Chapter 4 Slights in the Shadow

The city spoke secrets. Whispers permeated its alleyways, rooftops, and subterranean dens, each darkness hiding a reality none wanted exposed.

Tonight, I was the darkness itself, not just one of those secrets.

Her kept me from stopping to ponder about.

Hart, Elena. Her name kept coming back to me as I negotiated the maze of streets; her resistance stayed like an unresolved challenge.

She had followed me into a world not fitting for her, but something told me she would keep returning. It was perilous. For her. For me. For everybody.

Her existence unknown to the pack. They wouldn't know. She would be seen by them as a danger, a diversion, or worse-an opportunity for Cain.

But I was smarter. She was not a danger. She burned too brilliantly to be overlooked. She was fire.

The idea made my chest constrict, so I had to force myself to concentrate. Tonight, I had a purpose that would not offer diversion.

I encountered Milo outside the entrance of a closed metro tunnel. His face was austere, his keen eyes looking around before he spoke.

"Your late arrival."

I passed him saying, "I'm here."

Before us the dark and wet tunnel opened out. Though the air smelled strongly of mildew and rust, under it was something more. something primordial.

Milo dropped into stride alongside me, his voice quiet. Cain has begun moving his pieces. He has a major project under way.

"He's always planning something," I said.

This's not the same. He's hiring outside of the city. Notes. Separations. He's assembling an army.

I paused and turned to face him. "Why nowadays?"

Milo paused, and I noticed the flutter of discomfort in his eyes. "He finds you to be weak, Ryker. That you seem preoccupied.

My wolf rumbling under the surface, I closed my fists. "I'm not weak..."

Then prove it; Milo's voice was harsh and demanding. "You have recently missed work. The pack sees it. I perceive it. Whatever is dragging your attention, you must let it go.

I omitted responding. Not could.

Given his rightness.

Deeper down the caverns, the data guided us to a concealed stash Cain had been employing for weapon storage.

Eliminating it would be a little victory, a reminder that I wasn't only watching while he tightened his hold.

As we neared, the air got cooler and the faint buzz of voices came to me. Senses sharpening, I signaling Milo to halt.

"There are four of them," I said quietly. 'Armed.' Two inside, two by the door.

Milo nodded with a stern look. "What do you have in mind?

"Make division and conquer."

We moved softly and rapidly. The first two guards missed us approaching. One crumpled beneath Milo's fists; I took one down with a fast punch to the neck.

Two from within was more than ready. One of them drew a pistol, but I disarmed him before he could shoot.

I was quicker. Milo was ready; the other sprang at him, their combat a whirl of fists and snarls.

It passed in a few short seconds.

My breath consistent, I stood over the unconscious corpses. The surge of adrenaline coursed through me and was known. It grounded.

But a fresh idea entered my head when I examined the weapon stash.

Cain was equipping not just himself. He was getting ready for conflict.

The pack was wild by the time I got back to the lair. Although the raid had raised spirits, it had not eliminated the underlying anxiety as word of it had travelled.

Lily came up to me as I entered; her huge eyes begged for enquiries.

"Did you search and discover anything?

"Nothing we lacked knowledge of," I said.

She nodded, but her countenance clearly showed uncertainty. The pack was losing trust, and I had no idea how much longer I could keep them together.

I was alone myself in the little room I designated when the others retired for the evening. A reminder of the bigger game I was playing, the key card from the gala rested on the table.

Finally, there was her.

Elena in that warehouse, her fire, her will, stayed with me. She had gone too near, more than anybody else had ever done.

It was more than just risky. It was foolish.

Still, I knew I wouldn't be able to persuade myself to stay away.

Elena

Sitting outside the station in my vehicle, the night opened out before me like an unresolved riddle. Though it had left me shook, the warehouse encounter had also set something in motion in me.

He was not just a burglar. His eyes revealed it, as did his movement. He had something basic, something that defied the tidy, organized society I had grown up in.

And I could not let it go.

Not understanding was my father's attitude. The warehouse raid was rejected by him as just another dead end, another waste of money.

Nonetheless, I knew better. Ryker is more than simply a burglar. He was the secret to something more, something I still have to work out.

Pulling out my phone, I went over the pictures I had shot of the warehouse. Something I had overlooked had to be a hint.

I later saw that as well.

a symbol carved on the wall close to the spot I had challenged him. Though it was weak, nearly imperceptible, it was there-a crescent moon twisted with the head of a wolf.

As I gazed at it, my heart surged as the pieces of a jigsaw I knew nothing about started to fit.

Ryker was concealing something more than just pilfers of big stakes or stolen commodities.

It was something more profoundly ingrained.

Something harmful.

Riker

Though the pack was sleeping, I couldn't relax. My head was a tempest, every idea louder than the next. Cain. The weaponry. the pack.

Her:

I moved outdoors, the chilly night air cutting over my flesh. Before me the city opened out like a sea of shadows and lights. It was suffocating even if its anarchy was wonderful.

My wolf moved restlessly, and I felt the familiar pull of the transformation. Still, I objected. not here. Not at this moment.

Rather, I allowed my senses to extend to listen to the city's pulse.

I sensed it then as well.

Her.

Elena was quite near. Too closely.

I tensed, my instincts ablaze. She came behind me.

Nice.

Allow her.

She would have to go further into the darkness if she was seeking my secrets.

She would also discover the truth there just waiting for her.