Bonds of the Alpha Billionaire (Maya and Alex)

Chapter Six

-Maya's POV-

Natalia's voice, muffled through the phone, jolted me out of a daze. "You really think he did it?" Her words felt like sandpaper against my raw nerves.

I let out a sigh, "I don't know," the confession scraping my throat, "But think of it, Natalia. If I were to bomb a place, why would I leave evidence that it was me on the bomb?" "Exactly!" Natalia's sharp tone crackled through the receiver. "My thoughts exactly. But still, he's the only one with a motive to stop the wedding. Maybe he realized what he lost."

I shook my head, the gesture echoing the hollowness inside me, "I looked into his eyes. The Alex that loved me... I didn't see that man anymore. There was anger, yes, but also a stranger, someone consumed by something I couldn't understand."

A beat of silence hung between us, thick with unspoken doubts. "So maybe it was his way of making good on that threat. Maybe this was his way of showing Everton that he means to really go to war with your father."

"And my father, of course, couldn't help but blame me," I muttered, bitterness lacing my voice.

"When are you going to stand up-?" Shebegan, her question hanging in the air.

"No, Natalia, please don't," I interrupted, my voice laced with a plea. "I did that once, and it ended with my heart in pieces. That fire..." I choked back a sob, the memory a barbed wire twisting in my gut. "It's gone."

"Amaya..." Her voice was laced with concern, reaching across the miles to wrap around me in a virtual hug.

I clutched the phone tighter, "It's gone," I repeated.

Silence followed as I stared at myself in the mirror. A stranger stared back, her eyes dull with pain, her lips drawn in a tight line of resignation.

Natalia's voice broke through the fog. "Amaya..." she began, her tone softer now, filled with understanding. "It's not about the fire, darling. It's about the embers. They're still there, glowing under the ashes. You just need to find the courage to fan them back into life."

"Maybe," was my only reply, a single word that hung heavy in the air between us. Natalia, bless her bluntness, knew me too well to let it linger. Instead, she sidestepped, her voice sharp but warm. "Has Ivan called you yet?"

a chipped piece of nail polish. "He's probably still knee-deep in damage control after the explosion. Daniel, of course, is already planning

words simmering on Natalia's tongue, her silence crackling with disapproval. I knew

today and paint the town red? Forget Daniel's mini-wedding plans, forget dinner with the pack higher-ups. Tonight,

doll to be shelved at his will. I know it's easier to just comply, to shrink into the shadow he casts, but damn it, Maya, that's not you. I miss the girl who could stare down a rogue wolf and laugh in his face. I miss the firebrand who started a rebellion in college because a professor misquoted Nietzsche. I miss the you that wouldn't back down from anything, the you that

were a punch to the gut, jolting

wiping the

infectious. "Big Shot, it's called, and rumor has it they have a dance floor that hypnotizes and cocktails that sing opera. I've been dying

Nathan and

girl time anyway, and you need a night to forget the bomb, the broken vows, the piece of shit that broke your heart. Plus, I have this new outfit that practically screams 'watch me dance,'

already planning the escape. "Don't worry about details, I'll handle everything. I'll text you the address, you wear something that sets your inner warrior goddess on fire, and meet me by the back gate in

but laugh, the sound bubbling up from a place I thought had been buried under the rubble of the day. The Natalia Rant, as she affectionately called it, had a way of doing that, of stripping away the self-doubt and reminding me of the fire that

out on a breath of newfound defiance. "Just one favor,

she promised, her voice

Lots and lots

laughter echoing down the hallway. "Tonight, my friend, we dance like

The girl who punched Nathan in the face and defied her father wasn't dead, she

my chest, a wild hummingbird trapped in a cage of nerves and excitement. There she was, Natalia, silhouetted against the streetlamp, arms crossed and

Rapunzel," she teased, her voice a familiar melody in the

of my leather jacket tighter against the

pierce through my flimsy excuse. "The alpha throwing another tantrum?" she asked,

lie tasted bitter on my tongue. "Just needed

get it,” she said, "It's been a hell

spirit. I let out a shaky laugh, feeling the tension seep out of my shoulders.

in