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Married to the Target
publish date:
2026-08-27 21:34:09Chapter 8
Kai
The message stayed on my phone long after Marcus took the attacker away.
The human isn't human. Find out what she is before the council vote.
I had read it three times.
The words hadn't changed.
Neither had the problem.
Lena stood across from me, staring at her injured palm. The cut was shallow. It should have been the only thing that mattered.
It wasn't.
I looked at the concrete where the bullet had struck.
Then at the man Marcus's team had restrained.
Then back at Lena.
“You pulled me out of the line of fire.”
She looked at me. “You were about to get shot.”
“You moved before the gun fired.”
“I heard it.”
“The safety wasn't even off.”
Her expression tightened.
“I don't know what you want me to say.”
“I want the truth.”
“So do I.”
There was no fear in her voice.
That bothered me more than if she'd been afraid.
The bond moved beneath my ribs.
Her heartbeat was steady, but something else had changed. Her scent was sharper now. Warmer. Beneath the familiar trace of Lena was something I hadn't noticed before.
Wolf.
Not fully.
But enough.
I stepped closer.
She immediately straightened.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking something.”
“I don't like being checked.”
“I know.”
I reached for her wrist.
She let me this time.
The second our skin touched, the bond surged.
A pulse moved through me.
Not mine.
Hers.
For a fraction of a second I saw what she had seen.
Dark water.
Trees.
A woman running through the rain.
Then a flash of silver eyes.
I released her.
Lena caught her breath.
“You saw it too.”
“Yes.”
“What was it?”
“I don't know.”
She gave me a look that said she didn't believe me.
Neither did I.
Marcus approached from behind.
“The attacker is secured. The gunman got away.”
“Third man?”
“Gone before we could close the exit.”
I nodded.
“Search the area. Quietly. No police.”
Marcus hesitated.
“Alpha, there's something else.”
“What?”
He looked at Lena.
“His phone wasn't the only thing we found.”
He handed me a small evidence bag.
Inside was a photograph.
Old.
Faded around the edges.
A woman stood in front of a wooden building surrounded by trees.
I knew the building.
My stomach tightened.
“That can't be.”
Lena stepped closer.
“Who is she?”
I looked at the photograph again.
The woman had the same eyes as Lena.
Same mouth.
Same small scar near the left eyebrow.
Her mother.
I had seen the photograph once before.
In an old pack archive.
Sixteen years ago.
I looked at Lena.
“Where did you get this?”
Marcus answered.
“Inside the attacker's jacket.”
Lena took the bag from my hand.
Her fingers trembled for the first time.
“My mother.”
I said nothing.
She looked at me.
“You know her.”
It wasn't a question.
I nodded.
“Not personally.”
“But you know who she was.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
I looked toward Marcus.
“Give us the room.”
He left.
Lena waited.
I hated what I was about to say.
“Your mother wasn't human.”
She went completely still.
“What?”
“She was part of an old bloodline. One the pack believed had disappeared.”
“Wolf.”
I nodded.
Her laugh was quiet and disbelieving.
“You're telling me I'm a werewolf.”
“I'm telling you that something in your blood has awakened.”
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“But it's the truth.”
She looked down at her hands.
The cut had already stopped bleeding.
Too quickly.
She noticed it too.
Her eyes lifted.
“How long have you known?”
“About you?”
“Yes.”
“Since the alley.”
Her expression hardened.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“And you still put me in that car. Still made me sign a marriage contract. Still brought me into your home.”
“I didn't know what you were.”
“You knew there was a bond.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell me everything.”
I held her gaze.
“No.”
She turned away.
The bond pulled hard.
Pain moved through my chest.
I had expected anger.
I hadn't expected the distance to hurt.
“I didn't tell you because I didn't know who could be trusted.”
She looked over her shoulder.
“You mean you didn't trust me.”
“I didn't trust anyone.”
“That isn't better.”
“No.”
Silence settled between us.
Then she asked, “What happened to my mother?”
I didn't answer immediately.
“Sixteen years ago, she disappeared from pack territory.”
“Disappeared?”
“She was accused of taking information from the eastern council.”
“My mother was a thief?”
“No.”
The answer came too fast.
Lena noticed.
“What then?”
“She was protecting something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
She stared at me.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I don't have enough information.”
“Then find it.”
I looked at her.
“I will.”
---
We returned to the tower before midnight.
The attack had been contained. The official report would say there had been a security breach during a private corporate transfer. Nothing more.
Lena went straight to the office.
I followed.
She opened the old records folder I had given her two days earlier.
“Where?”
“What?”
“The records about my mother.”
I walked to the desk.
“There's a restricted archive below the main pack house.”
“Take me there.”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You just said you would find the truth.”
“I will.”
“Then I'm coming.”
“It isn't safe.”
“Neither is staying here while everyone else decides what I am.”
I had no answer to that.
She closed the folder.
“You said you wanted me to learn how to stand beside you.”
“I did.”
“Then stop putting me behind you.”
The bond tightened.
I looked at her for a long moment.
“Tomorrow.”
She nodded.
“Tomorrow.”
I turned toward the door.
“Lena.”
She looked up.
“You did something tonight that saved my life.”
“I know.”
“You didn't hesitate.”
“I didn't have time.”
“That isn't what I meant.”
She waited.
I didn't know how to explain it.
So I didn't.
“I trust you.”
Her expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
“Good,” she said quietly.
I left the office.
The moment the door closed, my phone vibrated.
Marcus.
One message.
We found the third man.
I opened it.
Another message appeared.
He's dead.
Then a photograph.
The body had been left beneath a bridge near the eastern fringe.
On his chest someone had carved three words.
SHE IS THE KEY.
I stared at the screen.
The succession vote was two days away.
And now I knew the council wasn't simply trying to weaken me.
They were looking for Lena.
I looked toward the closed office door.
For the first time, the contract didn't feel like protection.
It felt like a target someone had been waiting to find.
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