EXPOSED

For a long moment, I said nothing.

Ash stood in the doorway, holding that photo like it was a loaded weapon. My helmet, my racing gear, the blurred background of the tunnel, it was a still from one of the underground races. Grainy, but clear enough.

Clear enough to ruin me.

I took a slow step forward, fists clenched. “Where did you get that?”

He didn’t move. “It was left in my locker. No note. No scent.”

“They want you to know,” I muttered.

He nodded. “And they want me to bring you in.”

I swallowed hard, keeping my voice even. “So why haven’t you?”

Ash stared at me, expression unreadable. “Because I don’t want to.”

The silence that followed felt like a scream waiting to be let out.

Juno stayed frozen behind me, her tools abandoned on the table, eyes wide. She was listening, always listening. She knew better than to interrupt now.

“Say something,” Ash finally said.

“I don’t owe you anything.”

His jaw tensed. “You’re right. You don’t. But I need to understand.”

I folded my arms tightly, trying to hold myself together. “You want to understand? Fine. I race because they said I couldn’t. I race because my brother was thrown out like trash. I race because I was born in a pack that only sees me as an omega girl and not a person. I race to win. And to burn down the rules they use to cage us.”

Ash’s eyes flickered. “So it really is you.”

I turned away. “Now you know. You can go.”

He didn’t move. “Leo….”

“Don’t call me that.”

He paused. “You saved my life. Two years ago.”

I froze.

“I knew it was you the second I saw you fight. Same balance. Same movement. And that scent… I didn’t recognize it until we touched.”

My heart dropped.

“That night,” he continued, stepping closer, “they rigged my board. I would’ve died in that tunnel. But someone pushed me out of the path of the flames. I woke up alone. Just a flash of black and silver and your scent.”

I didn’t answer.

“I never told anyone,” he said. “Not even Magnus.”

I turned to face him again. “So what now? You going to tell him I’m Shade Wolf?”

Ash looked like he wanted to say yes. But he didn’t.

Instead, he lowered the photo and slipped it into his jacket. “No.”

I blinked.

“Not yet.”

Not yet??

The words hit harder than if he’d just handed me over.

“I don’t know who I am anymore,” he admitted. “All I know is this system is broken. And if what you’re doing can expose that, maybe it’s worth it.”

I stared at him. “You think you get to decide if I’m worth it?”

He stepped closer. Too close.

“I think I get to decide what I fight for.”

Our eyes locked. The mate bond pulled like a chain, stretching between us, glowing invisible but real. I hated it. Hated how much I felt him. How badly I wanted to trust him. But I couldn’t.

Not with the photo in his pocket.

Not with Magnus as his father.

“Leave,” I whispered.

He didn’t argue.

Ash turned and walked out, closing the door softly behind him.

That night, I didn’t sleep. Again.

Juno stayed silent the whole time. She didn’t ask what he said. She didn’t need to.

We both knew the truth.

Ash was on my side, for now.

But the photo in his jacket was a loaded gun and someone had loaded it for him.

Whoever was watching, whoever left those photos, they weren’t just coming for me.

They were using Ash to do it.

**************”**" “"

The next morning, Ash didn’t show up for training.

I tried not to care. I tried not to look for him in every hallway, every corner of the mat.

But Coach Briar did.

He called me aside after practice, his tone sharper than usual.

“You spoke to him.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You knew?”

“Of course I knew. You don’t think I can smell a bond forming in my own training hall?”

My stomach twisted. “He said he won’t expose me.”

“Do you believe him?”

I hesitated.

“No.”

I didn’t need to say it. Briar could see it on my face.

Briar crossed his arms. “You think because he’s your mate, he won’t betray you? Mates have done worse for less.”

“I didn’t ask for a mate,” I said. “I sure as hell didn’t ask for him.”

Briar’s gaze softened slightly, but only slightly. “None of us ask. Doesn’t mean it won’t cost you.”

I hated how right he was.

“Keep your guard up,” he warned. “There’s a reason the Elders chose him for the elite squad. He’s not just another racer. He’s a weapon.”

I knew that.

*********************

Later that night, hidden in the back of the Redclaw territory’s observation dome, Ash stood before three Elder enforcers and Alpha Magnus himself.

The photos were spread across the table.

Magnus looked calm. Too calm.

“So it’s her,” he said.

Ash didn’t deny it.

“She’s good,” Magnus said. “But she’s reckless. She’s tied to the rebellion and she’s your mate.”

Ash said nothing.

One of the Elders spoke. “This is perfect. We use her.”

“How?” Ash asked.

“She races in the Trials. We let her win. Then we take her at the finish line, expose her on broadcast. Disgrace the movement in front of the packs. Show the world what happens to defiance.”

Ash clenched his fists.

Magnus smiled thinly. “You can still lead, Ash. You just need to stay on the right side.”

“And if I don’t?” Ash asked.

“You’ll lose her anyway.”

Ash walked out of that room without giving them an answer.

But the deal was clear.

He could protect Leo… if he helped bring her into the spotlight.

Let her win.

Let her rise.

Then let them destroy her.