Business Talk Only

Kieran's POV

The pack house felt like a war zone when I walked through the front door.

Voices carried from the main hall, angry, heated discussions that stopped the moment I appeared. Damien met me in the foyer, his face grim.

"How bad?" I asked.

"Bad." He handed me a stack of files. "These are Davidson's records. And Morrison's too, since Marcus already called about the second scene."

I took the files, noting how thick they were. Two alphas, both dead in the same morning. Both connected to... I pushed that thought away. Had to focus on facts, not feelings.

"The pack?"

Damien's jaw tightened. "Elder Blackthorne called an emergency council meeting. They're not happy about bringing in an outsider."

I drew in a sharp breath. "She's not an outsider. She's..."

"She's the hunter who was rejected by our alpha three years ago," Blackthorne's voice cut through the hall like a blade. "And now she's back, and alphas are dying."

I turned to face him. Elder Blackthorne stood at the entrance to the main hall, flanked by two other council members. His gray hair was perfectly styled, his suit immaculate. Everything about him screamed old-school pack politics.

"Careful, Elder," I said, my voice low. "You're talking about someone who's here to help us."

"Are we sure about that?" Blackthorne stepped closer. "Isn't it convenient that she shows up right when pack leaders start dying? Leaders who supported your... difficult decision three years ago?"

The insinuation hit me like a punch to the gut. "You think Aria is behind this?"

"I think we need to consider all possibilities."

Around us, pack members had started to gather. I could feel their tension, their fear. Some watched me with loyalty, others with doubt. This was exactly what I'd been trying to avoid: division when we needed unity.

"She's our best chance at catching the real killer," I said firmly.

"Our best chance is handling this internally," Blackthorne replied. "Pack business should stay within the pack."

"Like we handled the Morrison situation?" The words came out harder than I intended.

Blackthorne's face darkened. "Alpha Morrison was a respected elder. His death is a tragedy, not a situation to be handled."

"His death is connected to Davidson's. Both crime scenes had the same symbols, the same ritual arrangement." I held up the files. "And both victims were involved in pack politics that go back years."

"What kind of politics?" This was from Sarah, one of the younger pack members. She'd always been curious, always asking questions.

I looked at her, then at the faces surrounding us. My pack. My responsibility. They deserved the truth, even if it was uncomfortable.

"Three years ago, several pack elders pressured me to reject my mate," I said. "They believed she wasn't strong enough to be Luna. Davidson and Morrison were among the most vocal supporters of that decision."

The silence that followed was deafening. Some pack members looked confused; they'd never known the full story. Others looked uncomfortable, remembering the politics and pressure from that time.

"So you're saying these murders are revenge?" Sarah asked.

"I'm saying they're connected. And until we know how, we need all the help we can get."

Blackthorne snorted. "Help from someone with a personal grudge against the victims?"

"Enough." The word came out with the alpha command behind it. Everyone in the room tensed, responding to the power in my voice. "Aria Blackwood is a professional hunter with years of experience. She's here because Marcus Chen requested her specifically. And she's here because I asked her to help."

"You asked her?" Blackthorne's eyebrows rose. "How... touching."

I stepped closer to him, letting my wolf show in my eyes. "Do you have something you want to say, Elder?"

For a moment, we stared at each other. The challenge hung in the air like a cloud of smoke. Then Blackthorne inclined his head slightly.

"Of course not, Alpha. I simply worry about the pack's safety."

"Then trust me to protect it."

He nodded, but I could see the calculation in his eyes. This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

The crowd began to disperse, pack members heading back to their daily routines. But I caught the whispered conversations, the worried glances. Aria's presence was stirring up old wounds, old divisions.

"Kieran." Damien waited until we were alone. "There's something else."

"What?"

"Before the council meeting, I got a call from Luna Sophia."

My blood ran cold. "What did she want?"

"She's coming back. Says she heard about the murders and wants to help."

I closed my eyes, feeling a headache building behind my temples. Sophia. My ex-mate, the woman I'd married to satisfy pack politics after rejecting Aria. The woman who'd left me six months ago for another alpha.

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Perfect." I ran a hand through my hair. "Just perfect."

Damien studied my face. "You could tell her not to come."

"Could I?" I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You know as well as I do that Sophia does what Sophia wants. Always has."

"The pack might see her return as a good thing. Stability."

"The pack doesn't know what's good for them." The words came out bitter. "They never have."

"Kieran..."

"She left, Damien. She left because she said I was obsessed with someone who'd never come back. And now..." I gestured helplessly.

"Now she's back."

"Now she's back, and nothing's changed. I still...." I stopped myself before I could finish the sentence. Still what? Still loved Aria? Still regretted rejecting her? Still lay awake at night thinking about what could have been.

"You still what?"

I looked at my beta, my best friend. Damien had been there through everything: the rejection, the political marriage, and Sophia's departure. He'd never judged, never pushed. But he'd also never stopped looking at me like I was an idiot.

"I still think I made the biggest mistake of my life three years ago."

"Then tell her that."

"I tried. She cut me off. Said she wasn't here for closure."

"Maybe she's not ready to hear it yet."

"Maybe she'll never be ready." I sat down heavily in one of the leather chairs. "Maybe I don't deserve for her to be ready."

Damien was quiet for a moment."You know, for someone who supposedly wasn't strong enough to be Luna, she's done pretty well for herself."

I looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've been tracking her career since she left. Professionally, of course. She's one of the most successful supernatural hunters on the West Coast. Took down three separate rogue packs in the last year alone. Single-handedly."

"You've been tracking her?"

"Someone had to. You were too busy pretending you didn't care."

Heat flashed through me. "I never pretended...."

"You absolutely did. Every time her name came up, you'd change the subject. Every time there was news about supernatural hunters, you'd leave the room. You think I didn't notice?"

I didn't answer. Couldn't answer. Because he was right.

"She's not the same person who left here three years ago," Damien continued. "She's harder. Stronger. More confident. The pack members who remember her? They're impressed. Some of the younger ones are calling her a legend."

"A legend?"

"The hunter who survived rejection by the Crescent Moon Pack and came back stronger than ever. They respect that."

I stood up, pacing to the window. Outside, I could see pack members going about their daily routines. Training, working, and living their lives. All of them are depending on me to keep them safe.

"It doesn't matter," I said finally. "She's here to do a job. When it's done, she'll leave again."

"Will she?"

"Yes." The word came out more forcefully than I intended. "She will. Because that's what she does. She survives, and she moves on."

"And what about you?"

I turned back to him. "What about me?"

"Will you survive when she leaves again?"

The question hit me like a physical blow. Because the truth was, I wasn't sure I had survived the first time. I'd gone through the motions, did the pack, married Sophia, and maintained the facade of being fine. But inside, I'd been dying a slow death.

"I'll have to."

"Or," Damien said quietly, "you could fight for her this time."

"She doesn't want me to fight for her. She made that clear."

"Did she? Or did she just make it clear that she's not going to make it easy for you?"

Before I could answer, my phone buzzed. Text message from an unknown number: Morrison's genealogy records show interesting connections. We need to talk. - A

I stared at the message. Aria had found something.

"I have to go," I said.

"Kieran." Damien's voice stopped me at the door. "For what it's worth, I think you're both idiots."

"Thanks for the pep talk."

"I mean it. She's not here just for the job. If she were, she would have sent someone else. She came because it was you who needed help."

I wanted to believe that. God, I wanted to believe that. But three years of regret had taught me not to hope for things I couldn't have.

"Maybe," I said. "But wanting something and getting it are two different things."

"Yeah," Damien said. "But you'll never get it if you don't try."

I left him there and headed for my truck. The Marriott was twenty minutes away. Twenty minutes to figure out what to say to the woman I'd never stopped loving.

Twenty minutes to decide if I was brave enough to try again.