Ridwan
It took us a while to get out of Vic's house. We found a lot of hard drives that seemed to be full of data. It'd be given to Blake, our head of the cyber team, to see if we could find anything else about Lynda. I found some notes made by Vic about some of Lynda's previous work. I had ensured to take them as well.
It was dark when we finally managed to leave. It took us a whole day just to do this work, and I was feeling agitated because I had other plans for today as well, but I couldn't take care of them because of raiding Vic's house. Despite all of this, we were one step ahead.
We now knew Lynda was a she-wolf, and she lived somewhere on the southern coast. Interesting. Very Interesting. Of all the people, it happened to be a she-wolf.
Who could have ever thought about that?
But it kind of complicated things for a bit. Usually, we knew all our enemies, and most of them happened to be men.
There were a couple of she-wolves on the list, too, but I could imagine none of them to be Lynda... they didn't have the nerve to do what Lynda did.
It made me more curious about her, and I could tell that my brother had the same feelings about this whole Lynda ordeal. It had been years since she had been messing with us.
Last year, she had stolen ten million from us, and Roshan had been mad since then.
This was when things turned severe for us. It was one thing to mess with us and another thing to steal so much money.
I had been on the grounds since then, trying to find Lynda myself. Previously, I had a separate team looking at Lynda, but I decided to take things into my own hands after it got that serious.
Finally, we seemed to have some clue, filling me with a strange excitement. Lynda had been a big mystery we were trying to solve, and finally, we seemed to have a clue. We could eventually move in a direction where we could finally get to her and stop her from ruining us.
Whoever she was, we couldn't deny that she was very powerful and had the absolute potential to bring us down.
This couldn't be allowed.
When I stepped out of Vic's house, a cold breeze brushed my hair, soothing me for a bit. I stood in his driveway for a second and breathed in the fresh night air. Immediately, it made my wolf stir.
It had been a long time since I had taken a proper run, and tonight, something was in the air calling me to transform into my wolf and run free through the woods, tasting freedom.
Freedom from what?
Well... I have been feeling pretty odd lately. It was hard to describe, but it unsettled me at night. So much so that I wasn't able to fall asleep. I'd often spend my time in the training room, training until all my muscles hurt, and I'd pass out of exhaustion. Still, it wouldn't go away.
That unsettled feeling would be the same thing to make my mind wander on the day when I needed to focus on my work.
It felt like a part of me was slowly fading away into darkness.
It felt like I was losing touch with a piece of me, and it deeply scared me.
Why was this happening to me?
Was this some sickness of the wolf? I wondered about it as I stood there, enjoying the night breeze. The run to our pack from Vic's house would be far away, but I wanted to let it out. Maybe this would finally calm me down, and I could think straight again.
I decided to go for a run. I informed one of my men and went to Vic's backyard, where the woods could be easily accessed. I carefully stripped and changed into my wolf before taking my clothes into my mouth and running.
I ran through the dark woods, letting the chilly night hair brush through my furs. It felt so fucking amazing, and for once, it made me feel free of all the worries in life, but despite all that, the unsettled feeling remained. It just wouldn't go away.
Instead of letting it ruin my run, I enjoyed the night and the woods. I kept running without taking a break. My wolf was fully energized because it hadn't been out for a while, so he was pleased to be out, and despite running for miles, he didn't seem to have gotten the least bit tired.
I entered the pack territories just in time and stopped only when I was at the doorstep of the house I shared with my brother. I transformed into myself and walked in with my clothes in my hand, stark naked. It didn't matter. Nudeness wasn't an issue in our pack. Everyone had seen everyone's packages.
I found Roshan in the living room with his laptop when I entered the building. He looked up as soon as he sensed me.
"You went on a run?" He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. I guess I was late.
"I ran here, yes," I nodded, running my hands through my hair, that unsettling feeling creeping back into me, but this time it was even more intense. The harder I tried to push it back every time, the worse it seemed to get.
Rosh seemed to have read my expression because he asked,
"What is it?"
"Nothing," I dismissed and went upstairs to shower quickly.
When I returned downstairs, dinner was served, and Rosh was waiting for me at the dining table under the grand chandelier. I grunted at the dinner choices but decided just to shut up and eat.
"You know I'm supposed to be the grumpy one," Rosh commented. I frowned.
"I'm just tired," I said, filling my plate with ribs. Silence fell between us as we continued to eat. I felt Rosh's eyes on me, waiting. He had noticed it, and there was no hiding anything from him. He was a keen observer. Sometimes too keen for my liking.
"I.." I started, trying to collect the right words to describe that unsettling feeling properly because I knew Rosh wouldn't give up until I told him what was bothering me. "I've been feeling restless for quite a while. My wolf is acting strange.
It's like he has gotten a mind of his own all of a sudden and doesn't want to listen to me at all."
As soon as I said that, Rosh's eyes widened.
"You've been feeling that too?"
Elma’s POVThe morning air was cool against my skin, sharp enough to wake me fully even after another sleepless night. I kept my gloves tight on my hands, boots laced, mask in place. Every movement was calculated, every breath measured, as if the fragile rhythm I built could keep me from shattering.But then I felt him.Roshan.His gaze found me before I even looked up. It always did. That steady, unrelenting weight, as if his eyes were hands stripping me down layer by layer, searching for the weakness I fought to hide. I told myself I hated it…hated him…but the lie trembled inside me, unsteady. Because what I really hated was the way my stomach twisted, the way heat curled low inside me, when his suspicion touched me like fire.He didn’t look at me like Ridwan did. Ridwan’s eyes were gentle, warm, as if he wanted to cup me in his hands and protect me from every storm. When I thought of him, I remembered the river…his closeness, the way his voice had burned when he whispered try me. T
Roshan’s POVSleep was a luxury I hadn’t tasted in days. Not because of the summit’s endless politics, or even the looming threat of traitors lurking in shadows…but because of her. Elma.Her name slid through my thoughts like a blade, sharp enough to cut. I didn’t trust her. Couldn’t. Every instinct in me screamed that she was hiding something, yet every time my eyes found her across the fire, my wolf stilled. As if she belonged there. As if she had always belonged.It infuriated me.I wasn’t like Ridwan. My brother carried his heart too close to the surface, his wolf too eager to believe in softness. I had seen the way he looked at her by the river, his eyes caught in that pull he couldn’t explain. And I had seen the way she looked back…hesitant, frightened, but alive. Alive in a way that made my chest tighten.I gritted my teeth and turned the thought over like a stone in my hand. If Ridwan was reaching for her, then it was my duty to pull him back. To remind him of what was at stak
Roshan’s POV The dawn did nothing to quiet my thoughts.I hadn’t closed my eyes once through the night. Instead, I circled the camp like a restless wolf, every muscle wound tight, every sense sharpened to a blade’s edge. My boots crushed dew-soaked grass. My lungs pulled in the cold air, but it never cleared the fog in my head. My wolf prowled beneath my skin, snarling at shadows that weren’t there, snapping at ghosts it couldn’t reach.But it wasn’t the camp I was guarding. Not the warriors, not the border, not even Ridwan…though I should have been.It was her.Elma.Even when she wasn’t in sight, I felt her. Like a thorn lodged too deep in my flesh to pull free. Small, almost invisible, but aching with every step I took.Ridwan tried to act as if he wasn’t unraveling last night, but I saw it. I always see it. The way his eyes followed her like he’d been starving and she was the only thing that could feed him. The way his hand lingered when he touched her, soft, steady, almost rever
Elma’s POV Sleep was a stranger.Even when I forced my eyes shut, exhaustion clawing at me, I felt them. Both of them. Roshan’s suspicion coiled around me like chains, cold and unrelenting, tightening every time his gaze lingered too long. Ridwan’s gentleness clung to me like a ghost of warmth I couldn’t shake, even when I wanted to. Especially when I wanted to.It was maddening.For years, I had perfected the art of silence. I had taught myself how to become a shadow, how to weave masks out of lies and wear them until I could almost believe them myself. Every move I made was calculated. Every glance, every word, every step—measured and controlled. I was a weapon disguised as a woman, honed by loss, sharpened by rage.And yet… after only a single week in their presence, I was unraveling. Thread by fragile thread.I sat cross-legged in my tent, the canvas walls holding in the thick weight of the night. My gloves muffled the tremble in my fingers as I traced the edge of the dagger rest
Ridwan’s POVSleep never came.I lay in my tent with the darkness pressing in on me, the weight of my brother’s words still echoing. You hate that I touched her first.He wasn’t wrong. But it wasn’t the whole truth either.It wasn’t about touching her first. It was about what I felt when I touched her at all. The way her wrist fit in my hand like it belonged there. The way her pulse jumped beneath my thumb, fast, uneven, betraying the calm mask she wore.The way my wolf had gone silent for one suspended heartbeat—then roared to life like a storm breaking free.That wasn’t chance. That wasn’t coincidence. That was bond.But Roshan was right about one thing—she was hiding something. Every time I looked into her eyes, I saw shadows deeper than she wanted anyone to see. Secrets coiled tight. Pain disguised as strength.And the pull I felt toward her… it terrified me.Because if she truly was what my wolf whispered she was… then the Goddess had cursed us.⸻I left camp before dawn, restles
Roshan’s POVThe night did not end when we left the forest.It followed me.Every step back to camp, every breath I drew, every flicker of moonlight through the branches…I carried her with me. Elma’s eyes, defiant yet trembling. Her voice, edged with steel but threaded with something softer. Her scent, sharp and sweet, that clung to me long after she had walked away.My wolf prowled beneath my skin, restless, growling in my head. She’s hiding. She’s ours. Break her open. Take the truth. Claim her.But I couldn’t. Not yet.Ridwan walked ahead of me, Elma at his side. His hand no longer held hers, but I still saw it…how easy it had been for her to let him touch her. How natural it had been for him to reach for her. My jaw clenched until my teeth ached, but I said nothing. Not there. Not then.Because if I spoke, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be speaking as Alpha… or as a man unraveling.We reached camp near dawn. The fires had died low, the sentries nodding to us with questions in their eye