The first thing I did was warn Alpha Kane and his men.

There was no explanation, no searching glances falling on me. There were too many coincidences. First, Marcus disappears with his mate. Everyone knew Marcus and I were together. Second, the position of the paper was too perfect. And the location of the threat, Wolf, who disappeared quickly, was too close to my apartment.

The second thing I did was wake up everyone in the apartment. That was supposed to happen as soon as Alpha Kane and his men got into the apartment.

And here we are, ten minutes later.

Ryan was sitting on the couch, his head in his hands.

I was in that blissful stage of trauma where you become immune to everything. The crimson blood that stained the paper and the mysterious wolf barely affected me. The glassy terror in his eyes couldn’t touch me, nor could the petrified expression on his face.

"How..." Ryan finally spoke after what felt like hours of silence. "How could a bastard do something like that?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" I frowned, trying to keep my voice gentle for Ryan’s sake. "No bastard would do that."

My dad had a similar expression, but he was much paler than usual.

"I need to see him," Ryan snorted, getting up from the couch.

Ryan was clearly in denial. I was doing everything I could to hold Ryan back. My dad insisted he see for himself, which made his face pale.

"No, you don’t have to." I shook my head. "Meeting him won’t change anything."

"Listen to your sister," Dad snorted, his voice deep and hoarse from sleep. "It’s best if you don’t look."

"What else am I supposed to do?" Ryan growled in irritation. "I can’t just sit here while someone... something is spreading fear in my pack, threatening my sister."

"There’s nothing you can do to fix it, Ryan," Dad muttered, not meeting our eyes. "Sometimes you just have to be mad and leave it at that."

I’d almost forgotten that Dad had lost his wife, our mom, just a few weeks ago. I’d been so caught up in my own life that I hadn’t paid much attention to him.

"Why was he sitting there, Zara?" Ryan muttered menacingly. "Why was he sitting right outside your window?"

"How would I know that, Ryan?" I frowned. "I don’t know any more than you do."

"Are you sure?" Ryan winced, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "Marcus magically disappears, and the pack gets threat paper."

"Ryan, you need to calm down," Dad growled, standing up from his chair in anger. "The only one to blame is the damn thing that killed you."

"You shouldn’t have come back," Ryan growled, his eyes darkening.

I flinched, feeling a punch to my stomach. What hurt me most was that I believed him. The pack had been in mourning before I came back, and now they were mourning again.

"Stop it!" Dad growled. "Don’t blame your sister."

Ryan stormed out the door, casting one last sad look at Dad and me.

"He’s angry and hurt," Dad muttered. "He doesn’t mean what he says."

Dad awkwardly patted my shoulder. "He’ll come to his senses, Zara. Give him time to process what happened."

"But he’s right, right?" I muttered, brushing away the tears that were welling up. "The mysterious wolf is right outside my window, Dad."

I wiped my tears and came to my senses just in time to see Dad.

Something was churning inside me. Irritation, stress, fatigue. I was tired of the quiet conversations and furtive glances. Dad was hiding something from me. It might not have anything to do with the threat, but today everything was starting to weigh on me.

"Make them tell me," Nova muttered. "If it has anything to do with the mysterious wolf, they won’t be able to keep it to themselves."

Before my poorly rehearsed question could leave my lips, a hasty knock... I stumbled upon the front door.

My father rushed over and opened it, letting in Alpha Kane and several of his men.

Kane’s gaze darted from my father and Ryan, finally landing on my face.

"We’ll examine the paper and place," Alpha Kane informed the three of us. "I’ll come back and ask some questions.

"Questions." I half hoped that Kane would leave me alone with my brother and father, giving me another chance to find out what they knew. Unfortunately, two of Kane’s men remained.

"Long night?" one of his men commented.

It took me a minute or two, but I recognized the guy. He wasn’t Kane’s pack to begin with. He was one of the few who openly considered Marcus a damn Alpha.

Logan usually kept a low profile, especially after he made it clear that he didn’t like Marcus.

Marcus wanted to kick Logan and his family out of the pack many times, but my father wouldn’t let him.

"A very long night," I nodded, leaning back on the couch.

There was another knock on the door, and Dad went to answer it silently. The first thing I saw was Jackson’s distraught face. Dad grumbled something unintelligible and let him in.

"I just found out what happened." Jackson winced. "Do you mind if I stay?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Jackson’s eyes darted between me, Dad, and Ryan. I spoke first.

"Not at all." I shook my head. "I could use some company right now."

"I told Sophia what was going on, and she said she’d be over soon." Jackson frowned as he walked over to where I was sitting on the couch.

Without thinking, Jackson picked up my legs and sat down, placing them in his lap.

"Did you say he was sitting right outside the window?" Jackson muttered quietly to me, running his fingers up my calves.

"His eyes were looking right at me," I muttered in the same hushed voice.

"This isn’t just a bully’s attack anymore." Jackson frowned. "Something serious is going on, isn’t it?"

"I think so." I frowned.

Our quiet conversation was interrupted when Alpha Kane and his men walked through the door. Kane had an air of control and superiority about him. No question was in charge here.