ch. 3

3 years later...

The skyline of Lupinia had changed in three years—sleeker, taller, colder.

But Dia hadn't come back to admire it.

She came to claim what was hers.

The private jet touched down at Wolfe International Airport just past midnight. No press. No photos. No fanfare. Just a black car waiting on the tarmac and a personal driver who bowed the moment she stepped down the stairs.

"Welcome home, Miss Valkryn."

Home.

The word didn't sting anymore. It didn't feel like loss.

It felt like power.

---

She had no trace of her past in her reflection now.

No bruises. No scars. No fear.

Her eyes were lined in subtle black. Her lips painted in quiet defiance. Her posture? Straight, regal, trained.

She was no longer Dia, the servant girl.

She was Dia Valkryn, daughter of Alpha Magnus Valkryn, sole heir to the capital empire.

And she'd just purchased 70% of the Nightborne estate's remaining land—under a silent holding company.

They didn't know she was back.

Yet.

---

In the back seat of the car, a little boy sat quietly. Silver eyes. Dark hair. His fingers clutched a small book on wolves and kingdoms.

He was only two and a half, but he was brilliant. Calm. Observant.

And Alpha-blooded.

"Are you nervous, Mommy?" he asked softly.

Dia smiled, brushing his hair from his forehead.

"No. Just focused."

---

Across the city, the Nightborne pack council sat in a private boardroom, rage simmering at their latest update.

"The new landowner refuses to release the development permits," one of them barked. "Construction's halted. We're losing millions."

Ace sat at the head of the table, one arm draped lazily over the back of his chair, eyes on the report in front of him.

New development. New owner. Untraceable company.

But something about it…

His wolf stirred—restless, unsettled. For months now, it had been this way.

Since a scent appeared in the air that he couldn't name.

One that made his wolf ache.

And yet, the girl it reminded him of…

She was dead.

---

Outside the Nightborne estate, Dia's car passed the iron gates she once scrubbed clean on her knees.

She didn't look twice at them.

She simply spoke to her driver:

"Send the meeting request. One hour. No names. Just an address. I want Ace Nightborne there personally."

The driver nodded. "Understood."

Dia looked at her reflection one last time before the city lights swallowed them.

"I want him to see me," she murmured. "Really see me. And wonder how many chances he already wasted."

---

Ace Nightborne didn't like unanswered questions.

He hated blind summons, unmarked contracts, and above all—being called without knowing who was calling him.

So when a sleek black card was delivered to his desk with nothing but a time, an address, and the words "For your future"—he nearly tossed it.

Until his wolf growled.

Restless.

Uneasy.

The same way it had been for months.

The way it always was when her scent brushed the air. That phantom touch he kept blaming on memory. On guilt. On anything but the truth.

She's gone, he reminded himself again.

But his wolf didn't believe it.

---

He arrived at the penthouse suite fifteen minutes early.

The assistant at the door gave him a curt nod. "Please, Alpha Nightborne. The principal is waiting inside."

"Who's the principal?" he asked.

The assistant smiled. "She'll speak for herself."

That word again. She.

Ace stepped inside.

The room was high-glass luxury. Floor-to-ceiling windows. A full skyline view of Lupinia burning in gold.

But it wasn't the view that stopped him mid-stride.

It was her.

Seated at the far end of the table.

Dark hair pulled into a low twist. Eyes lined sharp. Her figure draped in black silk, legs crossed, posture calm, gaze direct.

Like a queen on her throne.

Like fire that had learned how to smirk.

Dia.

Alive.

Breathing.

And very, very different.

Ace's heart slammed in his chest before he could stop it.

His wolf lunged forward like it had been caged for years.

But she didn't move.

She didn't blink.

She only said—

"Have a seat, Alpha."

---

Ace lowered himself into the chair across from her, unable to tear his eyes away.

"You're—"

"Alive?" Dia finished, voice cool. "Yes. Surprise."

"How—"

"Does it matter?" she cut in, her voice razor-sharp. "I'm not here to retell your nightmares. I'm here for business."

He leaned back, collecting his breath. "I don't understand. Everyone thought—"

"You thought," she corrected. "You assumed I burned like the rest of them. That the problem was solved. The shame… erased."

His jaw clenched.

"You faked your death."

"No. you all tried to kill me." Her eyes glinted like steel.

Silence thickened.

"You're different," he muttered.

"I had to be."

He studied her. Everything about her screamed control. Confidence. Power.

And still—beneath it all—her scent hadn't changed.

And his wolf… was clawing to get closer.

"You're the one halting my development projects," he said.

"Yes."

"You're the one buying up the land."

"Correct again."

"Why?"

Dia leaned forward, elbows resting lightly on the table.

"Because I can."

His brows furrowed. "What do you want, Dia?"

She paused. Held his gaze.

And smiled.

"Everything you thought I'd never reach."

---

Ace had dealt with alphas.

With arrogant investors.

With royal families.

But he had never sat across from someone who could disarm him with silence.

And now he was.

Dia.

Not flinching.

Not breaking.

Not even blinking when he raised his voice.

She just looked at him—like she was watching a mistake she had already outgrown.

---

"The Nightborne pack requires that land to proceed with our expansion," Ace said flatly. "If you have personal reasons for holding out, we can make adjustments—"

Dia's smile sliced clean through his words.

"You think this is about a grudge?"

His jaw flexed.

"Maybe it is."

"Maybe it was," she replied smoothly.

"But this?"

She flicked a glossy folder across the table.

"This is business."

Ace opened it.

A formal declaration: Land freeze. Indefinite.

Signed by Wolfe Enterprises.

Authorized by Diana Wolfe, CEO.

His eyes snapped up. "You changed your name."

"No," she said, her voice steady, her gaze burning.

"I took back the one that was stolen."

Ace didn't answer.

His wolf growled—not at her, but for her.

It recognized her.

Even now.

Especially now.

"You're not just some investor," he muttered.

"No," Dia replied.

"I'm the heir of the Wolfe Empire. The new landowner of 73% of your expansion territory.

The silence thickened.

Ace tried to stay composed.

Tried to act like her words didn't cut into bone.

Tried to ignore the wolf inside him, clawing for her.

"I didn't know…" he said, softer now.

Dia stood slowly.

No hesitation. No fear. Just a haunting kind of grace.

"You didn't want to know," she said, voice ice-edged.

"You saw what you were told to see: a weak omega. A mistake. And you let your mother, your mate, your entire pack tear me apart."

"I was misled," Ace insisted, stepping closer. "It wasn't—what happened with the fire—Dia, that was an accident."

She stopped. Her spine straightened. Her head turned slightly.

"An accident?" Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper.

Ace swallowed. "Elora wouldn't—"

Dia spun around so fast it made the room tremble.

"Don't you fucking defend her to me."

Ace's lips parted—but no words came.

"You call it an accident?" she hissed. "She drenched my home in gasoline. She locked my brother's window shut. She thought I was dead and still came back to make sure the fire finished the job." She can't forget her deceased family; the memory still pains her.

"She told me she didn't—"

"She lied, and you let her! Because it was easier to believe the perfect Luna than the mate you rejected!"

Her voice cracked then—but it wasn't weak. It was the sound of a soul that survived burning alive.

"You don't even know what you did," she spat, shaking now.

"You stood there while your family starved me, broke me, humiliated me. You let your mate corner me like an animal."

She stepped closer. "You all killed my family, Ace."

He froze.

Dia's breath trembled—but her fury sharpened.

"You think I walked out of that fire alone?" She laughed bitterly, eyes wet but blazing. "No. I dragged myself through ash and glass while my lungs burned and my belly screamed with pain. My family, who gave up everything to adopt me." Her voice broke. "And my little brother… eight years old. He died thinking I'd come back for him. He died thinking I was a hero."

The air in the room dropped like ice.

"I begged the Moon Goddess not to let him burn," she whispered. "But fire doesn't hear prayers. And neither did you."

Ace didn't speak.

Couldn't speak.

Dia's voice turned colder than before.

"And now you want your land back?" She took a step back, gathering her breath. "You think you can sit here and negotiate with the ashes of what you destroyed?"

Ace's voice rasped. "What do you want from me?"

Dia tilted her head, calm again—but deadlier now.

"I want you to remember this moment," she said softly. "The one where the omega you rejected owned the seat you thought you'd never lose." She walked toward the door, head held high. And just before she left, her voice cracked like lightning behind her: "Next time, Alpha… make an appointment."

Ace didn't move for a long time after the door clicked shut. His wolf was pacing—raging.

She's alive.

She's stronger.

She's ours.

And for the first time in his powerful, privileged life…

Ace Nightborne didn't feel in control.

He felt completely, utterly undone.