chapter 4

Three years later…

   ~ Mira's POV ~

The room stilled the moment I stepped in, eyes turning at me just like the way I wanted.

The chandelier lights sparkled above like fallen stars, casting a glow over the polished floors and the exquisite diamond studded gowns and crisps tuxedos. 

I stepped out of the black limousine, dressed in a black body-con silk, the bodice was tight, strapless, and studded with tiny black crystals that caught the light each time I took a step. 

I could feel longing gazes on my body, I held my chin up with a smile on my face.

I didn’t need an introduction. The whispers already began.

"Is that—?" "That's the Cyber Empress."

Flashes from cameras popped in my face as I walked into the grand ballroom.  

“OMG!!!, She's so pretty”

Another said but I am not here for show off, just–

This was no ordinary gala. It was a summit of the powerful and the dangerous. CEOs, Alpha royals, witches cloaked in glamour, and humans who had no idea the supernatural existed. This was their playground.

And mine too, now.

I kept my steps graceful, expression poised. Inside, my heart thundered like a warning bell. Because I knew he would be here.

Alpha Rowan.

I spotted him near the bar, flanked by some of his pack leaders. He hadn’t seen me yet. Good. Let the moment drag out. Let him feel it.

I moved through the room, like I owned it catching the attention of business tycoons vying to have a word with me. 

I shook hands with a few, a professional smile lingering on my lips when they complimented my Empire.

Cyber Empress. That’s what they called me now.

No one heard the screams I’d buried or the tears I’d choked on just to survive.

No one knew I was once an unwanted Luna who was banished to the forbidden land. No one saw the blood on my hands or the tears I had swallowed just to stay alive. I reinvented myself from the ashes, and now the world bowed at my feet.

I kept my gaze locked on the man in front of me, a weapons developer pitching a deal with my security firm. His words were sharp, his tone respectful. He didn’t know I could dismantle his entire company before the night ended.

But I let him talk. For now.

Then I felt it. His stare. 

His eyes locked with mine across the room. The longing stares I have always wanted, sizing me up and down. His brows wrinkled, his eyes widening in disbelief, maybe wondering why I am alive.

And not gone and dead like how he had planned. 

I turned away before he could make a move. Good.

Let him burn.

Let him realize he threw away a diamond thinking it was a stone.

I barely made it through another round of conversations before I felt his presence drawing closer. I refused to look at him. He hovered beside me like a shadow, and I kept talking like he was invisible.

"Excuse me," he finally said, his voice low.

I tilted my head slightly wondering what the motherfucker had to say. 

Yo, you look so much like my ex-wife. Or you are the one? I almost burst into laughter at my imaginations. 

Then the host walked on stage, voice echoing across the ballroom snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we honor an extraordinary mind. The youngest female mogul to build a global empire from scratch. Please welcome Mira Wyrmblood, popularly known as the Cyber Empress."

Applause erupted. Every pair of eyes darted to my direction. 

“I am quite occupied, business deals discussion must go through my Personal assistant”, I walked past him, waving dismissively in the air. 

From the corner of my eyes,I felt his mouth parted. 

Good. I walked toward the stage slowly, the sound drowning in my ears. I could feel Rowan stormy grey peering at me.

The man I once gave everything to was now a memory. And I wouldn’t waste a second more on him.

He didn’t know who I had become. He thought he ended me.

No, Alpha.

You created me.

I stood on stage, my eyes swept across the ballroom. A soft smile played on my lips. 

“Thank you for this honour”, I muttered as the applause died down.

“I stand before you not just as a businesswoman… but as proof.”

I paused.

“Proof that when the world tries to break you, when it takes everything, even your name, you can still rise. Not because it’s easy. But because something inside you refuses to give up.”

“Three years ago, I was a nobody, heartbroken and thrown away like trash. But here I am with an Empire under my name”, a smile crept up in the corner of my lips.

I paused. 

“I won’t go into the details tonight. Not all stories are meant to be told in rooms like this. But know this…”

I lifted my chin.

“Sometimes, the world will not offer you a seat at the table. Sometimes, it will slam every door in your face and tell you that you don’t belong.”

I exhaled slowly.

“But you build your own table. You build your own doors. You become so powerful they can’t look away.”

A low murmur moved through the crowd.

“I didn’t get here because I was lucky. I got here because I refused to stay where they left me.”

A small, tight smile curved my lips.

"Thank you," I began. "This is only the beginning.”

I walked off the stage with a chin held high, a smile on my lips. 

My eyes darting to every corner in the ballroom, my eyes locked on a pair of golden flecks of amber eyes, staring intently at me. 

My wolf howled in my head, my heartbeat thundered in my chest. 

No way! I gasped. 

“Mine”, My wolf howled, grinning in excitement. I gulped down the saliva in my throat, shaking my head in disbelief. 

Second chance mates are rare. Why would the Primordial Moon Goddess grant me one? I grabbed a drink on the table, downing it in one gulp.

This is too much for me. It will jeopardise my plans. I clenched my fists, averting my gaze but my eyes landed on another pair of piercing blue orbs, the scent of peaches, vanilla and cinnamon mixing with the air making me shiver. 

Something felt off. I couldn't point at it. My stomach twisted in knots, my wolf howling in my head making it difficult for me to breathe. 

Footsteps echoed behind me. I don't want to see who it is but my gut feelings told me it's my mate. 

But why? I don't need a mate. It would only break me over and over again. 

I glanced over at my shoulder, the air stilled, my breath seized. Three pairs of eyes locked on me.

Nooooo!! I took a step back. 

The alarms in my head went off in full blast. I wanted to run.

I wanted to scream.

No. Not again. Not this. I wouldn’t fall into another bond.

Not one. But three.

I tried to steady my breath, but it was useless.

Their scents filled my lungs, clouding my thoughts. Their auras washed over me, wanting me to submit to the mate bond calling. 

“A Lycan King”

“An ancient Vampire” 

“A warlock coven leader” 

I swallowed the lumps in my throat, wanting to make a run for it. But they cornered me from behind, in front and beside. 

Clenching my fists with my teeth gnashing on each other.

“I will reject them, I won't break down again”.