Oops! I Can Hear My Alpha’s Wolf

“Hand over the wolf.” The man aimed a tranquilizer gun at Mia Chen’s face. Mia looked down at the enormous black wolf sprawled across her legs. Then she examined the NIGHT ANIMAL TRANSPORT permit clipped to the gunman’s chest. The photograph had been glued on crooked. The man in it had a mole on his left ear. The man holding the gun was missing the top half of his. Mia slipped the silver bell in her hand beneath her sleeve. “Which wolf?” The gun twitched. There was only one wolf in Storage Room B-17. His shoulder nearly reached Mia’s chest, blood streaked his black coat, and his paws occupied most of the aisle. When he crashed through the security shutter, he had taken the OUT OF ORDER sign with him. The gunman stared at her. “The one at your feet.” “Oh. I thought you meant the stuffed animals. Lost-property management requires precision.” The wolf raised his head. His eyes were gold. A voice exploded inside Mia’s skull. 【DON’T GIVE ME TO HIM. DARTS ARE POISON. BITE HIM. NO, HER TEETH ARE TOO SMALL. HIDE HER UNDER BELLY.】 Mia’s back hit the shelf. Ten minutes ago, she had been a temporary clerk at the Grayhaven Bureau of Werewolf Affairs. At 5:42 p.m., while every permanent employee practiced the sacred government tradition of leaving on time, her supervisor sent her downstairs to catalog three boxes of twenty-year-old property. Human Resources had also sent an email. Her permanent-position review had been postponed for another ninety days. Mia read it, ate the cake her supervisor had forgotten beside the printer, and came to B-17. If she could not have job security, she could at least have sugar. At the bottom of the last box, she found a silver bell labeled M-00-071. The number did not exist in the database. When she shook the bell, tiny words appeared on its surface. Before you listen, ask whether you are willing to hear. “Fine,” she had muttered. “Activate.” The bell chimed once. Then the wolf demolished the security shutter, knocked Mia into a rack of umbrellas, and stopped his teeth beside her throat. The first thought she heard was: 【SOFT. DON’T CRUSH.】 The second was: 【HURTS.】 Then the gunman entered. Mia studied the dart in his weapon. The bureau’s veterinarians used clear sedative and yellow medical seals. His dart contained cloudy gray liquid and had no seal. White quartz grit clung to his boots. Underground loading staff wore blue-soled safety shoes, and that grit was used only on rooftops in the Council District. Wrong badge. Wrong boots. Wrong drug. This man was impressively bad at his fake job. “The animal is dangerous,” he said. “Step away, and I guarantee your safety.” 【LIE. KILL ME. KILL HER TOO. BITE GUN HAND FIRST.】 The wolf tried to rise. His front legs folded beneath him. A broken dart protruded behind his shoulder. One paw still covered Mia’s hand. It was larger than her face, yet every claw had been pulled safely in. “Sir, I need to verify your authorization.” “Now?” “Dangerous-animal transfers require three copies. One for you, one for me, and one for the animal.” He glanced at the wolf. “The animal?” “He can leave a paw print.” 【SHE IS STALLING. SMART. WANT TO CARRY HER AWAY.】 Mia almost glared at him. She had an employee access card. She could walk by herself. The gunman stepped closer. “Move.” Mia raised both hands. The bell remained hidden inside her right sleeve. Her left hand held the warehouse scanner. “All right. Just don’t shoot me. My salary doesn’t include a bullet allowance.” She stood. A growl rolled through the room, rattling old mugs on the shelves. 【COME BACK. NO FUR. BREAKS EASILY. PROTECT.】 The wolf could barely stand, but he had appointed himself her safety officer. Mia backed toward a cart filled with obsolete phones. Above it hung an emergency foam nozzle. B-17 used suppressant foam designed to overwhelm a werewolf’s sense of smell and restrict movement. During last month’s test, her supervisor had smelled of lemon dish soap for three days. The gunman advanced on the wolf. Mia scanned the red emergency code on the cart. Beep. The damaged security shutter dropped halfway. The man spun around. “Old equipment,” Mia said. “Please continue.” He fired at her. The wolf launched from the floor. The dart buried itself in his shoulder as he knocked the gun aside. A second shot struck a teddy bear. Mia shoved the phone cart. Old devices scattered across the floor. The gunman stepped on a flip phone and crashed into a shelf, then pulled a knife and lunged at her. The wolf threw himself between them. His legs shook. He had no attack left. 【BACK. FAST. NO BLOOD. HER BLOOD DOESN’T GO ON FLOOR.】 “I also prefer not to bleed during overtime.” Mia hit the alarm. White foam blasted from the nozzle and swallowed the gunman’s shoes. He tried to escape, but Mia had locked the cart sideways across the aisle. He slashed through the narrow gap. Mia grabbed a property-registration pole and struck his wrist. The knife vanished into the foam. “Who did you tell to move?” He threw himself against the cart. Mia released one wheel, let his momentum push it back, then rammed the metal frame into his knees. He dropped face-first into the lemon-scented foam. “Running is prohibited in underground storage,” she told him. “There’s a sign.” The wolf collapsed behind her. Mia knelt beside him and pressed her hands around the darts. His breathing grew rough, but his golden eyes stayed fixed on her. 【SAFE. SHE SAFE. GOOD.】 The messages began to flicker. 【WARM HAND. CLOSER. MAY TOUCH EARS. ONLY HER.】 “Stay awake. If you die in Lost and Found, the paperwork will take all night.” He pushed his head into her palm. The silver bell burned against her wrist. The voice disappeared, and an itch shot through Mia’s nose. She sneezed. “I really do want to touch your ears!” The assassin lifted his foam-covered head and stared at her as though she were the dangerous one. The wolf deliberately pushed one ear beneath her hand. “You know how to take advantage of a situation.” Boots thundered outside. Six werewolf guards poured beneath the half-lowered shutter. The young man in front bared his canines. “Get away from the Alpha!” He grabbed Mia’s arm. Power rolled through the room. Every metal shelf shook. The guard released her and dropped to one knee. The others lowered their heads. Mia remained standing, mostly because no one had explained what she was supposed to do. She was also still holding the wolf’s ear. Bones cracked beneath black fur. Paws became hands. Seconds later, a man knelt where the wolf had been, bare from the waist up, blood running over one broad shoulder. Mia recognized him. Kael Wolfe, Alpha of the Northern Silverclaw Pack and the youngest candidate ever chosen to lead the Moonshadow Council. His portrait hung in every public hall in Grayhaven. In the photograph, he wore a flawless suit and looked as if smiling might be illegal. The man before her had darts in his shoulders, torn trousers on his hips, and his right ear between the fingers of a temporary clerk. Mia let go. “Sorry. Professional habit. We verify identifying features before releasing lost property.” The guard spoke quickly. “Alpha, the medical team is coming. This human is unidentified. I’ll secure her.” “Noah.” Kael said only his name. Noah fell silent. Kael removed the darts and dropped them into an evidence tray. Then he rose and placed himself between Mia and his guards. “She saved me.” One guard stared at Mia’s TEMPORARY badge. Another studied her cheap scanner. A third looked at the professional assassin trapped behind a cart full of flip phones and appeared to reconsider his opinion of government clerks. “Ms. Chen,” Noah said, “please surrender the object in your hand.” Mia started to offer him the silver bell. Kael caught her wrist. His hand was burning hot. He leaned close, searching for something only a wolf could sense. “If this counts as damaged public property,” Mia said, “temporary workers can only lose one month of performance pay.” “Your pay will not be touched.” “Good.” Kael faced his guards without releasing her. “Seal the underground level. No one speaks to her alone.” Noah glanced at Mia. “Under witness-protection authority?” “Under mine.” Kael’s golden gaze returned to her. “I found my mate.”