The wolf howled in frustrated rage.Every instinct screamed at me to stay.To hunt.To protect what was mine.
But Viktor was right.If I defied the Pakhan now, I would lose everything.My rank.My resources.My ability to keep Lena safe from the dozen other threats that circled her life.I would become a liability instead of protection.
“Petrov,” I barked into my earpiece.“Change of orders.Michael is to be watched at all times.Every moment.Every movement.If he goes anywhere near Mrs.Antonov, you detain him immediately.I do not care what excuse you have to make.”
“Understood, sir.And if he asks why?”
“Tell him it is a security protocol.Tell him anything.Just keep him away from her.”
I tried Lena’s phone.Straight to voicemail.She would be in the meeting for another hour at least, unreachable unless I burst into the conference room and caused a scene that would require explanations I did not have time to give.
I sent her a text instead.Something has come up.Pack business.I will explain when I return.Stay close to security.Trust no one.I love you.
The words felt inadequate.Hollow.I was leaving her in a building with a predator, protected by nothing but a security team who would never be as good at protecting her as myself.
But I had no choice.
“I am on my way,” I told Viktor.
The drive to the Pakhan’s compound took forty-five minutes.Forty-five minutes of watching the road blur past while my wolf clawed at the inside of my skull, demanding I turn around.Every mile, I reached for Lena’s presence, that steady warm hum that meant she was alive, she was safe, she was still there.
For now.
Michael’s face kept appearing in my mind.His warm smile.His helpful demeanor.The way he had positioned himself as Lena’s most trusted employee, her confidant through every crisis.He had been perfect.Too perfect.The kind of flawless performance that should have made me suspicious from the start.
Who had given Joe those access codes?Michael.Who had pointed Joe toward restricted areas, making him look guilty?Michael.Who had been watching my wife for months, maybe years, waiting for the perfect moment?The answer had always been Michael.
And I was driving away from her.Leaving her alone with him because my Alpha had decided that tonight was the night to extract his pound of flesh.
The bond pulsed between us.Lena’s confusion at my text, her worry bleeding through the connection.She knew something was wrong.She could feel my anxiety even if she could not name its source.
I will be back, I promised her silently.Promised myself.I will deal with the Pakhan and I will return and I will end this.Michael will not touch you.I will not let him.
The compound gates opened as I approached.Wolves lined the driveway, eyes glowing amber in the fading light.A show of force.A reminder of what I was walking into.
Whatever punishment Max had planned, I would endure it.I would survive it.And then I would return to my mate and tear Michael apart with my bare hands.
Through the bond, I felt Lena’s presence shift.Her meeting was ending.She would be leaving the conference room soon, walking through the hotel, passing through corridors where Michael could be waiting.
I had to trust that Petrov would keep her safe.
I had to trust that I had made the right choice.
As I walked toward the Pakhan’s door, my wolf howling in protest with every step, I prayed I was not making a mistake I would regret for the rest of my life.
25
LENA
The meeting ended on a high note.The restaurant’s new tasting menu was drawing rave reviews, the spa was booked solid through August, and my department heads had stopped looking at me like I might shatter at any moment.Three months as Mrs.Antonov had done something unexpected.It had given me authority I never had as Richard Hughes’s fragile daughter.
“Excellent work, everyone.”I gathered my notes as the team filed out, their low conversations drifting into the hallway.Normal sounds.Normal operations.My hotel running exactly as I had always known it could.
Through the bond, Raphael was there.Not clearly, not like words, but present.Turmoil churned inside him, a restless energy that didn’t match the peaceful drive we had shared to the hotel this morning.The unease had been building all day, a low hum beneath our bond that I couldn’t interpret.
I frowned, reaching toward the connection the way I was still learning to do.The mate bond had been growing stronger since he gave me the bite, weaving itself into my awareness until I sometimes couldn’t tell where his emotions ended and mine began.Sometimes I could feel him as clearly as my own heartbeat.Other times, like now, it was more like sensing weather coming over the mountains.A storm building.Distant thunder I couldn’t yet hear.
The conference room emptied.I was alone with my thoughts and the afternoon sun slanting through the windows, warming my skin while his unease chilled a deeper place inside me.
