Public Air

GageI don’t like bringing her into town, and she knows it.Mara stood in the cabin’s kitchen doorway in my hoodie, arms crossed like she lived there. The view of her in my clothes made my skin hot. Put thoughts in my head I had to shake away.The ward stone in the baseboard killed her signal and kept her here. The bond kept tugging anyway, reacting every time her gaze slid over me like a challenge.“You said one lead,” she said.“I said you come with me to verify one lead,” I corrected. “Not that you get to freelance.”She lifted her chin. “Same thing.”“It’s not.” I checked the bag: cuffs, zip ties, gauze, silver wrap, burner, keys. Then I shut it. “Rules.”Her eyes narrowed. “Let me guess—don’t breathe.”“Rule one: you stay within arm’s reach in public.”“I’m not a toddler.”“You’re a target,” I said. “Rule two: you don’t speak unless I ask you a direct question.”She opened her mouth anyway.I stepped closer until the bond flared and her breathing hitched. “Rule three: if I put my

Blood in the Middle

MaraThe gunshot cracked so close my ears rang. I flinched hard behind the truck, one hand clamped over my mouth like that could keep me alive. Gravel kicked up near the rear tire. Doyle yelped, high and wet.Gage didn’t flinch. He shifted his body tighter over mine, shoulders blocking the line of fire. “Don’t move,” he breathed, and it wasn’t just a warning—it was control.I hated that my spine listened.Another shot snapped. Metal pinged. Something punched through the truck bed with a dull thud. The smell hit a second later: burnt powder, oil, and that sharp metallic tang that didn’t belong in a human gun. Silver. Like someone had soaked the bullets in it on purpose.“What is he shooting?” I whispered.Gage’s jaw flexed. His eyes stayed on the open lot. “Something meant for me.”“And me?” I asked, because my voice refused to behave.He didn’t answer. He reached back, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me along the ground toward the shadow under the feed store’s loading ramp. His grip was

Touch Her

GageI brought her in through the back entrance because the front hall has too many eyes and too many mouths. Mason met me at the threshold, jaw tight, nose flaring at the blood on my hands and the silver tang on Mara’s skin.“She’s hurt,” I said.“I can see that,” Mason snapped, then caught himself. “Alpha. Wren’s ready.”Wren didn’t waste time on greetings. The medical room lights were bright and cruel, the kind that make everything look worse. Mara sat on the edge of the exam table, sleeve pushed up, forearm mottled red where the silver had kissed her. She was pale, angry, and trying not to show either. That stubbornness might keep her alive.Wren pressed gauze to the cut and Mara hissed through her teeth. “Ow.”“It’s silver,” Wren said, matter-of-fact, like she was explaining a splinter. Then she paused—just a fraction too long—and her eyes narrowed at the angry red blooming under the wrap. “It’s supposed to hurt.”Mara’s glare snapped to me like I’d personally dipped the blade. I

The Offer

MaraThe only reason Gage let them take me was because I told him to.That made it sound brave. It wasn’t. It was math.Maren had two council guards in the hall, silver-lined restraints visible at their belts, and Gage looked one bad breath away from turning the medical wing into a crime scene. Wren stood behind me with her hands still stained from the paste she’d used on my arm. Mason was somewhere beyond the door, probably deciding which wall to put someone through first.And me? I had a silver burn, no phone, no exit, and a newly discovered habit of obeying Gage when he used that voice.So I said, “Let them.”Gage’s head turned so slowly I almost regretted it.“No,” he said.I slid off the exam table, ignoring the way my legs wobbled. “If you start a fight right now, they win. That’s what they want.”Maren watched us like a woman enjoying dinner theater. “How reasonable.”I pointed at her with my bandaged arm. “Don’t compliment me. It makes me feel contaminated.”Wren made a small

Dominance

Chapter 25 DominanceGageThe circle was already full when I stepped onto the packed dirt.Good.Fear liked private rooms. Power preferred witnesses.The gathering yard sat behind the packhouse, ringed by old stones and older rules. Every wolf in my territory knew what it meant when the circle was lit. No casual talk. No drifting in late. No pretending politics were something that happened behind doors.Tonight, the pack came to watch me bleed without spilling any.Silas stood on the opposite side of the circle in a dark coat, hands loose at his sides, expression controlled. He had dressed for respectability. Former Beta. Current Delta. Ambitious infection. He knew exactly how to look like the reasonable one when everyone else was afraid.The council sat beneath the covered platform to my left. Voss watched with a judge’s patience. Maren watched like she had already chosen which sentence she preferred. Two other elders sat with them, quiet and useless.Mason took position behind my ri

Second Lock

Chapter 26 Second LockMaraI woke up in a room I didn’t recognize, which was quickly becoming my least favorite trend.For two whole seconds, I stayed still and pretended I was calm.Then my brain caught up.Gone.Packhouse gone. Gage gone. Wren gone. The hall, the note, the council guards, the smell of polished wood and old power—all gone.I sat up too fast and almost threw up. My arm throbbed under the bandage, the silver burn pulsing like it had a tiny, sadistic heartbeat. Cute. Love that for me.The room tilted, then steadied. I forced myself to breathe through my nose and take inventory.Private chamber. Not a cell, technically, because apparently rich werewolves liked their kidnapping with better upholstery. There was a large bed with gray sheets, a low table, two chairs, a fireplace that wasn’t lit, and one narrow window covered by iron bars from the outside. The door was wood, thick and old, with a lock plate too heavy for anything normal.No visible cameras.Which meant eith