Victoria
A month later.
The morning light filtered through the tall windows of my bedroom at Howlthorne Manor as I studied my reflection in the full-length mirror. The woman staring back at me was almost unrecognizable from the frightened girl who had once cowered under Enzo's threats. My dark hair was swept up into an elegant twist, accentuating the clean lines of my charcoal gray power suit. At my throat gleamed two pendants—the Howlthorne Alpha emblem and, beneath it, hidden from casual view, my mother's sylvan pendant.
"You look every inch the Alpha," Rosa said, adjusting the lapel of my jacket with motherly pride. She had insisted on coming to Howlthorne Manor to help me prepare for today's crucial meeting.
"I feel like I'm playing dress-up." I admitted, smoothing my han
