CHAPTER 2: THE WOMAN IN MY OFFICE

Damon's POV Gunfire erupted before I could answer her threat. The woman stood in my office with a knife in hand, confidential documents scattered across my desk, and my stolen envelope tucked inside her jacket. She looked ready to stab me if I gave another order. Under different circumstances, I might have found that amusing. Unfortunately, someone was shooting at my pack. "Stay behind me." I ordered. "Did you hit your head as a child, or have you always struggled with basic communication?" She asked as she rolled her eyes. Another explosion rattled the windows, sending a framed photograph crashing to the floor. "Do you ever stop talking?" I demanded. "Usually when people give me a reason." She said. "I'll find one after dealing with the armed lunatics outside."I said. "Try not to hurt yourself, Your Highness." She said. I turned towards the door before I did something regrettable, like throwing her over my shoulder and locking her in a cupboard until the shooting stopped. Knowing her, she'd probably destroy the cupboard and escape through the ventilation system. "Callum, report." I ordered as I grabbed my radio. "Western perimeter breached. At least twelve armed intruders, possibly more. They're using silver ammunition, and two guards are down." Callum answered. "Get the wounded to the medical wing. Maren takes the eastern team, and Finnick secures the northern access road. Nobody leaves without my authorisation." I ordered. "Understood. Damon, they knew exactly where to hit us." Callum said. "I know." I said as I glanced at the disabled camera outside my office. The woman beside me had gone still, her attention fixed on the window. For once, her sarcasm had given way to something more serious. "You recognise them." I said. "I recognise their equipment." She said. "That wasn't my question." I said. "And yet it's the answer you're getting." She said. Before I could press her, a sharp crack echoed through the corridor. A bullet shattered the glass panel beside the office door. I grabbed the woman around the waist and pulled her behind the desk as a bullet struck the wall where her head had been. She slammed her elbow into my ribs. "Get your hands off me!" She yelled. "You're welcome." I said. "I didn't ask you to save me." She said. "Next time, I'll let the bullet introduce itself." I said. She shoved away and crouched with her knife ready. "Next time, duck faster." She said. I nearly smiled before gunfire erupted in the corridor. I drew my pistol as Ragnar paced beneath my skin, enraged by the smell of blood. Kill them, he growled. That's the plan. "Can you use a gun?" I asked as I glanced at the woman beside me. "Can you tie your own shoes?" She said as she looked offended. "That isn't an answer." I said. "Ask better questions." She said. I handed her the spare pistol from my desk drawer. She checked the magazine and reloaded the pistol with practiced ease. Interesting. "Where did you learn that?" I asked. "Summer camp." She said. "How old were you?" I asked. "Four." She said. I gave her a flat look. "You're very gullible for an Alpha." She smiled. The office door shuddered under a heavy impact. I moved towards it, but she caught my sleeve. "Wait." She yelled. "Touching me now? I thought you hated that." I said. "Open that door without checking the corridor, and I'll attend your funeral." She said. I studied her before nodding towards the entrance. She listened, then held up two fingers. Two attackers. She pointed towards the service passage, and I understood. We moved into position without speaking. When the door burst open, the first hunter charged inside. I struck him with my pistol and drove him into the desk, but the second turned towards me. A gunshot rang out and he staggered as the bullet struck his shoulder, and the woman emerged from behind the door, her pistol raised. "You're welcome." She said. I disarmed the first attacker and slammed him against the wall. "Did you just shoot someone in my office?" I asked. "He was rude." She said. "You shot him." I said. "He'll recover. Probably." She said as I stared at her. "You wanted help." She shrugged. I suspected this woman would become a permanent headache if she survived the night. We entered a chaotic corridor where pack members rushed towards the reinforced rooms while armed security personnel headed for the fighting. A young guard lay against the wall, clutching his bloody side. "Elowen. We've got a wounded guard in the west corridor." I called over the radio. "Keep him still until my team arrives." Elowen said. The woman crouched beside him, pressing a folded cloth against his wound. "Keep pressure on it. Don't look at the blood, and don't try to stand." She instructed. The guard nodded, pale but conscious. "You've done this before." I observed. "You ask too many questions." She said as she kept her attention on him. "And you avoid answering them." I said. "Perhaps you're asking the wrong person." She said. She stood, wiped her fingers clean, and checked the corridor. For a moment, I saw past her sarcasm. She had helped a wounded stranger without hesitation, despite the hunters trying to kill us. Then she caught me watching. "If you're planning to make this emotional, I'll leave." She said. "I wouldn't dream of it." I said. "Good. Your face suggests you'd be terrible at it." She said. We reached the western gallery as an explosion shook the building. The lights flickered before the emergency system kicked in. They're coming, Ragnar warned. Three masked hunters emerged through the smoke, their weapons fitted with silver attachments. One raised a crossbow. "Get down!" I shouted. She dropped as I fired, hitting the first attacker. The second took cover behind a pillar, while the third aimed at me. The woman snatched a fallen guard's knife and hurled it, striking the hunter's forearm and throwing off his aim. I closed the distance, slammed him against the wall, and wrestled away his weapon. He fought hard, but Ragnar lent me his strength, allowing me to throw the man to the floor. Meanwhile, the woman had already dealt with the second attacker. She stood over the hunter, knife at his throat. "Don't move." She ordered. "You have no idea what you've walked into." He laughed. "Funny. I was thinking the same thing." She said. He lunged, and she struck him with her pistol, dropping him. "Subtle." I remarked. "I was protecting your expensive flooring." She said. "How thoughtful." I said. "I'm stealing something else before I leave." She said. I reached for her jacket, and she pointed her knife at me. "Touch the envelope, and I'll remove a finger." She said. "You're threatening the Alpha of Blackthorne Pack." I said as I withdrew my hand. "You're blocking my exit." She said. Before I could respond, my radio crackled. "Damon, we've recovered something from an attacker. You need to see this." Callum reported. "What?" I asked. "A photograph." Callum said. "Of what?" I asked. "The woman who broke into your office." He answered and I went still and turned towards her. She'd heard every word, and the colour drained from her face. For the first time that night, she looked genuinely frightened. Not of me, but of whatever Callum had found. "Where?" I demanded. "Western entrance. One of the hunters had it in his jacket." Callum said. "Bring it to the security room. Nobody touches it." I ordered. I ended the call and turned to the woman, who still gripped her knife. "Why are hunters carrying photographs of you?" I asked. "No." She said. "You're becoming irritating." I said. "Stop asking questions you know I won't answer." She said. "Someone sent you into my office, knew my security schedule, and knew where the envelope was kept. Now hunters carrying your photograph are attacking my estate." I said as I stepped closer. "Are you accusing me of organising this?" She asked as her amber eyes flashed. "I'm considering every possibility." I said. "Consider this one. If I'd known your estate was about to become a shooting gallery, I'd have charged extra." She said. "Reassuring." I said. "I try." She said. She headed for the staircase, but I caught up with her. "You're coming with me." I said. "Try that sentence again." She said as she turned slowly. "You're coming to the security room." I said. "Still terrible." She said. "Would you prefer I carry you?" I asked. "Would you prefer waking up with fewer teeth?" She asked. "You're either the most irritating woman I've met or the most dangerous." I said as I met her challenging stare. "Why choose?" She asked as her smile sharpened. Callum appeared at the corridor's end, carrying a folded photograph inside an evidence bag. His grim expression told me this was more than another piece of evidence. "Damon." Callum said. I took the evidence bag from Callum and unfolded the photograph. It showed the woman beside an old stone building, her auburn hair longer and her expression younger, perhaps eighteen or nineteen. The date on the back was seven years old. Beneath it, someone had written three words. SUBJECT MUST BE RECOVERED. I looked at her. She was staring at the date. "Vespera." She whispered. "Vespera what?" I asked as my attention snapped towards her. "That's all you're getting." She said as her fear disappeared behind familiar defiance. The hunters hadn't simply recognised her. They'd been searching for her long before she entered my territory, and the order made their intentions clear. They wanted her alive. "Change of plans." I said as I slipped the photograph into my pocket. "I hate that phrase." She said. "You're going to hate this more. Until I discover why these hunters have spent seven years looking for you, you're staying on my estate." I said. "Then you'll learn how much damage I can do from the inside." She said as her smile turned cold. Ragnar stirred beneath my skin, his attention fixed on her. Mine, he growled. I ignored him. I had more important problems than a thief who threatened me every five minutes. Yet as Vespera walked away, muttering about arrogant Alphas and badly designed prisons, I couldn't shake the feeling that my greatest headache had just arrived. She'd even stolen my envelope on the way in.