Three years.

That's how long it took to bleed the last remnants of Elena Brooks out of my system.

I swirled the amber liquid in my crystal glass, staring out the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the executive suite. Down below, the glittering skyline of New York City buzzed with human life-unaware of the supernatural world hiding right beneath their noses.

"The merger papers are ready for your signature, Ms. Vance," my assistant, Sarah, announced, her heels clicking briskly against the imported Italian tile.

I didn't turn around. I couldn't. I was too busy adjusting the collar of my charcoal-grey tailored suit, making sure it hid the jagged, silvery scar cutting across my collarbone-a permanent souvenir from the night I fell off the Whispering Cliff.

"Did you secure the downtown real estate block?" I asked. My voice wasn't the soft, timid whisper of the girl who had cried in a ballroom three years ago. It was cold. Low. Tempered by steel and absolute survival.

"Yes," Sarah hesitated, clutching her tablet tighter. "Though... there's a complication with the primary investor. They insisted on a face-to-face meeting tonight. They're flying in from out of state."

I finally turned. A smirk played on the edge of my lips, though my eyes remained dead. "Let them come. I didn't spend three years building this empire to be pushed around by some out-of-town investors."

"Right. Um, about that..." Sarah swallowed hard, tapping her screen. "The lead investor is the CEO of the Bloodmoon Corporation. A conglomerate owned by the Vance family pack."

The glass in my hand cracked.

A sharp shard bit into my palm, but I didn't feel the pain. The name echoed in my skull like a gunshot. Vance. Jaxon.

Three years ago, I thought I was jumping to my death. Instead, the river had washed me ashore miles away, half-dead and burning with a fever that nearly killed me. When I woke up, Nova-my wolf-wasn't weak anymore. The near-death trauma had ripped away whatever was holding her back, forcing her to awaken with a fury that matched my own. We built a new life, a new identity, and a billion-dollar real estate firm from the ashes.

And now, fate had decided to drag me right back into the lion's den.

"Cancel it," I whispered, the rage finally bubbling beneath my skin.

"We can't," Sarah stammered. "If we pull out now, we lose everything we've worked for. They're holding the final contracts."

I closed my eyes, taking a slow, grounding breath. The old Elena would have panicked, would have run away, would have hid.

Not anymore.

I opened my eyes, a dangerous, cold fire burning in the depths of my irises. Let him come. Let Alpha Jaxon Vance walk into this room and see the ghost he tried to murder.

"Fine," I said, my voice dropping an octave, flat and chillingly calm. "Bring him up."