#Chapter 3: Dangerous Territory

Laila POV

Turns out, I didn't have to worry about any of that.

His gaze swept past me. Empty. Dismissive.

Like I was just another face in the crowd. Some random woman cluttering up his space.

He didn't recognize me. Of course he didn't.

I wasn't that girl anymore.

The elevator doors started to slide closed, and my body finally remembered how to move.

I stepped inside on legs that felt like water. Pressed myself against the far wall. As far from Jason as the small space would allow.

His scent hit me immediately. Pine and leather, threaded with that wildness only an Alpha carried. It wrapped around me before I could shut it out, ripping through defenses I'd spent six years building.

I clenched my jaw. Forced myself to breathe through my mouth instead of my nose.

No breakdowns. Not here. Not in a damn hospital elevator with him.

He was looking at his phone, completely absorbed. Professional. Distant. Everything he'd always been.

The same man who'd whispered my name in the darkness. Who'd made me believe I mattered.

The same man who'd called me nobody important.

"What floor?" he asked without looking up.

His voice. God, his voice was exactly the same. Deep. Commanding. It used to make my pulse race.

Now it just made me want to disappear.

"Three, please." I managed. The words came out steadier than I felt.

He pressed the button. Still didn't really look at me. Just a polite glance, the kind you'd give any stranger.

His phone rang as the elevator lurched upward. He answered without checking the caller ID.

"Marcus? What's the update?"

My stomach clenched. Marcus - his Beta. Even after six years, some things never changed.

"Good. So the final acquisition papers went through?" Jason's voice carried clearly in the small space. "Mercy General is officially ours now?"

My blood turned to ice. Jason owned this hospital. The hospital where my daughter was a patient.

"Excellent. This expansion will give us exactly the medical edge we need. Both human and werewolf patients under one roof." He paused, listening. "Yes, I'm here now for the final walkthrough. The board agreed to all our terms?"

When the doors opened onto the pediatric floor, I bolted.

"Be sure to schedule a meeting with the administrators tomorrow…" I heard Jason say behind me as he stepped out. For a moment, I thought I felt his gaze on my back, but when I glanced over my shoulder, he was already heading toward the administrative offices, phone still pressed to his ear.

After checking on Ava one more time, I escaped to the cafeteria for coffee. Something bitter to hold onto while I tried to process what had just happened.

My hands shook as I studied the hospital map on the wall. My heart dropped when I realized exactly where we were.

Not just "near" werewolf territory. Right on the edge of it. Close enough to Moon Ridge that Jason showing up here wasn't even weird.

I hated that it made sense.

Of course he'd be expanding his territory. Of course, he'd want to control the medical facilities in the area. Jason had always been ambitious. Always thinking three steps ahead.

And now his world was colliding with mine again.

I pulled out my phone, scrolled until I found Riley's number. She was the only one from that old world I hadn't cut off. The only one I would call 'friend' in Jason's pack.

Riley had been a late shifter too. Back then, we'd been the outcasts in school together. We shared secrets and dreams and the bone-deep loneliness that came with never quite belonging.

Although Riley did not shift as late as I did -- she shifted at the age of 16 -- we still had a good relationship after that.

So Riley was the only soul who knew I was alive. The only one who knew Vanessa Harper and Laila were the same person.

"Riley? It's me."

"Nessa!" Her voice was warm, familiar. "How's Ava? You sounded worried in your text."

"She's stable for now. They want to run more tests." I dropped into a quiet corner booth, lowering my voice. "Listen, can we meet for a quick dinner? Somewhere near the hospital? "

"Of course. What's wrong? You sound off."

I closed my eyes. Pressed my palm to my forehead. "I saw Jason today."

Silence. Then a sharp exhale. "Shit. Did he recognize you?"

"No. Thank god." My laugh was humorless. "But Riley—if he's here, if Moon Ridge has their claws in this hospital... I don't want him to find me, or Ava. It's gonna make things too complicated."

"You've been hiding everything well for six years. You can keep doing it." Riley cut in, firm. No room for argument. "And now you're Vanessa Harper. Businesswoman. Mother. Badass. Don't let one ghost make you doubt everything you've built."

Her certainty was a rope to cling to.

I thought about my company. The deals I'd closed. The respect I'd earned. The life I'd built from nothing.

"There's a little Italian place—Marco's, ten minutes from here. Seven o'clock?"

"I'll be there. And Nessa? Don't spiral. It's fine."

When the call ended, I sat staring into my coffee until it went cold.

Six years I'd been Vanessa Harper. Six years of building a life that had nothing to do with Jason Bradshaw.

So why did one look at him and I panicked again?

Like I was still that unwanted and naive eighteen-year-old girl who'd thought love could conquer anything. Who'd think an Alpha's son could actually want someone like her.

Third Person POV

Jason stood at the large window overlooking the parking lot as he waited for Marcus to arrive. Distracted, he couldn't stop thinking about the woman in the elevator. Something about her nagged at him - the way she'd pressed herself against the far wall, the careful way she'd avoided eye contact.

"Alpha?" Marcus walked up to him. "The staffing reports?"

Jason blinked, refocusing. "Right. Sorry."

The hospital was his now. His pack had just acquired it through months of careful negotiation and strategic financial maneuvering.

This expansion was about more than profit. It was about progress. Healthcare was evolving. Offering specialized services for both humans and wolves would give Moon Ridge the edge they needed in an increasingly competitive world.

And maybe it would put him in the path of Vanessa Harper.

The name carried weight in their world. Every Alpha he spoke to mentioned her like she was untouchable. The gold standard for trade liaisons between humans and wolves.

Her reputation was nearly mythic. Deals closed nobody else could touch. Connections that seemed impossible.

But she wouldn't take his calls. Wouldn't even respond to his proposals.

Months of offers, all ignored.

He had been trying to expand his business and wanted to engage with humans. He'd been searching for that human-werewolf trade salesperson, but he had yet to find her.

Jason was somewhat frustrated, not understanding why that woman wasn't willing to do business.

"The human staff are adjusting well," Marcus reported as they moved through the pediatric wing. "A few complaints about scheduling during full moons, but nothing major."

"Good. The equipment installation?"

"Should be complete next week. The healing chambers are already functional."

Jason nodded, but his mind was already elsewhere. Circling back to stubborn trade specialists and what it would take to break through Harper's resistance.

When he returned to the pack house later, Marcus lingered at the door of Jason's office. That hesitation put Jason on alert instantly.

"What is it?"

"It's about Laila."

The name was a punch straight to the gut. Even after all these years, hearing it tore something open in him.

The woman who left without a word.

Six years ago, in front of Jason's parents, Brittany had told them that Laila had asked for fifty thousand dollars before she left, saying she'd earned it after everything she'd done for Jason.

"She said not to feel guilty. That she'd known from the beginning you were just using each other. That she was glad to finally cash in." Brittany had paused, watching his parents' shocked faces. "She was quite detailed about what those services included."

That's when Jason's parents learned that Jason had been secretly involved with Laila for over a month.

Jason still remembered his parents' shocked faces and all the questions that came after Brittany's innocent reveal.

Jason tried not to think about this woman over the years, but his mother kept wondering if Laila was living a good life even after she left.

Recently, after a major surgery, his mother had clearly stated that she wanted to meet her adoptive daughter one more time because she was getting old and feared she might die before getting to see her again.

So, Jason started searching for Laila. It was harder than he had imagined, but now his searching had finally dug something up.

Marcus held out a file. His Beta informed him that he had news about Laila.

Over the years, Jason had been searching for any trace of her.

"Tell me."

The Beta hesitated before speaking. "Her records end abruptly six years ago. Medical, employment, social security—all of it just... stops." Marcus's voice was grim. "Laila's files have been completely canceled."

Jason's hand tightened on his desk. "What does that mean?"

Marcus met his eyes with difficulty. "It suggests that she might be dead."

The words shook Jason to his core.