Five Years Dead, Still his mate

What the Skin Hides

Solomon’s flashlight beam cut across the passenger window and locked on Odessa’s face. His other hand already held the gun.

“Step out of the truck, Alpha. Slow.”

Valkyrie Moss appeared on the other side, short and solid, rifle up. Rain ran off the brim of her cap. She did not look at me. She looked at the woman in my seat.

“Human,” Valkyrie said. “Smells human. What the hell is this?”

Odessa pressed back against the door. “I didn’t ask to be here. Tell them.”

I killed the engine and opened my door. “Stand down. Both of you.”

Solomon did not lower the gun. “You drove past three checkpoints with an unknown in the cab. Protocol says we clear her.”

“I said stand down.”

Valkyrie’s jaw flexed. “She’s not pack. She’s not marked. She’s not anything I recognize. You want me to smile and wave her through?”

“I want you to lower the rifle before I take it from you.”

Silence stretched. Rain ticked against the truck hood. Solomon exhaled hard through his nose and pointed the barrel at the ground. Valkyrie followed a second later, but her finger stayed near the trigger guard.

“Talk,” Solomon said.

“Inside. Now. Get Sable.”

Valkyrie barked a short laugh. “The doctor? For a waitress?”

Odessa’s voice shook but stayed loud. “I’m not going anywhere with any of you. I want the police.”

I walked around the truck and opened her door. She tried to shove past me. I caught her upper arm. Not hard enough to bruise. Hard enough to stop her.

“Walk or I carry you. Choose.”

She walked. Stiff. Shoulders high. Solomon fell in on her left. Valkyrie took the rear. The gates rolled shut behind us with a heavy metallic finality.

The main hall lights were harsh. Pack members stopped talking when we passed. Someone muttered a question. I ignored it. Odessa’s sneakers squeaked on the concrete. She kept looking for exits that were not there.

Sable Kyr met us at the medical wing door. White coat over black clothes. Hair pulled back so tight it looked painful. She took one glance at Odessa and then at me.

“Explain.”

“Examine her. Full scan. Blood. Skin. Everything.”

Sable’s eyes narrowed. “Consent?”

Odessa yanked against my hold. “I do not consent. I want a lawyer. I want out.”

Sable looked at me again. “Alpha.”

“Do it anyway.”

“That’s a line.”

“Then I just crossed it. Get it done.”

Sable held my stare for three long seconds. Then she stepped aside and pointed at the exam table. “Sit. Shirt off.”

Odessa planted her feet. “No.”

Valkyrie stepped in. “You can take it off or I can cut it off. I’m fine either way.”

“Enough,” I said. “Valkyrie, outside. Solomon, door. Nobody comes in.”

Valkyrie muttered something ugly but left. Solomon took position in the hallway. The door closed. The room smelled like antiseptic and old fear.

Odessa’s hands shook as she pulled the wet shirt over her head. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the floor. Sable snapped on gloves.

“Any implants? Scars you know about? Long term medication?”

“No. Nothing. I’m normal. You’re all the ones who are wrong.”

Sable circled her. Fingers pressed along the spine. Odessa flinched every time.

“Hold still.”

“Your hands are freezing.”

“Good. Means you can still feel them.” Sable paused at the middle of the back. “There’s ridging here. Under the skin.”

I stepped closer. “How deep?”

“Deep. Old. Not surgical.” Sable reached for a handheld scanner. The device hummed. Blue light washed over Odessa’s back. Sable’s mouth tightened. “Runes. Layered. At least three different hands worked on this.”

Odessa twisted, trying to see. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing there.”

“There is,” Sable said. “Witch work. Suppression lattice. It’s locked your wolf down so hard I can’t even get a trace reading. Also rewrote surface tissue. Explains the body change.” She glanced at me. “And the memory gap, if the frontal binding is intact.”

My fists had closed without permission. I forced them open. “Can you break it?”

“Not all at once. Not safely. The outer layer is brittle. I can crack that tonight. The rest will take time or it might cook her nerves.”

Odessa’s voice went high. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here. There is no wolf. There is no magic. You’re all delusional.”

Sable met her eyes in the mirror. “Delusional people don’t leave rune scars that match pre Council war scripts. Someone wanted you erased and small and human. They did a thorough job.”

I stared at the blue light still tracing patterns I could not fully see. Five years of graveside visits. Five years of empty nights. Five years of believing a lie someone carved into her flesh.

“How long has it been there?” I asked.

Sable checked the depth reading again. “Minimum four years. Probably five. Whoever did it knew exactly what they were burying.”

Odessa’s shoulders started to shake. She tried to cover it by hunching forward. “I want my clothes. I want to leave.”

“You’re not leaving,” I said.

“You can’t just keep me.”

“Watch me.”

Sable set the scanner down. “I need her prone for the first release. The outer lattice has to come off before the scent stabilizes. If it snaps wrong she could seize.”

“Do it.”

Odessa looked at me over her shoulder. Her eyes were red but dry. “If I die on this table it’s on you.”

“You’re not dying.”

“You don’t get to decide that.”

Sable loaded a syringe with something clear. “Local only. You’ll feel pressure, then heat. Try not to thrash.”

Odessa’s laugh was thin. “Sure. I’ll just relax while you cut magic out of my spine. Easy.”

I moved to the head of the table so she could see my face. “I’m right here.”

“That doesn’t help.”

Sable pressed the needle in. Odessa’s hands gripped the edge of the table hard enough to bleach her knuckles. The scanner light changed from blue to a hard white. Sable’s voice stayed flat.

“Outer layer is fracturing. Scent markers are starting to bleed through. Cassian, you might want to step back. This could hit everyone in the building once it opens.”

I did not step back.

The first true thread of her wolf scent curled into the air. Thin. Broken. But familiar enough to punch the air out of my lungs. Pine. Ozone. Rain. Underneath it something darker and older that belonged only to her.

Odessa’s back arched. A sound tore out of her that was not quite human.

Sable held her down with one forearm. “Stay with me. Almost there.”

Outside the door Solomon’s voice rose. “Alpha. Whatever you’re doing in there, the whole floor just felt it.”

I kept my eyes on Odessa’s face. Sweat beaded along her hairline. Her teeth were clenched so tight the muscle in her jaw jumped.

Sable exhaled. “Outer lattice is down. The rest is still locked, but the suppression is cracked. Her wolf is in there. Muzzled and half starved, but present.”

Odessa’s breathing came in short, hard pulls. She turned her head on the table and looked at me. Really looked. For one fractured second something moved behind her eyes. Recognition or memory or simple terror. Then it vanished again.

“What did you do to me,” she whispered.

I had no clean answer. Only the weight of five years collapsing in real time.

Sable stripped off her gloves. “She needs rest and a guarded room. The next layers will be harder. And Cassian.” She met my stare. “Whoever paid for this kind of work did not want her found. They especially did not want her found by you.”

The door handle turned. Solomon stepped halfway in, face grim.

“We have a problem,” he said. “Peregrine Wraith just called a closed table. He’s asking why the Alpha brought a dead girl’s ghost home.”