Five years later...
The bustling New York sidewalk thrummed with the percussive cadence of hurried footsteps and car engines. Gabby weaved between bodies, caramel lock bouncing against the crisp lines of her crimson power suit. She clutched her briefcase tightly, the reassuring weight of stacked documents and proposal printouts steadying her nerves.
This was her chance - the make-or-break meeting to finalize the corporate acquisition she'd been pursuing for months. The deal would elevate her firm's global footprint and solidify her meteoric rise through the ranks.
Stepping through the gilded revolving doors of Archlight Tower, Gabby felt a subtle thrum in her veins. Her wolf senses prickled at the unmistakable scent of her own kind mingling with the pungent urban smog. But she shrugged it off, laser-focused on the task at hand.
Up on the 25th floor, voices echoed from the corner conference room. Slipping inside, Gabby took a seat at the granite table amidst the other high-powered corporate titans. Inscrutable eyes studied her briefly before returning to their tablets and smartphones.
The double doors swung open again and the room fell silent as an imposing figure entered. Gabby's breath caught in her throat - the scent washed over her in musky waves, awakening primal instincts long suppressed.
It was him. Alex Forbes.
The slick alpha CEO strode to the head of the table in a bespoke charcoal suit, blonde hair cropped tight. So he'd taken his business talents to the big city as well. Running from their pasts in their own ways, it seemed.
As he assumed control of the negotiations, his penetrating gaze flickered over the attendees, pausing fractionally when their eyes met. A muscle ticked in his rock-hewn jaw, but not a flicker of recognition broke his aloof poise.
The corners of Gabby's mouth curled in a vindicated smirk. If that's how he wanted to play it, so be it. She was no one's omega now - not even his. As the numbers began flying, she attacked the deal with the ferocity of a wolf scenting its prey.
No matter what ghosts lurked in their shared past, the only outcome Gabby would accept today was total victory. It was time to show Apex City's supreme alpha just how much this lone wolf had borrowed from his merciless ways.
The conference room descended into a tense back-and-forth. Numbers and projections whipped across the air as the two rival factions vied for advantage.
Gabby leaned forward, her emerald eyes locked on Alex's chiseled features. "Those earnings projections are wildly unrealistic. We'd be overpaying by billions based on your current assets and debt load."
A muscle ticked along Alex's jawline. "Your modeling is short-sighted. It fails to account for our pipeline of Phase 3 drug trials and upcoming pharma patents."
"Pharma poison pills that may never get FDA approval." Gabby flashed a predatory smile. "I'm not letting my people take that gamble, no matter how pretty you math whizzes dress it up."
Alex's nostrils flared at the thinly-veiled insult. "Then we have nothing to discuss. My firm doesn't bargain with amateurs who came unprepared."
The temperature in the room plunged as Gabby bristled. Sliding her tablet across the table, she fixed him with a pointed stare. "Maybe you missed this part of the materials...on page 24."
As Alex scrutinized the data, his cocksure expression faltered momentarily. Gabby reveled in that fractional victory, quietly relishing the advantage.
"Well?" she pressed him. "Unless you want to rethink those laughable valuations and earn a reality check."
The alpha's grip tightened on the tablet as their heated gazes locked. For a visceral instant, Gabby witnessed the predatory wolf simmering beneath Alex's urbane veneer.
"We're not done here," he growled under his breath before turning to his associates. "Let's take a break to recalibrate our positions."
Gabby maintained her social smile as the others filed out, hiding her reinvigorated fury. Once the door clicked shut, she rounded on Alex with smoldering intensity.
"Look at you...still trying to be the big bad wolf intimidating everyone into rolling over." Her lips peeled back in a mocking snarl. "But I'm not some frightened little she-wolf you can bully into submission this time."
A tense beat passed between them, bristling with unresolved history and deeper implications. If looks could maim, both their corporate alpha masks would lie in tatters.
"We'll see who's top dog when this is over," Alex countered with a lethally even tone. "I didn't get where I am by playing nice with jumped-up omegas."
With that parting shot, he brushed past her out of the room. The challenge had been issued - let the true battle of corporate dominance begin.
Gabby's nails dug crescents into her palms as she attempted to regain her composure. That sly dig about being a jumped-up omega lashed her pride like a whip across bare flesh. The old alpha loved pushing those dominance buttons, didn't he?
Taking a series of measured breaths, she pivoted to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city skyline. The rhythmic thrum of traffic far below helped steady her raging pulse. She wouldn't let Alex rattle her this time - not when so much was at stake professionally.
Minutes ticked by in tense silence before the door opened once more. Alex strode in trailed by his cadre of high-priced legal advisors, their immaculate suits prowling like a contingent of wolves themselves. His expression had reshaped into an inscrutable mask of determination.
"Let's lay all cards on the table," he began without preamble. "My people crunched the earnouts and milestone projections you highlighted. There may be some validity to your critiques over systemic pipeline failures in our portfolio."
A feral light flickered in Gabby's stare, sensing his measured olive branch as the first fissures in that alpha arrogance. She nodded for him to continue while carefully guarding her reaction.
Alex's jaw tensed fractionally. "Our final proposal accommodates for those contingencies with...revised earnout targets and valuations." Sliding over a sheaf of documents, he held her gaze in subtle challenge. "We're Prepared to make certain concessions to your side. If you're willing to negotiate in good faith."
For long, pregnant seconds the only sound was the papers riffling between Gabby's fingers as she scanned the amended terms. Flashes of recognition sparked - that prickling sixth sense all seasoned executives cultivated. This was it...their pivotal moment at the bargaining table's brink.
When she finally raised her gaze to Alex, emerald eyes glinted with sadistic glee. "Well well, look who decided to become reasonable," she purred in a low tone laced with double meaning. "Maybe there's hope for bringing that feral alpha arrogance to heel after all."
One dark blonde eyebrow quirked infinitesimally in response. The ghost of a self-assured smirk played across Alex's lips, both daring and exceedingly dangerous.
"We'll see who's wearing the leash when this round is done, little hindsight wolf mine," he murmured, that low gravelly timbre raising the fine hairs along Gabby's nape. "The true hunt is only just beginning."
In that brief explosive clash of wills and unresolved tensions sparking between them, the corporate titans allowed themselves a flashing glimpse of the predators ever raging below their civilized veneers.
Whether the boardroom or bedrooms of their past...for Gabby and Alex, some battles would forever rage without a quarter given.