Chapter 6: Wolfy Promise

Elias POV

"Sir, what are you going to do now," I said, curiosity sharpening my voice before I could stop it.

"I will not give it to anyone but Danielle. Understand?" His fur rippled beneath his skin as anger surged through him, his control fraying at the edges.

The lawyer nodded fast — too fast — and fled the room like the air itself had turned dangerous.

"Calm down, sir. You're not well. You shouldn't be stressing yourself like this."

A smile broke across his face as he looked at me, gentle now, like the anger had never touched him at all.

"But why Danielle?" My voice cracked with disbelief as I studied him.

He smiled warmly. "Every wolf is like a crimson worm, Elias. She risks her life for children who will one day feed on her."

"What are you saying, sir?"

"I pretend I don't know anything about this family. But I see everything. I know everything." A grin spread across his face — not cruel, but something closer to grief wearing a calm mask. "I know who's already dying to inherit. Danielle isn't the right person for my fortune. But she's the only one who won't destroy it."

"You know how greedy the rest of this family is." My throat tightened around the words. "Giving her everything is a death sentence, sir. You know that."

"I know, Elias. That's where you come in." His eyes locked onto mine, steady, unblinking. "You're not blood. But you'll have to become part of this family anyway. As part of my will, you will guard Danielle. At all costs."

"At all costs?" I searched his face for the edge of a joke. There wasn't one.

I had promised myself long ago to be a man people could rely on. I had a life of my own once. It didn't matter anymore.

I nodded, my jaw tight.

***

That conversation — five years old now — still rang in my ears as I followed Danielle across the house's marble corridor, close enough to catch her if she fell, far enough not to spook her.

"Danielle, are you alright?"

Jackson appeared like smoke, materializing at her side the instant she pressed two fingers to her temple. His hand found the small of her back before I could even track the movement.

She flinched.

Not the small, instinctive flinch of pain finding a nerve. Something deeper. Her spine went rigid under his palm, her shoulders drawing inward like his hand was something to survive rather than something to lean into. It lasted half a second. Maybe less. Long enough for me to see it. Long enough for her to bury it just as fast.

"I'm fine," she said, too brightly. "Actually — I forgot to mention, I'll be leaving by six. Important meeting."

Jackson's face opened in surprise, then folded into something sharper. He caught her hand this time, slow and deliberate, watching her the way a man watches something he isn't sure he still owns.

"Since when do you ask my permission for anything?"

"Uhh—" Her eyes cut to me, quick and involuntary. "Since you gave me a bodyguard. I won't be alone with him."

It wasn't her usual smile. Her usual smile reached her eyes, easy and careless. This one sat on her mouth like something she'd put on in a hurry.

She was hiding something. I was sure of it.

"Let's go, Elias." She turned before Jackson could answer, and I followed her down the hall while he stood there, something unreadable settling over his expression.

The moment we reached her room, she shut the door and locked it. The click of the bolt was louder than it should have been.

She turned to face me, arms crossed, circling like she was deciding where to strike first.

"I fall into a coma for two years, and you show up the very next day. Isn't that a little strange, Elias?"

"With respect, ma'am, it's been two years exactly. And it's my duty to be wherever you are." I kept my voice level, though something in my chest had started to pull tight. "I suppose that means I'll be accompanying you to your meeting tonight, as well."

I said it lightly, trying to steer her away from the suspicion already sharpening behind her eyes. It didn't work. It never worked with her — she was smarter than anyone gave her credit for, faster than I'd prepared myself to handle.

She laughed, sudden and full, and shook her head. "Cute. But I don't know you. And I can survive without needing a man to guard my body."

"You're a famous musician, ma'am."

"Which is exactly the point." She stepped closer, close enough that I could see the calculation behind her eyes. "No wolf is chasing me for an autograph. My name barely broke the news before I went under."

"Then why does it matter so much to you whether I stay or go?" I held her gaze, let my voice drop lower, firmer. "Are you hiding something, Danielle?"

Her breath caught — just barely, just long enough for me to catch it — before she forced out another laugh. Hollow this time. Performed.

"You're not coming."

"Ma'am." I stepped forward, close enough that the space between us disappeared. "David Carmen made me swear an oath. To protect you. I failed once already — the night of your accident — and I don't intend to fail twice. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

The air in the room shifted the second the word accident left my mouth.

Her arms uncrossed slowly. Something calculating moved behind her eyes, quiet and quick, like a door easing open somewhere I couldn't see.

"Wait." Her voice dropped so low I almost missed it. "Do you think David knew something? About what really happened to me?"

The floor seemed to tilt beneath me.

He told me to protect her at all costs. Because he already knew what this family was capable of.

I stood frozen, my mouth dry, my carefully built composure cracking down the middle. She was watching my face now — not my words, my face — reading every flicker I failed to hide fast enough.

Danielle was smarter than I'd let myself believe. Far too smart.

She couldn't be allowed anywhere near the truth of that night.

She wouldn't survive finding it.