Page 9 of The Wolf Prince's Fated Heart

The poor girl witnessed a family of five getting threatened. I tried not to think too hard about why that particular family had become the radicals' latest target. It’s too coincidental that it had happened less than ten miles from Gavin's court.

I've already texted Grayden about it, which is why I had the screens on that exact scene in the first place. I guess I was hoping that the task force would come on time.

They didn't.

Be careful what you tell her, my wolf warns me. She's a human after all.

We need her help, I remind him. Besides, she already knows something's up.

"Would you like something to drink?" I ask her gently. "Coffee, tea, water, or something stronger perhaps? Wine, beer, scotch?"

That gets her attention, so I wait for her reply. She doesn't take her eyes away from the screen where the father is being unceremoniously shot in the head. Just like that. He's the last to die.

I grab the remote and turn it off. She's already seen enough to mark her. For me, this is just one of many horror shows I grew up with. No one is meant to see such violence, let alone a human woman.

Her teary gaze finds mine, and those beautiful green eyes regard me with the hunger of a predator. As if I were her prey and she was interested in eating me for dinner.

My wolf stirs, our interest piqued by the behavior that is so unlike humans. But in this instance, I don't mind being her prey. It's a thrilling thought, especially since we are going to work together to protect each other.

She clears her throat. "Scotch. Neat."

Instead of serving it myself, I have Harper bring it to us. I don't want to leave Cassidy, sensing that she might get spooked otherwise.

Harper knocks on the door once before she rushes in with Cassidy's glass in hand. When she sees Cassidy on the sofa next to me, her eyes widen with surprise. I narrow my eyes at her when she lingers for a moment before shaking her head and slamming down the alcohol. After a small nod of her chin in my direction, she marches back out the door.

Cassidy follows Harper's quick departure with her gaze, her green eyes curious. Does she feel the shift in Harper's behavior, too, or is it just me overthinking things?

"Miss Strayed," I start and touch her hand, prompting her to return her gaze to me. "Could you tell me the part about the software getting hacked? I would like to gain more insight into how it happened."

After sipping the strong liquid, she recounts everything in exquisite detail. "There were reports that parts of videos had been processed before we officially categorized them. With so many people working on the same project, I initially dismissed it as unimportant."

I breathe deeply. Cassidy is the team leader of the entire F-Rec department, she should’ve brought this to her higher-ups earlier.

At least she's here now, my wolf tells me to calm me down. It's hard to pay attention to something that you don't know is happening.

Maybe I should tell her the truth, I say, suddenly feeling all alone and isolated in keeping it a secret.

My wolf snorts. It's enough of a reply.

"The truth is, Miss Strayed," I start, my brows furrowing as I try to come up with a way to explain the situation without exposing the existence of the species, "a new terrorist group has been formed recently. We call them the radicals."

"The radicals," she echoes, and I nod.

"They've been going after seemingly random victims," I say carefully, not wanting to explain how they are hitting different species because maybe it's just a coincidence after all.

"So far, we couldn't find any connections. The only thing I know is that the videos related to the victims have been accessed without authorization, which is why I believe that the radicals have an inside man. A leak."

Cassidy nods with a grim smile.

"And the murders from today that we've witnessed on a live stream are connected to them?" she asks, gesturing at the now blank TV screens. "Did anyone inform law enforcement?"

"The police, as you know it, haven't been informed," I say, hedging around the truth. "A different sort of task force has been dispatched. A classified one."

I'm only telling her part of the truth. Grayden's task force has been serving all the governments. Its main goal was to keep the peace, and right now, someone was threatening it. He should have the intelligence required to make a decision. But I don't have to share that with Cassidy. Not yet.

"A special ops unit?" Cassidy mumbles, staring into the glass.

"It's classified," I repeat with a hollow voice.

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