Chapter 4 - The Man Who Wore the Wolf
The emergency lights came on within seconds.
Thin red strips glowed along the walls of Grayhaven House, turning the elegant mansion into something darker.
Something wrong.
Mara pulled Lila against her chest.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, though she did not believe it. “Stay behind me.”
A guard ran past the kitchen entrance.
Then another.
Viktor’s voice carried through the house.
“Lock down the east wing. Nobody leaves until I say so.”
Lila clutched Bunny.
“The bad man is here.”
Mara looked down at her.
“Which bad man?”
“The one with the candy.”
Mara took a breath.
She needed to find Viktor.
But the moment she stepped into the hall, two guards blocked her path.
“Stay here,” one said.
“My daughter saw someone. He talked to her.”
The guard’s face tightened.
“What did he look like?”
“He had a wolf button,” Lila said.
Both guards exchanged a glance.
Mara noticed.
“You know what that means.”
The older guard’s jaw flexed.
“It means he was pretending to be one of us.”
“No,” Mara said. “Lila said he dropped it. She said he gave her candy and asked about Damian’s tea.”
The guard immediately reached for his radio.
“Viktor. Possible contact with child witness. Kitchen corridor.”
The answer came in a burst of static.
“Bring them to the east wing. Now.”
Mara did not like that direction.
The east wing was where Damian stayed.
The east wing was where danger gathered.
But the guards moved quickly, surrounding Mara and Lila as they crossed the marble corridor.
At Damian’s door, Viktor waited with his weapon drawn.
He looked at Lila.
“Can you tell me exactly what the man looked like?”
Lila stared at him.
“He had shiny shoes.”
“Anything else?”
“He smelled like smoke.”
Viktor’s expression sharpened.
“He was tall?”
She nodded.
“His hair was like yours,” she said, pointing at Viktor. “But he had a red scratch here.”
She touched her cheek.
Viktor went still.
Mara noticed Damian standing behind him.
He looked weaker than before, but his eyes were clear.
“Bring them inside,” Damian said.
Viktor turned. “Sir, it may not be secure.”
“Then secure it.”
Mara entered with Lila.
Damian looked at the child.
“You saw him?”
Lila nodded.
“He asked about your tea.”
Damian’s face went cold.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did he touch you?”
“He gave me candy.”
Damian’s jaw clenched.
Mara saw something dangerous rise in him.
Not rage alone.
Guilt.
He had asked for Lila to return.
Now she had been pulled into his war.
“Viktor,” Damian said, “find him.”
“We are checking every camera.”
“He disabled the lights.”
“We will find him.”
Damian’s hand struck the bedside table.
The sound made Lila jump.
Immediately, Damian looked at her.
His expression changed.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
It was such a quiet sentence that Mara almost thought she imagined it.
Lila looked at him.
“You shouldn’t yell when you hurt.”
Damian stared at her.
“I know.”
She walked closer and held out Bunny.
“Do you need him?”
Viktor looked as if he might choke.
Damian accepted the rabbit.
He held it awkwardly in one hand.
But he did not put it down.
The security footage finally came back online.
Viktor watched it from a tablet near the bed.
Mara stood behind him.
At 3:17 p.m., a man in a Grayhaven security uniform walked into the kitchen corridor. His face was partially hidden by a cap.
He crouched beside Lila.
He handed her something.
Then he looked up.
The camera caught his face for less than one second.
But it was enough.
Viktor’s expression became murderous.
“Anton Kresnik.”
Damian went still.
Mara looked between them.
“Who is that?”
Viktor’s voice was flat.
“He was one of my men.”
“Was?”
“He disappeared six months ago. We believed he was dead.”
Damian’s eyes darkened.
“He works for Sergei Malenkov now.”
Mara knew the name.
Everyone in Baltimore did, even people who pretended not to.
Sergei Malenkov was Damian Volkov’s oldest rival. A man who had expanded through the city’s docks, construction contracts, and criminal networks with ruthless patience.
“If he’s alive,” Viktor said, “then Malenkov knows Damian is vulnerable.”
Damian leaned back against the pillows.
“He knew before the poison.”
Mara’s stomach dropped.
“Then Anton poisoned you?”
Damian looked toward the untouched tea tray.
“I don’t know.”
“But he asked my daughter about your tea.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wants to know whether the first attempt worked.”
Silence filled the room.
Lila’s little face tightened.
“Are they going to hurt you again?”
Damian looked at her.
“No.”
His answer came instantly.
Too instantly.
Mara knew promises could be fragile things.
But Damian continued.
“They will not hurt you either.”
Mara stepped forward.
“You cannot promise that.”
Damian looked at her.
“No,” he said. “But I can make it true.”
The room fell quiet again.
Then Viktor’s radio crackled.
“Target located. West garage.”
Damian pushed himself upright.
Pain crossed his face.
“You are not going anywhere,” Viktor said.
“I am going to speak with Anton.”
“You can barely stand.”
“He tried to use a child.”
Viktor’s eyes hardened.
“Then let me handle it.”
Damian looked toward Lila.
She stood beside Mara, clutching her mother’s skirt.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he reached for Bunny, still sitting beside him.
He held it out to Lila.
“I’ll let Viktor handle it,” he said.
Lila took the rabbit.
“Good,” she said. “You need to rest.”
Damian almost smiled.
But outside, somewhere beyond the west garage, a gunshot shattered the rain-soaked silence.
And everyone in Grayhaven House understood.
Anton Kresnik had not come only to watch.
May you like
He had come to finish what the poison started.
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