Familiar.
My heart recognized the rhythm before my head did.
“Wolf?” I whispered.
The door unlocked.
Opened.
Closed again with a soft click.
And he was there.
Leaves still clung to his shoulders. His breath came hard, controlled. His jaw was tight, eyes burning with something fierce and dangerous.
But the second he saw me, everything in his face softened.
He crossed the room in three strides.
I didn’t even stand—I reached for him where I sat on the floor, arms wrapping around his waist. He pulled me to my feet and into him, holding me tight, his cheek pressed against the top of my head.
“You’re okay,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”
But something in his voice—
a tremor, barely there—
told me how close we’d come to something worse.
I pulled back just enough to look up at him. “What happened?”
He didn’t answer at first. Instead, he reached into his coat… and pulled out a folded cream-colored scarf.
My scarf.
I sucked in a breath. “Where did you get that?”
His jaw clenched. “He left it.”
My stomach dropped. “Where?”
“Behind the fence.” Wolf’s voice darkened. “Placed. On purpose.”
I covered my mouth with my hand, a wave of cold washing through me. “I—I didn’t even know it was missing.”
“You wouldn’t,” he said softly, brushing a stray hair from my cheek. “He probably took it before you ever noticed when he got close. Too close.”
My knees wobbled.
Wolf’s hands caught my waist immediately. “I’ve got you.”
“But how could he have—?”
“He’s trained,” Wolf said quietly. “Disciplined. He knows how to move. How to stay unseen. And tonight he wanted us to know he could reach inside your life.”
A tremor ran through me. “Why?”
“To scare you.” Wolf cupped my face gently between his hands. “To test boundaries. To send a message.”
