CHAPTER 4: INTO THE UNKNOWN

CHAPTER 4: INTO THE UNKNOWN

The apartment Kaelen had given me was on the twentieth floor of a building connected to Thorn Tower by a enclosed skybridge. When I unlocked the door and stepped inside, I actually laughed out loud.

It was bigger than the entire floor Damian and I had shared.

Open-concept living area with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. A kitchen that belonged in magazines—stainless steel appliances, marble countertops, a island big enough to seat six. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a balcony with potted plants and actual outdoor furniture.

I walked through it slowly, touching things. The soft gray couch. The smooth granite. The fresh flowers on the dining table with a card: "For new beginnings. —KT"

Liora was practically prancing with joy. Safe. Warm. OURS.

"It's not ours," I told her. "It's a company apartment. Temporary."

But even as I said it, I knew I was lying. Nothing about Kaelen Thorn's offer felt temporary. Nothing about the way he'd looked at me felt temporary at all.

I explored every room, opening closets (stocked with basic toiletries), checking the fridge (fully stocked with fresh food), testing the beds (incredibly comfortable). By the time I'd finished, exhaustion hit me like a wave.

I'd barely slept in the motel. I'd been running on adrenaline and shock for over twenty-four hours. And now, in this beautiful, impossible space, my body finally demanded rest.

I curled up on the massive bed in the master bedroom—still wearing my frumpy clothes, too tired to change—and fell asleep within minutes.

—-

I woke to darkness and the sound of my phone buzzing.

For a confused moment, I didn't know where I was. The bed was too comfortable, the room too quiet, the absence of Damian's presence too noticeable. Then memory crashed back: the affair, the motel, Kaelen Thorn, the apartment.

I grabbed my phone.

Unknown Number: "Mommy? When are you coming home?"

My heart stopped.

Theo. It had to be Theo. Someone had given him a phone, let him text me, and now my five-year-old was asking when I was coming back to a place I could never enter again.

Tears flooded my eyes before I could stop them.

Me: "Baby, I can't come home right now. But I love you so much. Are you okay?"

Unknown Number: "Auntie Ivy is mean. She yelled at me for spilling juice. Daddy said stop crying or he'll give me something to cry about. I want you, Mommy."

Rage and grief tangled in my chest until I couldn't breathe. Damian was threatening our five-year-old. Ivy was yelling at him. And I was here, in a beautiful apartment, helpless to protect my own child.

Me: "Theo, listen to me. I'm going to come for you. I promise. But you have to be brave for a little while longer. Can you do that for Mommy?"

Unknown Number: "I'll try. I love you, Mommy."

Me: "I love you more than anything in the world. Always remember that."

The typing bubbles appeared, then disappeared. Appeared again. Then nothing.

I waited for an hour, staring at the screen, but no more messages came.

When I finally put the phone down, my hands were shaking with fury. Damian could treat me like garbage. He could fuck half the city for all I cared. But threatening my son? Making Theo cry? That was a line I would make him regret crossing.

Liora, usually calm, was a snarling mass of protective rage. Hurt pup. HURT PUP. KILL.

"Not yet," I whispered. "But soon."

—--------------------

I didn't sleep again that night.

Instead, I sat at the kitchen island with my laptop, working. Researching. Planning.

First: family lawyers. The best in the city. Money was no object—my Phantom accounts could fund a hundred custody battles. I found a firm that specialized in pack law, with an impressive track record against Alpha husbands. I bookmarked their contact information for morning.

Second: documentation. I needed evidence of Damian's neglect, his affair, his emotional abuse. I accessed pack security systems through back channels I'd built years ago (for emergencies, I'd told myself then—I never imagined this emergency). Video footage loaded onto my hard drive: Damian ignoring Theo at dinner. Ivy screaming at servants. Damian's late nights "working" that were actually visits to various women.

Third: Ivy herself. I dug into her history, and what I found made my blood run cold. Her pack hadn't just "fallen"—it had been dismantled after she seduced the Alpha's son and caused a civil war. She'd been run out of three territories under different names. The "mate bond" with Damian was almost certainly fabricated—there were potions, spells, manipulations that could fake the signs.

I saved everything. Organized it. Built a case that would destroy them both.

By the time sunlight crept through the windows, I had enough evidence to bury Damian a hundred times over.

And I hadn't even started on my Phantom work yet.

I closed the laptop and stretched, my neck cracking in protest. Twenty-four hours ago, I'd been a broken woman in a cheap motel. Now I had a home, a job, and a plan to take back my son.

Liora, exhausted but satisfied, curled up in the back of my mind and went to sleep.

I walked to the window and watched the sunrise paint the city gold.

Somewhere out there, my son was waking up in a house that didn't love him. Somewhere out there, my ex-husband was probably already scheming. And somewhere in this city, Kaelen Thorn was starting his day, unaware that the woman he'd hired was about to become a warrior.

Just wait, Theo. Mommy's coming.

Monday morning arrived faster than I expected.

I stood in front of my closet—my new closet, filled with clothes I'd bought online and had delivered Saturday—trying to decide what message to send on my first day.

The old Sera would have chosen something beige and forgettable. Something that said please don't notice me.

The new Sera reached for a deep green sheath dress that hugged her curves, paired with low heels that added confidence to her step. Contacts instead of glasses. Hair loose and flowing instead of scraped back.

When I looked in the mirror, a stranger looked back.

A beautiful stranger. A confident stranger. A stranger who looked like she could take on the world and win.

Liora preened. This. This is us.

I grabbed my bag and headed for the skybridge that connected to Thorn Tower.

Whatever happened today, whatever challenges awaited, I was ready.

I had to be.

My son was counting on it.

I walked into Thorn Tower as someone new. The receptionist didn't recognize me. Neither did my coworkers. But he did. Oh, how he did.