Vaela smiled proudly as she inspected the newly constructed wing of the North Pine Retirement Home, the smell of fresh paint and varnish still lingering through the air.
The place was a bustle of activity as Vaela stood at its center, clipboard in one hand and basket of lavender-scented care packages hanging from the crook of her elbow.
She diligently checks boxes off a page on a clipboard as she moves about the new addition to the center, chatting and laughing with staff and construction crew and she handed out little packages to thank them for their hard work.
"Ms. Moonblood." A nurse called out. "Mrs. Pattison calls."
Vaela softly shakes her head and smiles as she approaches the nurse.
"Let me guess. She wants to show off her latest embroidery patterns." Vaela chuckles and the nurse nods with a smirk.
"Kittens again?"
"Actually, it looks like she's branching out into frogs today." the nurse smiles.
"Progress!" Vaela exclaims sarcastically.
She chuckles softly as she strolls down the halls of the retirement home, popping her head into rooms to drop quick greetings as she goes.
She spends a few minutes complimenting Ms. Pattison for a beautifully intricate embroidery that featured a monocle-wearing frog before sneaking back to the new wing to assist with its finishing touches.
Watching from across a parking lot, Dominic leans against a slick, black cruiser. Claw marks and battle scars poking out across his chest as he basks in the morning sun beneath a cut leather vest. He had planned to pop in, say hello, maybe thank her for the donations.
But seeing Vaela weave about the facility, washing windows, making up beds, helping the seniors as they move around the center to various appointments brings hesitation.
Her actions made no sense to him. A billionaire princess working herself to the bone for some random retirees. No cameras. No flashy clothes. Just her putting in the effort.
His confusion frustrates him as he finds himself wishing she was just another wolf in sheep's clothing. He knew how to handle those. But the thought of dealing with someone who genuinely cared was beyond him.
At lunch time, Vaela snuck off to a quiet corner, hidden in a small garden behind the building. Sipping on coffee and scrolling through pictures she had snapped over the past few days as warm sunlight filtered through flower bushes around her.
"No fancy dress… no cameras… what's the point?" a voice came from behind her, low and rough as if rubbed through dirt.
"Hi, Dominic." She answered without missing a beat, eyes still focused on her phone.
He stepped into the garden, hands dug into his pockets as his thick chest breached the confines of his vest. Vaela catches a glimpse of sunlight reflecting off his bare skin in her periphery, evoking a flirtatious grin across her face.
"You could've sent some assistants or PA's or whatever they're called." He grunts. "What's the point of you being here?"
"Ms. Pattison wanted to show me her frogs. How could I say no?" Vaela shrugged playfully.
"Cute." He scoffs. "What's your angle, Moonblood. Nobody does shit for free. What are you—"
"I do." Vaela interrupts. "Somebody has to. If not me, who? You?"
Dominic sneers, puffing out his chest as thick hair across his body raises to an edge. He steps towards Vaela's chair, looming over her, dripping with intimidation.
"I've been taking care of this place long before you showed up, princess." He snorts.
"They think so too." Vaela said softly as he glared at her, growling under his breath. "They love you. Respect you. Said you used to come to visit all the time."
"I still do." he sneers. "Every Sunday."
"I've heard." she smiles. "You care. You're like a son to them. They're proud of you, Dominic."
His gaze softens as her words pull at emotions long buried.
"But can you say you're proud of yourself?"
"What?" He barks. "You better watch what you say next… princess."
"I will." Vaela replies, rising to her feet and facing him, her eyes filled with conviction. "I'll watch what I say, when you watch what you do, Dominic Martinez. You play the caring guardian in here, but out there, you've built an empire on the suffering of people just like them."
"You think I chose this life? I didn't have a choice. I did what I had to to survive. To make sure this place survives!"
"By pushing poison into poor neighborhoods? Bribing cops? Fighting on the streets? You do so much to give these people a better life in here but then lead the gangs that rips apart the lives they leave behind out there."
"I do this to protect them. Everything I do is to repay them for what they've given me. They're the only true pack I've ever had. The only people who cared."
"I understand." Vaela says softly. "They raised a good man. But would they be proud of what he's become?"
Dominic swallowed hard. Though he would never admit it, Vaela's words struck a chord. He lowers his head slightly as he turns away from her.
"I'm not trying to shame you, Dominic." She said softly, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "You've fought and clawed and built something to protect them. But at what cost?"
"What would a billionaire know of the cost of survival?" he snapped, muscles tensing and jaw clenched as he stared off into the distance.
"More than you know." Vaela whispered, moving closer. "I was born in the gutter. Thrown out like old garbage. I didn't have people like these who protected me, raised me, showed me love. I had to bite and claw my way out."
He turned to her, staring into gente blue eyes that were filled with raw honesty and the faint shadows of past hurts.
"They raised a good man." she adds. "And that is what they deserve to see. Not a wolf buried in blood and pride."
Dominic stared at her silently and emotionless, without a word, he simply turned and walked away.
Vaela slumps back into her seat with an exasperated sigh, heart slapping against her ribcage as she rubs at her chest.
She had no intention of confronting him, at least not that intensely. Perhaps spurned on by the way the resident looked at him, like a son they could be proud of. Or perhaps fed by Vaela's own desire to heal the man hiding behind the wolf.
That evening Dominic sat deep in a leather couch in his garage, away from the sounds of roaring engines and clanking chains. He sat quiet, alone and deep in thought as he twirled a half-empty beer off his knee.
He pulls an old, tattered photo from his vest, wiping at the edges of his eyes as he gazes upon the image. It was him, as a boy. Tall, scrawny, covered in dirt and wielding a smile from ear to ear. Surrounded by old, wrinkled faces that carried just as much joy as he did.
A voice filtered through the memories, echoing in his mind. "Remember, mijo, you cannot be the strongest, without also being the kindest."
The words of Mama Maria seem to creep across his soul.
A familiar face appears in his periphery, pulling him from his melancholy. Vaela again, this time on the TV hanging on a wall, featured on a local news bulletin. No lights, no fancy clothes, just her dancing and laughing with old ladies at another senior center on the edge of the city.
The sight breaks something within him. His heart aches as he clenches his jaw.
A wolf, an alpha, the king of the streets of Veruna, he thought to himself. He's proven himself the strongest, and the scars to show it. Yet, whenever he looked into Vaela's eyes, he felt weak, broken.
"You're right, Moonblood." he murmurs, half to himself.
He built an empire to protect his pack, but now it was time to build a life they could be proud of.