CHAPTER 2 — THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED
Jax drove all night.
The address on the note led him to an abandoned lumber mill deep inside the forest.
The place had been empty for years.
Or so everyone believed.
As he stepped inside, dozens of old security cameras slowly rotated toward him.
Someone had been waiting.
A loudspeaker crackled.
"You came alone."
"I want the girl."
"And Rose?"
Jax's voice echoed through the building.
"I want both."
A slow laugh filled the warehouse.
Then...
Footsteps.
A woman emerged from the shadows.
Thin.
Pale.
Older.
But unmistakable.
"Rose..."
Jax could barely breathe.
She looked at him with tears already falling.
"I told Lily to find the wolf."
For a moment, the entire world disappeared.
Eight years of grief...
Gone.
He rushed toward her.
But before he reached her...
Gunshots exploded.
Bullets shattered the concrete between them.
Masked men poured from every doorway.
Rose screamed.
"RUN!"
Jax fought like a man possessed.
Chains.
Wooden beams.
Broken bottles.
Anything became a weapon.
One by one, the attackers fell.
Until the dead man appeared again.
Only this time...
He wasn't alone.
Beside him stood a wealthy businessman whose face covered newspapers across the country.
Rose whispered his name with terror.
"Victor Hale..."
Jax frowned.
"The billionaire?"
Rose nodded.
"He paid everyone to say I died."
The stranger smiled proudly.
"You were never supposed to remember."
Victor slowly stepped forward.
"Lily belongs to me."
Jax's entire body froze.
"What did you say?"
Victor looked directly into Rose's eyes.
"Tell him."
Rose collapsed to her knees.
Crying uncontrollably.
Finally...
She whispered the truth she had hidden for eight years.
"Lily..."
"...isn't my daughter."
The warehouse became completely silent.
Even the gunmen stared at her.
Then Rose finished the sentence.
May you like
"She's yours."
Jax felt the ground disappear beneath his feet.
