Contact made. Impression left.
That’s all I needed.
Nolan took his seat between Dante and some oil pack representative from the northern territories. Immediately, the man on Nolan’s left started talking, something about collaborative projects and investment opportunities.
Nolan responded barely. He gave Short, clipped answers that didn’t invite further conversation, but the man kept trying anyway.
I watched, waiting for my moment.
Dante had sat back down, and I was blocked. Nolan was right there, so close I could reach out and touch his shoulder, but Dante was in the way.
And it was Frustrating.
I leaned closer to Dante, keeping my voice low. “You’re not going to talk to him p>
Dante didn’t look at me. His eyes stayed on the stage, where the next speaker was setting up. “No p>
“Why not? You said you knew each other p>
“We do p>
That wasn’t an answer.
I frowned, glancing at Nolan. He was still half-listening to the northern pack representative, his expression giving away absolutely nothing.
This was a rare opportunity. Professor Nolan didn’t attend events like this often, he was too important, too in-demand. Having him here, sitting right next to us, and Dante wasn’t even trying to—
“Did you two have a falling out?” I asked, unable to keep the confusion out of my voice.
Dante’s mouth twitched. Almost a smile. “No p>
“Then why aren’t you p>
“He doesn’t think highly of me p>
I blinked in shock. “What p>