The Silver Flame

Chapter 4: The Beta

Raven had been watching her for three days.

Like she was a puzzle he couldn't stop trying to solve.

Raven watched her like she was a bomb. One that hadn't gone off yet. One he was trying to figure out how to defuse before it killed everyone in the room.

He stood in the shadows of the hallway outside Kane's office, arms crossed over his chest, eyes fixed on the glass door.

Inside, Eliana was at her desk. Typing. Filing. Answering the phone in that soft, neutral voice she used for everyone except Kane.

She was good at this. Too good.

Raven had run her background check twice. The first time, he found a twenty-four-year-old half-blood with no ability, no pack, and a dying mother. A nobody. The second time, he found the exact same thing.

That was what bothered him.

Nobody was that clean. Nobody's past was that boring unless someone had made it that way.

And someone had. The resume. The interview. The way she just happened to be in the conference room when the assassins attacked.

But the assassins had shot at her too. He'd seen the wound. The blood. The way Kane had thrown himself in front of her like—

Like she was already his.

Raven's jaw tightened.

Mate bond.

He'd heard stories. Every wolf had. The ancient claim. The blood pact. The kind of bond that only happened in old poems and funeral songs. The kind that got people killed.

And now it had happened to his Alpha. His friend. The man who'd pulled Raven out of a fighting ring when he was seventeen and given him a purpose.

Kane deserved better than this. Better than a half-blood with no scent and a fake past and something dark hiding behind her gray eyes.

Raven pushed off the wall and walked to the door.

Eliana looked up when he walked in.

No flinch. No surprise. Just a slow blink and that same careful smile she wore like armor.

"Raven. Can I help you with something?"

"You can answer a question."

She set down her pen. "I'll try."

"What were you doing in the alley behind the federal building last Tuesday?"

Her smile didn't change, but something behind her eyes went cold.

"I don't remember being in an alley last Tuesday."

"Interesting." Raven stepped closer. "Because I have security footage of a woman matching your description talking to a man who works for Marcus. For twenty-three minutes."

"You have footage of someone who looks like me."

"I have footage of you."

He pulled his phone from his pocket, swiped the screen, and held it out.

The video was grainy. Shot from a security camera across the street. But the woman in the frame had dark hair, a thin frame, and a gray jacket—

The same gray jacket Eliana had worn to her interview.

She looked at the screen. Looked at him.

"That's not me."

"The jacket—"

"It is mass-produced. You can buy it at any department store in the lower city."

"The height—"

"Average female height."

"The face—"

"Is too blurry to identify."

Raven lowered the phone. "You're not even trying to come up with a good lie."

"I'm not lying." Her voice was steady. "I'm telling you that circumstantial evidence isn't proof. And I'm asking you—what's your real problem with me?"

He stared at her.

She stared back.

No deference. Gray eyes locked on his, calm and clear and completely unafraid.

A half-blood. Unafraid of a Beta wolf.

That was wrong. Everything about her was wrong.

"My problem," Raven said slowly, "is that you appeared out of nowhere. You have no scent, no pack, no past anyone can verify. You walked into this building three days ago, and now Kane can't sleep, can't focus, can't think about anything except keeping you safe."

"That's not my fault."

"I don't care whose fault it is." His voice dropped. "I care about what happens next. Marcus knows about you now. He saw Kane throw himself in front of you at the meeting. He's already asking questions. And when he finds out you're the mate—"

"He's not going to find out."

"He already has informants inside this building."

Eliana's jaw tightened. Just a fraction. But Raven saw it.

"You didn't know that," he said. "Kane didn't tell you about the informants."

"Kane doesn't tell me a lot of things."

"Because he's trying to protect you. And that's the problem." Raven stepped closer. Close enough to see the pulse beating in her throat. "You're not just his weakness. You're his blind spot. He can't think straight when you're in the room. He can't smell threats. He can't—"

"Step back."

The voice came from the doorway.

Raven turned.

Kane stood there, still in his suit from the morning meeting, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up. His face was blank. His eyes weren't.

"Kane. I was just—"

"You were just in her face." Kane walked into the room. Slow steps. Deliberate. "You were just questioning her. Intimidating her. In my building. While I was twenty feet away."

"I'm your Beta. It's my job to—"

"Your job is to follow orders." Kane stopped between Raven and Eliana's desk. "Your job is to protect this pack. Not to harass my assistant."

"She's not just your assistant."

"She's whatever I say she is."

Raven's nostrils flared.

For a second, Eliana thought he was going to argue. His hands were fists at his sides, his shoulders were tight, and the air in the room felt too thick.

But he was a Beta. And Kane was his Alpha.

He lowered his head. Just an inch. Just enough.

"Understood." He turned to leave, then paused at the door. "Kane. I've known you for eleven years. I've never questioned your judgment. But this?" He glanced at Eliana. "This is going to get someone killed."

He walked out.

The door clicked shut.

The silence lasted five seconds.

"What was he talking about?" Eliana asked. "The alley. The man who works for Marcus. What is Marcus?"

Kane didn't answer right away. He walked to the window, hands in his pockets, back to her.

"Marcus is the Alpha of the Crimson Claw pack. They control the eastern territory. They've been trying to take over this city for three years."

"And the man in the alley?"

"A low-level informant. Raven's been tracking him for weeks." Kane turned. "Were you in that alley?"

"No."

"Look at me when you say it."

She stood up from her desk. Met his eyes.

"I was not in that alley."

He studied her face. His eyes moved from her eyes to her mouth to the scar on her arm, then back to her eyes.

"You're telling the truth."

"I know."

"But you're leaving something out."

She didn't answer.

"Eliana." He said her name the same way he had last night. Low. Private. Like it was a secret between the two of them. "I can't protect you if you hide things from me."

"Maybe I don't want to be protected."

"That's not an option anymore."

"It should be."

He walked toward her. Slow again. That deliberate, predatory walk that made her want to step backward—

She didn't.

She held her ground.

He stopped when his chest was six inches from hers. Close enough that she could feel the heat coming off his body. Close enough to smell the leather and cedar.

"You felt it last night," he said. "My heartbeat."

Her throat went dry. "How did you know?"

"Because I felt yours." He lifted his hand. Paused. Let it hover in the air between them. "The bond goes both ways. When you're scared, I know. When I'm angry, you feel it. We're connected now. Whether you like it or not."

"I don't like it."

"I know."

His hand moved. His fingers brushed the sleeve of her shirt—right over the scar.

The silver flame sparked.

Just a flicker. Visible only to them. But it was there, dancing between his skin and hers, warm and alive and hungry.

"This is why Raven is scared," Kane said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Because this bond makes me vulnerable. And a vulnerable Alpha is a dead Alpha."

"Then break it."

"I can't."

"There has to be a way."

"There is." His eyes met hers. "One of us dies."

Eliana's breath caught.

"That's not—" She stopped. Swallowed. "That's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny." His hand dropped. He stepped back. "I'm trying to be honest. You asked for honesty. This is it. The bond doesn't end. Not until one of us is in the ground."

He walked to the door.

"Kane."

He stopped.

"What if I don't want to be your weakness?"

He was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was different. Softer. Almost tired.

"Then stop pretending."

He left.

Eliana stood alone in the office, her right hand pressed against her left arm, feeling the ghost of his heartbeat under her scar.

Stop pretending.

She didn't know how.

Pretending was the only thing that had ever kept her alive.

That night, she couldn't sleep.

Not because of the bond. Not because of Kane. Because of Raven's words, circling in her head like wolves around a campfire.

The man who works for Marcus.

She hadn't been in that alley.

But she had been in another alley. Two weeks ago. Talking to a different man. A man who had given her an envelope full of cash and a folder with instructions.

"You'll apply for the job at Blackwood Industries. You'll say yes to everything they offer. And you'll report back to me."

She'd taken the money.

Her mother's medical bills weren't going to pay themselves.

But she hadn't reported back. Not once. Because as soon as she'd walked into that building, as soon as she'd seen Kane for the first time—

Something had changed.

She sat up in bed, reached for her phone on the nightstand, and stared at the screen.

One new message.

From an unknown number.

"The Alpha's Beta is asking questions. Time to earn your pay."

Her thumb hovered over the keyboard.

She could reply. Say yes. Do what she'd been paid to do.

Or—

She deleted the message.

Tossed the phone onto the nightstand. Lay back down. Stared at the ceiling.

The silver flame under her scar pulsed once. Twice. Like a heartbeat.

His heartbeat.

She put her hand over it and closed her eyes.

Across the hall, Kane stood in his bedroom, shirtless, phone pressed to his ear.

"Tell me about the man in the alley," he said.

Raven's voice crackled through the speaker. "His name is Silas. Low-level enforcer for Marcus. He met with someone matching her description two weeks before the interview."

"And the footage?"

"Inconclusive. The face is blurred. But the jacket—"

"It is mass-produced. She already told you that."

A pause.

"You believe her?" Raven asked.

Kane looked at the wall that separated his room from hers.

Through the concrete and the drywall and the insulation, he could feel her. Not her thoughts. Not her emotions. Just—her presence. A warmth at the edge of his consciousness. A pulse that matched his own.

"I believe she's lying about something," he said. "But I don't think she's working for Marcus."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because if she was, he would have already used her to kill me."

Another pause.

"Kane. Be careful."

"I'm always careful."

"No." Raven's voice was quiet. "You're not. Not anymore."

Kane ended the call.

He stood in the darkness, one hand pressed against the cool glass of the window, and listened to the sound of her breathing on the other side of the wall.

My mate.

My weakness.

My responsibility.

He didn't know which one scared him more.