Magnolia sat.
Not because he told her to. Not because she wanted to. But because standing any longer in that glass coffin of an office, under his stare, felt like her bones would snap in half.
The chair was too firm. The room too cold. The man across from her her mate too changed.
Rhett Callahan leaned back against his desk with the confidence of someone who'd never once been told "no." The soft creak of Italian leather under his tailored suit was the only sound between them. His presence was suffocating charisma sharpened into a weapon. There was nothing of the boy she remembered in the man who stood before her now.
He picked up a folder from his desk matte black, thick, precise and slid it across the table toward her.
"I assume you know how to read contracts."
Magnolia's eyes didn't leave his. "Is this why you summoned me after ten years? To insult my intelligence?"
He said nothing. His gaze was unreadable, but there was something else beneath it bitterness, old and decaying.
She opened the folder.
It was a marriage contract.
Her fingers froze mid-flip, the words swimming across the page like ice through her veins.
Legal binding. One year. Immediate residence within the Callahan estate. All public appearances as Alpha mate. No romantic obligations. Termination at the end of twelve months unless agreed otherwise by both parties.
"You want to marry me," she said, her voice flat, "for a business clause?"
"Not want," Rhett corrected. "Need. I turn thirty-three in four months. According to my father's will, I must be married to inherit full ownership of Callahan Enterprises. The board needs stability. And my pack expects a Luna. Temporarily."
"And I'm your first choice?"
He didn't blink. "You're the only one with a mate bond I can trust not to develop emotional attachments."
Her chest went hollow.
Trust? There was no trust here. No warmth. No affection. Just paperwork and pain.
"Let me get this straight," she said, biting each word. "You searched me out after all this time dragged me into your territory to ask me to pretend to be your wife, play Luna to your pack, and act like everything is fine… for what? For show?"
"Yes."
"Why not pick someone else? Anyone else?"
He leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "Because this way, you get something too."
She waited.
"I paid off the lien on your parents' house yesterday," he said casually, like he was discussing weather. "You don't owe the bank anymore. But I own the deed."
The silence was volcanic.
Magnolia's breath left her in a sharp gasp. Her palms curled into fists on her lap.
"You bought my house?"
"I secured leverage," he replied. "If you refuse this contract, I'll reclaim the property and demolish it by the end of the week. It's an old building, a liability. But if you agree to the marriage terms, you can live in peace for a year and walk away with the house signed back into your name, clean and debt-free."
Magnolia stood. Slowly.
Her voice trembled, but her spine stayed straight. "You're blackmailing me."
He looked unmoved. "I'm giving you a deal."
"No," she said, low and trembling, "You're giving me chains."
She turned to leave.
"Walk out that door, Magnolia," Rhett said quietly, "and I will forget I ever loved you."
Her breath caught mid-step.
Loved.
The word echoed through her ribs like thunder.
She spun on him, fury exploding out of the grief. "Don't you dare say that word. Not after what your father did to me. Not after how you let me rot for ten years!"
He stood too, his tone sharp. "You disappeared, Magnolia. I woke up one morning, and you were just gone. No note. No word. Nothing. I searched for months. You erased yourself. And now you want sympathy?"
"You think I had a choice?" she snapped. "Your father threatened to ruin my family. He told me if I stayed, he'd drag my parents through public scandal, destroy my reputation, and crush anyone who tried to help. I was nineteen. Alone. I did what I had to do."
Rhett blinked.
The weight of her confession crashed between them like broken glass.
"You're lying," he said softly.
"I wish I were."
The office fell quiet. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sun burned high over Arizona, but inside, the temperature had dropped like a winter storm. Rhett looked down at the contract, then at her.
"I didn't know."
She didn't respond. Her heart was pounding, her breath tight.
"I believed you left me."
"You believed what was convenient."
They stared at each other two wolves still bleeding from old wounds.
Rhett moved first, sliding the contract back toward her. "It's your choice. But I meant what I said. Take the deal, and you leave here as my Luna. You'll live at the estate. Appear by my side at all formal functions. You'll do nothing more than what's necessary. I don't expect romance. I don't expect forgiveness. I expect results."
"And if I don't sign?"
"Then your house is gone, and so is any future in this city. I'll make sure of it."
The cruelty in his voice didn't match the shadow in his eyes. She saw it then the part of him still bound by what they once were. And the part that hated her for it.
She picked up the pen.
Her fingers trembled. Every cell in her body screamed to burn the paper, to spit in his face, to walk out and never look back.
But this wasn't just about pride. It was about survival.
Her hand moved.
She signed.
Rhett said nothing. Just took the folder, closed it, and pressed a button on his desk.
"Welcome back to the pack, Luna."
The doors opened, and two assistants entered silent, dressed in black, eyes down.
"Escort Ms. Blake to the Callahan estate," Rhett instructed. "Her new quarters should be prepared. Effective immediately."
Magnolia looked at him one last time.
There was no victory in his expression. Only storm.
She walked out without a word.