Custom micro-cameras. Thermal-sensitive. Auto-light adjustment. They looked like shirt buttons but were smarter than most humans.
I slid one into my pocket.
Then opened the second case. Heavier. Sleek. Unmarked.
Inside: my pride.
A tracking chip.
Smaller than a fingernail. Easily hidden inside a bracelet charm or jacket seam.
Shade rumbled beneath my skin. ‘Tag her. Watch her. Always.’
I didn’t respond.
Didn’t have to.
We were already doing it.
Then her voice reached me. Calm. Level. But laced with that quiet, familiar fire that always caught me off guard.
“I can handle myself, you know.”
I froze.
Turned slowly.
She stood by the dresser, arms crossed, one brow raised. Her tone wasn’t defensive. Just… solid.
Like stone.
“I’m not a damsel,” she added, voice steady. “I’ve trained for this. Survived worse.”
I opened my mouth.
She cut me off.
“You think I don’t know who Bret is? Or what Alexej’s capable of?” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “I do. That’s exactly why I’ll be fine.”
“Kai-” Derrick started, trying to aim for calm.
She didn’t let him finish.
“I’m undercover,” she snapped. “They need to believe I’m not watched. Not followed. Not claimed. If I act guarded, it’s over. I lose the advantage.”
I stared at her.
Every instinct screamed to pull her back. To lock her away somewhere safe, where no one could touch her.
But she stepped forward, and her voice softened-low enough to be a whisper.
“I’m strong, Dalton. You know that better than anyone.”
And I did.
Gods, I did.
Her strength lived in every memory I had of her. The softness, the resilience, the way she never cracked even when the world tried to break her.
And now she was asking me to trust her.
I hated it.
But I respected the hell out of it.
Shade growled again. ‘Still watch. Always watch.’
Yeah.
I still would.
Not because I thought she was weak.
Because she was walking into a den of monsters with nothing but her fire and her smile-and she’d win.
But I’d be damned if anyone got to see her fall before I did.
DALTON POV
We slipped into bed without another word.
Half a fight.
Half a reassurance.
Zero resolution.
The kind of silence that settles between three people when nothing’s fixed-but you’re too
damn tired to keep unraveling it.
Kai curled up between us, her back to me.
Not in anger. Not in fear.
Just… closed off. Guarded.
Her breath hitched once, then evened out.
She was asleep.
But not at peace.
Not yet.
I stayed still. Perfectly still. Listening to the rhythm of her breathing, the warmth of her wolf pressing against ours. Instinctively, I let out a low, steady rumble-a calming sound, deep in my chest. Derrick did the same on the other side of her.
Her fingers twitched once in response. Then silence.
Behind her back, I mouthed more than whispered, “She looked me in the eye, Derrick. She said I’m suffocating her.”
Derrick’s voice was barely audible, his wolf’s purring hum threading through the words.
I glanced at him through the dark. “She didn’t fall asleep safe, either.”
He didn’t move. “You okay?”
My jaw flexed. I didn’t want to wake her with sharp sounds, so I kept silent.
Instead, I reached through the bond-the one we shared with Kai-and opened a private channel to Derrick. Just him and me.
It was risky. If she was awake, she might hear us. But it was worth the gamble.
‘Define okay. I pushed the thought toward him, low and sharp.
He didn’t answer right away. Probably shocked by the discovery.
And the strangest part? I could feel him. His hesitation buzzed faintly through the link, like static in a quiet room.
‘You’re spiraling.’
‘No.’ I snapped back. ‘I’m focusing.’
‘That’s not focus. That’s obsession.’
My fingers curled into the blanket beneath me. Tight. Controlled.
Even if I knew he wasn’t wrong… I wasn’t about to admit it.
‘Same thing. When it gets results.’
I felt his exhale-a ripple through the link, exasperated but quiet.
‘You need rest. You need to pull back. You’re losing yourself.’
‘I don’t need rest,” I bit out. “I need control.”
‘She’s not your prisoner.’
‘She’s mine.’
A pause.
Then, softer-but not uncertain: ‘She’s ours.’
That landed harder than I expected.
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