The car ride feels like torture.
Sienna sits next to me. Close enough that I catch her scent with every breath—herbs, coffee, something uniquely her. It hits harder than it should. Every tiny movement tests my control.
My wolf paces inside me, restless.
Tabitha babbles excitedly in the backseat, thrilled to watch the chaos unfold, but I barely hear her. My focus stays locked on the girl beside me. She keeps glancing at me like I’m a puzzle she can solve.
Good luck with that, little human. I haven’t figured myself out since the night I first smelled you.
Suddenly, she speaks. "What do you know about my house?"
Her voice is steady. Her pulse isn’t.
I tighten my grip on the wheel because I know too much. I remember the exact moment Cora crossed her boundary. The sound her skull made when I slammed her into the wall for breaking into Sienna’s home. For leaving that note.
My wolf had snapped instantly.
You don’t touch what’s mine. You don’t mark what I haven’t claimed.
But I can’t tell Sienna any of that. I can’t say Cora’s stunt didn’t cause danger—it just revealed it. Now the Architects know Sienna exists. They know someone in my pack who mark her as important.
Before I can think of a lie that won’t crumble, knuckles rap against my window.
My body goes still. My wolf surges forward, ready to kill whatever’s on the other side.
But it’s just an old woman. White hair. Sharp eyes. Human—yet somehow unafraid of the predator staring back at her.
Sienna’s door flies open. "Grandma!"
Laura Knightley. I know her name. I know her history. I’ve seen the files my father kept on her daughter’s research… on her death.
She hugs Sienna once, then pins me with a look that doesn’t waver.
"You must be Alpha Byrne," she says. "You brought my granddaughter home safely. Good. You’ll both stay for dinner."
Not a question.
"Humans usually fear my kind," I say, testing her.
Laura smiles, unshaken. "Fear comes from ignorance. I know what your father tried to do. I know what my daughter died stopping. You carry the same weight."
His name feels like a punch. No one says it. Not the pack. Not the city. Not me.
"You knew him."
"Of course." She touches my arm like I’m not built to kill. "You look like him. Come. We’ve made enough food for a pack."
I should leave. She’s dangerous without trying to be. Her memories cut deeper than claws.
Then Sienna speaks. "Please stay."
My wolf quiets at her voice.
I nod. "For a little while."
Laura beams. "Family dinners can be… complicated."
She has no idea.
***
The house smells like roasted meat and herbs—a meal meant to unite. The moment I step inside, the mood shifts.
Sienna sits at the crowded table with Laura, Tabitha, and Isla. Across from them: Savannah, her smug fiancé, and her mother, who thinks wolves are monsters.
Sienna’s father sits at the head, silent, tense.
Dinner starts with forced politeness. Savannah dominates the conversation, bragging about her perfect engagement, her perfect job, her perfect life.
Then her fiancé turns to me. "So, Alpha," he smirks. "Is it true your kind are just animals playing human?"
The room freezes.
Savannah laughs. "Come on, someone had to ask. With the murders happening? It’s not exactly subtle."
Isla stiffens. Tabitha goes rigid. Sienna’s jaw clenches so hard I hear her teeth grind.
"Savannah," she warns.
"What?" Savannah shrugs. "Violence is in their blood. And now they’re killing each other? Convenient."
My wolf surges forward. A growl rumbles in my chest—a warning.
Sienna shoots up from her seat. "Don’t you dare—"
Her stepmother cuts in. "Enough. Savannah’s right. These creatures don’t belong here."
That’s it.
My growl shakes the walls. Pure Alpha dominance thickens the air. Savannah’s fiancé pales. Her mother grips her chair like it’ll save her.
But Sienna doesn’t flinch. She stands tall, eyes burning.
"He’s here because I invited him," she says, voice shaking with fury. "If you can’t show basic respect, you can leave."
Laura sets her fork down, calm as moonlight, and gives me a look only an Alpha’s mate should know.
Enough.
My wolf snarls but listens.
I exhale slowly, forcing my shift back.
"Thanks for the meal," I say, voice clipped. "But we should go."
Glass shatters outside.
A scream cuts the night.
We move before the others react. Sienna reaches the window first and goes pale.
I smell it before I see it. Chemicals. Unnatural.
I’m out the door before anyone stops me. My wolf claws under my skin.
Another body. Young. Female. Same brutal wounds. The same unnatural method that stops our healing.
But this time, there’s writing. Burned into the grass:
LAST WARNING. HART COMES WITH US, OR EVERYONE DIES.
My vision blurs red. Bones crack. Teeth lengthen. I barely feel my skin split as I shift.
Sienna steps in front of me. She presses her hands to my face.
"Kieran," she whispers. "Look at me. Not at that. Look at me."
Her scent grounds me. Her touch cools the rage.
"I need you here," she murmurs. "I need you. Not the wolf."
It’s the plea in her voice that pulls me back.
I force the shift back, muscles burning. When I speak, my voice barely sounds human.
"You’re not staying here. Not tonight."
"Kieran—"
"They dumped a body on your lawn," I snap. "They sent me a message. You think I’m letting you sleep here?"
Her eyes widen. Then she nods.
"What about my family?"
I glance back. Laura stands in the doorway, already knowing. She nods, giving silent permission.
Aksara