Chapter 1
"I'll make this simple, Ms. Moretti." Avery Carter folded her hands neatly on the conference table, her lips curving into a practiced smile that never quite reached her eyes. "After careful consideration, the company has decided to terminate your employment effective immediately."
The words fell lightly, almost gently, yet they struck harder than a silver blade.
For a long moment, I simply looked at her.
Avery couldn't have been older than twenty-five. The expensive cream blazer draped over her shoulders, the flawless makeup, and the confidence she wore so effortlessly made her look every bit like someone who had never known failure. Beneath the floral perfume she had generously sprayed on herself lingered the unmistakable scent of a young she-wolf trying to establish dominance. It was subtle, almost imperceptible to humans, but to another wolf, it was impossible to miss.
She was provoking me.
My wolf shifted beneath my skin, displeased by the challenge.
Easy, I silently soothed her.
Avery pushed a document across the polished table until it stopped in front of me.
"This is your severance agreement. The compensation exceeds the Pack Labor Council's requirements, so I hope you'll cooperate and leave with dignity."
Leave with dignity.
The irony almost made me smile.
Afternoon sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Quinn Corporation's headquarters, bathing the conference room in golden light. Eleven years ago, Kendrick and I could never have imagined sitting in a building like this. Back then, we had squeezed into a tiny rented apartment on the outskirts of Riverdale, sharing one broken desk between us while praying we could make payroll before the month's end.
Now the pack owned an entire skyscraper.
And I...
I was being escorted out of it.
Avery cleared her throat, mistaking my silence for hesitation.
"I understand this isn't easy," she continued, her voice carrying the sympathy of someone who wasn't sympathetic at all. "But every pack needs fresh blood to survive. Keeping older employees around only slows everyone's progress."
Older.
Outdated.
The words settled between us.
My wolf let out a low growl inside my mind, offended by the disrespect. Among wolves, age wasn't a weakness. It was proof that you had survived every hunt, every challenge, every rival who wanted your place.
Avery suddenly seemed to realize how her words sounded.
Her throat bobbed.
"I... I didn't mean it like that."
I never answered.
Instead, I lowered my gaze to the agreement.
Termination of Employment.
The bold words blurred for a heartbeat before my vision cleared.
I picked up the pen.
Without the slightest tremble, I signed my name.
Evelyn Moretti.
The tip of the pen slid across the paper with one clean, decisive stroke.
Eleven years.
Eleven years of pouring every ounce of myself into this company... into this pack.
I had watched Kendrick Quinn transform from an ambitious young Alpha carrying a struggling pack on his shoulders into the man whose name alone could silence an entire boardroom. In those days, he negotiated business contracts during the day and settled territorial disputes after sunset, returning exhausted with the scent of blood, whiskey, and rain clinging to his clothes.
Every financial report.
Every investment.
Every expansion.
Every crisis.
I had stood beside him through all of it.
Together, we dragged the company out of that shabby apartment office, moved into a commercial building, and eventually built Quinn Corporation into one of the most influential enterprises among both humans and werewolves.
Somewhere along the way, however, everything changed.
I stopped being the partner who stayed awake with him until dawn, planning the future of our pack.
I became the Luna whose identity had to remain hidden.
Then, little by little, I became nothing more than Evelyn from Accounting.
A payroll number.
A monthly expense.
Someone so insignificant that removing me from the books no longer required Kendrick to appear in person.
How laughable.
I pushed the signed agreement back toward Avery.
"All right," I said evenly. "When do you want the handover to begin?"
Avery froze.
She had expected anger.
Tears.
Maybe even an emotional breakdown.
Instead, I had signed without bargaining.
Without pleading.
Without asking why.
"...As soon as possible," she answered after several awkward seconds.
I nodded once.
"Fine."
I rose from my chair and walked out of the conference room without another word.
The finance department fell unnaturally quiet.
Dozens of eyes followed me openly, while countless whispers floated through the air along with the restless scents of curiosity and unease.
"Was she really fired?"
"I heard Chairman Quinn personally approved it."
"Who's replacing Evelyn?"
Nobody approached me.
Nobody dared.
My office wasn't large.
Just a modest room tucked beside the finance department, containing a desk, two filing cabinets, shelves packed with financial records, and years of memories nobody else would ever recognize.
There wasn't much to pack.
A faded ceramic mug Kendrick had bought from a roadside stall before Quinn Corporation even existed.
A notebook filled with handwritten formulas and contingency plans.
A small potted succulent that had stubbornly survived countless nights of overtime beside me.
Ten minutes later, everything I owned fit neatly inside one cardboard box.
The office looked exactly the same.
Only colder.
As though I had never belonged there.
The elevator doors slid open.
Just before they closed again, hurried footsteps echoed across the lobby.
Avery emerged, surrounded by several newly hired employees who eagerly laughed at every word she said.
She was smiling again. Confident. Victorious.
She truly believed she had won.
She believed removing the old accountant meant inheriting everything I had built over eleven years.
Leaning against the elevator wall, I quietly studied my reflection in the polished steel. For the briefest moment, my amber eyes flashed silver before settling back to normal.
Did Avery really think this was over?
The financial system supporting Quinn Corporation wasn't something downloaded from a server.
It was a living network I had built from scratch, designed to manage the assets of both the company and the Mooncrest Pack. Every account, every safeguard, every hidden emergency reserve and confidential investment existed because I had put it there.
Only one person understood every piece of it.
And she had just walked away.
By the time I returned to the condo that evening, darkness had already settled outside.
The apartment was exactly as I had left it. Silent. Cold. Empty.
Kendrick hadn't come home again.
His cedarwood scent lingered so faintly throughout the living room that I could barely recognize it anymore. Eight years of marriage had turned this luxurious condo into nothing more than a place where two bonded mates occasionally crossed paths.
I set the cardboard box beside the sofa and slowly looked around the home we once dreamed of sharing.
It had everything money could buy.
Everything… Except the warmth of an Alpha who still remembered his Luna.
My wolf, who had remained silent for years, finally lifted her head.
Enough, she whispered.
I closed my eyes, and for the first time in a very long while...
I realized she was right.