der Va

, the crisp sound echoing through my private o

from months of handling. It showed a woman's profile, delicate

eight

ook matters into his own hands and drugged me, hoping to force me into the room he had arranged. I managed to stay away, but that night,

me, fresh freesia to

she was gone. I had sent investigators and trackers a

ntration. My assistant, Marc

ted. "The advanced gene-therapy wing funded by the Vane Foundation has completed its init

mple. "Bring t

ffic. The city blurred behind the tinted windows, but my though

y. I bypassed the public corridors and took the biometric executive

amed Dr. Vance, was waiting when the d

have the full experimental metric

" I walked past him. "

entrance, and thick acoustic panels kept the hallway quiet. As we pass

ugh the filtered air from

sia. Wint

. My heart gave a hard, sudden beat.

gnize it instantly. My inner Lycan stirred, and f

rn's soft cry came from

ars were hers. Every detail matched the wo

he brass plate st

the northern packs. If the woman from that night was truly a g

omeone from their family had been taken advantage of by an unknown man,

er room, seeing her for the

about Aria Sterling's identity

I gripped the brass handle of the private viewi

orning light. Her dark hair was loosely braided over one shoulder

caught.

I knew. The scent, the appearance, and the memory from that night all pointed to the sa

d her hea

met mine thr

hifted in her expression when she saw me, but she quickly

noticed the open door. She approached, gave me a

e asked nervously. "

blinds. Then I looked again a

Ste

g caught the soft sound

ed to

aid calmly. "I want everything on A