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Ch. 26

Author: Big Queen
last update publish date: 2026-04-09 19:57:58

The mindlink hit Xander first, a sudden jolt like cold water down the back. He jerked upright in bed, grabbed for his phone, then realized the summons was the kind you couldn’t ignore without making things worse.

Marcus’s voice, tight-wound, no room for negotiation. So, not dead yet, that was something.

He nudged Carolina, still half-tangled in the damp sheets. “We’re summoned.”

She blinked up, bleary and unafraid. If she noticed the urgency, she didn’t show it. “By your father?”

“Who else?”

She rolled out of bed, bare feet hitting the cold pine, then started piling on yesterday’s clothes without ceremony. Xander stripped off the ruined t-shirt and reached for a clean hoodie, ignoring the bloom of purple around his ribs. They both reeked of sweat and sex and rain. It didn’t matter. Marcus would smell it a mile away.

They didn’t bother with the front stairs, moving silent as ghosts through the back hall. Cas was on the second-floor landing, still in pajamas, mouth open like she wanted to ask but thought better of it. Xander offered her a thin smile, then shut the office door behind them.

Marcus was behind the desk, sleeves rolled up and a mug of something black steaming beside his laptop. The walls were lined with old maps and wolf trophies: jaws, pelts, teeth. His eyes, as always, the only living thing in the room.

He didn’t say anything at first, just looked at them. Not the way a father looks at his son. The way a hunter sizes up what’s in the snare, maybe—calculating, distant.

Finally, he pushed the laptop aside and laced his hands together. “Sit.” They did. “I’ve spoken to Lyra. She’s satisfied with your field performance. I’m not, but that’s how it is with Next Gens.”

He let the silence scrape. Carolina sat perfectly still. Xander picked imaginary lint from his cuff.

“Word is, you two work together like—” a twitch of the mouth, “—an Alpha and Luna.”

The air didn’t change, but something in it crystallized.

Xander kept his voice bland. “So?”

“So, things happen, and sometimes the old order has to get out of the way. The Council is watching. I’ve given it some thought, and I’m moving the timeline up.” His gaze landed on Carolina, then back to his son. “If you’re serious, you get her. All of her. And the pack, in time.”

Carolina didn’t flinch. “What if he isn’t up to it?”

Marcus shrugged. “Then neither of you deserve it. The run is next week. Everyone will be there.”

Xander glanced at Carolina, trying to read if she wanted this or just what it meant to her. Her eyes were flat with something almost like pity. “Why so soon?”

Marcus stood, not breaking eye contact. “The hunger in you, both of you—it’s older than you think. Best we see it burn through before it goes bad.”

A thin spice of pride snaked through the grim, but Xander felt it land like a dare.

Marcus came around the desk and clapped Xander once on the shoulder, the gesture too heavy to be loving, too brief to be anything but a transfer of pressure. “You fuck this up, there’s no second chance. Understood?”

“Yeah,” said Xander, and meant it.

Marcus gave Carolina a nod so slight it could have been a twitch. “You,” he said, “you still want out, I’ll make it happen. Last chance.”

She didn’t hesitate. “No.”

Marcus’s smile was a baring of teeth. “Good. Then you’ve got a week to get it together. Don’t embarrass me.”

He dismissed them with a flick, but Carolina lingered. “The locket,” she said. “Why was it worth two dead?”

Marcus regarded her for a long moment, as if debating whether to lie. “It’s a trigger. Council safe. Without it, no one can call a moot.” He waited. “You did what you were supposed to. The rest was just arithmetic.”

Arms empty, she left the room first.

In the corridor, Xander caught her wrist. “You okay?”

She looked at him like he was a stranger, then let his hand drop. “You want this, Xander? The whole thing?”

He thought about it—really thought about it—then said, “I want you next to me when it happens.”

A second passed. Then she nodded, barely.

They stepped back into the house, shoulder to shoulder. Tomorrow would bring teeth and claws, the run, the whole ugly blood rite. But tonight, the quiet between their pulses was enough to let them sleep.

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