Chapter Two
420 Words
Rafe Volkov knew Lena was in his city before she crossed his border.
He smelled her.
Wild. Unclaimed. Dangerous.
“She’s hitting our routes,” his beta said inside the glass tower that overlooked the harbor. “Three men this week.”
Rafe stood at the window, hands behind his back. Controlled. Always controlled.
His father had ruled with rage.
Rafe ruled with precision.
“Let her,” he said calmly.
The beta stiffened. “She’s not pack.”
“I know exactly what she is.”
He had watched her for months. The lone wolf who refused allegiance. The girl who survived the Red Creek m******e. The sister of the boy who asked too many questions.
Rafe knew what happened to her brother.
More than he should.
Before he could respond, the elevator doors opened without permission.
His guards flew across the marble floor like broken dolls.
Lena walked through them.
Leather jacket. Dark eyes. Blade in hand.
Every wolf in the room went still.
She stopped three feet from Rafe.
“You’re hard to reach,” she said.
His gaze dragged over her slowly. Measuring. Not impressed.
“Most people make appointments.”
She stepped closer.
“I’m not most people.”
The air shifted.
Challenge.
Power.
He didn’t move.
“You killed my men,” he said.
“They were selling girls.”
Silence.
Then softly—
“And you’re in my territory.”
Lena tilted her head. “Is that what this is? Yours?”
His wolf rose under his skin at her tone.
“You’re trespassing.”
“I’m hunting.”
Their gazes locked.
Heat flickered between them—sharp and unwanted.
“My brother,” she said quietly. “Your people took him.”
Rafe’s jaw tightened.
“Your brother is dead.”
She grabbed his collar and slammed him into the glass wall before anyone could blink.
The room erupted with growls.
Rafe didn’t fight her off.
He simply looked down at her hand fisted in his shirt.
“If I were you,” he said softly, “I wouldn’t start a war you can’t finish.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
A beat.
Then—
“He’s not dead.”
The room went silent.
Lena froze.
Rafe’s voice dropped lower.
“But if you keep killing my men, he will be.”
And that was when she realized—
She needed him.
And he needed her.
Because something bigger was moving through pack territory.
And it wasn’t under his control.
- Writer
