The encrypted drive burns in my pocket like a hot coal, its weight insignificant compared to the evidence it contains. I pace the length of my office, measuring the space in restless steps while the city sleeps below, oblivious to the betrayal illuminated on my computer screen. The dim light casts long shadows across the carpet, shadows that stretch and contract with my movements like the decision twisting in my chest.
Three nights after the full moon, and still the wolf lingers too close to the surface. I feel her restlessness in my bones, her rage in my blood. My fingertips tingle with a familiar sharpness as I spread my hands over the financial documents on screen—Derek's deception rendered in cold numbers and patient calculation.
"Patience," I whisper to myself, to the wolf, to the w
