The Wolf Beneath my Skin

Chapter 7

Lena

The next two days passed without another direct attempt.

That bothered me more than an attack would have.

People who wanted something usually made mistakes when they rushed. The ones who waited were harder to read.

I spent most of the first morning in the office with the pack files spread across the desk. Kai had given me access to everything I needed for the dinner, but I had started noticing something he hadn't said out loud.

Every time a name from the eastern council appeared, there was a gap.

Not a missing page. A missing connection.

Someone had been careful about what got recorded.

I looked at the list again.

Sarai. Council member. Neutral publicly.

Dorian Vale. Eastern territory representative. Pushing for expanded borders.

Elias Mercer. Shipping interests. Usually followed whoever controlled the docks.

Three names. Three different interests.

The same three names appeared in older records beside the same territory dispute.

I leaned back in the chair.

The office door opened.

Kai stood there with his phone in one hand.

“Breakfast.”

“I’m working.”

“That wasn't a question.”

I looked at him over the top of the folder. “You always this pleasant in the morning?”

“Yes.”

I almost smiled.

He walked in and set a plate beside the papers. Eggs, toast, fruit. Then he looked at the folder.

“What did you find?”

“I don't know yet.”

He waited.

I turned the papers toward him. “These three have been connected before. Not directly. But they all benefited from the same eastern territory expansion six years ago.”

Kai's expression changed by less than a fraction.

“Where did you find that?”

“Old council records.”

“I didn't include those.”

“I noticed.”

His eyes moved across the page. He picked up one sheet, read it, then another.

“Those records were supposed to be archived.”

“They were.”

“Then someone forgot to remove them.”

I shook my head. “No. Someone forgot they existed.”

He looked at me.

The silence stretched.

“You think that's important,” I said.

“I think you should stop digging alone.”

“I wasn't alone. You gave me the files.”

“That isn't what I meant.”

I closed the folder.

“Then tell me what you meant.”

Kai held my gaze for a moment. “If you find something that connects the council to the attacks, you bring it to me before you confront anyone.”

“I wasn't planning to confront anyone.”

“Good.”

“You're very trusting.”

“No.”

The answer was immediate.

Something about it made me look up.

He took a breath and added, quieter, “I'm learning.”

Before I could answer, his phone vibrated.

He checked the screen.

“Marcus.”

He answered.

I couldn't hear the other side, but I watched his expression tighten.

“Where?”

A pause.

“Keep them moving. Don't engage.”

He ended the call.

“What happened?”

“Someone followed the decoy route.”

My stomach tightened.

“The route for tonight?”

“Yes.”

“So they know.”

“They know enough.”

He picked up the folder and closed it.

“Get ready.”

“For the dinner?”

“For the possibility that we don't make it there.”

---

By six, the penthouse had changed.

Security moved differently. Quietly, but with purpose.

Two additional men appeared near the elevator. Another checked the balcony doors. Marcus arrived without knocking and spoke to Kai in a low voice.

I stood near the window and watched the city darken.

The harbor lights came on one by one.

Kai approached.

“Stay between me and Marcus tonight.”

“I thought the whole point was to prove I could stand beside you.”

“You can.”

“Then don't put me behind you.”

His jaw tightened.

“Lena.”

“I mean it.”

He looked at me for several seconds.

Then he nodded.

“Fine. Beside me.”

It shouldn't have mattered.

It did.

The bond shifted under my ribs, warm and sudden.

I pressed my palm lightly against my side.

Kai noticed.

“You felt that.”

It wasn't a question.

“Yes.”

Neither of us spoke.

The feeling faded, leaving something unfamiliar behind. Not pain.

Heat.

I ignored it.

Kai held out his hand.

“Come on.”

I looked at it.

Then at him.

“I can walk without holding your hand.”

“I know.”

He kept his hand extended.

I took it anyway.

The moment our palms met, the bond surged.

For one second the room disappeared.

I saw water.

Dark water under a moonless sky.

A line of trees.

A woman running.

Then nothing.

I pulled my hand away.

Kai went still.

“What did you see?”

“I don't know.”

He stepped closer.

“Lena.”

“I said I don't know.”

His eyes searched my face.

I swallowed.

For the first time since the alley, I saw something close to uncertainty in him.

Marcus appeared at the elevator.

“Vehicle is ready.”

Kai looked away first.

“Let's go.”

---

The route was nothing like the one we had planned.

We took the underground exit, crossed two service streets, and switched cars beneath a parking structure.

The decoy motorcade went north.

We went south.

For twenty minutes, everything stayed quiet.

Too quiet.

Then the first vehicle ahead of us braked.

Marcus's voice came through the secure line.

“Movement.”

Kai's hand closed around mine.

“Stay in the car.”

“No.”

“Lena.”

“You said beside you.”

His eyes hardened.

“You don't know what's out there.”

“Neither do you.”

Before he could answer, something struck the side of the vehicle.

The windows shook.

Marcus shouted an order.

The security team moved.

Kai opened the door and pulled me out behind him.

Three figures stepped from between the parked trucks.

The first carried a gun.

The second had a blade.

The third stood farther back, watching.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Kai moved in front of me.

The man with the gun raised his weapon.

Everything slowed.

I heard the click.

I saw the muzzle turn.

And then something inside me broke open.

The world sharpened.

I could hear Kai's heartbeat.

Marcus shouting.

The scrape of a shoe against concrete twenty feet away.

I could smell metal.

Rain.

Fear.

Wolf.

The word came into my mind without warning.

I didn't know why.

The gun fired.

Kai moved.

So did I.

I grabbed his jacket and pulled him sideways.

The bullet struck the concrete where his chest had been.

He turned toward me, stunned for half a second.

I didn't have time to think.

The man with the blade came forward.

I stepped toward him.

He swung.

I caught his wrist.

Hard.

Too hard.

His expression changed.

I twisted.

The knife dropped.

He cried out.

I stared at my hand.

I hadn't realized how strong I was.

The man stumbled backward.

Kai was already moving.

One strike.

Then another.

The attacker hit the ground.

The gunman ran.

Marcus's team chased him.

The third man was gone.

Kai turned toward me.

“Are you hurt?”

I shook my head.

“You?”

“No.”

His eyes dropped to my hand.

A thin line of blood ran across my palm.

“Where did that come from?”

“I don't know.”

He took my wrist carefully.

The moment his fingers touched me, the heat returned.

Stronger this time.

My vision blurred.

A growl rose somewhere deep in my chest.

Not mine.

Or maybe it was.

Kai's face changed.

“Lena.”

I pulled away.

“What?”

His eyes stayed on me.

“You growled.”

I stared at him.

“I did not.”

“You did.”

I looked toward the fallen attacker.

His breathing was shallow.

Marcus crouched beside him and searched his jacket.

“Alpha.”

Kai turned.

Marcus held up a phone.

“Message just came through.”

Kai took it.

His eyes moved over the screen.

Then his expression went cold.

“What?”

He handed me the phone.

There was one message.

The human isn't human. Find out what she is before the council vote.

I looked at Kai.

For the first time since I had met him, he didn't have an immediate answer.

The bond between us pulled tight.

And somewhere beneath my skin, something answered back.

A low, unfamiliar presence.

Awake.

Waiting.