Page 36 of Hunted By the Wolves
Chapter Eight
Sunlight spilled throughthe penthouse windows, pale across steel and stone, the city already moving far below.Up here, the quiet felt earned.Last night lingered in the air—warmth, skin, the settled certainty of choice.
The shower ran down the hall.Riley’s.Rafe heard it through the walls, the steady rhythm easing his wolf with the simple truth that she was there.Safe.With them.
Dorian stood at the island with his phone to his ear, posture loose but alert, voice low and professional—the tone he knew his brother reserved for Victor and Ivan.Operations never slept.
Rafe cracked eggs into the pan, butter hissing softly.Feeding her steadied him more than anything else.Mate wasn’t just bond or instinct—it was choosing the ordinary things.Breakfast.Plans.A life built without pretending danger didn’t exist but refusing to let it rule.
Dorian ended the call and leaned back against the counter, watching him for a moment before speaking.“They found something.We have to report upstairs in an hour.”
Rafe didn’t look up as he stirred the pan.“Chimera.”
“Yeah.”
He flipped the eggs anyway, plated them carefully.There was an hour.Still time for this.
Footsteps sounded down the hall, soft and unhurried.
Riley came into the kitchen wearing jeans and one of his t-shirts, sleeves pushed up, hair still damp and curling slightly at the ends.The marks on her neck were visible where the collar dipped—faint, unmistakable.Not a claim of ownership.A connection.Rafe felt his wolf lift at the sight, a low satisfaction rolling through him that he didn’t bother to suppress.
He crossed the kitchen in two strides and kissed her good morning, slow at first, then deepening as her hands slid into his hair and she made that small sound in her throat that told him he hadn’t misread the moment.He lifted her easily, setting her on the stool at the breakfast bar, hands firm at her waist as if anchoring her there.
Dorian came in behind him and went straight to her, kissing her just as thoroughly, just as unrestrained.Riley leaned into him without hesitation, fingers curling into his shirt.Rafe watched the exchange with a small, private smile as he finished plating, the sight of them together easing something old and sharp inside his chest.
Dorian rested his forehead against hers when he pulled back.“Morning, sweetness.”
Riley blinked, still a little breathless.“Good morning.”
“Come and eat breakfast, beauty,” Rafe said, setting the plates down in front of her.“Then we have to go upstairs and report in.”
Riley’s gaze sharpened.No fear.Just focus.God, Rafe admired that about her.“What’s happened?”
Dorian’s expression tightened just enough to signal the shift.“We have a mission to prepare for.Ivan traced a lead to a facility with confirmed links to Chimera.Hard intel this time.”
They ate quickly but not carelessly, conversation moving easily between them—Dorian outlining what little they knew, Rafe filling in gaps with what experience suggested, Riley asking the kind of questions that told him she wasn’t just listening, she was already thinking three steps ahead.
By the time they reached Command, the floor was alive with motion.Screens glowed with satellite feeds and blueprints.Voices stayed low but constant, the hum of preparation threaded with urgency.Riley stayed close, absorbing everything.Malik gave her a brief nod of acknowledgment.Kairo flashed her a quick grin.No one treated her like she didn’t belong.
Two men approached who moved differently—lighter on their feet, eyes constantly scanning.
“Leopards,” Dorian said quietly, shifting just enough to give Riley a clear line of sight.“Kairo and Rylan Vance.”
The two men inclined their heads in unison.Kairo’s mouth curved into an easy, almost lazy smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, while Rylan’s gaze stayed sharp and assessing, tracking Riley the way a medic might assess a patient—quick, thorough, respectful.
