Page 104 of A Wolfe in the Woods

Something in my chest settled.

A decision.

CHAPTER 28

JONATHAN

By the time I arrived in Graymore at the end of the week, I was already on edge.

The city felt more hostile to me now. Too sharp, too loud, too sterile. The air felt thin and overprocessed, stripped of anything that made it real. Glass and steel clawed at the sky, reflecting themselves over and over like the city couldn’t stand the idea of anything organic surviving unchecked. I’d always known it was like this; I just hadn’t felt it scrape against my nerves so aggressively before.

I was here for Blanche. My only reason. I told myself that as I crossed the plaza toward Skoll headquarters, ignoring the way my shoulders tightened the closer I got.

I stepped inside the lobby and sensed eyes on me almost immediately…cameras, scanners, security layers I felt more than I could see. Being watched wasn’t new to me. Beingcataloguedwas.

I’d worked for major firms before, stood in my fair share of marble foyers and glass atriums that were meant to impress, but Skoll was different. The scale alone was unimaginable.

The lobby’s ceiling soared so high it vanished into shadow. The walls curved inward like the ribs of something massive andalive. People moved through the space in steady, rigid streams—tiny figures swallowed whole by the architecture.

I felt like I was standing among ants.

No. Worse. Like we were all inside the belly of a whale.

I checked my phone. No message from Blanche yet. I had arrived early, after all, so I lingered near one of the massive pillars, watching the comings and goings, aware that the guys at the security desk were sending looks my way. Our plan was to head to an early dinner and I’d spend the weekend with her. Though now that I was here, in the hungry belly of this city, I was becoming more determined to whisk her back to Juniper Hollow. I’d drive her back on Sunday evening, before she needed to work on Monday, I reasoned.

That was when I felt it. A presence.

I turned as an impeccably dressed Lycan approached. He had sharp features, dark hair combed back with precision, expression smooth and unreadable. His suit was tailored to the millimeter. Expensive. He didn’t smile.

It was almost as if he’d catalogued me the moment I crossed the threshold of Skoll Plaza, had been tracking my movements since my boots had hit the pavements of Graymore.

“Mr. Wolfe,” he said calmly.

I nodded.

“Please follow me.”

It wasn’t a request.

He didn’t lead me to reception. Instead, he angled toward a discreet corridor set into the far curve of the lobby wall, unmarked and nearly invisible unless you knew where it was.

We entered a private elevator, one with no buttons or even a display panel. The doors slid shut, and the car ushered us up smoothly without sound. I watched my reflection in the polished metal and felt discomfort settle in my gut.

Blanche must have let them know I was coming. I told myself that this was normal. But it didn’tfeelnormal. I was being treated like a special guest, and I knew I wasn’t.

The elevator opened into a circular executive suite that felt more like a private gallery than an office. Everything was designed to be observed from every angle.

The Lycan gestured me forward with the quiet confidence of someone used to standing close to power. Sharp-eyed, controlled, and appearing less like standard security and more like a handler.

“Please wait here.” He disappeared as quietly as he’d arrived.

I stepped into the center of the room. Polished exotic-stone flooring. Floor-to-ceiling glass. Low, ambient lighting. My attention went straight to the artifacts lining the curved walls…ancient, rare, unmistakably Lycan. They were extraordinary. Clearly someone had curated them with precise intent.

I stepped closer to one of the displays…an ornate irontorc, etched with ancient Lycan symbols. Hard and brutal but remarkably beautiful, it registered something ancient in me, making my blood hum.

“Third age,” a voice said behind me, smooth on the surface but sharp underneath. “Pre-diaspora.”

I hadn’t heard him enter, and that made me uneasy.