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My jaw locks until it aches.

They aren't just watching anymore. They're marking the place the way wolves mark a kill they mean to come back for.

I take a picture. Then I call Evelyn.

She picks up on the first ring. "You were supposed to call me earlier."

"They marked her house."

Silence on the line. Good. Let her sit in it.

"You're certain."

"I know their sign."

"Where?"

"Under her bedroom window."

Evelyn curses. “Shit.”

First honest sound I've heard from her all week.

"I'm coming," she says.

"No."

"Gage."

"You don't get to stay out of her life for six months and then walk in giving orders."

"She needs protection."

"She has it."

"You're one wolf."

"I'm enough."

"That certainty is going to get you both killed."

I look up at the window. The light's on. I can hear her moving around up there. A floorboard. Water running. A cabinet clicking shut.

"If they come for her, call us. Call the Lanterns," Evelyn says.

"I'll call after."

"After what?"

"After I've dealt with them."

She exhales. "Your father would be proud."

"Don't even go there."

The line goes quiet. That door stays shut. She knows better than to push it open.

"The wards at her place broke from the outside," she says finally. "Something thinned them first."