THE MESSAGE FROM HER PACK.

Rebecca’s POV

I stared at the message on Harper’s phone, reading it twice before I could accept what it said.

Do not let Rebecca return to the Browns estate alone. Someone has started moving against her.

My fingers tightened around the phone.

“When did you receive this?” I asked.

“Shortly before you died.”

I looked up at Harper. “And you never told me?”

“I tried to reach you, Rebecca.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

Harper lowered her eyes.

I looked at the message again. There was no name attached to it, no number I could trace, and no explanation of who was supposedly moving against me.

“Who sent this?”

“I don’t know. The original account was deleted, and I couldn’t recover the information attached to it.”

“But you kept the message?”

“Yes. I saved a copy before the account disappeared.”

I handed the phone back to her.

“Did you try to find the sender?”

“After you died. I followed every lead I could find, but the trail ended before I could identify the person.”

My stomach twisted.

In my first life, I had blamed my suffering on Davis, our arranged marriage, and the way his family had treated me. I had believed that if I could escape that marriage, I would finally be free.

I had never considered that someone inside my own pack might have been working against me.

Davis moved closer to the table.

“Why didn’t you take this to Aevrion or her parents?”

Harper looked at him. “I was afraid the sender would disappear if I exposed the message before I knew who they were.”

“You decided that without giving Rebecca a chance to protect herself?” Davis asked.

“I thought I was buying time.”

I let out a short, bitter laugh.

“You were buying time for yourself. I was the one in danger.”

Harper flinched.

“I know how that sounds.”

“Do you?” I stepped closer to her. “You knew someone had warned you about me, yet you kept quiet. You arrived after I was attacked, and I died without knowing why anyone would want me dead.”

“Rebecca, I didn’t know you would be attacked. I was trying to reach you, but I was delayed. By the time I arrived, you were already gravely injured.”

“Did you see who did it?”

“No.”

“Did you see anyone leaving?”

“No. I don’t know who attacked you, and I don’t know whether it had anything to do with the bond investigation.”

I stared at her, searching her face for something she could give me. A name. A clue. Anything.

She had nothing.

That was worse than a confession. There was no one I could confront, no single person I could accuse. There was only a warning that had arrived too late and another secret I had never known existed.

Davis reached for my hand.

I looked down at our joined fingers, then at him.

“We’ll find out who sent it,” he said.

I swallowed hard. “And if the person is someone I know?”

His thumb moved gently across my knuckles.

“Then we’ll deal with that when we have proof.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“It’s not.” He stepped closer. “But you don’t have to do it alone.”

I wanted to pull away before his kindness could make me forget how complicated our past was. Instead, I held his gaze.

“What if I don’t want you protecting me?”

“Then I won’t make your decisions for you.”

His answer caught me off guard.

I had expected an argument. Davis had a habit of stepping forward whenever he thought I was in danger, and sometimes I couldn’t tell whether he was trying to help me or simply following his instincts.

But he didn’t argue this time.

He waited.

I slowly relaxed my fingers around his hand.

“I’m going to involve Aevrion,” I said. “This warning came from inside the Browns Pack. I won’t let your father take over the investigation or convince us to keep quiet for the sake of the families.”

“Agreed.”

“You’re not going to argue?”

“Would you like me to?”

“No.”

“Then don’t look so disappointed.”

I almost smiled.

“You’re impossible.”

“And yet, you keep holding my hand.”

I immediately looked down.

He was right.

I released him, but his quiet laugh followed me as I reached for my phone.

“Don’t start,” I warned.

“I haven’t said anything.”

“Your face is saying enough.”

He raised both hands in surrender. “I’ll behave.”

“You’d better.”

His smile lingered, and for one brief moment, the weight pressing on my chest eased. I hated how easily he could do that, especially when I was trying to keep my thoughts clear.

But I wasn’t going to let my feelings for him distract me from what mattered.

I turned to Harper. “Send me the message. The entire record, not just a screenshot.”

She nodded and began forwarding the saved information.

“There’s one thing you should know,” she said as she worked. “The original account was deliberately erased, or at least that’s what it looked like when I tried to trace it. I can’t prove who deleted it.”

I watched the file arrive on my phone.

“Then we’ll start with what we have.”

I saved the record and opened my contacts.

Aevrion’s name appeared on the screen.

Davis stood beside me, close enough that his arm brushed mine. He didn’t reach for my phone or ask me to let him make the call.

He simply waited for me to decide what to say.

I appreciated that more than I wanted to admit.

I pressed the call button.

Aevrion answered after two rings.

“Rebecca? Do you know what time it is?”

“I’m sorry. I need to ask you something.”

His irritation faded slightly. “What happened?”

I glanced at Davis before looking away.

“Did anyone investigate suspicious activity inside the Browns Pack around the time of my first wedding?”

Silence.

I pulled the phone away from my ear to check whether the call had dropped, but the timer was still running.

“Aevrion?”

“Where did you hear that?” he asked at last.

“Harper received a message shortly before I died. Someone warned her not to let me return to the Browns estate alone because someone had started moving against me.”

I heard him draw a sharp breath.

“You have that message?”

“Yes. Harper saved a copy.”

Another silence followed.

My grip tightened around the phone. “Aevrion, what aren’t you telling me?”

His voice dropped.

“Rebecca, don’t investigate this alone. Someone has already warned me to keep you away from the old pack records.”