Page 28 of Nico

"What’s wrong?” Logan asked.

This particular package stood out from the rest of Logan’s fan mail as it was wrapped prettily in silver paper and black ribbon.

Security usually placed a small red sticker on checked letters and packages but this was didn’t have any. Someone had placed it there very recently. A cold feeling settled in my stomach.

"Isaac?" Logan asked.

He stepped forward. I caught his wrist before he reached it.

"Don’t,’ I warned.

His eyebrows rose. "It's probably from a fan.”

"Probably isn't good enough. I need to check it’s safe,” I told him.

Logan opened his mouth, but Nico beat him to it. “Isaac’s right."

The humor had vanished from Nico's voice. Neither of us took our eyes off the package.

“Security should’ve gone through all of Logan’s fan mail," Nico said quietly.

“They didn’t check this one,” I agreed.

I stepped closer and examined the present. Appearance-wise, it looked like a normal present on the outside. There were no signs of visible tampering, or unusual sounds.

I leaned slightly closer and inhaled, smelling chocolate, cardboard, and someone’s scent. It was frustratingly faint as there were dozens of overlapping scents in the film set.

My wolf pressed closer to the surface, searching, but I didn’t detect anything chemical, sharp or metallic. There were no explosives, or poison. Still, I didn’t intend to trust my nose alone. I picked the package up carefully.

Logan frowned. "You're acting like it's a bomb."

"Because one day it might be."

His expression softened slightly. That was the thing people forgot about bodyguards.

If you did your job well enough, nothing happened. Nobody saw the disasters that didn't occur. The threats intercepted early, or the risks removed quietly.

A small envelope sat beneath the ribbon. There was no postage, no address, just a loopy handwriting. For Logan, it read. My jaw tightened, and I opened the card. Three words stared back at me.

My beloved.

The air around us seemed to grow colder. Logan stepped closer.

"What does it say?" Logan asked.

I handed him the card. His expression shifted to concern as he read it.

Nico moved beside me. "That's not great."

"No,” I agreed.

"It could still just be a loyal and normal fan,” Logan said. I looked at him. He held my gaze for a moment before sighing. "Okay, yeah. Even I don't believe that."

Carefully, I opened the box. Inside sat rows of expensive chocolates nestled in tissue paper. They looked perfectly ordinary chocolates. Quite a personal gift, I thought.

I lifted the tray and sniffed carefully, scenting chocolate, caramel and hazelnut. There was no bitterness, or chemical traces, or signs of contamination.

My wolf remained quiet, which should have reassured me, but it didn’t.