011 | The Report

The mansion was already lit when they returned.

Soft yellow light spilled from the upper windows onto the dark driveway. The air smelled of rain that hadn’t fallen yet. Aria stepped out of the car and followed Silas through the side entrance without speaking.

Her body still carried the quiet tension of the afternoon.
Watching Torren walk around free had left a cold, precise anger sitting under her ribs. Not the wild kind. The useful kind.

Silas led her straight to the study.

He knocked once.

“Enter.”

Dominic Vale was standing by the window with a glass of something dark in his hand. He didn’t turn around immediately.

“Report,” he said.

Aria stepped forward. Silas remained by the door.

“We located Torren,” she said.
“He left a restaurant on the east side at approximately 1:40.
He made one stop at an apartment building, met two other wolves at a corner store, then left in a black SUV.
He wasn’t alone.
He didn’t notice us.”

Dominic turned slowly.

His eyes moved over her face, searching for something.

“And?” he asked.

“That’s all we observed.”

Dominic walked to his desk and set the glass down.

“How did it feel,” he said, “watching him?”

Aria held his gaze.

“Like looking at something that should already be dead.”

A faint flicker of interest passed through Dominic’s expression.

“Good,” he said. “That means the memory is still sharp.
Sharp memories make clean decisions.”

He opened a drawer, took out a thin black file, and placed it on the desk between them.

“This is everything we currently have on Torren.
Routes. Contacts. Weak points.
You will study it.
You will not act on it.”

Aria’s fingers curled slightly at her side.

“For how long?”

Dominic’s voice stayed calm.

“Until I say otherwise.
You are still learning how to move inside this family.
If you rush the first debt, you risk exposing the rest.”

He leaned forward slightly.

“I did not bring you here so you could die again for the sake of anger.
I brought you here so you could become someone who collects debts properly.”

The words settled heavily in the room.

Aria gave a short nod.

“I understand.”

Dominic studied her for another moment, then glanced at Silas.

“Increase her combat training.
Add night drills starting tomorrow.
I want her body catching up to her intentions.”

Silas gave a single nod.

Dominic looked back at Aria.

“You’re dismissed.
Study the file.
Sleep.
Tomorrow will be harder than today.”

Aria picked up the black file, turned, and walked out of the study.

The hallway felt longer than usual.

She went straight to her room, locked the door, and placed the file on the desk. For a moment she just stood there, staring at it.

Then she opened it.

Photographs.
Addresses.
Known associates.
A short note about a girlfriend who lived three districts away.
A preferred bar.
A pattern of leaving the pack house every Thursday night.

Aria sat down and began reading properly.

Outside, the wind pushed against the windows.

Somewhere in the city, Torren was probably still breathing without a single worry.

Aria turned another page.

Her bloodline stirred again — low and steady, like something waking up for the second time.

She rested her hand flat on the open file.

Not yet.

But soon.

A soft knock on the door broke the silence.

Aria closed the file and stood.

“Yes?”

The door opened. One of the household staff stood there, looking slightly nervous.

“Miss Vale… Mr. Vale asked me to inform you that you have a visitor waiting in the small sitting room downstairs.”

Aria frowned.

“A visitor?”

“Yes. He said the name is… Kael Nightshade.”

The name hit the air like a blade.

Aria’s entire body went still.

For a second the room tilted.

Kael.

Here.

In this house.

The staff member shifted uncomfortably.

“Should I tell them you’re unavailable?”

Aria’s voice came out quieter than she expected.

“No.”

She looked down at the black file on the desk, then at the silver knife resting near the lamp.

“Tell them I’ll be down in five minutes.”

The staff member nodded and quickly left.

Aria stood alone in the center of the room.

Her heartbeat was steady.
Too steady.

Three years early.
Different life.
Different name.

And somehow Kael Nightshade had already found his way to her door.

Aria picked up the silver knife, turned it once in her hand, then slid it back into its place against her ankle.

She smoothed her expression until nothing showed on her face.

Then she walked out of the room and toward the stairs.

Whatever reason had brought him here…

she would not let him see the girl he had once rejected.

That girl was already dead.