YELENA

“Hi, baby.”

His voice hit me again. It was soft, calm, and familiar.

Then his scent rushed in like it had been waiting for me all day... pine, night air, something wild under it. My body reacted before my mind did. I froze with my bag halfway to my shoulder, my heart tripping over itself.

I didn’t turn.

I didn’t want to.

I wasn’t expecting him. I didn’t even hear the door. One moment I was alone in my office, the city humming outside the windows, wolves passing by, ...