The Records He Was Told to Hide.

Rebecca’s POV

Aevrion’s warning followed me all the way to the Browns estate.

He had refused to explain everything over the phone, insisting that we needed to speak face-to-face. But the fear in his voice had already told me this was serious.

Someone had approached my brother about the old records.

And whoever it was knew I might start asking questions.

Davis sat beside me in the car, quiet for most of the journey. He hadn’t tried to take control of the situation or tell me what I should do. He had simply offered to come with me while Harper stayed behind to search for the original sender of the message.

I appreciated that, even if I wasn’t ready to trust him completely.

“You’ve been quiet,” Davis said.

“I’m thinking.”

“About what your brother found?”

“About how many people have been keeping secrets from me.”

He turned toward me. “I’m sorry.”

I looked at him. “For what?”

“For being part of a family that seems to have made decisions about your life without telling you the truth.”

His answer caught me off guard.

I had expected him to defend his father or remind me that the negotiations had been complicated. Instead, he was looking at me with a seriousness that made it difficult to dismiss his words.

“You didn’t know about the report,” I said.

“No, I didn’t.” He paused. “But that doesn’t mean you have to trust me just because I’m trying to help now.”

I studied his face.

“Good. Because I’m not going to.”

A faint smile touched his lips. “I wasn’t expecting you to.”

“Then we’re in agreement.”

“Finally, something we agree on.”

I almost smiled, but I turned toward the window before he could notice.

That was the problem with Davis. Sometimes, he made it too easy to forget the man I remembered from my first life. He could be patient, considerate, and even funny when he wasn’t trying to get an answer out of me.

But I knew how badly things could end when I let myself believe his good moments meant more than they did.

When the car stopped outside the Browns estate, I opened the door before the driver could get out.

Davis caught up with me at the entrance.

“Rebecca.”

I turned.

He held out his hand, offering to help me over the raised step. I stared at it for a moment before taking it.

His fingers closed around mine, warm and firm. For a brief second, the familiar pull between us stirred again.

I released his hand as soon as I was safely inside.

He didn’t comment on it.

Aevrion was waiting in his office. Several old files were spread across his desk, and his usual confident expression was gone.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I entered.

He glanced at Davis before looking back at me.

“I wasn’t sure whether I should involve him.”

“I’m here because Rebecca asked me to come,” Davis said. “I’ll leave if she wants me to.”

I looked at my brother. “He can stay. Whatever you found concerns both families, and I want to see everything myself.”

Aevrion nodded and gestured toward the desk.

“Then sit down. There’s a lot you need to know.”

I took the chair opposite him while Davis stood beside me.

Aevrion picked up the first file.

“During the negotiations between our family and the Dravens, I was asked to keep certain records private. I was told they concerned sensitive political discussions and shouldn’t be released without permission.”

“Who asked you?” I demanded.

“A senior member of our pack leadership.”

“Which one?”

“I’ll get to that.”

I folded my arms. “You’d better.”

Aevrion gave me a tired look. “Rivi, I’m trying to explain.”

“Then explain. I don’t have the patience for another person telling me half the truth.”

His expression changed at my words.

For a moment, I wondered if he could hear how much more I was saying than I intended. I had spent years watching people make decisions for me, and I couldn’t stand the thought of my own brother doing the same thing again.

Aevrion lowered his eyes to the file.

“I believed the records were confidential because of the alliance negotiations. I had no reason to think they were connected to your future.”

“Did you know about Harper’s warning or the investigation into Davis’s bond?”

“No.” He answered immediately. “I swear, Rebecca, I knew nothing about those things.”

I searched his face, trying to decide whether to believe him.

He had always been protective of me, sometimes to the point of being overbearing. But I had also learned that good intentions didn’t stop people from making terrible decisions.

“Who told you to hide the records?” I asked again.

Aevrion hesitated.

“The request came through someone in our own leadership. They claimed they were acting on behalf of our parents.”

My stomach tightened.

“Did Mom and Dad know?”

“I don’t know.”

“You never asked them?”

“I trusted the people handling the negotiations.” He rubbed his forehead. “I thought they were protecting the family. I didn’t question it, and I should have.”

I looked at the files scattered across his desk.

All this time, I had believed the trouble in my first life began when I married Davis. I hadn’t considered that people might have been arranging things long before either of us understood what was happening.

Davis finally spoke.

“Can we look at the records?”

Aevrion nodded. “Yes. Go ahead.”

Davis pulled a chair closer and examined the first file without moving the other papers. I watched him read, noticing the way his expression tightened whenever he reached a new page.

He wasn’t pretending to understand something he didn’t. He was actually studying the evidence.

“What is it?” I asked.

He turned the file toward me.

“A meeting was arranged between representatives of the Browns, the Dravens, and the Alpha Council shortly before the marriage discussions became serious.”

I read the official summary.

It described the meeting as a routine alliance review.

“Why would they need a private meeting for a routine review?” I asked.

“That’s what I want to know,” Davis replied.

Aevrion opened the attached attendance list.

My eyes moved down the names until I recognized one.

I froze.

It was the same name that had appeared beneath the black ink on Harper’s document.

“This person attended the meeting?” I asked.

Aevrion nodded. “Yes. They were involved in pack security and had access to private family records.”

“Did you know about the sealed bond investigation?”

“No. I only found out that this person had attended the meeting when I started checking the files.”

I looked at Davis. He was already watching me.

Neither of us needed to say what we were thinking. The same representative had been connected to the private meeting and the sealed report.

Before I could ask another question, Aevrion pulled out a second file.

“There’s something else.”

He opened it and placed a document in front of me.

I scanned the page, then looked up sharply.

“This is a request for my personal correspondence.”

“Yes,” Aevrion said.

I looked at the date. It was from the period before my wedding in my first life.

Someone had requested access to my private messages.

My hands went cold.

“Why would anyone need to read my correspondence?”

“I don’t know,” Aevrion admitted. “I was told there was a threat against our family, and that monitoring certain communications would help protect us.”

“Who told you that?”

“The same representative.”

I stared at him.

“Did you approve it?”

Aevrion didn’t answer immediately.

Then he nodded.

“Yes. I signed the authorization.”

The room went quiet.

I wanted to be angry with him. I wanted to ask how he could have allowed someone to read my private messages without telling me. But I could see the shame on his face, and I knew he hadn’t understood what he was agreeing to.

That didn’t make it right.

“You should have told me,” I said.

“I know.”

“You should have asked me.”

“I know, Rebecca.”

I looked away, trying to steady my breathing.

Davis moved closer. His hand rested on the back of my chair, near my shoulder, but he didn’t touch me.

“Take your time,” he said quietly.

I glanced up at him.

There was no pity in his expression, only concern. I hated how much I wanted to lean into that concern, even for a moment.

Instead, I looked back at my brother.

“Show me the rest.”

Aevrion opened the final file and removed a single page.

“This is the list of everyone who accessed your correspondence.”

I took it from him.

There were several names, each followed by a date and an authorization record. I scanned them quickly, searching for anything that explained why my private life had attracted so much attention.

Then I reached the last entry.

I stopped breathing for a second.

The date beside the name was from three days ago.

I checked it again, hoping I had read it incorrectly.

I hadn’t.

“Three days ago?” I whispered.

Aevrion nodded.

“Someone requested access to your records three days ago.”

I looked up at him sharply.

“Who?”

He hesitated, then leaned forward across the desk.

“Rebecca, the person who requested your records three days ago is coming to the leadership program tomorrow.”