Chapter 31

Kael POV

My hand tightened around the phone. "Who is this?"

"Someone who's noticed you spending an unusual amount of time watching a building that doesn't belong to you." The voice was calm, measured and carrying the kind of authority that suggested this wasn't a bluff. "We should meet."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kael, mechanic. Werewolf. Currently standing outside 2847 Riverside Drive staring at the fifteenth floor like you're waiting for something." He paused. "Should I continue?"

Ice flooded my veins. Whoever this was knew exactly what I was, which meant they were either supernatural themselves or connected to people who were. And they'd been watching me watch Sera.

"What do you want?"

"Like I said, we need to talk. There's a coffee shop two blocks east of your current location. Be there in ten minutes."

"And if I don't show up?"

"Then I'll assume you're not interested in learning why Seraphina Knox is attracting attention from multiple supernatural factions. Your choice."

The line went dead before I could respond.

I stood frozen on the sidewalk, mind racing through possibilities. This could be a trap. Could be someone trying to use my obvious interest in Sera against me. Could be exactly what it claimed to be, information about why every instinct I possessed was screaming that she needed protection.

Ten minutes later, I walked into a 24-hour coffee shop that catered to night shift workers and insomniacs. The man sitting at the back booth was maybe forty, dressed in dark clothes that suggested either law enforcement or private security. His eyes tracked my approach.

"Kael," he said as I slid into the booth across from him. "Thanks for coming."

"You didn't leave me much choice. Who are you?"

"My name's not important. What's important is that we're both interested in keeping the girl safe." He pushed a manila folder across the table. "Seraphina Knox. Twenty-one years old, college student, currently interning at Hoblox Corporation. Also happens to be someone very significant in supernatural circles."

I didn't touch the folder. "How do you know what I am?"

"I know what a lot of people are. It's my job." He leaned back, studying me with professional detachment. "What I'm trying to figure out is why a werewolf mechanic is suddenly so interested in a girl he met once. You recognize her from somewhere?"

The question hit too close to home. "That's my business."

"It stops being just your business when you're not the only one watching her." He tapped the folder. "Three different supernatural groups have taken notice of Miss Knox in the past month. Her power signature is getting stronger, which means she's either awakening to something or something's awakening in her."

"Power signature?"

"You felt it when you met her, didn't you? That pull, that recognition. Like she's important in ways you can't explain."

I said nothing, but my silence was apparently answer enough.

"She's connected to something old and powerful," he continued. "And when people like her start coming into their abilities, they attract attention. Not all of it friendly."

"What kind of attention?"

"The kind that sees awakening power as either a threat to eliminate or a resource to exploit." He opened the folder, revealing photographs of Sera walking to work, entering her building, sitting in a coffee shop. Someone had been documenting her movements with professional thoroughness. "You're not the only one following her. You're just the most obvious about it."

The photos made my stomach turn. "Who else is watching her?"

"That's the question, isn't it? I've identified at least two other interested parties, but I don't have solid intel on their intentions yet." He closed the folder. "Which brings me to why I'm talking to you instead of just reporting your stalking behavior to the authorities."

"And why is that?"

"Because your interest seems protective rather than predatory. And because someone with your... capabilities might be useful in keeping her safe while we figure out what's really going on."

I processed this carefully. "You want me to keep following her."

"I want you to be smart about it. Right now you're broadcasting your interest to anyone paying attention. If you're going to watch over her, do it properly. And if you notice anyone else taking unusual interest in her movements, I want to know about it."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You shouldn't. Trust is earned." He slid a business card across the table, plain white with just a phone number printed on it. "But I'm offering you information and resources in exchange for cooperation. Or you can keep stumbling around in the dark, making yourself an easy target for anyone who wants to get to her through you."

The logic was sound even if I didn't like it. "What exactly do you know about her?"

"Less than I'd like. Her background is clean, foster care, scholarship student, no obvious supernatural connections. But something changed about a month ago. Her energy signature started fluctuating in ways that suggest major power awakening. And that caught the attention of people who shouldn't know she exists."

"What kind of power?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. The signature reads as divine or semi-divine, which is... concerning for a lot of reasons." He stood, leaving the folder on the table. "Read through that. Learn what you can. And call me if you notice anything unusual."

"Wait." I grabbed his arm as he started to leave. "Is she in immediate danger?"

"Hard to say. The attention is increasing, but no one's made a move yet. They're all watching and waiting, trying to figure out what she is before they decide what to do about her." His expression softened slightly. "Keep doing what you're doing, Morrison. Just do it smarter. And don't let her see you, the last thing she needs right now is to know she's being followed by multiple parties."

After he left, I sat alone with the folder, debating whether to open it. Reading it felt like crossing another line, invading Sera's privacy in ways that went beyond following her home.

But if she was really in danger from multiple supernatural factions, I needed to know what I was protecting her from.

The folder contained more than just surveillance photos. There were copies of her academic records, her work schedule, even her lease agreement for the condo. Someone had compiled a comprehensive dossier on every aspect of her life.

And at the back of the folder was something that made my blood run cold, a surveillance photo from last night, showing Sera walking alone on dark streets with three different figures visible in the background at various distances. Three separate people following her. One of them was me.

The other two I didn't recognize.

My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number: “ I forgot about that. The one in the gray jacket is a vampire. The woman with the red scarf is fae. Both were keeping their distance last night, but that won't last. -M

I stared at the photo, counting the figures again. Me, a vampire, and fae. All following Sera through downtown streets while she remained oblivious to just how much supernatural attention she was attracting.

The guilt I'd been carrying since meeting her intensified. Some protective instinct I couldn't explain had been right, she was in danger. But instead of helping, I'd been part of the problem, adding to the crowd of supernatural beings stalking her through the city.

My phone rang again. This time I recognized the number, Bri.

"Hey Kael, sorry for calling so late," she said, her voice bright with the kind of confidence that came from never expecting rejection. "I was just confirming for tomorrow afternoon. Does three o'clock still work?"

"Yeah, three is fine."

"Great! And I wanted to warn you, my friend Sera will be coming with me. She helped me deal with the breakdown, so I promised her she could see the car all fixed up." Bri paused, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "She's really sweet. I think you two would get along if you actually talked to her instead of just grunting about car repairs."

The casual suggestion that I should interact normally with Sera felt absurd given everything I now knew. Tomorrow afternoon she'd walk into my shop, surrounded by supernatural threats she couldn't see, while I pretended to be nothing more than a mechanic fixing her friend's car.

"I'll be professional," I said, which was the best I could offer.

"That's all I'm asking. See you tomorrow!"

After she hung up, I sat in the coffee shop staring at the surveillance photos and trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do. The mysterious dude had suggested I keep watching Sera, but smarter this time. But how was I supposed to protect her from vampires and fae and whatever other supernatural beings might be circling?

And more importantly, what would happen when she walked into my shop tomorrow and those gray eyes met mine again? Last time, I'd barely managed to maintain distance. Now, knowing she was in actual danger, would I be able to keep pretending I didn't feel the bone-deep need to keep her safe?

Why am I connected to her for a reason. The words echoed the fragmented memories and inexplicable guilt that had been haunting me since the moment our eyes met.

I gathered the folder and left the coffee shop, heading back to my truck with more questions than answers. Tomorrow Sera would walk into my shop, and I'd have to navigate the impossible balance between keeping her safe and maintaining the distance that felt necessary to protect her from whatever I'd failed to prevent in a past I couldn't remember.

The parking lot was empty except for my truck. I was almost there when I felt it, that same awareness I'd developed from years of being a predator, the sense of being watched by something that meant harm.

I turned slowly, scanning the shadows between buildings.

A figure stood at the edge of the parking lot, too far away to see clearly but close enough to make their presence known. They didn't move, just stood there watching me with the patience of something that didn't need to breathe.

Then they

raised one hand in what might have been a wave or a warning, and disappeared into shadow like they'd never been there at all