42.The last dinner

Ethan Greenwood.

I hated the feeling of being pressured. Alphas were made to give orders, command, and control their pack, not be pressured.

I was in one of the offices inherited from my father. We were respected throughout the city because my father had many businesses here, and all the wolves, humans, whoever they were, respected the Greenwood name. This situation would never have happened with my father. The feared Alpha.

For a long time, I thought I was like him. But if I had to choose between marrying a she-wolf I couldn’t stand and protecting my son, I would choose the latter.

"Alpha." Nick entered the office with the phone in hand.

"What is it?" I stared at him.

"The leader of the pack wants to talk to you, Ethan."

Oh no... What does that son of a bitch want?

I grabbed the phone from the beta’s hands quickly. I was ready to tell him a few choice words.

"What do you want?" I said through gritted teeth.

"Is that how you talk to old friends, Alpha Greenwood?"

"We’re not friends. We just have an alliance, to leave each other in peace, and you’re breaking it."

"I’m doing this for the good of all. And by the end of the night, you’ll announce your engagement to my cousin Amber, and announce that she will be the future Luna of your pack."

"Or what?" I growled, challenging him.

"I’ll take your hybrid child, Ethan, and this time you won’t find him because I’ll kill him and offer him to my wolves," he threatened. "And you know that when I want something, I get it."

Rage bubbled up inside me. I wanted to kill him, rip his head off in one go. I hated this idiot.

I knew Lorenzo was in danger. If the Blackthorn Pack joined forces with those who wanted Mia and Lorenzo’s heads, we’d all be screwed. I couldn’t risk my life, the lives of the pack members, or especially my son. I would have to marry Amber. I no longer saw a choice.

"Ethan... My Alpha, you know we can fight. We can go against them in a battle, our wolves are strong and..."

"And kill innocents? Take lives? You know Blackthorn is a lunatic. He wants that potion at any cost, and even though I’m the biggest Alpha in the territory, I won’t be able to stop him. As soon as this potion story leaks, they’ll want Mia’s head."

I paced the office, my chest heavy with the decision that seemed inevitable. Marry Amber. Announce to everyone that she would be my Luna. The thought repulsed me. That woman was toxic, manipulative, and I could barely stand her presence, let alone see her as the mother of my future children. But if it was the only way to keep Lorenzo safe, the only way to protect Mia...

Mia.

The mere mention of her name in my mind made me stop in my tracks. She was a complication I wasn’t ready to deal with. From the moment I found out she had a pup of mine, my life turned upside down. I knew I should never have gotten involved with her, but now, with Lorenzo between us, it seemed impossible to cut her out of my life. She was... important to me. More than I wanted to admit.

I let the anger take over and left the office, passing by Nick without saying a word. The transformation came quickly and brutally. Bones breaking, muscles expanding. I felt the wolf inside me take control, releasing all the fury I had been trying to suppress. When the transformation was complete, I ran through the forest, my mind and body in sync with the nature around me.

The trees blurred past me, the wind blowing hard against my fur. I needed this. The freedom, the anonymity of just being a wild wolf for a few moments. Running without thinking, without worrying about decisions or alliances. But even so, Mia and Lorenzo kept invading my thoughts.

I knew I had to make a decision. Mia would never be my Luna. She didn’t belong to this world, and my priority should be to protect my son, maintain peace with the wolves who could destroy us. But the idea of distancing myself from her... of never feeling that attraction that burned every time we were together... it was unbearable.

When I returned to my human form, I decided I needed one last night with Mia. A night where things wouldn’t be so complicated, where we could forget the imminent war and just... be. Maybe it was my way of saying goodbye, or maybe it was a way for me to try to understand why she was so important to me.

When I returned to the house, I found Mia in Lorenzo’s room, busy with the day’s concerns. I watched her in silence for a few seconds, as if I wanted to preserve every detail of her in that memory.

"Do you want to have dinner with me?" I asked, my voice softer than I intended.

She turned around, surprised. "Now?"

"Yes. Just the two of us. No questions. One last dinner."

Mia stayed silent, analyzing my words, and I knew she felt the weight of what was to come. She didn’t ask what I was planning, and I was relieved by that. This night would just be ours, no questions, no plans.

"I’ll pick you up at the reserve at 7."

At 7 o’clock, as promised, I passed by the reserve to pick up Mia. When she appeared, Lorenzo was already asleep, and the silence around us seemed to amplify every step she took toward me. She looked beautiful, simple, but with a glow that always made something stir inside me.

"Shall we go?" I asked, trying to keep a casual tone, but the tension between us was impossible to ignore.

Mia nodded, and we got in the car. I drove to the place I had reserved. It was one of my favorite spots in the city, a terrace on top of the clothing store my mother always went to. The view from the place was spectacular—the whole city stretched below us, the lights twinkling like terrestrial stars. A perfect night for a dinner that I knew meant much more than either of us was willing to admit.

When we arrived, I took Mia to the terrace, which was empty except for a perfectly set table and a bottle of wine already opened. The city lights in the background created a magical setting, and for a moment, I watched her as she looked around, clearly impressed.

"How did you manage this?" She asked, laughing lightly, as if it was impossible for her to believe that something like this was reserved just for us.

"I get anything I want, Mia," I replied with a half-smile, enjoying the way she looked at the landscape. "Almost everything."

There was a pause in the air. The strange atmosphere that had been there since I saw her earlier seemed to grow, taking over the space around us. I moved closer, our bodies now closer than ever.

"Almost?" She repeated, frowning, the doubt clear in her voice.

My eyes locked onto hers, intense, revealing more than I had planned. The truth was there, something I had been trying to deny from the start. "You... you’re the one thing I haven’t been able to have."

Those words seemed to resonate in the silence. Mia froze, her gaze locked on mine, and then, before I could think about what I was doing, I leaned in and kissed her.

It was like fire and explosion at the same time. She kissed me back with the same intensity, and soon our hands were exploring, grabbing, tearing off clothes as if time was our enemy. The heat of our bodies together in the cool night air, the feeling of her skin against mine... everything felt right, even though reason said otherwise.

On the terrace, under the stars and the city lights, all that mattered was that moment, but I knew that the next day I would have to announce my engagement to Amber.