The Wolf Knows My Name

The Talk

Ify’s POV

The service corridor was empty and quiet. I leaned against the wall and pressed a hand to my chest, trying to slow my racing heart. My phone buzzed in my pocket. And it was my brother, Emeka.

Sis, are you okay? You said you'd call after your shift.

I typed back quickly. Fine. Just tired. I'll be home late. Don't wait up.

I didn't tell him I was terrified. Didn't tell him I'd been hiding from a billionaire werewolf for three weeks. Didn't tell him our lives might depend on what I'd seen.

A door opened at the end of the corridor. I tensed, but it was only another caterer, a young woman carrying a stack of napkins.

"Hey, Ify. They need more champagne in the east wing. Can you handle it?"

"Sure. Give me five minutes."

The woman nodded and disappeared. I took a deep breath. I could do this. I could finish my shift, collect my pay, and slip out before Chuks Remi found me again. Then I would figure out what to do next. Maybe leave Lagos. Take Emeka and run.

But even as I thought it, I knew it wouldn't work. Chuks had found me here, despite my best efforts to hide. He had resources I couldn't imagine. And he was right about one thing. If I had witnessed something dangerous, other people might be looking for me too.

I pushed through the kitchen doors and grabbed a fresh tray of champagne. My hands were still shaking.

The east wing was quieter than the main ballroom, a smaller gathering of older, more serious-looking guests. Politicians, maybe, or business tycoons. I moved among them with practiced invisibility, offering drinks, avoiding eye contact.

Then I saw him again.

Chuks stood near the far wall, Sandra still attached to his arm. But his eyes found me across the room with unerring precision. He didn't smile. Didn't nod. Just watched.

Beside him, Sandra was talking animatedly to an older man in traditional agbada, but Chuks wasn't listening. His focus was entirely on me, and it made my skin prickle with awareness I didn't want to feel.

I looked away first.

An hour passed. Then two. I moved through the event on autopilot, my mind churning. Every time I glanced up, Chuks was somewhere nearby. Not close enough to be obvious, but always present. Guarding me, I realised. Or making sure I didn't run.

When the last guests finally began to filter out, my supervisor found me in the kitchen.

"Bernard, you can head home. Good work tonight."

"Thank you, ma."

I grabbed my bag and didn't waste a second. I headed for the service elevator, my escape route planned since the moment I arrived. Down to the loading bay, through the back alley, and onto the main street where I could find a bike man to take me home.

The elevator doors were sliding open when a hand closed around my wrist.

"I told you we need to talk."

Chuks pulled me gently but firmly away from the elevator, into a small side office I hadn't noticed. The door clicked shut behind us, and suddenly we were alone in a room full of leather furniture and expensive silence.

I yanked my hand free. "This is kidnapping."

"This is a conversation. I just want to talk to you, he didn't move to block the door, but his presence filled the room, making it feel smaller than it was. "You've been running from me for three weeks. I've been patient, but patience has limits."

"I haven't told anyone," I said. "I won't tell anyone. I just want to forget what I saw and go back to my normal life."

"It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

Chuks took a step toward me, and I backed up until my shoulders hit the wall. He stopped, respecting the boundary even as his intensity made the air heavy.

"Because the men I killed that night were sent by someone very powerful," he said. "Someone who wants my family's territory and will do anything to get it. If they find out you witnessed their failed assassination attempt, they will kill you. It's not a threat. It's a fact.

I swallowed hard. "Then why haven't they come for me already?"

He held my gaze, steady and unblinking. "Because I've been watching you. Protecting you."

He said it simply, as if it were obvious.

"You think it was a coincidence that the men who followed you home last Tuesday suddenly changed their minds? That the break-in at your apartment complex two days ago stopped at the third floor?"

My blood ran cold. I had heard about the break-in. The neighbours had said the thieves fled suddenly, leaving behind their tools.

"That was you?"

"My people." His eyes softened slightly. "I'm not your enemy, Ify. I'm the only thing standing between you and a very ugly death."

The weight of his words truly put fear into me. I wanted to argue, I wanted to deny it, but the truth was too hard to ignore. For the past few weeks, I have had a feeling that someone was watching me. But I had dismissed it as being paranoid. But now I know better.

"What do you want from me?" I asked again, my voice cracking.

Chuks studied me for a long moment. "I need you to trust me. For now, that means staying close. I can't protect you from across the city."

"Stay close? You want me to do what? Move in with you?"

"If necessary."

A laugh burst out of me, half hysterical. "You're insane. You're a complete stranger. A stranger who happens to turn into a giant wolf and rip people apart. Why should I trust you?"

"Because you don't have a choice."

The statement hung in the air between us, brutal in its honesty.

Before I could respond, a sharp knock sounded at the door.

"Chuks?" Sandra's voice, muffled through the wood. "Are you in there? The driver is waiting."

Chuks's jaw tightened. "One moment."

He looked at me, something urgent passing through his expression. "Tomorrow. Noon. The Remi Foundation office on Broad Street. Come alone."

"And if I don't?"

He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper that felt like a caress and a warning all at once. "Then I'll come find you. And the people watching your apartment will know exactly where to look."

He stepped back, straightened his jacket, and opened the door. Sandra stood on the other side, her sharp eyes moving from Chuks to me and back again. Something cold flickered in her gaze before her smile returned.

"There you are," Sandra said, taking his arm possessively. "We'll be late for dinner with my father."

Chuks allowed himself to be led away, but not before glancing back at me one last time. His eyes held a message I couldn't quite read. A warning, maybe. Or a promise.

The door swung shut, leaving me alone in the office, my heart pounding and my mind spinning with impossible truths.

I had only twenty-four hours to make a choice that would decide my fate one trust the werewolf billionaire who had killed three men without hesitation. Or run and hope I was fast enough to escape the enemies I didn't even know I had.

Neither option felt safe.

I grabbed my bag and walked out into the night, the city lights were blurring around me as I tried to figure out how my simple life had become so terrifying.