The Viper

Chapter 4

Six Years Later

The skyline of New York City glittered like a diamond necklace. From the fiftieth floor of the Vale Tower, the cars below looked like blood cells rushing through a dark artery.

I stood by the floor-to-ceiling glass, sipping an espresso that cost more than my childhood home.

My reflection in the glass was a stranger I had spent six years crafting. The timid, brown-haired girl who cried in the snow was gone. In her place stood a woman made of ice and steel.

My hair was dyed a platinum blonde so pale it was almost white, cut in a sharp, asymmetrical bob that framed my jaw like a blade. I wore a tailored crimson suit that screamed money, and on my hands, my most valuable assets, I wore thin, white leather gloves.

"Dr. Vale?"

The soft voice of my assistant, Elena, broke the silence.

I didn't turn around. "Is he ready?"

"Yes, ma'am. Alpha Sterling is prepped in Suite One. He... he’s losing a lot of blood, Doctor. His beta is threatening to tear the lobby apart if you don't hurry."

I took a slow sip of my coffee. "Let him threaten. Fear increases the heart rate. It makes the negotiation faster."

I turned, setting the cup down on my marble desk.

"Let’s go."

***

Suite One wasn't far.

On the operating table lay Alpha Sterling, the leader of the Iron-Clad Pack, a notoriously brutal gang that ran the docks in Jersey. A rival claw had shredded his throat. His windpipe was crushed, and his healing ability was too slow to save him. He was drowning in his own blood.

His Beta, a massive man with scars crossing his nose, lunged at me as I entered.

"You took your sweet time!" he snarled, his eyes flashing yellow. "He’s dying! Fix him, witch!"

I stopped, my eyes turning to his hand, which was dangerously close to my suit jacket.

"Two rules in my clinic," I said, my voice calm. "Rule one: You do not raise your voice at me. Rule two: You do not touch the merchandise."

I held up my gloved hands.

"If you damage my hands, your Alpha dies. If you annoy me, your Alpha dies. If you so much as look at me wrong, your alpha dies. Do we understand each other?"

The Beta froze. The reputation of "The Viper" was well-known in the underworld. I wasn't just a doctor; I was the only person on the East Coast who could knit a severed vocal cord back together with a touch.

He stepped back, lowering his head. "Just save him. Please."

I walked to the table. Sterling was gargling, his eyes wide with panic.

"The f*e is two million dollars," I said, looking down at him. "Upfront. Non-refundable."

The Beta choked. "You said one million on the phone!"

"That was before you yelled at me," I said smoothly. "Do you want to argue, or do you want him to breathe?"

The Beta frantically tapped his phone against the payment terminal Elena held out. A soft *ping* echoed in the room.

"Payment received," Elena murmured.

"Good."

I peeled off my gloves, dropping them onto a silver tray.

My hands were pale, delicate. No one would guess the power they held. Or the curse they carried.

I placed my palms on Alpha Sterling’s ruined throat.

"This is going to hurt," I whispered. "For both of us."

I closed my eyes and 'pulled'.

It wasn't magic like casting a spell. It was Bios-Kinesis. I had to reach into my own life force, grab a thread of my own vitality, and stitch it into his flesh.

The sensation was visceral. It felt like invisible hooks were dragging through my chest, pulling my energy out through my fingertips.

Focus. Knit. Seal.

Under my hands, the shredded meat of his throat began to bubble and reform. The cartilage snapped back into place. The skin knit together, leaving only a faint, silvery scar.

Sterling gasped, his chest heaving as air rushed into his lungs.

I quickly pulled my hands away.

Dark spots danced in my vision. My knees buckled, just for a fraction of a second, before I locked them straight. I had to grab the edge of the metal table to steady myself.

My hands were trembling. I quickly snatched the fresh gloves Elena offered and pulled them on, hiding the weakness.

"He will need rest. And tell him to stop picking fights with Lycans. Next time, I charge triple." My voice was breathless.

I turned on my heel and walked out before they could see the sweat beading on my forehead.

***

Back in my office, I collapsed onto the leather sofa.

My chest ached. Using my gift always felt like drowning. It was ironic, really. I was the Wolfless reject, the "defect," yet I held the power of life and death over the strongest Alphas in the city.

I opened the bottom drawer of my desk. Inside was a small box.

I didn't open it. I knew what was inside. A tiny, crumpled hospital bracelet I had stolen from the supply cart that day in the clinic. It only had a name on it.

Baby Boy Vale.

It was the only thing I had left of him.

"Six years," I whispered to the empty room.

I should have moved on. I had money, power, fear. I had built an empire on the ashes of Aria the Runt.

But the hole in my chest never closed. Every time I saved a life, I thought of the one life I couldn't save. The one I wasn't strong enough to keep warm.

Beep.

The intercom on my desk flashed red.

"Dr. Vale?" Elena’s voice was hesitant. "I know you said no more appointments, but... there is a man here to see you."

I rubbed my temples. "Send him away, Elena. Unless he’s bleeding out on my rug, I don't care."

"He...says he’s from the Silver Moon Pack."

My hand froze over the intercom button.

The air in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.

Silver Moon.

I hadn't heard that name spoken aloud in six years. I had blocked their number. I had bought their debt through shell companies so they wouldn't know it was me tightening the noose around their necks.

"Did he give a name?" I asked, my voice deadly quiet.

"He said his name is Alpha Lucas Miller."

A dark, twisted smile touched my lips.

The trap finally snapped shut.

He was here.

After six years of silence. After throwing me into the snow. He was standing in my lobby.

I stood up, smoothing the front of my crimson jacket. I checked my reflection. Perfect.

"Send him in."

I walked behind my massive marble desk and sat down, crossing my legs. I placed my gloved hands on the cool surface.

The heavy mahogany doors creaked open and for the first time in six years, I looked into the blue eyes of the man who had destroyed me.