Chapter 4

Ava's POV

"Ten million dollars."

The notification on my phone screen glowed like a holy scripture. My mother's inheritance. My freedom. My weapon.

"Darling, once Lexi is Luna, ten million will be pocket change," Janice sniffed, clutching Gordon's arm like a oversized handbag. "But fine. Take it and go."

"Oh, I'm going," I said, pocketing the phone. "But first, I have a tab to run up."

I walked out of the Ashford Estate, the air tasting crisp and expensive. For the first time in three years, I didn't feel like the help. I felt like a hunter.

"The Black Wolf Bar? Really?" Zoe shouted over the thumping bass, looking skeptical. "This place is a dive."

"It's where the pack drinks," I said, sliding onto a barstool. "And tonight, I want an audience."

Zoe, my only friend who hadn't treated me like a leper, looked at me with concern. "Ava, you're picking a fight. Cole is going to be here."

"I'm counting on it."

I signaled the bartender, a burly guy named Rick who usually ignored me. "Two bottles of your most expensive champagne. The vintage stuff you keep in the back for the Alpha."

Rick snorted. "Ava, that bottle is three grand. Unless you're paying with your kidney, I suggest you order a beer."

I didn't blink. I slapped a thick stack of cash-fresh from the bank-onto the sticky counter. "Keep the change."

Rick's eyes bulged. He scrambled to get the bottles.

Zoe's jaw dropped. "Girl, did you rob a bank?"

"Better. I robbed my parents."

Just as the cork popped, the air in the bar shifted. The temperature dropped. The crowd parted like the Red Sea.

Cole walked in, looking like a god of war in a tailored black shirt. And hanging off his arm like a cheap accessory was Lexi.

She was wearing a diamond necklace that caught the strobe lights-a birthday gift, no doubt. She spotted me instantly, her eyes narrowing before masking it with that sickly-sweet smile.

"Ava!" She squealed, dragging Cole toward us. "What a coincidence! Are you spending your severance pay already?"

Cole looked bored, his eyes sliding over me with practiced indifference. "Let's go to the VIP section, Lexi. It smells like desperation here."

"But I want champagne!" Lexi pouted, pointing at my bottle. "And the bartender said that was the last one."

She turned to me, batting her eyelashes. "Ava, be a sweetie and give it to me? It is my birthday weekend, after all. You've never even had champagne before. You wouldn't appreciate it."

"Touch my bottle," I said, voice low and dangerous, "and you'll lose a finger."

The bar went silent. Even the DJ seemed to turn the volume down.

Lexi gasped, clutching her pearls. "Cole! She threatened me!"

Cole stepped forward, his Alpha aura flaring, trying to suffocate me with pressure. "Watch your tone, Ava. You're speaking to your future Luna."

He pulled out a sleek black credit card-the Alpha Heir's unlimited card-and slammed it on the counter.

"Rick," Cole barked. "I'm buying every bottle in this bar. And I'm buying this table. Kick them out."

Rick looked from the cash to the card, sweating. "Alpha Cole... it's a lot of stock..."

"Do it!" Cole roared. He smirked at me, that arrogant, punchable smirk. "You have money for one bottle, Ava? Cute. I have the entire Bloodmoon treasury behind me. You can't compete."

"Is that so?" I stood up. My heels clicked on the floorboards, echoing in the silence.

I pulled out my checkbook. It was old-school, dramatic, and perfect for what I was about to do.

"How much for the bar, Rick?" I asked calmly. "Not the drinks. The building. The land. The business."

Rick choked. "What?"

"Three hundred grand?" I guessed.

"Five hundred!" Cole shouted, his face turning red. "I'll pay five hundred grand right now! I own this place!"

He looked at me, triumphant. "Go home, Ava. You're out of your league."

Lexi giggled. "Yeah, go back to scrubbing floors. You don't have that kind of money."

I laughed. It started low and built into a cackle that made Nyx howl in my head.

"You think this is about money, Cole? This is about value."

I wrote a check, ripped it out, and slammed it onto the counter next to his black card.

"One million dollars," I announced, my voice ringing clear. "For the bar. And for Rick to ban these two idiots for life."

The crowd gasped. Lexi stopped giggling. Cole stared at the check, reading the numbers. His face went pale.

"Where... where did you get this?" Lexi shrieked. "You stole it! You thief!"

"It's my money," I said, leaning in until I was nose-to-nose with her. "Something you'll never have, Lexi. Because everything you own-your clothes, your jewelry, your man-is borrowed."

I looked at Cole. He was shaking, his pride cracking.

"You think you can buy me off?" he snarled. "You're nothing without me! Those earrings you're wearing? I bought them! That dress? I paid for it!"

"You're right."

I reached up and ripped the diamond studs from my ears. They were cheap, tiny things he'd given me for my eighteenth-an afterthought gift.

"Here." I threw them at his chest. They bounced off his shirt.

I kicked off my heels. "These too. The 'Sorry I Cheated' gift." I threw them. one hit his shoulder.

Then I reached for the zipper of my dress.

The crowd held its breath.

"And this?" I pulled the zipper down a few inches, just enough to loosen it, then grabbed the champagne bottle.

"I can buy your dignity, Lexi," I said, my voice ice cold. "But looking at you two... it seems you sold it cheap."

I didn't throw the dress. I threw the champagne.

Splash.

The expensive vintage liquid hit Cole square in the face. It soaked his hair, his shirt, and splattered all over Lexi's perfect blowout.

They stood there, dripping, sticky, and stunned into silence.

"You're banned," I whispered, winking at Rick. "Get them out of my bar."

I grabbed my purse, barefoot and buzzing with adrenaline. Zoe threw a coat over my shoulders, grinning like a maniac.

As I walked to the door, stepping over the puddle of champagne and shattered ego, I turned back one last time.

Cole was wiping the alcohol from his eyes, looking at me with a mix of fury and... fear.

"Two weeks, Cole," I called out. "Enjoy the throne while you can."