Bonds

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.

not about the fire, darling. It’s about the embers. They’re still there,

Natalia, bless her bluntness, knew me too well to let it linger. Instead,

picking at a chipped piece of nail polish. “He’s probably still knee-deep in damage control after the explosion. Daniel, of course, is already planning a redo of the wedding since

on Natalia’s tongue, her silence crackling with disapproval. I

the town red? Forget Daniel’s mini-wedding plans, forget dinner with the pack

started, the protest forming on my lips. “It’s past ten. I don’t think my

me off, her voice firm despite the playful glint in her eyes I knew would be dancing in her eyes, “You are a grown woman, not 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

a punch to the gut, jolting me out of

we going?” I whispered, wiping the tears that threatened to

new club that just opened,” she chirped, her excitement 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 to check it out, and tonight, my friend, tonight is

about Nathan

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

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 ten minutes. We’re painting the town ruby red, Maya Stone, and for once, the only fireworks will be the ones

help 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

agreed, the word slipping out on a breath of

her voice already halfway out the

sure there’s dancing. Lots and lots

the hallway. “Tonight, my friend, we

of fear and resignation. The girl who punched Nathan in the face and defied her father wasn’t dead, she was simply hibernating. And

chest, a wild hummingbird trapped in a cage of nerves and excitement. There she was,

enough, Rapunzel,” she teased, her voice a familiar melody in the symphony of

breathed, pulling the collar of my leather jacket tighter against the wind. “Just… needed a

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

bitter on my tongue. “Just needed to… collect

she said, “It’s been a hell of a day. But

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

a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Now,