CHAPTER 3

HELENA

My head was spinning as I stood outside the owner’s suite, the slammed door still echoing.

The pregnancy test burned against my palm like a secret I wasn’t ready to weaponize yet.

I needed to think. How could I salvage this?

The originals. The thought cut through the chaos.

Brent forged my signatures. What if there was some kind of proof? I could only contest the forgeries if I had the real documents with proper timestamps and metadata. And the fraud had happened internally. I was certain of it. Brent and Vanessa had used my office. My systems. The evidence had to be there.

I hurried down the stairs, missing a step in my haste before colliding with Victor as he rushed toward me.

His face was ashen, eyes wide with panic.

“Helena, I—” His voice cracked. “Things are fucked. Everybody is calling me—sponsors, board members, even league reps. I don’t know what to do. The news is spreading like wildfire and—“

I grabbed his arm, steadying both of us.

“Lock it down, Victor. Right now. Nobody moves, especially Brent and Vanessa. Seal the building. Call our lawyers immediately and get the forensic audit team in. Pull every financial record, every email, every access log from the last six months. This happened on my watch, and I’m going to prove it.”

Victor nodded rapidly, already pulling out his phone. “On it. But Helena… the news—”

“I’ll handle the rest,” I cut him off, voice low but fierce even as I hid the tears that stung my eyes.

I hadn’t built this company from nothing only to watch it be stolen. And I’d be damned if I let my child grow up watching its mother lose everything.

The scar on my wrist throbbed in agreement, hotter now, as if feeding on my rising fury.

I pushed past him toward the exit with my shoulders squared and my chin high. Every whisper followed me, sharp enough to cut, but I refused to look back.

The guests didn’t bother trying to hide their mocking gaze and hushed gossip.

It was obvious they knew about the fraud allegations but I was going to surprise them. I was going to do whatever it took to clear my name.

I reached the doors when a chorus of notification alerts erupted throughout the room.

Victor’s gaze locked with mine, his eyes horrified just as my own phone pinged.

I swallowed.

RUMORS SWIRL: HELENA CALLAHAN SOLD OUT BULLHORNS TO RIVALS — EXPLAINS RECENT LOSSES

More notifications flooded in. Sponsors were already pulling out.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and walked toward my car without looking back.

The cool night air hit my face as I strode toward my car. I dug my keys out of my handbag, forcing my trembling fingers to obey. I had wasted enough time already.

“Helena.”

My hand froze on the car door. I spun so fast my shoulder hit the car door.

Jarrett Brooks stood just feet away, tall and impossibly alive under the arena lights.

Those familiar green eyes searched mine. Once, they had looked at me with warmth. The last time I’d seen them, they had been cold enough to break me. Tonight they held something I couldn’t name.

“You,” I breathed, voice breaking.

Then something clicked in my jaw. Rage flooded me at the realization.

He lied to me.

Eight years. He let me mourn him. He let me think he was dead.

“Come with me,” he said urgently, stepping closer.

“What?” I scoffed but Jarrett moved closer, the air around us growing heavy as my scar suddenly burned.

I swallowed, ignoring the pain as held the door for me.

“Don’t argue with me—“

“Don’t argue with you?!” I interrupted, my blood boiling.

“You disappear for eight years and the first thing you say to me is get in my car?” I questioned in fury. If Jarrett heard me, he didn’t show it.

“There’s no time for any of this. Just do it,” he argued back and I scoffed. Got into my car and just before I slammed it shut, looked him in the eye and said

“Stay the hell away from me Jarrett. I never want to see you again,”

He looked taken aback, his eyes widened at my response as I slammed the door and keyed in the engine, driving out of the driveway.

I hadn’t cried when Brent destroyed my marriage.I hadn’t cried when my company started collapsing.

Yet somehow, seeing Jarrett alive shattered the last wall holding me together.

I hated how one look at him had unsettled me.

I hated even more that some traitorous part of me had wanted to run into his arms.

The arena disappeared behind me in the rearview mirror, its lights shrinking until they became nothing more than distant stars.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, forcing myself to breathe through the ache in my chest. Every instinct screamed at me to turn back.

No— all I had to do was storm into my office and tear the place apart until I found every document Brent had hidden and everything would snap back to place.

The road ahead was almost empty except for one pair of headlights that lingered behind me.

At first I wanted to ignor them but every turn I made, they made.

A knot tightened inside my stomach.

I glanced into the mirror again but the vehicle remained several car lengths back, its headlights glaring so brightly that I couldn’t make out the driver.

Jarrett’s words crept back into my mind.

I reached for my phone and hit Victor’s contact but the call refused to connect.

No signal.

“Damn it.”

The headlights suddenly surged closer.

My pulse jumped.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, brows furrowed only to have my eyes widen.

I made the mistake of swerving too late as the car suddenly picked up an enormous amount of speed. My hands were too slow and the car rammed into me.

My car lurched to a violent stop and for one endless second, I couldn’t move.

The world spun around me. Blood trickled into my eye, blurring the shattered windshield. My chest rose in shallow, painful breaths while every part of my body screamed in protest.

My hands flew instinctively to my stomach.

“Please…” I whispered. “Please…”

A sharp cramp twisted low in my abdomen and terror clawed through me.

Then something struck the roof of my car.

I shrieked as the metal caved inward with a deafening crunch.

The driver’s door bent outward before it was ripped clean off its hinges.

Cold night air rushed inside and my vision refused to focus.

A shadow had blocked the moonlight, giving my eyes enough time to refocus.

I screamed.

Standing before me were two dog-like creatures standing on their hind legs with thick fur and strong claws.

Their thick black and silver fur hit the moonlight and my breath shuddered. Enormous muscles far too large to belong to a dog stood out under the fur.

Their eyes glowed an unnatural gold as they stared directly at me just before my scar exploded with heat.

Every nightmare I’d spent eight years trying to bury came rushing back.

For years people told me I was crazy. That I hadn’t seen them that night but they had been real.

One of the beasts lowered its head and inhaled deeply just before looking at my aching wrists.

“She’s carrying it,” a rough voice growled.

The words froze my blood.