Page 6 of Wolfish Heart
This man wants me. I love that idea. Just as I love all these deep feelings swirling around my heart, like vines climbing a tree and taking hold.
This luscious first kiss goes on and on until we’re both breathless. Finally, I pull back, blinking and smiling in surprise.
Kaden keeps stroking my hip and my back, then his hand lifts to caress my cheekbone. “So beautiful,” he murmurs. “I have an overwhelming need to look after you, Zoe.” He lifts me easily, setting my feet on the ground. “That includes feeding you. I brought Chinese food. Let’s dig in.”
We ignore the formal dining room and settle into the breakfast nook instead. I adore how the house has captured both the “extravagantly modern” and the “cozy cabin” vibe.
We plate the different things he picked up, dividing things according to how much we like each dish. Even calculating fractions is fun when the soundtrack includes Kaden’s deep laugh.
“So,” I finally say. “It was seriously tempting, but I didn’t look you up online. Clark kind of mentioned that you and your brothers own a computer tech company, but he didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t like to ask.”
He nods, expertly popping the last bite of sesame chicken into his mouth with his chopsticks. “I guess I should start at the beginning. I have four brothers.”
I practically snort while taking a sip of water. “Fiveof you? You could be a boy band!”
He laughs. “Sure – except we can’t sing. Well, at least I can’t. I’m the oldest…which, if you’re wondering, is thirty-seven…and I guess you could say I’m the heart of our business. I started it, and I hold everything together.”
I’m not surprised. He’s definitely a leader. And since I just turned twenty-two, he’s older, but the difference is still what I would consider reasonable.
“Kingston is next. He’s kind of…the ideas guy, I guess. Good at brainstorming. Then there’s Kane. He’s the one who always wants us to be bigger and better.”
He reaches out to take my hand. “Kai is hilarious and keeps us working as a team. Or at least, stops us from fighting, even though we’ve all grown up a lot since we started this company, and don’t do that as much now. And then there’s Kellen – he has this weird knack of seeing all the details at once and sensing problems before they occur.”
“You sound like a handful. Your poor mother.”
I’m not sure why, but that last comment triggers a strange look. “The Wolfe family goes back many generations,” he continues. “My great-grandfather Adler…the one who namedthe mountain…was one of the very first men who settled in this area.”
“So that’s why everyone in town seems to know you?”
He lets out a long sigh. “Well, that’s part of it.”
Kaden takes my hand and leads me into the living room, where we sit on the couch. “Tell me, Zoe, do you see me as a normal guy?”
My mouth opens, then closes. He looks so sincere as he peers into my eyes. “Y-yes? I mean… You’re clearly very successful, whatever this company does. This is a giant house, you have several cars, and I know those kitchen appliances must have cost a fortune. But you act pretty down-to-earth.” I nod toward the kitchen. “Like, you grabbed takeout instead of trying to impress me with anything fancy. So I guess you’re…normal enough?”
I stifle a laugh as he exhales deeply, sending his shoulders lower. “You don’t know how incredibly relieved I am to hear you say that.”
“Hold on, now. I reserve the right to change my opinion if you tell me that the family business is anything super creepy.”
We laugh together, then he clasps my hands. “Not creepy, I promise. Technical. It also uses the mountain.”
I squeeze his fingers, blinking. “Wild. Okay, I’m all ears.”
“So, one of the things that makes computer systems secure is extremely strong encryption. That involves long strings of numbers that are completely unpredictable. And even with randomly generated numbers, eventually there could possibly be a pattern.”
I nod. “Pretty sure I’ve read something about that, yes.”
“Good. So, there are a bunch of companies, including ours, that introduce organic variables. You may have heard of one that uses lava lamps. We use Wolfe Mountain itself.”
The way his smile lights up his eyes tells me he loves his work. “We have several stations across the mountain thatmeasure different things. The direction and intensity of the wind. The ambient noise of rain. Bird calls. The variables are all charted, digitized, and blended together to create impenetrable security codes.”
My mouth drops open. “Bird calls can be numbers?”
“If you chart the decibel levels, yes. When the data is overlaid on a grid, each level corresponds to a number from one to ten.”
“Super bizarre. But neat.”
“Also, we think it makes our company more approachable. We have webcams at one of the bird areas, and another that captures the splash of the river against some rocks.”
