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.

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

in the air between us. Natalia, bless her bluntness, knew me too well to let it linger. Instead, she sidestepped,

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 I, apparently, need

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

debris of today and paint the town red? Forget Daniel’s mini-wedding plans, forget dinner with the pack higher-ups. Tonight, we’re

started, the protest forming on my lips. “It’s past

the shadow he casts, but damn it, Maya, that’s

words were a punch to the

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

what about Nathan and

night to forget the bomb, the broken vows, the piece of shit that broke your heart. Plus, I have this new

“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

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

a breath of newfound defiance. “Just one

voice already halfway out the

dancing. Lots and lots

she declared, her mischievous laughter echoing down the hallway. “Tonight, my friend, we dance like there’s

chasing away the shadows of fear and resignation. The girl who punched Nathan in

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 excitement.

teased, her voice a familiar melody

collar of my leather jacket tighter against the wind.

through my flimsy excuse. “The alpha throwing another tantrum?”

bitter on my tongue. “Just needed to… collect

been a hell of a day. But tonight, we forget all that. Tonight,

let out a shaky laugh, feeling the tension seep out

declared, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Now, about that