Containment
1152 Words
Aaron
The office is quiet.
Too quiet.
I close the door and lean back against it. The Alpha floor hums faintly beyond these walls, the low murmur of footsteps, doors opening and closing, voices softened by distance.
But here?
The silence presses.
Shay stirs beneath my skin, restless. The bond hums low, sharp beneath my ribs, weaving desire and frustration together.
He wants me to reach out to Reza.
To claim.
To close the distance that keeps tightening every time we pass each other in the halls.
I can’t.
Not now.
Not when one wrong move could turn her into a target.
I close my eyes and breathe.
It doesn’t help.
My mind supplies the image anyway.
The soft tilt of her head when she laughs. The warmth of her skin when she passed me in the hallway.
I lifted my hand.
Almost touched her.
And pulled it back.
Shay snarls softly beneath my ribs.
Not anger.
Need.
Hunger threaded through instinct.
I brace both hands on the desk and lower my head.
Control.
Patience.
Discipline.
A knock lands on the door.
I straighten immediately.
“Come in.”
Jason steps inside without ceremony.
His expression says something has already gone slightly wrong.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he says.
“You’re not,” I reply. “What happened?”
Jason exhales once.
“We picked up a forest visitor.”
I frown slightly. “Visitor?”
“The human Reza found near the border.”
Ah.
The bond tightens faintly at the thought of her alone in the woods.
“He was shouting about rogues,” Jason continues. “Thought we should at least verify he wasn’t pointing at something real.”
“And?”
Jason snorts.
“He’s currently asleep in one of the guest rooms after trying to explain the situation to three different patrol wolves.”
“Drunk?” I ask.
“Very.”
That tracks.
“He swears he heard people speak about a Rogue attack,” Jason adds. “Also smugglers, hunters, and a group of men stealing chickens depending on which part of the story you listen to.”
Shay huffs with irritation.
I lean back slightly.
“Keep him overnight,” I say. “Send him back to town in the morning.”
Jason nods.
“Already arranged.”
A second knock lands on the door before he can leave.
Carl enters.
He stops when he sees Jason.
“Am I interrupting?”
“No,” Jason says. “Just finishing.”
Carl glances between us once.
“Everything under control?”
“Drunk human with an imagination,” Jason replies. “Reza happened to find him before he wandered deeper into territory.”
Carl nods.
Jason turns toward the door.
“Shout if you need me.”
When the door closes behind him, the room settles again.
Carl steps forward, tablet already in hand.
“You read the movement reports?”
“Yes.”
“And?” he asks.
“And nothing changed.”
Carl nods slowly.
“That’s the problem.”
He taps the tablet once and turns the screen toward me.
A message log appears.
Internal.
Pack communication.
Short.
Concise.
Anonymous.
Safety concern filed regarding medical procedures conducted by non-pack healer.
My jaw tightens.
Reza.
Carl watches my reaction carefully.
“It was routed through the internal reporting system,” he says.
“Anonymous?”
“Yes.”
“Bethany?”
“Indirectly,” Carl replies.
He taps the screen again.
A second line appears beneath the first.
Request for Alpha oversight regarding healer influence.
Shay growls low inside me.
I lean forward slowly.
“She’s escalating.”
Carl nods.
“Quietly.”
“Who filed it?”
Carl shrugs slightly.
“Doesn’t matter.”
He’s right.
Bethany wouldn’t attach her name.
“She’s testing response,” Carl continues. “If the report gains traction, she can claim concern. If it fails, she disappears from it completely.”
Classic Bethany.
“Which wolves saw it?” I ask.
“Three.”
“And?”
Carl’s mouth tightens faintly.
“One flagged it as nonsense.”
Good.
“One ignored it.”
Also good.
“And the third?”
Carl taps the screen again.
A name appears.
The weak link.
Exactly the one we expected.
Shay snarls softly.
Carl meets my gaze.
“She’s probing loyalty.”
I study the name for a long moment.
Bethany doesn’t act openly.
She shifts pressure.
Changes the narrative.
Lets wolves convince themselves they’re protecting the pack.
I straighten slowly.
“Good.”
Carl raises a brow.
“Good?”
“She moved sooner than expected.”
Carl considers that.
Then nods.
“You want to confront it?”
“No.”
His eyes sharpen.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
I tap the tablet screen once.
“She wants reaction.”
Carl nods slowly.
“Which means we give her observation.”
“Exactly. Nothing moves near the Alpha floor tonight without me knowing.”
Silence settles between us.
Carl studies me a moment longer.
“You’re distracted.”
I glance up.
“That obvious?”
“To me.”
Fair.
“The bond,” he says simply.
“Yes.”
Carl leans against the desk.
“You can’t hide it forever.”
“I don’t plan to.”
“Bethany will notice.”
“She already has.”
Carl exhales slowly.
“That complicates things.”
“Everything about this complicates things.”
Shay presses restlessly against my ribs.
Reza is somewhere on this floor.
Too close.
Too present.
Carl watches my expression carefully.
“You’re holding the line.”
“For now.”
“For her.”
“Yes.”
Carl nods once.
Then he taps the tablet again.
“I’ll keep monitoring the reports. If Bethany pushes further, we’ll see it.”
“She will.”
“Tonight?”
“Soon.”
Carl studies the screen again.
Then he shuts the tablet down.
“One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“The wolf who flagged the report as nonsense?”
“Yes.”
“He told the others something interesting.”
I wait.
Carl’s mouth twitches faintly.
“He said if anyone wants to challenge the healer, they can take it up with the Alpha.”
Shay rumbles with quiet approval.
Carl looks at me steadily.
“The pack is watching.”
“I know.”
“Bethany knows it too.”
I push away from the desk.
“Good.”
Carl studies me carefully.
“You’re baiting her.”
“Yes.”
“And when she moves?”
I meet his gaze.
“Then we stop playing quietly.”
Carl nods once.
Satisfied.
Outside the office window, evening is settling across the territory.
The pack is calm.
Reza is safe.
Bethany is testing.
And somewhere beneath the quiet surface of the packhouse, pressure is building.
The game has started.
- Writer
