The things we do for love.
I sighed and leaned back in my seat, staring at the bright neon lights of the club across the street.
The bass from the music thumped even through my closed car windows.
Definitely not my scene, yet here I was. My phone buzzed on the passenger seat.
Kelly: Where are you??
I rubbed my temple and grabbed the phone.
"Relax," I muttered under my breath.
Kelly had been blowing up my phone for the last fifteen minutes.
I typed a quick reply.
Outside.
Almost immediately another message came.
Then get in here, Kara!
I sighed again.
This was exactly why I preferred criminals to parties, at least criminals were predictable.
I stepped out of the car and walked toward the club entrance, adjusting the black dress Kelly had forced me to wear. It still felt strange on me.
Most people who looked at me tonight would probably assume I was just another girl out for drinks and fun.
None of them would guess I had just slipped out of a classified meeting an hour ago.
None of them would guess I worked as a secret agent.
And definitely none of them would guess my newest assignment involved something most people believed only existed in myths.
Werewolves.
Even now, the word sounded ridiculous in my head, but the bodies didn't lie.
Three hikers had gone missing in the mountains last week. Their remains were discovered two days later.
Torn apart, with massive bite marks. Certainly not human.
At first, I thought the reports were exaggerated, then I saw the photos.
And suddenly the rumors about creatures hiding in plain sight didn't seem so crazy anymore. I pushed the thought aside as I walked into the club.
Music exploded around me instantly. Lights flashed across the dance floor, bodies moving everywhere.
I scanned the room automatically. An old habit.
Kelly spotted me almost immediately. "Kara!" she yelled, waving excitedly.
A smile tugged at my lips as I walked over. Kelly practically tackled me into a hug.
"You finally came!" she said, pulling back to look at me. "I thought you were ditching my birthday again."
"I wouldn't dare," I said.
Kelly had been my best friend since college. After bouncing between foster homes most of my childhood, she was the closest thing I had to family.
"Go mingle!" she said, already being pulled away by other friends.
I nodded and moved toward the bar. A glass of juice appeared in front of me a moment later.
I had barely taken a sip when a familiar presence caught my attention.
My eyes shifted toward the man sitting two stools away.
Rodrigo. Of all the places to run into him.
The man had been on the ASA agency's radar for over a year. The Secret agency I work for.
I was assigned to his case for a few months, until the killings began, he'd been rumored to be involved in illegal dealings, smuggling, and underground networks.
He was labelled dangerous, and currently sitting here like he owned the place. I slid onto the stool beside him.
"Didn't expect to see you here," I said calmly.
Rodrigo turned his head slowly, a smirk spreading across his face.
"Well… if it isn't Kara Nox." His eyes glinted with amusement.
"Fancy meeting you here, sweetheart."
"Don't call me that."
He chuckled. "Still fearless, I see."
"I prefer careful."
"Careful people don't walk up to men like me in crowded bars."
"Maybe I like the challenge."
Rodrigo laughed under his breath. "Relax. Tonight I'm not working."
"Neither am I," I replied.
Rodrigo leaned closer, lowering his voice slightly. "You should watch yourself tonight, Kara."
That caught my attention. "Oh?"
Before I could react, the atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted.
It was subtle, but noticeable. Conversations slowed, people moved aside instinctively.
A group of men had just walked into the club. Two of them stood at the front.
Both tall and confident, but dangerous in a way that had nothing to do with weapons.
The taller one caught my attention immediately.
Dark hair with sharp jawline. Eyes that scanned the room like he was born to command it.
Something about him felt… different.
Rodrigo followed my gaze and smirked again.
"Ah."
"You see them too."
"Who are they?" I asked quietly.
"The Gasper brothers." The name rang a bell.
One of the wealthiest families in the country. But wealth didn't explain the strange pressure filling the room.
The taller brother suddenly looked directly at me.
Our eyes met, and for a moment the entire club seemed to disappear.
There was something in his gaze that made the hairs on my neck rise.
It was predatory, powerful, and dangerous. I broke eye contact first. Rodrigo chuckled.
"Careful, Kara."
"Men like that don't look at people without reason."
I finished my drink and stood up. I left the club two hours later because I needed sleep.
The message from Zach arrived the next morning.
*Kara Nox, we just received intel on the werewolves and where their files are being stored. I've sent the location below along with the contact you'll meet. It's a solo mission. Move tonight.*
I exhaled slowly as I read the message.
Zach was my supervisor at ASA — the American Secret Agency.
I had joined the agency when I was eighteen, fresh out of training and stupidly eager to prove myself. ASA had taken that raw determination and turned it into something sharper, and deadlier.
Years later, I had built a reputation for myself.
One of their best field agents.
Which was exactly why Zach kept sending me on the kind of missions that most people in the agency preferred to avoid.
Like this one. A solo operation involving creatures most people still believed were myths.
Werewolves.
I stared at the address Zach had sent and sighed.
"Well," I muttered to myself, grabbing my jacket.
"Here we go again."
I dressed quickly that night in black tactical pants and combat boots, with my fitted jacket.
My pistol slid smoothly into its holster. Now, this felt more like me. An hour later I arrived at the location Zach had sent.
The street was empty. Then a black car pulled up beside me, the back door opened and I got in without hesitation.
A man sat in the far corner of the seat, his face hidden under a hat.
But one detail stood out. A bird tattoo on his neck.
"So," he said slowly. "You're Kara Nox."
"You've heard of me."
"More than heard."
The car began moving. "You'll infiltrate the warehouse," he continued calmly. "Hack their system. Take every file you can."
"And if things go wrong?" I asked and he chuckled softly.
"Then prove the rumors about you are true."
I smirked. "I wouldn't be here if they weren't."
The car stopped near the forest road.
The warehouse loomed in the distance, dark and silent, I stepped out of the car and checked my weapon.
The night air was cold against my skin as I approached the building. Adrenaline began pumping through my veins.
This was the part I loved. The danger. The chase. The fight.
I slipped through the back entrance quietly, gun raised as I moved down the dark corridor.
Every instinct in my body sharpened, something about this place felt wrong.
Very wrong, and my gut was rarely mistaken.
Somewhere deeper in the warehouse…something moved.