Chapter 70

Renee

I stared. “Excuse me?”

“You need real food. A place with actual silverware. One night away from all of this.” He gestured to the building. "And I believe I promised to take you around Brightclaw, didn't I?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but I couldn’t quite find the energy to argue. And worse, I wanted to say yes.

Dominic arched a brow. “Unless you have plans tonight?"

I shook my head.

“Good. See you in an hour… Ms. Mountainhowl.”

Then, he walked past me without another word, leaving me feeling unsteady but… lighter. I got back to my seat, at the meal Neil left me and felt refreshed, energized enough to just barely finish the last report annotation that had to be done before Neil's team's supervisor came in telling us to pack up and "get out" within the next five minutes.

"Orders from on high."

I noted she was already packed and leaving. I locked my documents and things up, grabbed my bag and coat and headed out. My bodyguard escorted me to another entrance where Dominic was waiting beside a familiar looking car.

He smiled, looking over me. "I'm glad you had something to eat first… We're going shopping first."

My eyes bulged. "What?"

When Dominic said he was taking me out, I thought maybe he meant a burger or something fast and casual. But he drove me to a sleek boutique tucked into a marble-lined corner of Brightclaw's main shopping district where the mannequins looked like they judged people for breathing wrong. It was the kind of place I had been to with Vivian before not to buy anything for myself, but to watch her shop.

“I’m not sure about this,” I murmured as we stepped inside. The lighting was soft, flattering, and intimidating. “I have dresses at home.”

Dominic didn’t even pretend to care. “And now you’ll have one more. Pick something nice.”

I wandered between racks, fingertips brushing fabrics I could never justify buying for myself. Everything was soft, expensive, and tailored for a body that looked nothing like mine. Eventually, I picked a navy slip dress—simple, elegant, unassuming. It was the kind of thing you wore when you didn’t want to be noticed but also didn’t want to be mistaken for the help.

I went to try it on, noting that Dominic had found a different sales clerk than the man who had led me to the changing room. His face was neutral, but whatever he said to the other clerk made her eyes perk up. She scurried off as I tried on the dress.

It fit.

I thought that was the end of it so I changed out of it and stepped out. By then, the female clerk had come back, with this wildly determined look in her eyes.

"Compliments of Alpha." She plucked the navy dress from my hand and put a wrack of other gown in similar sizing on the rail inside the changing room before closing the door. There wasn't a single dress on the rack I would have picked for myself. Emerald, gold, garnet, even a deep plum with a neckline that made me genuinely nervous. I ended up in a deep green one that hugged in places I’d usually hide and dipped low at the back. I stepped out to ask for a different size, and Dominic just looked up from his phone. He stared at me. His eyes dragging over me with a heat that made my whole body warm.

“That one,” he said breathlessly.

I turned in the mirror. I barely recognized myself. But something in his expression made me stand taller. I nodded as the clerk beamed nearby.

"I… guess, this one. Thank you."

We went to find shoes next. He didn't even let me glance at the price. Then, he shuffled me off to some boutique spa to shower, get my hair done, and dressed. By the time I was done, he had also changed into a different suit. His pocket square matched my dress.

By the time we pulled up to the restaurant, I understood why this was all necessary. The place sat atop one of Brightclaw’s tallest high-rises, a shimmering needle of glass and steel. The view from the balcony was ridiculous. The city lights looked like someone had scattered stars across the ground. I knew this place from Vivian's social media posts, but I had never been inside.

“I figured this place was on your list,” Dominic said, holding the door as we stepped into the open air. “Vivian used to come here just for the balcony.”

“I’ve always wanted to see it in person,” I admitted. “Didn’t think I’d come here like this though…”

“With me?”

I glanced away, suddenly shy. “In a dress I didn’t pick. At a place I can’t afford. On a night I didn’t see coming.”

His smile was softer than I expected. “I told you—I’d take you around Brightclaw. This is just a start.”

The food was amazing, but it was the way the candlelight played on his face, the way the wind lifted my hair and made me feel like maybe I wasn’t buried under a mountain of disappointment and doubt, that left the biggest impression.

We talked about books. And how Brightclaw used to be nothing but forests and shrines. He asked me how I was settling in with Arielle and classes, my hopes for the future. Things I was interested in trying next.

It was… romantic.

Painfully so.

And it made my chest ache.

Because as much as I wanted to pretend, this wasn’t simple. There was Neil. There was our age and status difference. And the simple fear of taking another risk romantically, especially since I was already splitting in two.

Dominic

She relaxed a bit, but there was still that haunted look in her eye, a darkness behind her words. I didn’t expect her to tell me what was bothering her. Renee wasn’t the type to unload her burdens on anyone. She was too… self-possessed and independent for that. I knew now that it was because she had never had a safe place to unload anything living with Philip.

But as dinner came to a close and we'd finished dessert, the silence that fell seemed to press on her. I could see her guard slipping. She let out a heavy sigh, looking down at the lights of Brightclaw glittering below and the wind tugging gently at her hair. We were walking out of the restaurant when she finally spoke.

"Could I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What… would you do if you found out that Vivian wasn't your daughter?"

My heart jumped into my throat. There was no way she could know. There was no way anyone knew beside me and Lara. The words still came without hesitation, startling me.

“I raised her,” I said. “She’s my daughter.” Her jaw trembled. Her eyes glossed over. "What's the context for this question, Renee?"

Her jaw trembled, she drew into herself.

“I got a DNA test.” She look away, seemingly ashamed. “Philip’s my father."

I blinked and froze, realizing what she wasn't saying. I had no idea that there had ever been a doubt.

"I found out somethings about my parents and I wondered if… if maybe…"

My heart softened. She didn't have to tell me for me to see the thought process. If she wasn't his biological daughter, maybe she could excuse some of his behavior.

"That's… gracious of you… and very self-negligent." Her lips twitched and she let out a stilted laugh. "You cannot take on the blame for your mistreatment, Renee. He's a grown man who made the choice to treat you terribly."

I drew closer, lifting her head so our gazes met. I saw the fracture in her heart, the raw wound of Philip's treatment.

“The way he treated you wasn’t about blood. That was about who he is. To tell yourself anything else will only impede your healing.”

She didn’t reply. Just started walking again. I walked her down to the front where her driver was waiting. She looked troubled, but held her chin high. I admired her for that. I wanted to reach for her hand and didn’t.

“Get some rest,” I said, opening the car door for her. "Let's… do this again soon."

She smiled weakly at me. "Thank you, Alpha Brightclaw."

"Dominic," I said, meeting her gaze. "I think we're more than on first name basis, Renee."

Her cheeks pinked but she nodded and slipped inside.

I drove back to the estate alone, city lights streaking past the windows . My chest was still tight, my head spinning with the memory of her laugh over wine, the way her eyes softened when she saw the view. I should have been more prepared. I probably shouldn't have taken her there at all. Shouldn't have enjoyed it the way I had either.

It had been a date. I knew it. She knew it.

And it felt too damn good.

I stepped into the house just in time to hear Vivian’s voice ricocheting off the walls.

“I'll have your head for this, you fucking thief! Where is it?"