Page 21 of A Wolf's Heart

KAGE

Isat behind my desk, reading another report given by the council as they imposed their mindless dribble on us. I need not remind them of their place, as well as our position—where we stood above them, and they begged for funding from our pockets.

The door burst open. I didn’t look up from the pages before me as Rainor stood in front of my desk. Nor did I blink as his glare grew in intensity. However, the moment he opened his mouth, I silenced him.

“I gave my order. The beast is not to go out on another hunt.” Done with this conversation, I continued with my task.

“It becomes more difficult when I hold him in. You know this. He will snap and go running right back to her.”

“That is exactly why he cannot go on a hunt! We will find a way to deal with her, but now isn’t the time. I have the council breathing down our necks with these alpha murders, Weylin’s still in the armory—”

“He’s fine, back home, fully recovered.”

I scoffed. We hadn’t expected an attack as strong—or as calmly—as she had delivered. Just went to show that mates, even fated mates, could not be trusted.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Rainor tapped his leg over so slightly before balling his fist. He really was fighting the beast.

“You always know what I’m thinking.”

“Even the thoughts you don’t let through the pack link. How can we trust her when she doesn’t trust us, Kage? We backed her into a corner. Did you expect her to cower?Ourmate?”

“She is not my mate. None of us will be claiming her.”

Growling ripped through my office, and I tossed the papers aside. I guess I was finished with work today. I leaned back as a very angry-looking Weylin stalked into my office.

“You benched me!” he snapped. “I have three murders to solve and an alpha killer to track, and youbenchedme.”

“You were talking nonsense. Are you in your right mind?” I didn’t miss the way he held his left arm close to his body, or the nasty burn mark peeking from the sleeve of his shirt.

“Since when are any of us in our right minds?”

“Since now,” I snapped, leaning forward and smacking my hand on the desk. “I know nothing of this wolf. I don’t even have her name—”

“Lila Evans. Adopted daughter of the late Jacob and Hannah Evans, both human. They lived an insignificant life.”

I shook my head. “And how were they able to adopt a wolf pup?” I asked, doing no work to hide my suspicions.

“According to the local newspaper, she was placed on their doorstep. They took her to the hospital, and when no one claimed her, they adopted her,” Rainor supplied. Of course, he had done all the research.

“You’re telling me the hospital didn’t do a DNA check, nothing was run, the council wasn’t informed, this pup lived her entire life among humans, knowing nothing?”

“It’s as fishy as it smells, but it checks out. I could see it in her eyes. She knows nothing of us. She was both worried and confused about Weylin. She shot the gun to injure, not kill, notknowing how fatal the silver was to his bloodstream, how the poison began spreading almost instantly.”

“She was worried?” Weylin asked, his voice low.

Rainor and I both turned to him. His hand was shaking.

I sighed. “When was the last time you shifted?”

He grinned. “In the armory.”

“They sent him out because he nearly destroyed half the building, attempting to leave, while still openly bleeding out,” Rainor explained.

My nostrils flared as I took in a deep breath. “You still bleed.”

Weylin shrugged. “It’s minor.”

“Four days isn’t minor, not for us,” Rainor snapped.

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