The elevator doors opened with a soft chime, revealing the marble-and-glass empire of Kane Industries' executive floor. My hands trembled as I clutched my new employee folder, trying to ignore the wolf inside me that had started pacing the moment I entered the building. *This is a mistake. Run.* I couldn't run. Not with $47.83 in my bank account and a baby growing inside me that would need everything I couldn't provide. Not when this job paid three times what any other assistant position offered. The fact that it meant working for *him* was just the universe's twisted sense of humor. "Ms. Chen?" A sharp-dressed woman with silver-streaked hair approached, her heels clicking against the pristine floors. "I'm Victoria, Mr. Kane's senior executive assistant. You're precisely on time. Good." I forced a smile, willing my racing heart to calm. Five years. It had been five years since that night. Since Marcus Kane looked at me with those ice-blue eyes and said the words that shattered my world: *You're not worthy of being an alpha's mate.* He wouldn't recognize me now. I'd been eighteen then, a scared omega who'd just discovered her fated mate at a pack gathering. Now I was twenty-three, my hair darker, my style completely different, wearing colored contacts to hide my distinctive amber eyes. I'd even changed my name—Emma Chen instead of Emma Winters. I was invisible. I had to be. "Mr. Kane is in his office," Victoria continued, leading me down a hallway lined with abstract art that probably cost more than my entire life. "He's... particular about his assistants. You'll be his third this month." "Third?" The word escaped before I could stop it. Victoria's lips thinned. "Mr. Kane has exacting standards. The last assistant brought him coffee at 181 degrees instead of 180. She was dismissed immediately." My wolf whimpered. I remembered Marcus's perfectionism, his need for absolute control. It had been intoxicating once, the way his dominance called to my omega nature. Now it just meant I'd have to be perfect to survive this job long enough to save money and disappear. "He's also been... volatile lately," Victoria added, her voice dropping. "His wolf is restless. The full moon approaches, and he hasn't found his mate yet. The board is pressuring him to choose someone suitable." The baby fluttered in my belly—barely fourteen weeks along, just starting to make its presence known. I pressed a hand to my stomach instinctively, then dropped it when Victoria glanced over. "Are you prepared?" she asked, stopping before massive double doors made of dark wood. No. I would never be prepared to face Marcus Kane again. "Yes," I lied. Victoria knocked twice, then pushed open the doors. The office was enormous, taking up the entire corner of the building with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. And there, standing with his back to us, phone pressed to his ear, was the man who'd broken me. Marcus Kane. He was bigger than I remembered, his shoulders broader beneath his tailored suit. His dark hair was shorter now, styled perfectly, and even from behind, he radiated the kind of power that made other wolves submit automatically. Alpha energy rolled off him in waves, and my omega instincts screamed at me to bare my neck, to show submission. I locked my knees and stayed upright. "—don't care about the contractors' timeline," he growled into the phone, his voice deeper than I remembered, rougher. "Either they meet our deadline or we find someone who will. I don't accept excuses." He ended the call without a goodbye, then turned. Time stopped. Those ice-blue eyes swept over me, and for a terrifying moment, I thought he knew. Recognition would flash across his face, and he'd demand to know why I was here, what I wanted, why I dared come back. But his gaze moved past me without pausing, landing on Victoria. "This is the new assistant?" "Yes, sir. Emma Chen. She comes highly recommended—" "Can she follow instructions?" he interrupted, finally looking at me directly. His eyes met mine, and I felt it—that electric pull of the mate bond, still there after all these years, still trying to connect us. My wolf surged forward, desperate and yearning. *Mate. Our mate.* *No,* I told her firmly. *Not anymore.* "Yes, sir," I managed, keeping my voice steady. "I can follow instructions." Something flickered across his face—confusion, maybe, or recognition of something he couldn't quite place. His nostrils flared slightly, and I realized with horror that he was scenting the air. I'd taken suppressants this morning, strong ones that masked my omega scent and the pregnancy hormones. But standing this close to him, with the mate bond pulling at both of us, I wasn't sure they'd be enough. "You smell..." he started, then shook his head sharply. "Victoria, brief her on the schedule. I have a conference call in ten minutes." He turned back to his desk, dismissing us both, but I saw his hand grip the edge of the wood, knuckles white with tension. As Victoria led me out, I dared one glance back. Marcus stood frozen, staring at the spot where I'd been standing, his expression troubled. His wolf was calling to mine—I could feel it, that desperate howl across the bond we'd both tried to sever. This was going to be so much harder than I'd thought.