Chapter 2

Laila POV

Six years later.

I caught myself in the bathroom mirror and had to just stop. Stare.

The woman looking back at me didn't feel like me. Not the me I used to know anyway.

I tilted my head, studying how my face had changed. The girl who ran from Jason's pack was long gone. That skinny, pale thing who could barely hold herself together.

This body now? It was curvier in all the right places. Stronger too. My skin held warmth, color. I actually looked alive. The supernatural grace and power that should have come with my wolf at fourteen had finally arrived.

My hair wasn't that lifeless mousy blonde anymore. Now it was dyed chocolate brown, falling in thick waves that moved with an otherworldly fluidity I never used to have.

I leaned closer to the glass. Searching for scraps of the old me. The girl desperate for Jason's approval.

I almost laughed because I couldn't find her. Good. She was better off buried.

The turning point came after Ava. My wolf finally appeared during the week after I gave birth to her. My wolf told me she had been suppressed by something before that had kept her locked away. The pain and desperation of giving birth alone seemed to break whatever chains had held her back, freeing her to protect both me and my daughter.

Something inside me woke up then. Healing faster. Senses sharpening. My body shifting bit by bit into what it was meant to be.

And with those changes came a new name. Laila died the night I gave birth to Ava. Vanessa Harper had to be born in her place. Vanessa was not weak. Not small. She was someone who could walk into a room and people listened.

More importantly, with the new name, Jason and his pack would never find out my secret Ava, even if they suddenly wanted to.

Ava was my daughter and only MY daughter. I didn't want to make things complicated.

A knock pulled me out of my head.

I called "Come in," Marcus poked his head in, holding up yet another envelope—cream paper, flowing script, same damn sender.

Jason.

I didn't even have to look. Jason's pack had been sending proposal after proposal. Stacking them up like bricks in my drawer.

"File it," I said without blinking.

He shifted, still standing there. "But Vanessa, this could be huge. Moon Ridge has connections everywhere—"

I cut him off. "I said file it."

My tone left no cracks for him to slip through. He went, probably chewing on it the whole way out.

I turned back to my computer. Six years I'd been living in the human world building something solid. Being caught between two worlds had given me insight no one else had.

Humans wanted werewolf products. Werewolves wanted things that humans specialized in. My little company was the bridge between them.

Everyone wanted to work with Vanessa Harper.

Everyone, including Jason's pack. But I never let that happen.

My phone buzzed on the desk. A text from Ava's school. Emergency - please come immediately.

I grabbed my keys, my heart already racing. By the time I reached the school, I was prepared for the worst.

Mrs. Henry met me at the infirmary door, her face grave. "Ava collapsed during recess. She's stable now, but..."

I pushed past her to see my daughter lying on the small cot, pale and too still. Ava's eyes fluttered open when she heard my voice.

"Mama? I got dizzy and everything went dark."

My throat tightened. "It's okay, baby. Mama's here."

Mrs. Henry pulled me aside while the school nurse checked Ava's vitals. "This isn't the first time, Vanessa. She's been more tired lately, smaller than other children her age. That's unusual for werewolf children - they're typically stronger than human kids."

She hesitated before continuing. "I know this is personal, but... have you considered that Ava's father might have answers? About her heritage, her health?"

Each question was a knife. "Ava's father isn't in the picture."

"I understand. It's just... she asks about him constantly. Draws pictures of a man with green eyes. Calls him 'the Alpha.'"

My blood went ice cold. Mrs. Henry continued explaining Ava's dreams about a big house in the forest, details she should never know.

Because Ava was describing Jason's pack house.

After getting Ava settled at home, I called Dr. Martinez. His nurse said the test results from last week were ready.

My chest went tight before I even heard the news. Dr. Martinez's voice was gentle but serious. "Ava has a rare congenital heart condition. She'll need surgery, and soon. We need to admit her to Mercy General immediately for pre-surgical preparation."

The drive to Mercy General felt endless. Ava sat in the backseat, quiet but alert. She'd been asking fewer questions lately. More tired. That scared me more than anything.

The hospital was impressive. State-of-the-art equipment. The best werewolf medical facility on the East Coast. It was also expensive as hell. But Ava was worth every penny.

We checked in at the front desk. The nurse explained that Dr. Martinez wanted to run a full panel. Blood work, imaging, the whole nine yards.

"How long will we be here?" I asked.

"The doctor will want to keep her for observation. Probably a week minimum before we can schedule the surgery."

My heart sank. One week of worry and waiting, then the surgery itself.

After getting Ava settled in her room, I went downstairs to handle the paperwork. Insurance forms, medical histories, emergency contacts. All the bureaucracy that came with crisis.

I was exhausted already. Emotionally drained from pretending everything was fine when nothing felt fine at all.

The elevator doors opened on the ground floor. I stepped inside, already thinking about coffee and how to rearrange my work schedule.

That's when I saw him.

Jason Bradshaw.

The world stopped.

Six years melted away like they'd never happened. I was eighteen again, standing on his doorstep with a pregnancy test hidden in my pocket and hope bleeding from my chest.

Did he remember me? What would he say? What would I say?