Thursday morning came too fast. Staring at the ring on his finger, he remembered what happened that night for the first time.
He remembered how he arrived at his engagement party almost drunk, with voices murmuring across the room too inaudible to hear.
Iris, though angry, didn't say a word. She was happy he didn't disappoint her and that meant everything to her.
That one reckless, anonymous night looped in his mind. There was a sharp pang he couldn't explain, something gnawing at the edges of memory.
He thought back to try and remember her laugh and the tilt of her head. The way she held herself like she was untouchable, yet somehow fragile.
He tried to shake it off. He shouldn't feel this way, he shouldn't care.
He had no memory of her face nor did he get her name or number. It was an honest mistake which should be forgotten but he couldn't ignore it.
Thursday morning arrived for Ember and she had to be present at her new job. Once she settled in, her desk was immediately filled with files.
The morning had already been a blur of meetings and coffee in between , her mind had been focused on spreadsheets, client calls, and her boss's endless instructions though they hadn't met yet.
So much for the first day of work. Iris had given her files to prepare beforehand as they were to go in for an important board meeting with her fiancé.
But stepping into the glass-walled boardroom of her company, her jaw dropped when she saw him.
She froze.
He was there. Standing at the head of the table, tailored suit impeccable, the aura of authority radiated from him like heat.
The same intensity, the same sharp eyes… but nothing clicked.
Why….. Why is he there ? Something must have definitely been wrong with her eyes.
She rubbed her eyes with her thumbs, closed them again but he was still there.
Nothing in her rational mind said she should remember Monday night.
She swallowed and breathed "Just act normal." She murmured to herself.
She was still in a state of intense panic when a round of applause startled her and she snapped out of her reverie.
"Morning, everyone," he said, his voice calm and professional. No hint of Monday night, no hint of recognition.
Her fingers tightened around her notebook. He didn't remember. Or so it seemed.
He stepped a few inches from where he was, with confidence, head high and briefcase in hand.
"The deal is important. The investors are high-profile. Nothing can falter, nothing has to." He said.
But the moment he saw Iris' new assistant seated at the side, something inside him tightened. She was….. familiar. Familiar in a way that shouldn't make sense.
He studied her quietly and attentively but carefully trying not to make eye contact with her.
He didn't seem to remember her face, not consciously
And yet his wolf reacted. Reacted with heat, with pulse, with instinct.
She belonged to him.
The thought was sharp, unbidden and dangerous.
He pushed it aside, professionalism first. This is a business meeting, not a playground for whatever reckless chemistry he could have with her.
As the meeting began, she tried to focus on the presentation slides as bullet points blur together.
Her attention fractured every time he glanced at her. He didn't look like someone she slept next to on Monday.
He looked like an Alpha. The kind of man who commands rooms, commands people and commands loyalty.
And yet…
Something pulled at her , low and sharp, beneath logic and rational thought.
She shifted in her seat, forcing herself to concentrate. But the closer he moved, the more impossible it felt to pretend she didn't know him.
And when he wasn't speaking, he listened and nodded when necessary.
The room cleared for a brief coffee break. She headed to the counter and he followed, pretending he was casually studying a portfolio.
She turned and their eyes met just a second longer than necessary.
She flinched and he noticed the flinch. A flicker of interest crossed his face, calm and professional, but enough to unsettle her.
No one said a word. Nothing is acknowledged.
"Did I introduce you to my new assistant yet?" Iris interrupted putting her arms into his from behind.
She raised her hand motioning "Ember come over here darling"
She walked half dead, half alive to where they were standing.
"Oh I see we are all here." A voice interrupts. It is Mr Adams. Iris' father.
"Everyone, so sorry I am late. I want to introduce someone very important," he says, his voice smooth but carrying the weight of authority.
"This is Mr Edward Drew, my daughter's fiancé and the future of our partnership."
Ember's stomach twisted. Something instinctual and sharp warned her to stay calm.
Everyone started clapping and very quickly, Iris kissed him. He kissed her right back before everyone present.
Her eyes flicked to him. He was watching too, but now the tension had already sharpened. He still had not recognized her.
"Everyone, this is my daughter, Iris. She just returned from our office in Colorado. She'll be taking an active role in the partnership and, of course, in the family affairs that matter most."
Iris stepped forward, her eyes scanning the room like a predator mapping the terrain.
"Congratulations babe. I am happy we get to work together" Iris said smoothly, eyes flickered briefly toward her alpha.
Ember felt it instinctively, the undercurrent of competition, the unspoken claim. Every muscle in her body tensed.
She wanted to back away, to fade into the room, but something inside her won't let her.
It dawned on her immediately, she made out with the alpha on the same day of his engagement.
She felt disgusted at the sight of what was now unfolding before her.
Iris took a seat opposite him, her gaze slid over the room, then landed on Ember for a heartbeat too long.
A subtle smirk, a slight tilt of her head, a warning or a challenge, she couldn't make out.
Her heart pounded. What if she knew she had spent the night of her engagement with her fiancé ? Thoughts crisscrossed her mind as she sat uncomfortably.
She stiffened .The wolf pressed closer beneath her skin.
Edward sensed it, too, an invisible tension snapped tight between them.
For the first time, the stakes were no longer just professional. Something was brewing. Something unavoidable.
And no one in the room, not her boss, not Edward, not Iris and not the investors had any idea about the night she shared with him.
The boardroom emptied , leaving her alone for a few minutes with Iris and Edward.
Iris excused herself to take a phone call. He was closer now to her and he could smell her.
Her faint cologne, something untamed beneath it. He should leave. He knew the rules. End the meeting, move on, don't linger.
Yet his feet stayed planted, his attention caught on the quiet way she gathered her papers, precise and controlled, like she was holding herself together by force of habit.
Something tightened in his chest.
He didn't understand it. He had felt attraction before. Desire and Interest. None of them feel like this, like a pressure building beneath his ribs, urging him closer while warning him not to move at all.
She looked up.
The moment their eyes met, his wolf stirred hard enough to steal his breath.
Her smell was familiar, so familiar but he didn't know how. She wanted to look away, to pretend she didn't feel it.
He turned to leave, in an attempt to act professional. "Do we know each other?". The question slipped out rougher than he intended.
She froze.
Just for a fraction of a second. Her eyes flickered and for the briefest moment, he could swear he saw pain there.
"Not sure sir. Today is my first time seeing you."
The answer should settle it. But it didn't . He didn't remember her. And yet his body did..
"Right," he said , because anything else would crack the moment open.
She turned and walked out without looking back, he stood there longer than he should, staring at the door.
He didn't know her. That's the truth his mind insists on.