Page 5 of A Wolf's Heart

One in a million. That phrase played in my mind over and over. One. In. A. Million. This case was going to get solved. Even if I had to keep it going myself. There was a killer among us, andI would find them. The chances might be one in a million, but I doubted they expected having someone like me after them.

2

KAGE

It was ridiculous, really. I owned this pack, I made the rules, I set the boundaries. No one told Kage Cridhe what to do.

I stared at the red numbers on the digital clock as it changed. Four twenty-eight a.m.

Absolutely ridiculous. I lifted my head off my pillow just as my phone vibrated. I could feel the curl of my lip as I lay back down and grabbed it off the nightstand, settling back down.

Rainor:Two minutes. Learn some discipline.

I rolled my eyes. That was rich, coming from him.

Who was I kidding? Rain had the most discipline out of all of us.

I raised my eyes to the clock just as another minute ticked by. Four twenty-nine a.m. Close enough. Getting out of bed, I turned around and pulled the blanket back into place. I had no time to waste. I grabbed my clothes and walked into the en suite bathroom.

I remained in my head as I lay my clothes out on the chair in the en suite. I had meetings to attend in person today, though I had received an alert yesterday evening that I had an issue to address.

I thought nothing of stepping into the cold water of the shower, not taking the time to allow it to warm up. Instead, my thoughts shifted to the funds I had to transfer to the council. We had a position in the pack open up last week that still needed to be filled, and—

My thoughts were immediately cut off by the sound of ringing coming from the bathroom speakers. I sighed. “Answer,” I called out, wiping the water from my face.

“One minute. You couldn’t wait one minute longer,” Rainor snapped over the intercom.

“Good, you’re up.”

“Of course, I’m up. Your restlessness is filtering down the pack link.” There was a whirlwind of noise as he turned on a blender in the background.

“Yes, how unfortunate.” Really, I had no time to be bothered with such semantics. We never understood why we could carry on the pack link, even when not in shifted form. Pack link was a sort of communication. In wolf form, we didn’t speak physically; it was all done mentally. High-ranking members typically had the strongest links, though technically, it was supposed to be open to anyone in the pack. Why only Rainor, Weylin, and I were linked in human form remained a mystery to us.

Because of this, I was no longer able to work after the hours of midnight and before the hours of four-thirty. Which was a large inconvenience when deadlines were tight.

I turned off the shower at the same time the blender noise stopped. “Where’s Weylin?” I asked.

“Somehow able to sleep through your fretting.”

“I don’t fret.” I growled, toweling off and then wrapping said towel around my waist. I walked up to the marble sink countertop and grabbed my toothbrush.

“It sounded like fretting. We haven’t had any issues with Ophidian Pack in the past. Why are you worried about it now?”

I finished brushing, spitting into the sink and then taking a mouthful of water and swishing before spitting once more. “It’s not Ophidian I’m worried about. And I don’t worry. Their trials are coming up, and who ascends into lead will determine how much more time we will have to spend with them.”

“You’re talking about Marcus.”

“And I’m not the only surrounding pack leader thinking the same thing. When balance isn’t upheld—”

“Chaos, it will create,” Rainor finished.

I began getting dressed. “I have a meeting at eight. I want you there to take notes.”

Rainor scoffed. “Send Emma.”

“The luna that jumps every time I look at her? No, I don’t need someone who will tuck tail. I want Weylin, too, but if he is one minute late, he will be locked out of the room.”

Rainor chuckled. “If you say so.”

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