Kael’s POV
Three days.
It had been three days since the alley. Since those men. Since I’d grabbed the arm of a woman I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I sat in my office at the Alpha mansion. Papers spread across my desk. Reports I should have been reading. Decisions I should have been making.
None of it mattered.
My mind kept drifting back to that night.
The woman who’d kept her face hidden. Who’d trembled under my touch like a frightened bird.
Something about her had felt... familiar.
Which was insane.
Completely, utterly insane.
She was human. I’d smelled nothing on her. No wolf. No pack. No supernatural trace of any kind.
Just a regular human woman who’d wandered into the wrong part of town.
So why couldn’t I stop thinking about her?
*Because you’re losing your mind,* Fenrir growled. *That’s why.*
Shut up.
*Three years of searching for one woman. Three years of nothing. And now you’re obsessing over a random human in an alley?*
I said shut up.
*Pathetic.*
I slammed my fist against the desk. The sound echoed through the empty office.
Fenrir went quiet. But I could feel his judgment. His disappointment.
He wasn’t wrong.
This WAS pathetic. What was WRONG with me?
I pressed my forehead against the cool glass. Closed my eyes.
The memory played again. Unbidden. Unwanted.
Her arm under my fingers. That electric shock of contact. The way she’d frozen. The way she’d pulled away like I’d burned her.
And her eyes.
I’d only glimpsed them for a second. Just a flash through the holes in her mask. But something about them had made my chest ache.
They’d looked... scared.
*Fenrir.* I reached for him mentally. *When I touched her. What did you feel?*
Silence.
*Fenrir. Answer me.*
More silence. Then, reluctantly: *Something.*
*Something what?*
*I don’t know.* His voice was frustrated. Confused. *Something familiar. Something that made me want to... protect her. Keep her. Make sure she was safe.*
My heart started pounding.
I turned away from the window. Paced the length of my office.
Think, Kael. Think.
The woman is a human. Or at least, she’d seemed human. No scent. No wolf presence. Nothing to mark her as anything other than ordinary.
Maybe I was so desperate to find Aria that I was seeing her in every woman I met.
But I couldn’t shake this feeling.
This certainty that something important had happened in that alley.
I stopped pacing. Made a decision.
*Damon.*
I reached out through the pack mind link. Found my beta’s consciousness immediately.
*Alpha?* His response was instant. Alert. *What do you need?*
*Come to my office. Now.*
*On my way.*
Three minutes later, there was a knock on my door.
"Enter."
Damon walked in. His expression was curious. Slightly concerned.
"You called?"
"Close the door."
He did. Then stood in front of my desk. Waiting.
I studied him for a moment. My beta. My friend. One of the few people in this territory I actually trusted.
"I need you to do something for me," I said slowly. "Something... unusual."
His eyebrow rose. "Unusual how?"
"I need you to investigate the human world."
Silence.
Damon stared at me. His expression shifted from curious to confused to slightly alarmed.
"The human world," he repeated.
"Yes."
"We’re specifically forbidden from interfering with human world."
"Yes."
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
"Kael." He dropped the formal title. That alone told me how serious he considered this. "What are you talking about? We have rules. BOTH sides have rules. No interference. No meddling. No crossing boundaries without proper authorization."
I turned away. Walked back to the window. Stared out at nothing.
"I cannot let go any threads about her."
Damon was quiet for a long moment.
Then he sighed.
"What exactly do you want me to do?"
"Search the human world," I said. "Quietly. Secretly. Look for any trace of a woman who might have crossed over from our territory. Any unusual activity. Any reports of someone who doesn’t quite fit."
"Incredibly risky. If the human authorities find out we’re snooping around—"
"They won’t find out." I met his eyes directly. "Because you’re going to be careful. Discrete. You’re not going to leave any trace."
Damon studied me. Weighing. Considering.
"Alright." He straightened his shoulders. "I’ll see what I can find. But I’m doing this quietly. No team. No paper trail. Just me and whatever contacts I can trust."
"Thank you."
"Don’t thank me yet." He turned toward the door. "I might find nothing. Or I might find something you don’t want to know."
"I’ll take that risk."
Damon nodded once. Then he was gone.
The door clicked shut behind him.
I stood alone in my office. The silence pressed in from all sides.
Had I made the right decision?
Was I chasing ghosts?
Was I so desperate to find Aria that I was willing to risk everything—treaties, peace, my own sanity—on a feeling I couldn’t even explain?
Probably.
But what choice did I have?
I walked back to my desk. Sank into my chair.
The mind link with Damon faded as he moved further away. His presence dimming until it was just a distant hum at the edge of my consciousness.
I was alone again.
Alone with my thoughts. My doubts. My desperate, pathetic hope.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Closed my eyes.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
The sound cut through my thoughts like a blade.
I frowned. Damon had just left. He wouldn’t be back so soon unless something was wrong.
I straightened in my chair. Composed my features.
"Come in."
The door opened.
And my frown deepened.
It was the pack elder.