VIKTOR
I hear Calvin before I see him.
His footsteps crunching rapidly against the dry leaves, faster than normal.
Frantic
Panicked.
That can’t be good.
I look up just as he breaks into the clearing, and I immediately know something is wrong.
His face is pale, his eyes wide and frantic, darting from side to side as if he is expecting Dominic to jump out from behind a tree at any moment.
Sweat beads along his hairline, and he’s breathing hard like he is been running, though the spot isn’t that far from where he usually comes.
I frown, standing as he approaches.
“Calvin… you’re late.” My voice is sharp, but my concern overshadows the reprimand. He looks worse than last time, more unraveled, like a man haunted by shadows he can’t escape.
He doesn’t respond right away.
Instead, he collapses onto the wooden bench, his hands shaking as he wipes his forehead with a trembling hand. For a long moment, he just sits there, his breathing uneven, and I can’t help but get more panicked.
Whatever happened can’t be good if he is reacting like this.
“Calvin.” I lean down a bit, trying to catch his gaze. “What’s going on? You look like hell.”
He swallows, his eyes flicking up to meet mine, and I see pure terror in them.
“It’s Dominic,” he finally whispers, his voice cracking like a brittle twig. “Victor… he knows. He knows I am plotting against him.”
I blink, not quite believing him.
“Knows?” I sit beside him slowly, keeping my voice calm. “What do you mean? What did he say?”
Calvin shakes his head quickly, his hands now clasped tightly together, knuckles turning white.
“He didn’t say anything directly. But… last time we met, he… he was waiting… he confronted me when I was returning home. He was waiting for me, Victor. Waiting for me, like he knew where I had been.”
I grit my teeth, trying to suppress the frustration bubbling up inside me. “That is impossible. Did anyone know you were coming to see me? Someone who might have seen you leave?”
“No…”
“Then how would he know where you had been?”
“I don’t know!” he snaps in aggravation
“What did he say?” I ask. “When he saw you, what did he say? Did he have proof?”
“He doesn’t need to have proof.” Calvin’s eyes widen. “You know Dominic. He doesn’t need proof to make an allegation. Suspicion is enough for him to make a decision, to kill someone. And he suspects. Damn it! He knows.”
I exhale slowly, trying to keep my own nerves from fraying.
“Calvin, listen to me. Dominic suspects something, sure, but that’s all it is-suspicion. He doesn’t have proof. There’s no way he could know for sure. You’ve been careful, haven’t you?”
Calvin’s gaze flickers nervously, and I can see him weighing my words. His breath is still shallow, panic thick in the air around him. “Victor… with Dominic, suspicion is enough. He doesn’t need proof. You know that.”
I grimace.
He isn’t wrong.
Dominic’s a paranoid bastard.
He doesn’t wait for evidence to come to him; if he smells the slightest hint of betrayal, he strikes.
Just look at how he had pushed for war with the coalition without having full knowledge of what had actually happened.
“Calvin… you are jumping at shadows,” I say, though the edge of worry in my voice betrays my own growing concern. “He doesn’t have anything concrete, or he would have already acted. He is probably just trying to spook you, make you slip up.”
Calvin shakes his head more vigorously this time.
“No, you don’t understand. This isn’t just him trying to scare me- something’s different now. He is… excited.”
I narrow my eyes.
“Excited? What are you talking about? Excited about what?”
Calvin leans in closer, his voice dropping to a low, urgent whisper.
“He has been different ever since that night. More agitated, sure, but there is this… this energy about him. He is not just angry or suspicious- he is… sneaky. Like he is got something planned, and he is enjoying the anticipation.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Dominic? Enjoying something? You must be imagining things.”
“I am not,” he insists. “He is sneaking around, with different people of the packs…, but it is not like before. It is… I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like he has some secret that he is savoring, something he knows that no one else does. And that… that makes him more dangerous.”
I consider his words, a chill creeping up my spine despite the warmth of the night.
“And you think this… whatever he is planning… is aimed at us?”
Calvin looks away, his jaw clenching.
“I don’t know. I can’t say for sure, but… it feels like it. The way he is been acting, it is like he has something set in motion, and I am scared it is going to be big. Something that will turn everything upside down.”
I sit back slightly, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Have you noticed anything specific? Anything that could give us a clue what he’s up to?”
He hesitates for a moment, chewing on his lower lip. He looks like he is debating whether or not to say something.
“It is just… little things. He has been absent more. Comes and goes without telling anyone where he has been. And when he does return, he is… smug. Like he has got something up his sleeve.”
“Where has he been going?” I ask, leaning forward. “Has he mentioned anything?”
Calvin swallows again, his voice dropping lower. “The night before he changed… he came back from the settlement.”
The world seems to still for a moment. The words hang in the air between us, heavy and dark, sending a cold shiver down my spine.
The settlement.
Rowan’s settlement.
I stare at Calvin, the full weight of his statement sinking in.
“The settlement?” I repeat, trying to keep my voice steady. “The Winter Wolf Coalition?”
He nods, his eyes wide with fear.
“Yeah. He’s been there. After he had threatened me the night we first met, he vanished and I was told he had gone there. Next thing I am seeing is a sneaky Dominic.”
My mind races.
If Dominic has been there, then this is far worse than I imagined.
My stomach turns with unease, and for the first time tonight, I feel the cold hand of fear clutching at my chest.
The same fear that Calvin is facing
“What the hell is he planning?” I mutter, more to myself than to Calvin.
But Calvin hears me, and the fear in his eyes deepens. “That is what scares me, Victor. I don’t know. But whatever it is, it can’t be anything good.”
Why didn’t I just kill him when I had the chance?