THE SCOUT

CHAPTER 31

The howl from the night before hadn't been imagination or paranoia.

By dawn, Roman's trackers had found a paw print near the northern boundary. The scent belonged to no wolf registered within a hundred miles of Blackthorn territory.

I discovered this by walking into Roman's study and finding everyone inside suddenly silent.

"Say that again," Roman ordered.

The tracker standing before his desk looked exhausted. His name was Bram, and the dark circles beneath his eyes suggested he'd been searching since the first light.

"Fresh print near the northern boundary, Alpha. Left forepaw, pressed deep into the soil. Whoever made it stopped there."

"How long ago?"

"Before midnight. Possibly an hour before the howl."

"How close did the wolf get to the residence?"

"Close enough to observe the east lawn."

Roman's expression hardened.

"Was there another wolf?"

"Not that we've found. One set of fresh tracks."

"Registered?"

"No, Alpha. I've checked the records for every pack within a hundred miles. Nothing matches the scent."

"Which direction did it leave?"

"Northeast. The trail disappears at the creek."

"Then follow it beyond the creek." Roman's voice was controlled and cold. "Photograph the print, collect a sample, and preserve the surrounding ground. Double the northern patrols. I want a complete sweep of the area."

"Yes, Alpha."

Bram turned toward the door, noticed me, and gave a brief nod before leaving.

I waited until the door closed.

"Roman."

He looked up from the report.

"You should be resting."

"I couldn't sleep."

His expression softened slightly.

"Neither could I."

"Was the howl real?"

"Yes."

"And the paw print belongs to whoever made it?"

"That's our best assessment."

I stepped farther into the room.

"The east lawn." My mouth had gone dry. "The garden is on the east side."

He didn't answer.

"Could the wolf have seen me?"

"It's possible."

"Could he have seen my eyes?"

Roman's silence lasted a moment too long.

"I can't rule it out."

I looked away.

The memory of silver light burning through my reflection returned with uncomfortable clarity.

My eyes had changed in the garden, just as Roman and I had begun to acknowledge the strange connection between us.

Now an unidentified wolf had been watching from somewhere beyond the estate walls.

"How much does he know?" I asked.

"We don't know whether he saw anything unusual. We don't even know why he was there."

"Then we need to find out."

"We will."

"When?"

"As soon as my trackers establish where he went."

I turned toward him.

"You're going to tell me everything you discover, aren't you?"

"Of course."

"Before you decide what I can handle?"

His jaw tightened.

"Mira"

"Because last night, you told me you wouldn't hide things from me. I believed you."

"I didn't say I would hide anything."

"You said you'd give me the whole picture once it was clear. What happens if you decide it isn't clear enough for me to hear?"

He stared at me.

"I'm trying to protect you."

"By keeping me in the dark?"

"By making sure I don't frighten you with conclusions that might be wrong."

"I'm already frightened, Roman. Not knowing makes it worse."

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he exhaled.

"All right. Here's what we know. An unidentified wolf approached the northern boundary. He came close enough to observe the east lawn, and his trail leads northeast. We don't know his identity, his purpose, or whether he saw your eyes."

I nodded slowly.

"Thank you."

"For telling you what we know?"

"For not pretending you know more than you do."

Something shifted in his expression.

Before he could respond, the door opened again.

Bram had returned.

"Alpha, we've located the position where the wolf was standing."

Roman rose immediately.

"Show me."

I moved toward the door with him.

He glanced at me, and I braced for the order to stay behind.

"Stay at my left," he said. "If I tell you to stop, stop."

"Agreed."

We crossed the lawn toward the garden wall.

Beyond it, a rocky rise covered in scrub overlooked the benches where Roman and I had stood the previous night.

Bram led us along a narrow path and stopped beneath a low ledge.

"There."

At first, I saw nothing unusual.

Then I noticed the hollow in the thorny brush.

The branches had been bent back to create a narrow opening with a clear view of the garden below.

My stomach tightened.

"That wasn't made by an animal passing through," Roman said.

"No, Alpha. The branches have been deliberately moved."

"Someone chose this position."

"Yes. Whoever stood here could watch the garden without being easily seen from below."

I stared through the opening.

The benches.

The stone wall.

The place where Roman had held my hand.

The spot where my eyes had changed.

"He could have seen everything," I whispered.

Roman turned toward me.

"We don't know exactly what he saw."

"But he could have."

"Yes."

I hated how carefully he spoke, but I understood why.

We had too few facts to know whether the scout had come because of me or whether we'd simply become aware of a watcher who had been here for another reason.

"Search the entire ridge," Roman ordered. "Look for anything that doesn't belong. Broken branches, discarded objects, additional prints. I want every detail documented."

"Yes, Alpha."

Bram crouched beside the hollow.

"There's something else."

Roman's attention sharpened.

"What?"

"The ground beneath the brush is disturbed. The grass is flattened, and these thorns have been bent back more than once."

"How many times?"

"I can't establish an exact number."

"Can you tell whether this happened last night?"

"Some of the disturbance is fresh. Other marks are older."

I moved closer.

"So this place has been used before?"

"That's what the evidence suggests," Bram replied. "I can't prove that every mark belongs to the same wolf, but the position has clearly been disturbed on more than one occasion."

A chill moved through me.

"How long has someone been watching this garden?"

Bram hesitated.

"I can't give you a reliable timeframe, Miss Vale. We need to examine the older tracks before making that assessment."

"Days? Weeks?"

"Possibly days. I wouldn't claim weeks without more evidence."

I looked at Roman.

"What if the wolf wasn't watching because of my eyes?"

He went still.

"What do you mean?"

"What if he was here before they changed? What if someone was already watching me?"

"We don't know that."

"Can you rule it out?"

He didn't answer.

He didn't need to.

My wolf, usually so insistent whenever Roman was near, had fallen silent inside me.

She wasn't offering certainty now.

She was listening.

"What was he looking for?" I asked.

Roman's expression tightened.

"I don't know, Mira."

"What if he was looking for me specifically?"

"That's one possibility."

"And if he was?"

"Then we'll find out who sent him, if anyone did."

I wanted to believe that finding the scout would give us the answers we needed.

But the hollow in the brush suggested something more troubling than a single unexplained visit.

Someone had chosen this place because it offered a view of the garden.

Someone had returned.

And the garden was where I'd been when my eyes changed.

Bram rose from his crouch.

"Alpha, there's another detail. I've been examining the scent since sunrise. There's a faint undertone beneath the wolf's natural scent."

"What kind of undertone?"

"Wet stone, cedar smoke, and a particular pine resin. It's regional. It may help narrow down which valleys he's traveled through."

Roman's entire posture changed.

It was subtle, but I noticed.

His shoulders stiffened, and his attention shifted from the ground to Bram's face.

"Repeat that."

"Wet stone and cedar smoke, Alpha. With pine resin."

"Which direction was it strongest?"

"North-northeast, beyond the creek."

Roman fell silent.

He wasn't looking at the paw prints anymore.

He was remembering something.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing we can establish yet."

"That wasn't nothing."

He looked at me.

"It's a scent with a possible territorial association. But scent alone isn't enough to identify a pack or accuse anyone."

"Which territory?"

"I don't have sufficient evidence to tell you."

"Do you have a suspicion?"

His gaze held mine.

"Yes."

My pulse quickened.

"Who?"

"I'm not going to name someone based on a suspicion. If I accuse the wrong person, we could lose the chance to discover who's actually behind this."

"And if you're right?"

"Then I'll show you the evidence when I have it."

I searched his face.

I knew a locked door when I saw one.

This time, however, I understood that he wasn't necessarily trying to keep me outside. He was trying to avoid turning an unconfirmed suspicion into a fact.

I could respect that.

For now.

"Fine," I said. "But when you know, I want to hear it from you."

"You will."

We began walking back toward the residence.

Halfway across the lawn, Roman stopped.

"The patrols will be doubled along the northern boundary and the east side. No one investigates that scent alone."

"And what about me?"

He turned toward me.

"I'd prefer you avoid the garden until the ridge has been cleared. I'd also like you inside after dark, with a guard within sight when you're outside."

"Am I being confined to the house?"

"No."

"Am I allowed to go where I want?"

He hesitated.

"I think there are reasonable precautions we should take until we understand what we're dealing with."

"That's not what I asked."

He drew a slow breath.

"You're not confined. I'm asking you to take the threat seriously and work with me on keeping you safe."

"That's a request?"

"Yes."

"Not an order?"

"No."

I studied him.

"Then I'll consider it. But if protecting me means keeping me blind, I'll refuse."

"I understand."

"Do you?"

"I'm learning."

The answer was so unexpected that I almost smiled.

"Badly," I said.

"The progress may be slow."

"At least you admit it."

Before he could respond, Bram hurried toward us from the ridge.

"Alpha. We found more tracks."

Roman's expression sharpened.

"Explain."

"Older paw prints beneath the fresh ones. Several sets overlapping near the same observation point."

"Can you establish how many visits?"

"Not yet. Some of the impressions are too damaged, and we can't confirm whether they all belong to the same wolf."

"But the position was used repeatedly?"

"Yes, Alpha. That much is clear."

Roman's jaw tightened.

I looked back toward the ridge.

The hollow was hidden from the garden by a few feet of rock and thorn.

Someone could have watched us without ever being seen.

Someone could have watched me before I knew what I was.

"How long?" I asked.

Bram shook his head.

"We need more time to examine the tracks."

Roman turned toward the estate.

"Continue the search. Preserve anything that might help us identify the wolf. And no one approaches that ridge alone."

"Yes, Alpha."

Bram hurried away.

Roman stood beside me, staring toward the northern boundary.

"Someone has been using that position repeatedly," he said. "We don't know for how long, or whether the same wolf made every visit."

"But we know it wasn't just last night."

"Yes."

I looked at the estate behind him.

The walls had once felt like a prison, a reminder that my life was controlled by people with more power than I had.

Now they looked fragile.

Because the danger might not have been waiting beyond them.

It might have been watching me all along.

And whatever had happened to my eyes the night before, I was no longer certain it was the beginning of the story.

Perhaps it was only the moment I finally noticed someone else had been watching.