Chapter 11 Wolf
Wolf
Trigger was pacing outside Nora’s house like a guy with too much coffee in his bloodstream when I walked out.
“There you are!” he yelled. “Dude—DUDE—you need to see this.”
“Trigger, can we remember we are Army Rangers and we don’t jump around yelling DUDE.”
Saint stood beside the truck, tablet in hand, jaw tight. Havoc hovered, as if he were ready to fight the camera itself.
Saint handed me the screen.
“Footage from last night,” he said quietly. “North Main. The camera caught movement around 12:14 a.m.”
I pressed play.
A tall shadow moved near the water tower, too far for a face, but close enough that the gait, the posture, the way he turned his head—
He was watching.
Then he stepped off the sidewalk.
Right toward Nora’s street.
Trigger whispered, “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
“It’s him,” I said, voice low and cold. “Same boot size. Same direction. Same timing.”
Saint swiped to the next clip.
My pulse hammered.
The figure paused across from Nora’s yard.
Just stood there.
Watching her front door.
Even through grainy footage, menace bled from him like smoke.
Havoc growled. “He’s hunting.”
Trigger swallowed. “Wolf, I don’t like this. And I REALLY don’t like the way he turned his head like—like he knew the camera was there.”
Because he did.
The man stared directly at the lens.
A slow tilt of the chin.
A subtle smirk.
Then he stepped backward into the dark… and vanished.
Trigger clutched his chest. “NOPE. I hate this. I hate all of this.”
My blood iced over.
“This isn’t random.”
Saint’s eyes narrowed. “Meaning?”
“He knows Nora,” I said. “Or he knows of her. He’s not just wandering. He’s targeting.”
Trigger looked like he wanted to throw up. “Okay. Okay. So what’s the plan? Cuz I’m not sleeping tonight.”
My decision had been forming since the first footprint in her yard.
Now it snapped into place.
“I’m staying with her.”
Saint didn’t argue. Havoc didn’t either.
Trigger blinked. “In her house? Like… overnight? Like… the whole… night?”
I leveled a stare at him.
He shut up instantly.
Saint folded his arms. “You tell her, or do we?”
“I will.”
Back Inside Nora’s House
She looked up from the kitchen when I walked in, anxiety written all over her face.
“Wolf? What happened?”
I held her gaze. “The camera picked something up.”
Her breath hitched. “Was it—?”
“Yes.”
I stepped closer, slow, letting her see the seriousness in my eyes.
“You’re not staying alone tonight. I’ll be here.”
She blinked. “Wh-what? No, Wolf… you don’t have to—”
“I’m not leaving you unprotected. Not with someone watching your house.”
Her throat bobbed. “Okay.”
The word was soft. Frightened. Relieved.
I needed her calm again.
“Come here,” I murmured.
She moved without hesitation.
I brushed a hand along her arm, up to her shoulder, feeling her tremble beneath my fingertips.
“You’re safe,” I told her. “I’m here.”
“Wolf…” She breathed my name like it did something to her—like it steadied her and unraveled her all at once.
I cupped her cheek.
She leaned into it.
My thumb brushed her lower lip, and she made a sound so quiet, so involuntary, it almost broke me.
I kissed her.
Slow at first.
Then deeper.
She tasted like coffee and sweetness and something that burned straight through me.
Nora’s hands slid up my chest, fingers curling into my shirt, pulling me closer with surprising urgency. When I gently guided her backward toward the couch, she didn’t resist.
Her back met the cushions.
I braced over her, kissing her again—longer, hungrier.
Her shirt shifted beneath my hands, soft fabric sliding up her waist as she arched into me. I broke the kiss just long enough to look at her.
“Nora,” I said low, rough. “Tell me to stop if—”
Her whisper cut right through me.
“Don’t stop.”
Clothing became background noise. Her skin warm beneath my palms. Her breath catching each time my mouth found a new place to worship down her neck, her collarbone, lower—
Her top slipped away entirely, falling somewhere behind us.
Nora’s fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me in, and every restraint I had rattled like a breaking chain.
“Nora…” I groaned against her skin. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
She smiled—shy, breathless, brave. “I think I do.”
I kissed her again, deeper than before, bodies molding together—
Then—
CRACK.
A noise outside.
Sharp. Too close.
Nora froze beneath me.
I lifted my head, breath ragged, senses firing back to combat speed.
Another sound—soft. Footstep? Brush?
Hard to tell.
“Wolf—” she whispered, voice shaking.
“Stay here,” I whispered back, already reaching for my shirt. “Don’t move.”
Her hand caught mine. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
I grabbed the handgun from my bag by the door, flipped off the safety, and moved silently toward the front windows.
The night pressed against the glass.
Still.
Too still.
Saint’s earlier words echoed in my mind.
He’s hunting.
And he wasn’t finished.