It was supposed to be a routine checkpoint.
The kind where you keep your head down, flash the right credentials, and the uniforms wave you through with a bored nod.
This wasn't that.
The van slowed as flashing blue lights filled the tree line. I felt it before I saw it—wrongness. Too many vehicles. Too many armed officers. The air shifted, thick with alertness. I leaned forward in my seat, muscles coiling.
Nyx growled low in my chest. Trap.
"Driver," I said calmly. "How long has this stop been on the route?"
"Wasn't," he muttered. "Map didn't say nothin' about state patrols up this ridge."
The other handlers sat straighter, hands subtly drifting toward concealed weapons. The crates remained sealed, but we all knew what was in them—enough to bury us if the uniforms decided to dig.
The van rolled to a stop.
Doors opened outside.
Boots on gravel.
I slipped toward the back corner of the van, keeping my eyes half-lidded, posture relaxed. Calculating.
The rear doors swung open.
Bright light flooded in.
"Inspection," someone barked. "All passengers, step out. Now."
The crew moved as ordered, slow and smooth, rehearsed. I followed last, letting my eyes adjust.
Five officers stood in a line, weapons holstered but hands twitching too close to them. Their badges were local, but the arrogance in their stance told me they'd been waiting for something like this. Like they knew we were worth stopping.
I kept my head down.
Then I smelled it.
Familiar.
Sharp.
Feral.
Werewolf.
My gut twisted.
Then the scent hit me full force—and Nyx went still.
No.
I looked up.
And there he was.
Kade.
He stood at the edge of the checkpoint, arms folded, flanked by two younger officers who were clearly taking cues from him. His uniform fit too perfectly. His hair was cropped shorter than I remembered, and his jawline was sharper, colder. His eyes scanned the group with a kind of practiced detachment.
Until they landed on me.
He froze.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Recognition.
Then a flicker of disbelief.
And something else.
Guilt?
No. That would've been too human.
He stepped forward.
I didn't move.
Didn't blink.
"Rhea," he said.
Just my name.
No title. No warning.
Just the sound of it in his voice again.
Nyx snarled. Let me tear him apart.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, his tone tight.
"Working," I said flatly.
His gaze drifted to the van. To the crates. Then back to me. "With them?"
I said nothing.
Because anything I said would crack my voice.
"You're better than this," he said, softer now. "I—" He stopped himself.
I smiled coldly. "You don't know what I am anymore."
"I know what you were."
"No," I snapped. "You knew what I was before you left me bleeding in a hospital bed."
That got him.
His jaw clenched. One of the younger officers shifted, uncertain.
"This inspection over?" I asked, stepping forward, letting a sliver of my aura bleed through.
Kade stiffened.
He felt it.
My wolf. My strength. Everything he'd once called tainted. Broken.
He gave a tight nod. "Clear. Let them through."
No one moved.
Not until I passed him.
Close enough to see the regret he'd never say.
Close enough for him to smell me—different now.
Stronger.
Wilder.
Mine.
Nyx was purring again.
He doesn't get to have us anymore.