~ TESSA'S POV~
"Stop this nonsense immediately!" His voice cracked through the line, sharp, cold, leaving no room for hesitation.
My fingers tightened around the phone. What was I even thinking answering this call?
"Stop what, Thomas? I don't understand what you're talking about." My words rushed out, too fast, almost defensive.
"Oh, really?" His tone dipped lower, darker, each word deliberate. "You want to play dumb now, right?"
I swallowed hard, pulse racing. "What the hell are you talking about, Thomas?"
"You know exactly what I mean." A pause, thick, dangerous. Then he snapped, "Leave Robert Miller immediately and return home!"
I jerked upright, the command slamming against me like a blow. "Excuse me? You don't get to order me around!"
His breath hit the line, heavy, controlled, but barely. "I'm not asking. I'm telling you. End it. Now."
My chest burned, but I forced my voice steady. "You've lost your mind, if you think I'm walking away just because you said so..."
"Mind?" His bitter laugh scraped through the receiver. "You're the one who's lost yours, parading around with a rival Alpha like some reckless child. Do you even realize what you're doing?"
"Don't you dare speak to me like that." My voice rose, heat chasing the fear knotting inside. "You don't own me, Thomas"
Silence. Then, colder than before, he said, "I warned you once. Don't make me repeat myself."
The blood drained from my face, my nose flaring as the sounds from the screen blurred before me. My hands shook, tightening around the phone like it was the only thing keeping me upright.
"Robert Miller's house is my home, Thomas. I am going nowhere!" My voice came sharp, clipped, every syllable holding back the fire rising inside me.
A low scoff rolled through the line. "You have twenty-four hours. If you don't comply, you'll meet me in gathering of the council."
The words sliced, but I forced air through my lungs. "And why is that?" My question snapped, sharper than I intended. "Why Thomas?"
He didn't hesitate. His tone came clean, calculated, dripping with venom.
"Defamation. You're dragging my name through the dirt, dragging my Pack through it too. I won't stand here and watch you destroy everything I built, for Melissa."
My chest tightened at the name, the sheer arrogance lacing it. My grip tightened until my knuckles whitened. "Melissa?" I repeated, almost a laugh, but it cracked mid-breath. "So this is what it's really about. Her."
"This is about me!" His voice thundered through the receiver, controlled but on the edge of snapping. "My name. My Pack. My empire. My blood, sweat, and years. You think you can tear that down with your reckless choices?"
"My choices?" I cut in, heat rising in my throat. "Don't twist this on me, Thomas. You want me gone because I chose to stand where you couldn't control me anymore. That's all this is."
His silence was short, brutal. Then, "Control? You think this is about control? It's about survival. About respect. You've turned yourself into a spectacle, flaunting around with a rival like…" He broke off, breathing hard, then lowered his voice, deadly calm. "Enough. You come back, or I will bury you before the council of elders. That's a promise."
I pressed the phone tighter to my ear, as if leaning into his threat. "Try me," I whispered, low, steady, the tremor in my body refusing to spill into my voice. "Take me before the council of elders, Thomas Drag my name, drag Robert's name…let's see who burns first."
"You're underestimating me."
"And you," I fired back, "are underestimating me."
The silence stretched this time, long, brittle. I could almost hear his jaw clenching, his breath measured in ragged restraint.
Finally, he spoke, slow, deliberate, like each word was a blade. "Twenty-four hours. Not a second more."
The line went dead.
I stood there, the phone still pressed against my ear, my chest rising and falling as if I had been sprinting. My throat tightened, and though no tears fell, my vision blurred, heat pooling in my eyes.
I lowered the phone, staring at the blank screen. My lungs burned with the breath I didn't realize I was holding. My reflection in the glass showed pale cheeks, wide eyes, a storm trapped in them.
My whole body shook, with fear.
The phone screen glared at me, Thomas' last words still flashing bold across the message. My chest heaved, breath trapped somewhere between my ribs and throat.
"Thank goodness he wasn't here," I muttered under my breath, pacing. "He'd see it. You'd see all of it written on me."
I dragged my hand across my face, fingers trembling. My knees buckled and I collapsed into the couch, the cushions swallowing me whole.
"What do I do now?" I whispered, the sound almost too fragile to exist. My lips quivered as I clutched the phone tighter. "If Robert finds out about this…"
The thought died before I could finish it.
Thomas' voice shoved its way back into my head, harsh and echoing, See you in the gathering of elders.
I jerked, as though he'd shouted right beside me. My heart leapt, my skin breaking into prickling heat.
"No, no, no…" I rocked forward, pressing my forehead against my palm. "He can't know. Robert can't know."
The door creaked.
I shot up, fumbling for the phone and shoving it under a pillow. My pulse banged in my ears as heavy footsteps crossed the threshold.
"Tessa?"
His voice, deep, steady, achingly familiar, hit me like a jolt.
Robert.
I forced a swallow, blinking fast, pasting what I hoped looked like calm onto my face. "You're… you're home early."
He arched a brow, eyes narrowing slightly as he shrugged off his jacket. "Early? It's past midnight. You didn't notice the time?"
I laughed nervously, the sound breaking halfway through. "I was just… distracted."
"Distracted?" He tilted his head, studying me with that wolfish sharpness that always seemed to strip me bare. "By what?"
The question speared through me. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
Say it. Tell him about Thomas. Remember the whole honesty stuff!
"No—nothing," I stammered, hugging my arms around myself. "Just… bills. You know how it gets."
He didn't move. His gaze burned steady, heavy enough to crush me if I let it. "Tessa."
I froze.
He stepped closer, each stride measured. "You're pale. And you keep avoiding my eyes."
"I'm not," I whispered, but I, didn't even believe it.
He reached out suddenly, lifting my chin with two fingers. My breath hitched. His eyes scanned mine, searching, demanding.
"Something happened," he said firmly. Not a question, an accusation.
The words tangled in my throat. I wanted to spill everything, the message, the threat, the way Thomas' voice wouldn't leave my head. But then I saw it. The storm brewing in Robert's gaze, the promise of violence at the mere hint of someone hurting me.
If I told him now, he'd explode. He'd hunt Thomas down without a second thought. And maybe that's what Thomas wanted, for more blood to be spilled by both Packs.
"I…" My voice cracked. "It's nothing."
Robert's jaw tightened. His hand lingered at my chin, then dropped away with a sharp exhale. He turned slightly, pacing toward the window. "You think you can lie to me and I won't notice?"
The tension in the room grew unbearable. I could feel his anger simmering, not directed at me yet, but waiting, waiting for the truth.
"Robert, please," I said, my voice trembling. "Not tonight."
He spun back, brows drawn low. "Then when, Tessa? When do you plan on telling me what's going on?"
My fingers twisted together until my knuckles burned white. My eyes flicked, against my will, to the pillow where my phone was buried. His gaze followed the movement instantly.
He strode to the couch,grabbed the pillow, and tossed it aside. The phone slid into the open.
My heart dropped.
"Tessa Sinclair" His voice, low and dangerous.