background check
1375 Words
The room was silent—uncomfortably so.
My mother stared at me with pleading eyes.
My father with that heavy, stubborn authority he always carried.
And Liam…
I could feel his gaze on me.
He knew I was seconds from ending the entire conversation.
He also knew my parents wouldn’t stop pushing.
I felt his subtle nudge beneath the table—barely a tap against my foot.
A silent request: let me speak.
I shifted my eyes toward him.
Just enough for him to know he had permission.
He cleared his throat, sitting up straighter.
“Alpha,” he said carefully, voice low and steady, “it’ll be easier if the Seer goes. He can locate her faster. You won’t waste time searching blind.”
I didn’t respond. My aura was still heavy, wrapping the room like smoke.
Liam continued, choosing his words like a man walking through fire.
“And… not just the Seer. Your uncle should go too. He’s part of the Council of Elders. Someone you trust. Someone who will follow your exact instructions.”
My mother’s eyes brightened instantly with hope.
My father gave a slow nod, trying not to look relieved.
I watched Liam for a long, cold moment.
He didn’t flinch.
He knew I hated interference—but he also knew I hated inefficiency more.
Finally, I exhaled, leaning back in my chair.
“…Fine.”
One word.
Flat.
Final.
The tension cracked instantly.
“my uncle (sam)and the Seer,” I said. “No one else. No added elders. No unnecessary entourage.”
My father nodded quickly. “Of course.”
My mother smiled—a small, trembling thing, like she’d been holding her breath the entire time.
Liam relaxed slightly beside me, though he kept his head down out of respect.
I picked up my fork again, voice calm but cold as steel.
“They can go. They can look. But I decide how this ends.”
No one dared argue.
After dinner, I excused myself and headed straight to my study.
The moment I stepped inside, the familiar scent of paper, leather, and old wood wrapped around me—steady, grounding. Unlike the dining room, there were no emotions here. No pleading eyes. No pressure.
Just work.
Just control.
I switched on the desk lamp, its warm light spilling across the documents Liam had dropped off earlier.
The first file was from the Real Estate Development Department—a thick stack of land acquisition forms, zoning compliance reports, and site feasibility assessments for the new estate project. The same one the girl had interfered with today.
My jaw tightened slightly as I scanned the words “community compensation extension request.”
Pathetic.
Next, I reviewed the airport expansion proposals.
Runway extension plans.
Air traffic volume projections.
Upgrades on the terminal logistics system.
Even a report on faulty ground handling equipment that needed replacing—again.
I scribbled a note:
Approve—but renegotiate the maintenance contract. They’re bleeding us dry.
Another folder waited—this one from the university board.
Enrollment projections.
Accreditation renewal for the College of Engineering.
A request for additional funding to expand the postgraduate research labs.
Typical. They always wanted extended budgets.
But the proposals were solid.
Growth meant power, and power meant reach.
I approved those too.
The last file was from the Land Transport Department—reports on the intercity buses, maintenance logs, replacement schedules, and the ongoing issue with the overworked fleet control managers.
I sighed, leaning back briefly.
If people weren’t incompetent, life would be easier.
I signed off on the required upgrades and handed the pile to the side, ready for Liam to collect in the morning.
Finally, I opened a thin, red folder marked LEGAL — URGENT.
The girl’s file.
Her complaint.
Her legal references.
Her bold challenge.
I stared at the photo clipped inside—it was blurry and low-quality, taken from a worker’s phone. But even then, the aura she radiated clung to the image.
Small.
Short.
Looks fragile.
Not human.
A spark.
A flame wrapped in a human shell.
My wolf pushed against me from within—restless.
Alert.
I closed the file slowly, fingers tapping once against the cover.I was still staring at the red legal file when I heard a soft knock on the study door.
Liam didn’t wait for my permission—he never did when something was important.
He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
“I found her,” he said without preamble.
My eyes lifted slowly. “Name.”
“Glitter Dennis.”
The name hit the air strangely—unexpected.
Sharp.
Different.
Fitting for someone who burned like wildfire behind human skin.
I leaned back in my chair. “Continue.”
Liam stepped forward, setting a thin folder on my desk.
“She’s a student at Northern Crest University,” he said. “Second-year law student. Pre-Law track, with plans to enter the JD program once she completes her bachelor’s.”
Northern Crest.
My university.
My territory.
My rules.
“How old?” I asked.
“eighteen ,” Liam replied. “She was admitted early.”
Figures.
That fire wasn’t just aura—it was intelligence sharpened into a weapon.
He cleared his throat. “And—she’s on full scholarship. Academic excellence award.”
I raised a brow slightly.
So she wasn’t just bold—she was brilliant.
One of the top students if she secured that level of funding.
Liam continued, “Her professors say she’s one of the strongest in Constitutional Law and Property Rights. Which explains why she quoted statutes at you today.”
I remembered the fire in her eyes.
The steady hands.
The unshaken voice.
Most adults couldn’t stand their ground in front of me—yet this small girl had challenged me with the confidence of someone ten times her size.
“What else?” I asked, voice low.
Liam shifted slightly, the folder still open in his hands.
“She’s not alone,” he said. “Far from it.”
My eyes narrowed.
“She’s the first daughter of her parents. Oldest of three. She has two younger sisters.”
I sat forward a little, interest sharpening. “Parents?”
Liam exhaled. “Her father left them when she was twelve. Walked out. Never came back.”
My jaw flexed once.
“And the mother?”
“Still alive,” he said. “Struggling, but alive. Glitter’s been working part-time since she was thirteen to help raise her sisters. She’s the breadwinner. Everything she earns goes straight into the household.”
The information settled in the air, heavy but precise.
“So she’s responsible,” I said slowly.
“Very,” Liam replied. “Teachers at Northern Crest University say she balances her Pre-Law classes, her scholarship requirements, and two part-time jobs. She still manages top grades.”
Small.
Fragile-looking.
Barely eighteen.
Yet carrying the weight of an entire family.
I leaned back in my chair, studying the folder as if it might reveal more.
“Does the father make contact?” I asked.
“No.”
Liam’s voice hardened slightly. “He remarried. New family. Never sent a dime back.”
My wolf growled low inside me—disapproval, irritation, something primal rising without permission.
“And her sisters?”
“nine and six,” Liam said. “She’s practically their parent.”
I stayed silent for a long moment.
That kind of pressure…
That fire she carried…
It wasn’t just personality.
It was survival.
“She fights hard because she’s had to,” Liam added quietly.
I closed the folder, fingers drumming once on the cover.
Her defiance made sense now.
Her fire.
Her courage.
Her refusal to bow even when my aura pressed down on everyone else like iron.
She wasn’t afraid of me because she’d been facing battles long before she stepped onto my land.
“Keep the surveillance discreet,” I said finally. “I want updates on her daily schedule. Classes. Work. Home.”
Liam nodded. “Understood.”
But even as he turned to go, one thought echoed in my mind, unsettling and unavoidable:
A girl like that doesn’t break easily.
She burns.
And my wolf…
recognized the flame.
- Writer
