#Chapter 3#::Three Years Later

The punching bag exploded.

Stuffing flew everywhere. I stood there breathing hard, fists still raised, watching the bag swing on its broken chain.

“That’s the third one this month,” Victor said from the doorway.

I unwrapped the tape from my hands slowly. My knuckles were bruised purple, but I barely felt it anymore. Pain was just information now.

“I’ll pay for it.”

“I’m not worried about the cost.” Victor walked into the training room. “I’m worried you’re going to break your hands before tomorrow’s job.”

Tomorrow. Right. The security detail for some business meeting downtown.

I flexed my fingers. They worked fine. A little swollen maybe, but nothing that would stop me from doing my job.

Three years. It had been three years since that night.

I looked different now. My body was lean muscle from training every single day. No softness left. My hair was shorter, cut to my shoulders, because long hair was a liability in a fight. I moved like a predator instead of prey.

Victor had kept every promise. Taught me hand-to-hand combat. Weapons. Strategy. How to read a room. How to kill efficiently if I had to.

I was good at it. Really good.

“There’s something else,” Victor said. He pulled out his phone and showed me the screen. “This was announced an hour ago.”

National Pack Summit. The headline was in bold letters. Every Alpha in the country is required to attend. Three weeks from now.

My hands stopped moving.

“Our company got hired to provide security,” Victor continued, watching my face. “It’s a huge contract. Good money. But Mira, if you don’t want this job, I can assign someone else.”

I took his phone and scrolled through the list of confirmed attendees. My eyes found the name I was looking for.

Alpha Chase Black. Black Moon Pack.

Something cold settled in my chest. Not anger. Not anymore. This was different. Calm. Patient. Like ice instead of fire.

“I’ll do it,” I said, handing the phone back.

“Are you sure? Seeing him again after three years…”

“I’m sure.”

Victor studied my face for a long moment. Then nodded. “Okay. But Mira, don’t do anything stupid. You’ve built a good life here. Don’t throw it away for revenge.”

I didn’t answer. Just picked up my gear bag and headed for the showers.

The women’s locker room was empty. I stood under the hot water and let it wash away the sweat and the memories that always came with Victor’s warnings.

Three years.

I’d given birth to the twins six months after the rejection. A boy and a girl. Asher and Ember.

They looked exactly like Chase. Dark hair that curled at the ends. Golden eyes that caught the light. Beautiful in a way that made my chest hurt sometimes.

I loved them more than I thought it was possible to love anything.

Victor had helped me find a small apartment. Helped me set up childcare so I could work. Never asked for anything in return. Never made me feel like I owed him.

He’d become the father I never had.

The twins were three now. Smart. Talking in full sentences. Asher was protective of his sister. Always had been. If someone pushed Ember, Asher pushed back harder.

He was going to be an Alpha someday. I could see it already.

Just like his father.

I shoved that thought away and got dressed. Black pants. Black shirt. Practical clothes that let me move.

My phone buzzed. Text from the daycare.

“Asher got in another fight. Can you come get him early?”

I sighed and grabbed my keys.

The daycare was twenty minutes away. When I walked in, Asher was sitting in the office looking defiant. He had a split lip and a bruise forming on his cheek.

“What happened?” I asked Mrs Chen, the daycare worker.

“Another boy pushed Ember off the swing. Asher tackled him.” She looked tired. “This is the third incident this month, Mira. We need to talk about his behaviour.”

I knelt down in front of my son. He stared back at me with those golden eyes. Chase’s eyes.

“Did you start it?”

“He hurt Ember.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

His little jaw set stubbornly. “He pushed her hard. She was crying. So I stopped him.”

God, he was so much like Chase it physically hurt sometimes. The same stubborn set to his jaw. The same protective instinct. The same refusal to back down.

“You can’t solve everything with your fists, baby.”

“You do.”

Mrs Chen coughed to hide a laugh.

I gave her a look, then turned back to Asher. “That’s different. I’m working. You’re three years old.”

“I was protecting Ember. That’s my job.”

How do you argue with that?

“He’s very protective of his sister,” Mrs Chen said carefully. “Which is admirable. But Mira, he needs to learn there are other ways to handle conflict.”

“He’s three,” I said flatly. “He’s supposed to be learning. That’s why he’s here.”

I took both kids home. Ember was quiet in the car, the way she always got after Asher fought someone for her. She didn’t like the violence even though she appreciated the protection.

Asher stared out the window.

“I’m not sorry,” he said suddenly.

“I know.”

“Are you mad?”

I glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “No. But next time, tell a teacher first. Let the adults handle it.”

“Adults don’t always handle it.”

My hands tightened on the steering wheel. He was right about that. I’d learnt that lesson the hard way three years ago when no one helped me. When they all just watched and recorded.

We got home, and I made dinner. Mac and cheese from a box because that’s what we could afford and what the kids would actually eat.

After dinner, I got them ready for bed. Ember first. She fell asleep almost immediately, hugging her stuffed wolf toy.

Asher took longer. He always did.

“Mom?” he asked as I was turning off his light.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Do I look like my dad?”

My hand froze on the light switch. He’d never asked that before.

“Why do you ask?”

“Mrs Chen said I have my father’s eyes.” He looked at me seriously. “Do I?”

I came back and sat on the edge of his bed. “You do. You look a lot like him, actually.”

“Is he nice?”

The question stabbed right through my chest.

“I thought he was,” I said honestly. “Once.”

“But not anymore?”

“It’s complicated.”

Asher was quiet for a minute, thinking. Then, “If he’s not nice, I’m glad he’s not here.”

I kissed his forehead. “Get some sleep, tough guy.”

After both kids were asleep, I went to my own room. The apartment was small. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen barely big enough to turn around in. But it was ours. Safe. Clean.

I pulled out the folder Victor had given me earlier. Flipped through the Summit details until I found his name again.

Alpha Chase Black.

Three years ago, he destroyed me. Called me weak. Had warriors tear my dress off in front of thousands. Marked another woman while I bled on the platform.

I’d spent every single day since then getting stronger. Learning to fight. Building myself into someone who could never be broken like that again.

And now I was going to see him.

The thought should have made me nervous. Should have made my hands shake like they used to.

Instead, I felt nothing but cold certainty.

I wasn’t that scared of Omega anymore. I was a trained fighter. A mother protecting her children. A survivor who’d killed rogues with her bare teeth.

And Chase Black was about to learn exactly what he’d thrown away.

My phone buzzed. Text from Victor.

“Early meeting tomorrow. 6 AM. Don’t be late.”

I texted back confirmation and set my phone down.

Three weeks until the Summit. Three weeks to prepare. To train harder. To get ready.

I looked at the photo on my nightstand. The twins on their third birthday last month, covered in chocolate cake and laughing.

Everything I did, I did for them.

But revenge?

That was for me.

I turned off the light and closed my eyes, already planning my training schedule for tomorrow.

Three weeks.

I could wait three weeks.

I’d already waited three years.

What was a little longer?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​