CHAPTER 3: THE PRICE OF BEING A DOORMAT

CHAPTER 3: THE PRICE OF BEING A DOORMAT

I stared at the text message for a full ten minutes, reading it so many times the words started to blur.

"I know who you are. I know what you can do. Come to Thorn Tower at 10 AM if you want a new life. Come alone."

Thorn Tower. Kaelen Thorn. The name alone sent shivers down my spine—and not entirely from fear. Every werewolf in the region knew about the Thorn Alpha. He'd built an empire from nothing, transforming his pack from a struggling collection of nobodies into one of the most powerful forces in the city. His company dominated werewolf tech. His wealth was legendary. His reputation... well, his reputation was complicated.

Some said he was ruthless, cold, calculating. Others said he was fair, just, unexpectedly compassionate. The one thing everyone agreed on? Kaelen Thorn didn't make mistakes. He didn't take risks. Every move he made was calculated, deliberate, part of some larger plan no one else could see.

So why was he texting a rejected Luna in a cheap motel?

How did he even know I existed?

I chewed my lip, running through possibilities. Maybe he'd heard about Damian's affair—pack gossip traveled fast. Maybe he was curious about the Luna who'd been publicly humiliated. Maybe he wanted to offer me some kind of deal, some arrangement that would benefit his pack at mine and Damian's expense.

Or maybe—and this was the thought that made my heart race—maybe he really did know about Phantom. Maybe he'd been trying to find me for years, like so many others. Maybe this was my chance to finally step out of the shadows and claim the life I'd built in secret.

Liora, still traitorously excited, practically bounced inside my mind. Go. Go. GO.

"Shut up," I muttered. "I'm thinking."

But she was right. What choice did I have? Stay in this motel until my money ran out? Crawl back to Damian with my tail between my legs? Disappear into anonymity and live as a fugitive from my own life?

No. If Kaelen Thorn was offering me a chance—even a mysterious, potentially dangerous chance—I had to take it.

I swung my legs out of bed and headed for the tiny shower.

By 9:45, I was standing across the street from Thorn Tower, trying not to let my jaw drop.

The building was magnificent—fifty stories of glass and steel that caught the morning light like a diamond. It dominated the city skyline, visible from almost anywhere downtown, a monument to everything Kaelen Thorn had built. People streamed in and out of the revolving doors, all of them polished and professional and utterly confident in their place in the world.

I looked down at myself. Same frumpy clothes from yesterday. Same thrift-store sweater, same faded jeans, same sensible shoes chosen for comfort rather than style. My hair was still in its perpetual bun, my glasses still perched on my nose, my entire appearance screaming nobody important.

Liora huffed with impatience. Change later. Go NOW.

Right. One thing at a time.

I took a deep breath, crossed the street, and pushed through the revolving doors into a lobby that made me feel like an ant in a cathedral.

Marble floors gleamed underfoot. A waterfall cascaded down one wall, its peaceful sound somehow carrying across the vast space. Abstract art hung everywhere—originals, probably worth more than my motel room. And in the center of it all, a reception desk the size of a small boat staffed by three women who looked like they'd stepped out of fashion magazines.

I approached the desk, my sensible shoes squeaking on the marble.

"Can I help you?" The receptionist who spoke was blonde, beautiful, and barely concealing her assessment of my clearly inadequate appearance.

"I'm here to see... someone." I realized I didn't even know who to ask for. The text had just said come to Thorn Tower. It hadn't specified a name, a department, anything.

The receptionist's perfectly shaped eyebrow arched. "Do you have an appointment?"

"I—" I pulled out my phone, ready to show her the text, but at that moment the elevator behind her chimed and the doors slid open.

I don't know what I expected Kaelen Thorn to look like. I'd seen photos, of course—grainy images in business magazines, distant shots at pack gatherings. But photos hadn't prepared me for the reality of him.

He was tall. Impossibly tall, with shoulders that seemed to block out the light behind him. Dark hair swept back from a face that belonged on ancient coins—sharp cheekbones, strong jaw, full lips set in a serious line. His eyes were the thing that stopped me cold. Silver-gray, almost luminous, the kind of eyes that saw straight through walls and lies and the carefully constructed masks people wore.

He was wearing a charcoal suit that probably cost more than my entire existence, and he moved like a predator—every step controlled, powerful, absolutely certain.

His gaze found me across the lobby, and the moment our eyes met, something electric crackled through the air between us.

Liora screamed.

Not in fear. Not in warning. In recognition.

MATE, she howled, so loud I stumbled. MATE MATE MATE—

I shut her down with every ounce of mental strength I possessed. No. Absolutely not. I'd just escaped one toxic relationship. I was not about to let my wolf go into heat over some powerful Alpha I'd never even met.

But even as I silenced her, I couldn't deny the effect he was having on my body. My skin tingled. My heart raced. Heat pooled low in my belly, completely inappropriate for a public lobby.

Kaelen Thorn crossed the marble floor like he owned it—which, technically, he did—and stopped directly in front of me. Close enough that I could smell him: winter forest, cedar, and something electric, like the air before a thunderstorm.

Up close, he was even more overwhelming. The top of my head barely reached his shoulder. His presence filled my entire field of vision, blocking out the reception desk, the waterfall, everything.

"You came." His voice was exactly what I'd expected—deep, resonant, the kind of voice that could command armies or seduce lovers with equal ease.

I forced myself to meet his eyes. "You sent a very mysterious text. I had questions."

"I'm sure you do." One corner of his mouth curved slightly—not quite a smile, but close. "Walk with me."

He turned and headed back toward the elevator without waiting for my response. Like it was a given that I'd follow.

Liora, still buzzing with excitement, practically dragged me after him.

The elevator was private, requiring a special key fob to access the top floors. We rode in silence for several seconds, the numbers ticking upward, the distance between us feeling both too large and not nearly large enough.

"You're wondering how I found you," he said finally.

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"I've been looking for Phantom for three years." He turned to face me, those silver eyes studying my face with unsettling intensity. "Imagine my surprise when I finally track the digital signature to a cheap motel on the edge of the city—and discover that the legendary hacker is actually the rejected Luna of the Blackwood Pack."

My blood ran cold. "How did you—"

"I have resources your ex-husband couldn't dream of." He said it simply, without arrogance, as if stating an obvious fact. "When my systems detected Phantom's signature last night, I had my best people on it within minutes. They traced you to the motel. They identified you within hours."

I thought about my laptop, about the systems I'd accessed, about the digital footprints I'd always been so careful to hide. I'd been sloppy. Emotional. Too caught up in my own drama to maintain proper security.

Stupid. So stupid.

"What do you want?" My voice came out harder than I intended. "Blackmail? Exposure? A pat on the back for catching me?"

Kaelen's expression shifted—something flickering in those silver eyes that looked almost like... hurt? But that couldn't be right.

"I want to offer you a job." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a business card, extending it toward me. "Personal secretary to the CEO. Full benefits, competitive salary, private apartment in the building next door, company car. You start Monday."

I stared at the card like it might bite me. "You're joking."

"I don't joke about business."

"You don't know me. You don't know anything about me except that I'm Damian Blackwood's discarded wife and some hacker you've been chasing."

"I know you're brilliant. I know you're loyal to a fault—you loved that man for five years despite him giving you nothing in return. I know you're a mother who left her son because staying would have destroyed you both." He ticked each point off on his fingers, his voice steady. "I know you built a multimillion-dollar company in secret while playing the role of obedient Luna. I know you have more strength in your little finger than most Alphas have in their entire bodies."

My throat tightened. "You don't know that."

"I know exactly what it costs to hide who you really are." His eyes met mine, and for just a moment, I saw something raw beneath the polished surface. Something that understood. "I've been doing it my whole life."

The elevator chimed. The doors opened onto a penthouse office that took my breath away—floor-to-ceiling windows, modern furniture, a view that stretched across the entire city. But I barely registered any of it because Kaelen Thorn was still looking at me with those impossible eyes, and my wolf was still singing, and everything I thought I knew about my future was crumbling into something new and terrifying and possibly wonderful.

"Why?" I whispered. "Why would you do this for a stranger?"

He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. Close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze.

"Because my instincts tell me you're exactly where you're supposed to be." His voice dropped lower, rougher. "Because I've been searching for Phantom for years, and now I find out Phantom is you. Because you walked into my building today—my building, not any other—and my wolf hasn't stopped howling since the moment you crossed the threshold."

My breath caught. "Your wolf?"

"He knows something I'm still trying to understand." Kaelen reached out, slowly, giving me time to pull away, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear that had escaped my bun. His fingers lingered against my skin, sending sparks cascading down my neck. "But I'm patient. I've waited years to find you. I can wait a little longer for you to trust me."

Run, every survival instinct screamed. This is too much, too fast, too dangerous.

But Liora was purring like a contented cat, and my feet refused to move, and somewhere deep in my chest, a tiny flame of hope flickered to life.

"I don't even know you," I managed.

"You will." He stepped back, giving me space, and the loss of his warmth was almost physical. "Take the card. Think about it. The offer stands."

I looked down at the business card in my hand. Simple white stock, raised black lettering: Kaelen Thorn, CEO, Thorn Industries. And a phone number.

"I have conditions," I heard myself say.

One dark eyebrow rose. "Name them."

"I need to be able to see my son. Supervised visits at first, but I won't abandon him."

"Done."

"I need to maintain my Phantom identity—at least until I'm ready to reveal it publicly."

"Understood."

"I need..." I swallowed hard. "I need you to be honest with me. No games, no manipulation, no hidden agendas. I've spent five years with a man who treated me like furniture. I won't do it again."

Kaelen's expression softened in a way that made my heart clench. "Seraphina, I give you my word as Alpha—I will never lie to you. I will never manipulate you. I will never treat you as anything less than the remarkable woman you are."

The sincerity in his voice was undeniable. Liora, traitor, was already convinced.

I extended my hand. "Then I accept."

He took my hand in his—warm, strong, sending another jolt of electricity up my arm—and instead of shaking it, he raised it to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles that was somehow both formal and devastatingly intimate.

"Welcome to Thorn Industries, Seraphina." His eyes never left mine. "Welcome home."

—--------------

An hour later, I walked out of Thorn Tower with keys to an apartment I'd never seen, access to a car I'd never driven, and a job I'd never applied for. My head was spinning. My heart was racing. My wolf was doing backflips.

I should have been terrified. I should have been suspicious. I should have been running as far and fast as possible from a situation that made no logical sense.

Instead, I felt something I hadn't felt in years.

Hope.

My phone buzzed as I reached the sidewalk. Another text, this time from a number I recognized all too well.

Damian: "We need to talk. Come home tonight or there will be consequences."

I stared at the message for a long moment. The old Sera would have panicked. The old Sera would have jumped in her car and raced back to pack territory, desperate to appease him.

The new Sera—the one Kaelen Thorn had just given a future—typed out three words and hit send.

Me: "Go fuck yourself."

Then I blocked his number and walked toward my new apartment, smiling for the first time in years.

I thought I'd left my old life behind. I thought Damian Blackwood was nothing but a bad memory. I had no idea that he was about to make the first move in a war he couldn't possibly win—and that the weapon he'd use would be the one thing I couldn't fight.

My son.