Chapter 138: Rival

Damien’s chair scraped against the floor as he half-stood, his eyes locked on her with a mixture of shock and worry. His heart hammered against his ribs—the mate bond was screaming at him, pulling him toward her. The woman with the chocolate hair noticed his sudden change and turned to look, her perfect smile disappearing.

​Sofia didn’t even blink. She walked right past their table, the scent of Damien hitting her, but she kept her gaze fixed straight ahead. She didn’t look at the woman. She didn’t look at him. To anyone watching, it was as if Alpha Damien didn’t even exist.

​”A table for two, please,” Sofia told the host.

​”Of course, right this way,” the host replied, leading them to a booth that was, by luck or fate, in Damien’s direct line of sight.

​Sofia slid into the seat, tucked her hair behind her ear, and opened the menu. She acted completely natural, pointing out an appetizer to Bella as if they were having the best night of their lives.

​Across the room, Damien was vibrating with a restrained fury—not at Sofia, but at himself and the situation. He tried to sit back down, but his eyes kept drifting to her. He wanted to go to her and explain why he was there, and to explain that the woman across from him was an Alpha and that she had a link to help him with what he had been up to for the past two days. But Sofia’s total silence was more powerful than any shout.

​Bella sat across from Sofia, her eyes darting between the two. She could feel the thick, suffocating tension. She leaned in, lowering her voice. “Sofia, he is staring at you.”

​Sofia didn’t answer Bella. She simply turned the page of her menu, her expression composed, though her heart was racing. She could feel Damien’s heavy, burning stare on her skin, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of a single glance.

​At the other table, the woman—Alpha Elena—let her smile drop completely. She had spent the last hour thinking this business meeting was the start of something more romantic. She had always wanted Damien, and when he called her to meet at this upscale spot, she thought he was finally giving her the green light.

​”You have been staring at those ladies for five minutes, Damien,” Elena said, her voice laced with a sharp edge of jealousy.

​Damien didn’t even look at Elena. His knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the table. “The one in the blue dress… is my mate.”

​Elena’s eyes widened, and she immediately whipped her head around to glare at Sofia. A mate? Damien had a mate? She felt a surge of resentment. She had planned to claim him for herself, and now this “girl” was standing in her way. She looked back at Damien, noting the pained, complicated look on his face.

​”You two aren’t on good terms, I take it?” Elena asked, her tone mocking.

​”It’s… complicated,” Damien growled, finally forced to sit back down, though his body was coiled like a spring.

​Elena leaned in, her eyes narrowing. “Damien, why did you call for me?”

​Damien sighed, the weight of the last two days pressing down on him. He needed Elena because her pack ran the most sophisticated intelligence network in the Neutral Zone. If anyone could find the truth about a ghost like Bella, it was her.

​”I need your help on something,” he said, his voice dropping to a low, secretive rumble.

​Elena frowned to herself, her disappointment stinging. This was it? A business favor? “What is it?”

​”I’m checking into the profile of someone,” Damien said. He shifted his gaze slightly toward Bella, who was currently laughing at something Sofia said, but he didn’t point her out directly. He didn’t want to alert the spy. “My investigator said the records are being wiped in real-time. Someone is protecting her identity with high-level encryption. I need your pack’s analysts to bypass the Rogue filters.”

​Elena followed his gaze, her eyes landing on Bella. She sensed the tension Damien felt toward the girl. “You think she’s a threat to your mate?”

​”I think she’s fake,” Damien snapped, his eyes flashing with suspicion. “I suspect she was sent by the Rogue King.”

​At the other table, Sofia laughed a bit too loudly at a joke Bella made, her hand trembling as she lifted her water glass. She could see them whispering, their heads close together. It looked so intimate, so secretive.

​”They look like they’re sharing secrets, don’t they?” Bella whispered, fanning the flames.

​Sofia ignored Bella’s whispers, but she could feel her heart sinking like a stone in her chest. Every time she caught a glimpse of Damien and Elena’s heads leaning close together, a new wave of hurt washed over her.

​”Excuse me for a second,” Sofia said, her voice sounding thin even to her own ears. “I need to wash my hands.”

​She stood up, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor to avoid meeting Damien’s burning gaze, and hurried toward the back of the restaurant where the restrooms were located.

​Back at the table, Elena watched Sofia’s retreating figure with a sharp, calculating look. She turned back to Damien, her voice dropping into a business-like tone. “I can do it, Damien. My team is the best at cracking Rogue encryption. Just send her picture to me now, and I’ll have my analysts run a deep-scan.”

​Damien shook his head, his jaw tight. “No. My investigators will send the file over secure channels tonight. I don’t want anything traced back to this table while she’s sitting right there.” He glanced toward Bella, who was now idly scrolling through her phone, looking perfectly bored.

​Elena nodded, but her mind was already elsewhere. She saw a golden opportunity to see exactly what kind of mate Damien had chosen over her. She pushed her chair back gracefully.

​”I want to use the restroom,” Elena said, a small, cold smile playing on her lips. “Give me a minute, Damien.”

​Damien didn’t even look up as she walked away; his eyes were glued to the empty chair where Sofia had been sitting just moments before. He was battling the urge to get up and follow her himself, to corner her in the hallway and explain everything—but he knew that with Bella watching, any move he made could put Sofia in even more danger.

​Elena walked into the restroom and found Sofia standing at the sink, staring at her reflection in the mirror with watery eyes. The silence of the room was broken only by the sound of running water.

​Elena leaned against the marble counter, crossing her arms. She let her gaze travel slowly over Sofia, from her simple blazer down to her shoes, making her judgment obvious.

​”So,” Elena started, her voice echoing off the tiles, “you’re the one. The little mate who has Alpha Damien acting like a confused pup.”

​Sofia froze, her hands still under the cold water. She looked at the stunning woman in the mirror and felt a surge of defensive pride. She turned the tap off and straightened her back, meeting Elena’s gaze.

​”And you are?” Sofia asked, her voice composed, masking her emotion.

​Elena laughed. “I’m Alpha Elena. And let’s just say… Damien and I have a very long, very ’intimate’ history. He usually comes to me when he needs something important. Something a girl like you could never give him.”

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