Chapter 24

“I’m not speaking of Philip. I’m speaking of the Frostborn Pack.” He tilted his head. “They are not the same entity.”

“And that’s where you’re mistaken.” My voice rose despite myself. I sounded more bitter than I had meant to, but when I thought about it, I couldn’t help it. “You’re asking me to protect his cronies and everyone who had benefited from my suffering when not a single one of them bothered to even try to protect me.”

“What about —” He swallowed and took a deep breath. “ I am asking you to think of your children who may be in a very similar position that you were in part of the Frostborne pack.”

I blinked. “ What children?”

He frowned and went to pull another document. He pushed it across the table to me. It was a census of Frostborne.

“Are you telling me this is incorrect?”

I looked down at it. “ If there is a newborn ive never seen them. And there are definitely no kids that are elementary school age.” I rolled my eyes. “ Phillip had the habit of kicking out people that had no use for him. Children are at the top of that list.”

He nodded, taking another note. “On a brighter note, it is likely that Philip will be foud guilty of more than enough that emancipation won’t make any difference… You may even be pushed into becoming alpha regent until you’re of—”

“I’d dissolve it.”

He blinked. He looked down at the page, then to the stack of case documents before nodding.

“Understood.” He took a note. “I believe… I hear what you haven’t said.”

“Do you?”

He nodded. “When you are of age, do you intend to register with your mother's birth pack?”

I bit my lip. “If it's an option”

He nodded, his gaze softened. “Have you ever interacted with your mother’s birth pack?”

I shrugged. “It… may have happened when she was still alive, but I don’t remember.”

“I’ll get started on reaching out to them and set something up. If she has any siblings, or her parents are alive, I’ll try to make an introduction.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

We fell into quiet as he kept writing, asking questions, and taking notes.

Soon enough, my lawyer was excusing himself, stating that he had a meeting to get so and that he would be in contact. As soon as he left, I realized that I should’ve left with him. I should’ve thanked Dominic for backing off and just exited the chamber with whatever dignity I had left. But I didn’t. I lingered. And realized all too quickly that being alone with Dominic was way more primal than I had imagined. The air felt charged, and I felt so aware of every move, every sound, and every shift of his presence that it was hard to think of anything else. He was still writing, head bowed and focused, but the angle just made my imagination run wild.

I could see the top of his head, and when he glanced up with just a glint of that blood-red light still inh is eyes, I thought of what it would be like to have him between my thighs driving right of the edge of sanity with his mouth.

Tyler had never done that to me, but I had read enough rauchy books to know that it was a thing that would feel good. I bit my lip and dragged my gaze away before he looked up again and saw it in my eyes. After a second, he stood and went to the window. He leaned against it, seemingly trying to put distance between us. Maybe he’d already seen it on my face. With his back turned it was easier to look at him. The light caught on the gold crest stitched into his cuff. His cologne, oddly light, curled in the air. A warm amber and cedar scent, and I hated how it stirred more heat in me. I kept clenching my thighs, waiting for him to turn around and… do something.

“I can feel you staring at me, Renee,” he said softly.

I smirked. “Not much else to look at. No art? All monochrome. Pretty bland.”

“I don’t usually entertain in my working offices.”

“So you have an entertaining office?” I asked.

He turned, cocking an eyebrow at me. His gaze dragging over me. “And if I did?”

“Are there… actual pens in this office?”

His lips twitched. “How forward of you, Renee. I didn’t expect it.”

“Am I surprising you?”

“Left and right.”

“Glad I could put you on your toes,” I said even as my stomach squirmed at the thought of his hand around my neck, my toes barely scraping the ground as he thrust into me.

Goddess, what was wrong with me? I’d never had such dirty thoughts before.

“In all seriousness,” he turned to face me fully. “I was impressed. You stood your ground against the council. You did well. If accounting doesn’t work out, you’d make a hell of a lawyer.”

I wasn’t sure what to do with the approval I saw in his eyes—or the heat that came with it. Because it wasn’t just admiration.

I cleared my throat and sat back in my seat, crossing my legs and trying to ignore the pulsing ache between them.

“About the other day,” I said, voice quieter than I meant, “when I…. when we…”

He didn’t flinch. But he also didn’t look away.

“I need to know what that was, when you returned the—”

“Adrenaline.”

I cocked an eyebrow and glanced down to the bulge in his pants. “Still adrenaline?”

Dominic didn’t answer. The heat in his eyes nearly knocked the breath out of me.

“Don’t make this… more complicated than it already will be, Renee,” he said finally, voice rough.

“So it wasn’t just adrenaline.” I bobbed my head and averted my gaze. My heart stuttered. My pulse answered before my mouth did.

“Well,” I said, trying for steady, “that complicates things.”

“No. It doesn’t.”

He took a step toward me and learned on his desk in front of me. There was was barely an inch between us.

“I’m your guardian right now,” he whispered. “Aside from everything else, it cannot complicate things any further than it already has.”

I nodded, looking up at him. “Then… I suppose you shouldn’t keep looking at me like that.”

He chuckled. “Granted.”

He reached back and grabbed the page he’d been working on.

“This is an estimated budget I put together. Tell me what you think.”

I took the page and my jaw dropped at the total.

“It should be more than enough to keep you comfortable. Food, clothing, housing, security—”

“It’s too much,” I cut in, handing the paper back to him. “I’m not Vivian.”

He blinked at me, clearly caught off guard.

“I’m not going to blow through money on clothes and clubs and six-dollar coffees just because I can,” I added, more softly now. “My mother worked too hard for this. I won’t disrespect her memory or legacy by being frivolous.”

His gaze lingered on me for a moment, unreadable. “It’s not frivolous to want comfort.”

“No,” I agreed, “but it is wasteful to treat comfort like it’s owed just because I inherited it. I plan to work full-time. I’m not getting a license for show. I’ll find something better than the accounting clerk job I’ve been doing.”

He leaned back, studying me like I’d just said something impossible. “You really mean that.”

“Of course I do.”

Silence stretched between us again, but this time it wasn’t tense—it was thoughtful.

“Very well, what seems more reasonable to you?”

“A fourth.”

“Half.”

I scowled at him. “A fifth.”

He laughed. “Three-quarters.”

I huffed. “You’re supposed to go down.”

He smirked, eyes glinting. “And you were supposed to go up. Guess we should try again.”

I huffed, glowering at him. I sighed.

“It’s too much. I plan to live in one of my mother’s properties,” I added. “There’s a townhome in the city that was recently remodeled. If it’s still available, I’d like to move there. That housing line is too big… among other things.”

Dominic nodded slowly. “We’ll check with the estate lawyer and make it happen. I’ll concede to half.”

“Two-fifths.”

He chuckled. “Fine. We’ll leave it at two-fifths with the option to expand later.”

I nodded. “I’ll need help getting my things out of the Frostborne house.” I tried to keep my tone even, but the knot in my stomach betrayed me. The thought of walking back into that place—into Philip’s house—made my skin crawl.

“I’ll arrange a moving crew,” Dominic said without hesitation. “Pack-affiliated, background-checked. You won’t have to lift a finger.”

“And you’ll oversee it?” I asked, arching a brow.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Of course.”

Something about the way he said it made warmth crawl down my spine.

He tapped his pen against the edge of the table. “We’ll rediscuss your monthly budget once you’ve found a job. Fair?”

I gave him a nod, a slow smile forming. “Fair… as long as you plan to decrease it.”

He smirked and took note. “We’ll see how you feel.”