Jessica’s wolf made a sound that she refused to acknowledge. She crossed her arms defensively over her chest, her eyes narrowing as she stared at Kai.

He is so full of himself, she thought.

Man’s so hot, Ginger replied.

Jessica scoffed. "I wasn’t staring," she said to Kai, blocking her star-struck wolf.

Kai chuckled and turned to the gammas. He knew her, not quite well, but he knew she was Kira’s best friend.

He had caught glimpses of her at Kira’s fundraiser event. And she had seemed to particularly avoid him that night, and he couldn’t even tell why.

She had stood out to him that night, and Kai hardly showed genuine interest in girls. Now, it seemed like a miracle seeing her right in front of Dravengard. Wasn’t fate wonderful?

"What’s the problem?" he asked the gammas.

One of them stepped forward and briefed him on who Jessica claimed to be, asking him to permit them to take her out.

Kai stepped back towards Jessica with that effortless, cocky swagger, flashing the gammas an easy smile.

"Relax, gentlemen. She’s with me."

The gammas hesitated, but eventually stepped aside. Kai opened the passenger door of his car and gestured for Jessica to get in with a dramatic little bow.

Jessica narrowed her eyes at him but climbed in anyway, arms still crossed tightly over her chest, the second the door shut. Kai slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and pulled away from the border with a low chuckle.

"So," he began, glancing sideways at her with that charming grin, "Jessica Ashfang. You really came all the way here just to see Kira? That’s adorable."

Jessica snorted. "Adorable? I’m not a puppy. And don’t act like you suddenly know me. You literally just lied to those gammas so you could show off."

Kai’s grin widened, clearly enjoying himself. "I prefer to call it creative problem-solving. Besides, I couldn’t let them scare off such a pretty face."

Jessica turned her head slowly to look at him, one eyebrow raised. "Wow. Does that usually work for you? The whole ’pretty face’ line? Because I’ve seen you use that exact smile on at least three different girls at the fundraiser. You were practically handing out kisses like party favours."

Kai burst into uncontrollable laughter. "Jealous?"

"Jealous?" Jessica scoffed, though her wolf was currently doing cartwheels inside her chest and howling like an idiot. "Please. I’d rather eat glass than fall for that."

Kai kept his eyes on the road ahead. "I knew those ginger curls meant trouble," he muttered.

But Jessica won’t have it. "Don’t call my curls ’ginger’ like it’s a compliment."

Kai’s shoulders shook with quiet laughter, marvelling at the impression she was making on him. "You’re really going to make this difficult, aren’t you?"

"Difficult?" Jessica turned to face him fully, eyes narrowed. "Oh, were you expecting me to bat my lashes at you? Dream on, pretty boy."

Kai’s eyes sparkled. "Pretty boy? That’s new. I like it." Then, he turned and winked at her.

Jessica’s cheeks burned. She gripped the seatbelt tighter. "And stop looking at me like that. I’m not one of your little fan girls who’ll melt because you winked at them."

Kai leaned back in his seat, one hand on the wheel, the other drumming lightly on his thigh. He looked far too amused for her liking. "You’re stubborn. I think we’re going to get along just fine."

Jessica muttered under her breath, "I’m going to kill myself for even looking at you twice."

Kai laughed again, the sound warm and far too attractive. "Good luck with that. I’m already planning our wedding, by the way."

Jessica groaned and looked out the window, fighting the ridiculous smile trying to break free on her face. "You’re impossible."

"And you’re adorable when you’re mad," Kai shot back, still grinning as though he had just won the lottery.

Jessica turned to glare at him, but her cheeks were already twitching. "Keep talking, and I’ll walk the rest of the way."

Kai just chuckled softly, clearly delighted by her resistance. "Please don’t. I’m enjoying this way too much."

***

"I can’t believe Ruby could be so malicious," Declan muttered.

He was pacing the length of the study, back and forth across Derek’s study like a caged animal.

His face carried that specific expression of someone whose understanding of reality had just been quietly dismantled and reassembled into something worse.

Derek stood by the window with a glass of whiskey, swirling it slowly, watching the grounds below without really seeing them. The sky outside was dull and gloomy, which suited his mood entirely.

Finally, he tipped the glass back and gulped it down in one go, then let out a long, tired sigh.

"And I’ve been more stupid for believing she was still that little girl we all knew," he said.

He said it without self-pity, just a flat acknowledgement of a fact he was still in the process of accepting. He had been going through it in his head all through last night. Combing his memory to pinpoint where it had all gone wrong.

That little girl and the woman who had shoved his wife down a flight of stairs were the same person, and he was still working out how to hold both of those things at once.

Declan stopped pacing abruptly. He stood in the middle of the room looking at the floor, and there was something in his posture that was different from general distress. Something more specific. More personal.

"I need to tell you something," Declan finally said.

Derek didn’t turn to look at him.

"I’ve been speaking with Ruby regularly." Declan’s voice was measured. "I thought she shared my concerns about your safety and the pack. I thought she was just... someone who cared about how things were going." He exhaled slowly. "I didn’t know she was prying. I didn’t see it."

Derek waited.

"That night. Sometime back." Declan looked up. "She suggested we go out for drinks. I thought nothing of it; we’d done it before. Ruby and I just drink after the day’s work to relax. But I had too much, and—" He stopped. Pressed his lips together. "We...we had sex."

The study was very quiet.

"And I told her the real reason you married Kira."