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?"

still knee-deep in damage control after the explosion. Daniel, of course, is already planning a redo of the

unspoken words simmering on Natalia's tongue, her silence crackling with disapproval. I knew she wanted to cuss out my father but

mini-wedding plans, forget dinner with the pack higher-ups. Tonight, we're breaking free." "Natalia," I started, the protest forming on my lips.

a porcelain 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 punched Nathan in the nose and demanded he told me he loved me

to the gut, jolting me

wiping the

rumor has it they have a

Nathan and

some girl time anyway, and you need a night to forget the bomb, the broken vows,

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

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

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

she promised, her voice already halfway

Lots and

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

fear and resignation. The girl who punched Nathan in the face and defied her father wasn't

through the rusty back gate, the cool night air a welcome slap against my burning cheeks. My heart hammered in my chest, a wild hummingbird trapped in a cage of nerves and

her voice a familiar melody in

I breathed, pulling the collar of my leather jacket tighter against the wind.

diamonds, seemed to pierce through my flimsy excuse. "The alpha throwing another tantrum?"

tasted bitter on my

her smile soft and understanding. “I get it,” she said, "It's been a hell of

to my bruised spirit. I let out a shaky laugh, feeling the

she declared, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Now, about