HE'S WOLFE

◈HOURS LATER, EIGHT PM◈

My hands rested loosely at my sides as I walked, lost in thought, when the low sound of an engine slowed beside me, and a sleek black Rolls Royce rolled to a stop nearby.

The tinted window slid down smoothly.

I turned slightly while still walking, only to meet Jace’s eyes and the annoyingly boyish grin on his face, and I immediately looked forward again, pretending I had not seen him at all.

"Selene," he called calmly. I stopped walking but did not turn around. "Come on."

I blinked slowly before finally turning halfway toward the car and approaching cautiously.

"Let me drop you off," he said, one hand resting loosely against the steering wheel while his gaze remained fixed on me.

"Uhm... thank you, but my house isn't far from here," I replied, scratching lightly behind my neck. "I'm almost there already."

He stared at me for one second before laughing outright, the sound deep and unexpectedly warm as he leaned back against the seat. "You are a terrible liar."

My eyes shifted away immediately, but before I could respond, he stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him, walking toward me with an ease that somehow made his expensive clothes and powerful presence feel even more dangerous beneath the quiet streetlights. When his hand reached toward me, I shifted back before he could touch me, and his expression softened slightly at the reaction.

"I know you like walking home alone," he said calmly. "You do it every night, and from here to your house is still nearly thirty minutes."

I narrowed my eyes at him slowly. "Have you been stalking me?"

"No..." he answered too quickly before stopping himself, and the hesitation that followed exposed him far more than his words did. His shoulders dropped slightly afterward, almost resigned. "Okay... maybe that sounds bad."

"It sounds very bad," I replied.

A quiet laugh escaped him, though there was tension beneath it now.

"Selene," he said more seriously, holding my gaze beneath the pale glow of the streetlight, "it isn't safe around here at this hour, especially near that lonely stretch before your house."

"The same road I've survived walking through all this while?" I asked, pursing my lips slightly with playful doubt, though his concern stirred something warmer inside me than I wanted to admit.

"It's different tonight," he answered quickly and something about the certainty in his voice made my amusement fade a little.

I looked at him more carefully then, noticing the unusual tension in his posture, the way his eyes occasionally drifted toward the darker parts of the road around us as though listening for something only he could hear.

"I'm sorry," I murmured after a moment. "I didn't mean to sound rude."

"It's fine." His voice softened again, but that strange tension never fully left him. "Please... let me take you home."

I hesitated briefly before sighing. "Okay, but only if you answer two questions first."

He leaned lightly against the car, folding his arms. "Go on."