Inhuman

Mara

Gage’s eyes lifted, and the crack in the door stopped feeling like cover. It felt like he could see straight through cheap paint and my bad choices.

I eased back an inch at a time. The tile under my boots was slick, the air sharp with bleach and fryer grease. I kept my shoulders loose, because panic makes noise, and noise gets you caught.

My keys were between my fingers, the points digging into my palm like that would matter if a predator decided I was in its way. I kept the voice memo rolling in my pocket, screen black, mic hot. If I got out with clean audio, I’d have proof Crowe Construction wasn’t just crooked—it was tied to something organized, something that talked about laws and territory like it owned the map. The smart move was to run. The Mara move was to stay long enough to catch one solid name, then bolt before the door opened. My pride told me I could handle it. My gut disagreed.

Inside, Coat Guy kept talking like he could talk his way out of being scared.

“We can’t afford another scene,” he said. “Crowe’s already spooked. He probably knows we are onto him.”

“Crowe’s worse than a human with money,” Big Guy said. “He’ll do what they always do—run his mouth when he panics.”

Gage didn’t raise his voice. “He’ll do what we allow.”

That was the part that made my stomach drop. Not the threat. The certainty. Like there were rules I’d never been invited to learn.

My grandma used to call them “the families.” She never said werewolf. She’d just warn me not to mouth off around the ridge and act like that was normal advice. I’d always rolled my eyes.

Now I was in a service hallway behind a bar, listening to grown men say pack and council like they were real.

Coat Guy set something down hard on the table. Metal clanked. “We’re not wolves. Don’t talk like you own us.”

Big Guy snorted. “You’re not wolves. But you’re in wolf business.”

Great. Of course.

Gage stepped into the slice of light I could see—tall, broad, controlled. Dark hair. Dark clothes. A face that didn’t waste expressions.

“Enough,” he said. “This deal is done. You’ll take what you brought and you’ll leave.”

Coat Guy straightened, trying to grow a spine. “You don’t end it. We do. The council doesn’t get to—”

“The council doesn’t stand in backrooms with humans,” Gage cut in. “I do.”

The room went still.

Big Guy’s chair scraped. “You think you can threaten us in our own town?”

Gage turned his head slowly. “This is my town.”

That should’ve ended it. People don’t say that unless they’re used to being obeyed. But Big Guy stood up anyway, heavy and loud, pride first.

“Your town,” he mocked. “Your rules. Your little pack. You’re not the only ones with teeth, Alpha.”

Alpha. That word again.

My lungs stalled. Not because it was shocking—because it fit. It explained the way the room had bent around Gage’s voice.

Coat Guy swore. “Don’t call him that.”

Big Guy kept going, like he couldn’t stop himself. “What’s the council going to say when they find out someone brought a human witness into pack territory? Or are you planning to make her disappear like he did the others? Hmm? Stoop to his level.”

The others.

My missing list flashed through my head—Eli Porter, the warehouse night guard, the woman who’d vanished after her shift at the gas station. Names on paper. Families told to stop calling.

Gage’s stare didn’t move. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Big Guy laughed. “I know you’re hiding something. I know Crowe will burn you if you don’t keep him in check.”

Coat Guy hissed, “Shut up.”

That’s when the air changed. Not temperature. Pressure. The moment right before violence, when every body in the room stops pretending.

Gage took one step.

It wasn’t dramatic, but Big Guy hesitated anyway, like his instincts caught up to his mouth.

Gage’s focus narrowed to him. “You’re going to leave town.”

“Or what?” Big Guy’s lip curled.

A sound rose in Gage’s chest—low and rough. Not a bar-fight growl. Something that belonged out past the dumpsters, where the tree line started and the town lights didn’t reach.

My heart hammered. Every sane part of me screamed to move, to get out, to live. My feet stayed stuck, because I needed to know if I’d lost my mind or if my whole town had been lying to me.

Gage’s hand flexed.

At first it looked normal. Then the skin tightened over his knuckles. Tendons stood out. His fingers lengthened by a fraction, joints shifting under the surface. A soft crack traveled through the bones.

Big Guy took a step back. “What the—”

Gage didn’t answer. His eyes flashed brighter, gold sharpening until it looked reflective.

Then his hand changed.

Not all at once. Bone slid. The heel of his palm widened. Nails darkened into points. Hair rose along his skin. The shape wasn’t a hand anymore.

It was a paw.

My stomach dropped hard. I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth to keep from making a sound.

Coat Guy backed away from the table. “Stop Alpha. Not here.”

Big Guy’s bravado broke around the edges. “Put that away.”

Gage moved again. Big Guy swung first, because men like him can’t stand being afraid.

Gage caught the punch without effort.

His paw closed around Big Guy’s wrist. I heard the grind of bone, and Big Guy went gray.

Gage shoved him back into the steel table. Metal screamed. The duffel bag bounced and a corner of cash spilled out like someone’s idea of a joke.

Coat Guy shouted, “Alpha, enough! We said no blood!”

Gage leaned in close to Big Guy’s ear. I couldn’t hear the words, but I saw Big Guy’s eyes widen, saw terror replace rage.

Big Guy choked, “Gage—”

Gage tightened his grip.

Big Guy made a sound that wasn’t language.

Coat Guy grabbed a bottle like it mattered. “Alpha Gage! This isn’t sanctioned. The council—”

“The council isn’t here,” Gage said, voice flat and cold.

Outside, someone laughed in the parking lot. A car door slammed. Normal life, right on the other side of the wall, while mine turned into something else.

Big Guy’s knees buckled. Gage let him drop like he was trash.

Big Guy hit the floor coughing, clutching his wrist, staring up at Gage like he’d just learned what fear really was.

Coat Guy backed away with his hands up. “We’re leaving, okay?”

Gage straightened. The paw began to pull back, bone sliding into place with small, ugly clicks. Hair receded. Nails lightened. When his hand looked human again, it didn’t make me feel better. It made me feel worse—like the monster was just choosing when to show itself.

Gage turned his head slightly, listening.

And that’s when I realized the room wasn’t the only thing that had gone quiet.

I hadn’t breathed in seconds.

My phone, still recording, suddenly felt like a spotlight in my pocket. I shifted my foot a fraction, trying to retreat, trying to vanish—

The floor creaked, sharp and unforgiving, and every head in that room snapped toward the door.

Isn't that just fucking lovely?