Chapter 4

The knock at my door came long after the moon had risen. Three raps, sharp and insistent. Not the kind of knock you could ignore. I’d been poring over spreadsheets, numbers bleeding into one another until I wasn’t sure if I was reading profits or losses anymore.

When I opened the door, Emilia stood there, her face taut with worry. “Mami wants to see you. She said it is urgent.”

My stomach dropped. Midnight summons were never good, especially in this pack. One of the elders would have complained about me again. But I had no choice but to appear.

The elders’ chamber smelled of smoke and cedar, heavy and suffocating. A circle of faces turned toward me as I entered, their eyes glittering with judgment. My grandmother, regal even in age, sat at the head of the table, her cane resting across her knees.

“Sit, Liora,” she said.

I lowered myself into the chair, my pulse thudding in my wrist.

One of the older males wasted no time. “We’ve heard your plans, child. You’re pouring our last resources into this human company.”

A chorus of disapproval rippled around the table.

“I am not wasting them,” I said, my voice trembling despite my effort to steady it. “I am investing. This partnership could save us—”

“Or destroy us.” Another elder leaned forward, his lips curled. “You carry rogue blood. You were rejected once already by a true Alpha. And now you expect us to believe you can bargain with humans and come back victorious?”

The words stung more than I wanted to admit. My father’s shadow stretched long, and I had never quite stepped out of it.

Mami’s cane tapped against the floor. “Enough. The girl is our Alpha now, whether you like it or not. She is doing what none of you could—keeping this pack alive.”

But her defense was thin comfort. Their stares still sliced into me, leaving wounds that no flesh could show.

I kept my head high until the meeting adjourned, but by the time I reached the hallway, my hands were shaking. Emilia caught up to me, slipping her arm through mine.

“They’ll come around,” she murmured. “You’re stronger than they remember. Don’t let them see you bleed.”

I tried to smile, but it felt hollow against my lips.“Sometimes I think they want me to.”

"This plan of yours will work."

"It has too. It's our pack's only hope. It's Jonathan's only hope."

*******

Back home, the house was quiet except for the soft hum of the heater. I pushed open Johnathan’s door and found him tangled in his blankets, his tiny chest rising and falling. For a moment, I just stood there, letting his presence anchor me.

Then he stirred the feeling of the weight of my gaze, his eyes blinking open. “Mama?” His voice was thick with sleep.

“I’m here, sweetheart.” I sat on the edge of his bed, brushing his messy hair back from his forehead.

He looked at me, serious in the way only a child could be. “Why are you always sad?”

The question pierced me clean through. I forced a shaky laugh. “I’m not sad, baby. Just tired.”

“You lie,” he whispered. “Your eyes look heavy all the time.”

Tears threatened to fall but , and I swallowed hard and held them back. “Maybe they do. But you know why I keep going?”

“Why?”

I kissed his forehead. “Because of you. You’re my brave boy. My light.”

He yawned, already drifting back toward sleep. “Then don’t be sad, Mama. I’ll protect you.”

The words broke me in ways the elders never could. My son—five years old, and already promising to guard me. I slipped out before my tears could wake him.

At my desk, I forced myself back to the contract with Kent Enterprises. My mind went back to the man of that night all those years ago. I still remember that night like it happened yesterday. I shut the folder quickly, my breath ragged. This wasn’t about him. It was about survival. If I dared to fail, the pack would crumble, Johnathan would suffer, and my father’s cursed legacy would swallow us all.

So failure was not an option. I had to succeed at all costs. The next day I packed mine and Jonathan's things. We took an early flight to New York, my only extra companion being Emelia. We went to the penthouse apartment I had rented for the period of time and freshened up. I had to be at the office the next day and I needed to be ready for anything life planned on throwing my way.

The next morning, I walked into the polished marble lobby of Kent Enterprises with my chin raised, though my insides churned. Employees glanced up as I passed, whispering behind manicured hands. I felt their eyes on me.

Vanessa was waiting by the elevator, her heels clicking like gunshots on the floor. Her smile was razor-sharp, her eyes sweeping me up and down. I knew her to be the CEO's assistant due to the numerous unpleasant conversations we had over the phone and through emails.

“You must be Liora,” she said, voice dripping with false sweetness. “I suppose we’ll be working together.”

“Yes,” I said simply, refusing to rise to her bait.

She leaned closer, conspiratorial. “Just a little advice so you don't mess up badly. See Mr. Kent has very high standards. He doesn’t… tolerate mistakes and his punishments are very dire.”

I met her gaze evenly. “Neither do I.”

Her smile faltered for a fraction of a second before snapping back into place. “We’ll see.”

As the elevator doors closed, I exhaled, the weight of two worlds pressing down on me. Behind me lay a pack that doubted me. Ahead of me stood the human

world that I was unfamiliar with but had to crave a place for myself there.