Aria's POV
Three days later, the morning arrived with crystalline clarity. Not a cloud marred the brilliant sky as sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Smith Tower.
The building hummed with the energy of a new workday beginning.
I stood by my office window, watching the city sprawl below. My reflection stared back at me—sharper now, more defined.
The past few days had changed something fundamental in me. I could feel it in my bones, see it in the way others looked at me now.
Even without a wolf of my own, I was learning to project power.
The elevator chimed down the hall. I didn't need to turn around to know it was Nathan. His footsteps—confident, measured, deliberately loud enough to announce his presence—echoed through the corridor.
Those polis
