[Blackthorn Enterprise—Next Day]
The atmosphere inside Blackthorn Enterprises felt wrong and Lyra noticed it before anyone said a word.
The lobby was quieter than it had been yesterday. Voices were low, clipped and people stood closer together than usual, then drifted apart just as quickly.
Humans and werewolves as usual were together but not quite.
Lyra slowed as she passed the security desk and the two guards stood rigid with their attention sharper than before.
She kept walking with unease creeping in as she followed the current toward the elevators.
Near the coffee station, a small group had gathered. There was no laughter, no idle chatter, just murmurs that stopped when someone else stepped too close.
"They said he didn't make it home."
Lyra hesitated, then continued past them, pretending not to listen.
"He worked in Finance," a woman whispered. "Human."
Lyra's stomach tightened.
Another voice but lower. "They found him downtown late last night."
'Downtown' caught her attention and her pulse picked up but she kept her pace steady.
"That wasn't mugging," someone said. "Not with those injuries."
"Careful," another replied quickly. "You don't know that."
Silence followed, heavy and loaded.
Lyra reached her floor and stepped off the elevator, the tension clinging to her like static.
Operations felt different today. Desks were occupied as usual, screens were lit but the air was strained.
Her manager entered a few minutes later with his expression tight.
"Before we begin," he said, voice firm, "I am sure you have all heard about the incident involving one of our employees."
The room stilled.
"A human staff member from Finance was killed last night," he continued. "The authorities are investigating."
Lyra's fingers curled against her notebook.
"There is no confirmed cause," he added. "And no tolerance for speculation. We maintain professionalism here."
A few people nodded but no one spoke.
Lyra glanced around.
Humans sat straighter, guarded and werewolves kept their expressions neutral, bodies controlled in a way that felt deliberate.
As if they were trying very hard not to look like what others feared they might be.
The meeting moved on but Lyra barely registered it.
Her thoughts kept circling back to the fragments she had overheard.
The incident had happened in the same street she had walked less than twenty-four hours ago.
This suddenly made Lyra aware of how thin the line between normal and dangerous felt.
….
[After the Meeting]
The conference room emptied faster than usual.
Chairs scraped, laptops snapped shut and conversations stayed muted as people filed out in tight clusters.
Lyra gathered her notebook slowly, still trying to process what she had just heard.
Mira lingered beside her.
"Hey," she said under her breath. "Walk with me."
Lyra nodded, grateful for the distraction.
They moved down the corridor together, the glass walls reflecting their silhouettes as other employees passed by, some human, some werewolf, all pretending today was just another workday.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Lyra asked quietly.
Mira exhaled. "Worse than they will say out loud."
Lyra glanced at her. "What actually happened?"
Mira hesitated, then leaned in slightly as they turned a corner. "Okay, unofficially? The guy from Finance, Ethan Morris, was human with no pack ties and no enemies anyone knows about."
Lyra's stomach tightened. "And they think it was—"
"They are not saying it," Mira cut in. "But when something like this happens, everyone thinks it."
They stopped near the break room and Mira pretended to check her phone before continuing.
"Blackthorn runs on balance," she said. "Humans and werewolves working together with the same rules and same contracts. I mean, that is the image."
"And in reality?"
"In reality," Mira said softly, "it only works because everyone agrees to pretend the other side isn't dangerous."
Lyra frowned. "That doesn't sound very stable."
"It's not, but it's better than the old days," Mira admitted. "Before companies like this, packs kept to themselves, humans stayed ignorant and that separation bred fear."
"So Blackthorn is an experiment?"
"More like a compromise," Mira said. "The Alphas want influence in the human world and the Governments want order. Corporations like Blackthorn sit right in the middle."
Lyra absorbed that quietly.
"And when something like this happens?" she asked.
Mira's lips pressed into a thin line. "Then everyone gets nervous. Humans wonder if they are safe and the wolves worry they will be blamed whether they are guilty or not."
Lyra thought of the tense faces in the room and the careful stillness.
"What about the company?" she asked. "How do they handle it?"
"Internally?" Mira shrugged. "Security tightens, access gets restricted and certain floors go on quiet lock down."
Lyra stiffened. "Quiet lock down?"
"Nothing dramatic," Mira reassured her quickly. "Just more eyes, more protocols and there are always people watching patterns."
Lyra felt a chill creep up her spine.
"And the CEO?" she asked, keeping her tone casual. "Does he get involved?"
Mira glanced around instinctively before answering. "When things cross a certain line? Yes."
Lyra swallowed. "He is still on leave, right?"
"For now," Mira said. "But if this turns out to be supernatural, he won't stay away long."
They reached their desks and paused.
Mira looked at Lyra more closely then. "You okay? You have been quiet."
Lyra forced a small smile. "Just a lot to take in."
Mira nodded. "Yeah, welcome to Blackthorn."
She hesitated, then added, "Just keep your head down for a while, some humans might treat you coldly and don't walk alone at night if you can help it."
Lyra's pulse skipped but she nodded anyway.
"What about you?" she asked, "Do you feel safe interacting with us after the incident?"
"Honestly—" Mira shrugged. "It does give me chills but I have grown up with more wolves than humans around me and all of them have been nothing but kind. I mean, I don't think it's fair to judge everyone based on what one of their kind did."
"You can say the same about humans too," she added. "There are many good people but also a few bad ones."
Lyra couldn't agree more. "You are right."
"Okay, now back to work," Mira said. "I have a meeting with Joshua but I will see you at lunch."
As she gathered her things and walked away, Lyra sat slowly with her thoughts racing.
With balance, compromise, pretending and somewhere between humans and werewolves living side by side, something had slipped through the cracks.
….