"Hello, little Willi..." Veronica greeted her nephew in a soft voice barely audible over the sound of the wind. "You dressed to impress, as always, I see."
His imposing and measured silhouette leaned with calculated ease against the gleaming hood of a Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII. The black metal gleamed in the light, reflecting his figure in a tailored suit and serene face. The air around him was permeated with the intense scent of expensive tobacco, mixed with a deep perfume.
William didn't respond immediately. His gaze, icy and precise, slid over his aunt's figure with the same surgical coldness with which he made every deal in his various businesses. Veronica, immaculate as always, looked like she had stepped out of an expensive culinary magazine, polished by discipline and ambition.
"You're no one to talk about that, dear aunt," he finally replied, his voice low but firm, without looking away. "When it comes to standing out, you're the first to do it."
Veronica laughed softly, crossing her arms and shrugging with an elegance she seemed to have possessed since birth.
"Touché..." she agreed with a crooked smile. "Let's agree that we both do it effortlessly and without seeking it... Let's just say it's part of the Aballay charm."
William hummed, then turned his body slightly, wanting to remove himself from the conversation. Taking a step toward the back door of the car, he opened it with a precise, unhurried, and expressionless movement.
"Wait." Veronica's voice immediately changed, taking on a firmer, almost imperative tone. In the blink of an eye, she uncrossed her arms, stepped off the hood, and climbed in beside him. Closing the door with a soft click, the final sound of an irrevocable movement. "You're getting more and more impatient, did you know that?"
"Impatient or practical," William replied, pulling out his cell phone, "call it what you want."
Veronica looked at the alpha for a few moments, then sighed and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Sarah and I were just joking about the bar," she said, her voice now low, with a maternal tone, "but if there's a real problem... You can talk to us. We're not your parents, we know that very well... but ever since they died in that shootout, we both saw you as our own child."
William pressed his lips together, slowly putting his cell phone aside. The emotional impact was immediate, piercing. As if the words uncovered something he had laboriously sealed for years.
"I know," he said finally, his voice tense. "I'm grateful for everything you did." It's just that... I'm in a complicated situation right now. I recently met an omega who threw me off more than I'd like to admit, and...
"And you don't know how to approach her without scaring her," Veronica interrupted gently, as if reading her mind, "because she lives in a different world from yours, one where the Aballay don't exist."
The dark-haired man looked up, surprised not only by how accurately his aunt guessed what he was thinking, but also by the fact that something in her tone told him she was speaking from experience.
"How...?"
"Your case, whether real or just a hypothesis for this discussion, is identical to mine with Sarah." Veronica leaned her head back on the back of her seat, staring at the roof of the car. Her eyes shone with something deeper than nostalgia. "As you know, I came to the family business when I was young," she began, "and one of my first tasks was to take care of delivering flowers to the funeral of an executed partner. Sarah worked at the flower shop I went to... When our eyes met, I felt something I'd never felt before. An instant connection, much stronger than any pack bond I'd ever felt."
"That's what I felt with her." William swallowed. The memory of Erika, with her silver hair, broken voice, eyes like wounded moons. His world had collapsed as soon as he saw her.
Veronica gave a faint, almost tender smile, like someone who recognizes an old version of herself in another.
"Since that first meeting, I always kept my composure, of course," she said, her soft voice heavy with nostalgia. "But inside... I was in chaos. I did one stupid thing after another just to get her attention. I bought flowers with any ridiculous excuse, invented absurd excuses for a reason to see her."
The older alpha laughed, but it held a hint of bitterness she didn't try to hide.
"But fear paralyzed me, kept me from closing that damned gap between us. Fear that she would hate me, that she would run away... or worse, that she would stay and I would destroy her with this life." She paused, interlacing her fingers tightly. "It took me so long to decide what to do, I even considered doing something crazy."
William frowned, alert.
"What kind of crazy?"
"I thought about disappearing," Veronica confessed, staring off into the distance. "Changing my name, cutting all ties with the family. Anything to avoid dragging her into this legacy." He clenched his jaw before continuing. "But I realized that would have been even worse. Running away would only have put her in more danger. And I... I would have spent the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, hoping my past would catch up with me..." In the end, I decided to face it all and gamble with the truth... something I've never regretted.
She then turned her gaze to William, her eyes hard as steel.
"When we love, we do it with all our might, William, and that... makes us dangerous. If we're rejected, if we're betrayed or pushed away... we react. Not as individuals, but as a pack that destroys everything in its path. That's why I'm telling you, you must be careful with her."
William simply nodded, but the weight of the words fell like lead, squeezing his chest.
"So... this isn't just about feelings."
"It's about power. About survival," Veronica said in an icy whisper. "If she takes you in, we'll protect her as one of our own. But if she hurts you, if she rejects you, you won't be the only one who suffers the consequences... the whole family will feel the threat."
William closed his eyes for a moment, absorbing each word. When he opened them, her voice was firm, though inside, he was consumed by something deeper.
"I understand. I'll make sure I do this right."
He wasn't lying. But he wasn't at peace either. Inside, something burned brightly: a relentless, growing flame, impossible to ignore.
Veronica, oblivious to the storm churning beneath her skin, sighed and gave him a crooked smile. "Then enough chatter," she said decisively. Let's take down these vultures and get back to what truly matters.
William stood up, determination evident in his dark eyes.
"I agree."
He opened the window and spoke in a firm voice.
"Bentral!"
The blond alpha, stationed next to the vehicle, approached immediately.
"Sir?"
"You're driving."
"Yes, sir."
After a few moments, the car's engine roared. And in an instant, two armored trucks were in front and two more cars behind.
A mobile column of power, precise and lethal, ready to defend itself without hesitation.
As he left the Aballay estate, William couldn't help but stare at the empty road, his face impassive. But inside, a single image haunted him relentlessly.
Erika Belion.
And following her closely, the fierce desire not to lose her.