Chapter 2

Chapter 2

SOPHIA POV 

“Good morning,” I greeted softly with a small smile the moment the elevator doors opened on the top floor.

The atmosphere here felt completely different from the lower floors. Quieter. Colder and more intimidating.

Everything looked expensive from the marble floor beneath my heels to the dark walls decorated with silver designs of wolves. Even the air smelled different here. Expensive cologne, coffee, leather, and something else underneath it all. Something wild.

My eyes moved slowly around the massive office floor while several workers glanced briefly at me before quickly returning to their work. Most of them barely hid the curiosity in their eyes.

Of course they were curious. A human working directly under the Lycan King himself?bThat alone sounded insane.

“Good morning,” Jessica replied warmly from behind the front desk.

Unlike the others, her smile actually looked genuine.

Jessica was the first Lycan I met here and the woman who interviewed me personally. She was surprisingly kind unlike most Lycans I had encountered before. Most carried pride on their faces like they were naturally above humans.

But Jessica treated me normally. At least for now. I walked toward her desk slowly while adjusting the sleeve of my blazer nervously.

“Is the CEO here yet?” I asked casually, though deep inside my chest my heart was already beginning to pound heavily.

Finally. After five years. I was finally about to meet the man who destroyed my life. The man I came here to ruin.

Jessica shook her head slightly while arranging some files.

“He should be here soon,” she answered before lifting her eyes toward me seriously. “And Sophia… don’t make any mistake.”

I smiled lightly. “I won’t.”

But inside my mind, another voice whispered differently. I cannot afford to. One mistake. That was all it would take for everything to collapse.

I moved toward my desk slowly after that. My heels clicked softly against the polished floor while my eyes secretly observed everything around me.

Cameras. Security doors. Restricted elevators. Fingerprint access. This company was practically built like a fortress. Typical. Derek probably trusted nobody.

Good. That would make destroying him even more satisfying. I sat down calmly before turning on the computer in front of me. The bright screen reflected faintly against my face as I typed in my login details carefully.

To everyone else, I was simply the new human secretary. Quiet. Professional. Harmless.

But underneath that mask… I was something else entirely. My plan here was simple. Get close to Derek. Make him trust me. Make him fall so deeply that he would never suspect me.

Then slowly destroy everything he built with his own hands. A cold satisfaction settled inside my chest at the thought.

The surviving warrior of our pack had trained me well during the past five years. They taught me things I never imagined learning before.

How to lie. How to manipulate. How to survive. How to hurt people before they hurt you first. At first, I hated it all. But pain changes people. And revenge changes them even more.

Five years ago, after the slaughter of my pack, something inside me awakened. Not a wolf. No. I still could not shift. But the blood of werewolves still flowed inside my veins.

And grief… Grief unlocked abilities I never knew I had. My senses became sharper. Faster reflexes. Strength. Heightened hearing. Sometimes even instincts so dangerous they scared me myself.

The warriors noticed it immediately. And they used it. I swallowed hard before pushing those thoughts away.

Now was not the time to get distracted. Quietly, I opened another hidden tab beneath the company system. My fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard. Fast. Precise. Careful.

Lines of encrypted codes flashed across the screen while I secretly searched through the company firewall. I kept my face calm despite my racing heartbeat.

Nobody could know. If they discovered I was hacking into the system on my very first day here, I was dead. Literally dead.

A small smirk appeared on my lips when I found the first loophole inside their network security. Interesting. The mighty Lycan company was not as untouchable as people believed.

I quickly copied some encrypted files into a hidden drive before minimizing the tab immediately when footsteps echoed across the floor. Heavy footsteps. 

The entire atmosphere changed instantly. The workers around me straightened immediately. Some lowered their heads respectfully. Others froze completely. Then I heard it.

“Good morning, sir.”

My fingers stopped moving instantly. He was here. For one second, my entire body went cold. Then my heartbeat started pounding violently against my chest. Fast. Too fast.

I tightened my hands beneath the desk as memories crashed violently into my mind again. Blood on the floor. My mother screaming. Dylan’s final cry. Fire consuming the pack house.

Hatred burned hot inside my chest so suddenly that it almost suffocated me. Calm down. Calm down, Sophia. I lowered my head quickly, pretending to organize files on my desk while silently struggling to control my breathing.

I had imagined this moment for years. Years. The day I would finally stand before Derek. The monster responsible for everything. I thought I would feel strong. Prepared. But now that he is truly here… My body trembled slightly with rage.

For several seconds, I could not bring myself to stand up or even look at him. I was afraid the hatred in my eyes would expose me immediately.

Then suddenly… A pair of polished black shoes stopped directly in front of my desk. My breathing hitched. The entire floor felt unbearably silent. Slowly… Very slowly. I raised my head.

And the moment my eyes landed on the man standing before me. My blood ran cold. Shock slammed into me so hard I almost stopped breathing. Because the face staring back at me… Was not the face I expected to see.