Chapter 15.3 Wolves and Witnesses

“I need to ask you something,” Kalmin said, finally closing the laptop and pushing it aside. His eyes found hers—steady, unreadable, sharp. “Think hard before answering.”
Nuri straightened, her heart starting to thud. “I’m still waiting for the question.”
“You’re going to get hazed at that school. Badly. It won’t be petty drama, Nuri. It’ll be torment. You already know why.”
She bit her tongue hard enough to taste blood, the slow simmer of fury licking up her spine. “Are you trying to talk me out of it?”
“No. I just want you to go into it with your eyes open. This isn’t a fairy tale. I need a lot from you to make this work.”
‘What are you doing?’ Rian asked warily, his voice an undercurrent in Kalmin’s mind.
“Being honest,” Kalmin replied aloud, his gaze still pinned to Nuri’s. “She strikes me as the kind of person who values truth above comfort.”
Her lips twitched. The smallest tug. A smile, or something like it. But it held weight, like it cost her something to give.
“I didn’t fight to become alpha just to sit around and enjoy the perks,” he said, his voice low again, but this time, there was something more beneath it. Conviction. Passion. A flicker of something he hadn’t meant to show her. “I’ve been working on changes since the day I won. And I’ll keep pushing until the day I retire.”
“What kind of changes?” she asked, leaning in before she realized she was doing it. Curiosity burned in her, but so did the draw to him—frustrating, magnetic.
“Small ones for now—legal reforms, mostly. I’m handling internal disputes with actual solutions, not just bloodshed.”
Nuri nodded slowly, but her mind was still tangled in the way he was looking at her—unflinching. Like she was a question he wanted to spend years answering.
“I didn’t realize that case with Bruce and Orson was a statement,” she murmured. “But it makes sense now. That wasn’t about territory. It was about precedent.”
Kalmin dipped his chin. “Exactly.”
“You really think you can end the violence?” she asked softly. “No offense, Kalmin, but we’re not built for peace. Our souls are killers. Tempest wants to murder someone every time I get a dirty look.”
“I said needless fights,” Kalmin clarified, leaning back slightly—but his eyes never left hers. “Some conflicts require death. I’ve killed more than my share, so I’m not about to preach pacifism. But we don’t have to live like animals anymore.”
She studied him, silent and still, as something shifted in the air—thicker now, electric. Then she laughed, and it was soft, almost disbelieving.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this… but I think you might be the best alpha this pack’s ever had.”
Kalmin didn’t smile. He just looked at her like he could see every secret she hadn’t said yet—and maybe wanted to learn them all the hard way.