Chapter 39 Hunter and Tara

Betrayal from Within

Hunter pov

I was reviewing the final preparations for our confrontation with Celeste when my father knocked on my office door, carrying a tablet with an expression that suggested the news would be both important and unwelcome.

"We found the leak," Alpha Marcus announced without preamble, setting the device down on my desk with the kind of controlled fury that spoke of deep personal betrayal.

I looked up from the tactical maps I had been studying, noting the tight lines around my father's eyes that indicated barely restrained anger. "Who?"

"See for yourself," Marcus replied, activating the tablet's screen to display surveillance footage from the pack house's internal security system.

The timestamp showed three days ago, late evening, when most pack members would have been in their quarters or common areas. The camera angle captured a section of hallway near my private office, and the figure moving stealthily through the shadows was immediately recognizable.

"Beta Marcus Cole," I said, my voice flat with disbelief and growing rage.

"Thirty years of loyal service," Marcus said grimly. "Thirty years of trust, of shared battles, of brotherhood. And he's been selling information about your relationship to the highest bidder."

I watched the footage as Cole used what appeared to be a master key to enter my private office, then emerged twenty minutes later carrying what looked like documents and photographs.

"How long?" I asked, my voice carrying the dangerous quiet that preceded explosive anger.

"Based on the communication records we've been able to decrypt, at least six months. Possibly longer." Dad moved to stand beside me, both of us staring at the evidence of treachery from someone we had trusted with our lives.

"Six months," I repeated. "That means he was feeding information to Celeste's network before the Brotherhood attacks, before our reconciliation became public knowledge."

"It means someone has been planning this operation for a very long time," Dad confirmed. "And they had inside intelligence about your feelings for Tara long before you were ready to admit them yourself."

I felt ice settle in my stomach as the implications became clear. Cole had been present for every security briefing, every strategic planning session, every private conversation about pack business. He'd known about my search for Tara, about our reconciliation, about the threats we had been facing.

"Where is he now?" I asked, standing up with the fluid grace of someone preparing for violence.

"Secured in holding cell three. But Hunter..." Dad placed a restraining hand on my arm. "There's more. And it's worse than simple betrayal for money."

I turned to face my father, seeing something in the older man's expression that suggested the depths of Cole's treachery hadn't been fully revealed.

"Show me."

Dad activated another file on the tablet, this one displaying financial records and communication logs that painted a picture of systematic espionage spanning months.

"Cole wasn't just selling information," Dad explained. "He was actively sabotaging pack security, providing detailed intelligence about our defensive capabilities, our response protocols, our most vulnerable points."

"For how much?" My voice was getting quieter, more dangerous.

"Two hundred thousand dollars transferred to an offshore account. But that's not the worst part." Dad scrolled to another section of the evidence. "The payments came from the same European accounts that have been funding other operations against packs that support chosen mate bonds."

I stared at the financial records, understanding with crystalline clarity that Cole's betrayal was part of the larger conspiracy we had been fighting. Not just personal greed, but ideological treachery against everything Silverstone represented.

"He helped them target us specifically," I said, the pieces falling into place. "The Brotherhood attacks, Celeste's surveillance, the threats against Tara—all of it was possible because someone inside our pack was providing intelligence."

"Gets worse," Dad said grimly. "We found communication logs showing that Cole provided detailed information about tomorrow's confrontation plan. Routes, timing, personnel assignments, contingency protocols."

I felt my wolf rising dangerously close to the surface, my hands clenching into fists as the full scope of the betrayal became clear.

"Celeste knows we're coming," I said flatly.

"She knows everything. Our approach routes, our backup plans, the exact number of people in our strike team." Dad's voice carried the bitter rage of a leader who had discovered that his trust had been weaponized against his own people.

"Then we change everything," I said, already shifting into tactical mode despite my fury. "New routes, new timing, completely different approach."

"Already in progress. But Hunter, there's something else you need to see."

Marcus activated one final file, this one displaying a recorded conversation between Cole and an unidentified female voice.

"—particularly important that the McKenzie girl doesn't survive the confrontation," the woman was saying, her accent carrying traces of European refinement. "Her influence on other young wolves has become problematic for our long-term objectives."

"Understood," Cole's voice replied. "I can ensure that security protocols are... inadequate for the level of threat she'll be facing."

"Excellent. And the Blackwood heir?"

"He'll be eliminated as well, but it needs to look like he died trying to protect her. A tragic example of what happens when Alphas prioritize emotion over strategic thinking."

I felt something cold and lethal settle in my chest as I listened to Cole casually discuss the planned murder of both me and Tara.

"He was going to get us killed," I said, my voice carrying a flatness that suggested barely controlled violence. "Not just betrayed, not just compromised. Actually murdered."

"The woman in the recording is believed to be Celeste's handler—someone high up in the European alliance structure," Dad explained. "They've been planning this as more than just eliminating a symbolic couple. They want to create a cautionary tale that will discourage other young wolves from choosing love over political convenience."

I moved to the window, staring out at the pack territory that Cole had helped make vulnerable to attack. Somewhere out there, pack members were going about their daily routines, unaware that someone they'd trusted for decades had been systematically betraying them to enemies who wanted to reshape their entire way of life.

"I want to see him," I said quietly.

"Hunter, that's not a good idea. Not while you're this angry."

"I need to understand why," I replied, turning back to face his father. "Thirty years of loyalty, and he throws it all away for money and ideology. I need to hear him explain it."

"And then?"

"And then we make sure he understands the consequences of betraying the people who trusted him with their lives."

The holding cells were located in the basement of the pack house, designed for the rare occasions when pack members needed to be detained for disciplinary reasons. I had been down there only a handful of times in my life, usually for minor infractions by young wolves learning to control their impulses.

Cole sat on the narrow cot in cell three, his weathered face showing no sign of remorse or regret. When he looked up and saw me approaching, his expression actually hardened into something approaching defiance.

"Come to gloat?" Cole asked, his voice carrying none of the respect or deference that had characterized our relationship for years.

"Come to understand," I replied, stopping just outside the cell bars. "Thirty years, Marcus. Thirty years of shared service, of brotherhood, of trust. What could possibly make you throw all of that away?"

"You want to understand?" Cole stood up, moving closer to the bars with the confidence of someone who believed his actions were justified. "Then understand this—you've become a symbol of everything that's wrong with modern pack leadership. Emotion over strategy, sentiment over strength, personal desires over community needs."

"So you decided to have me killed."

"I decided to prevent you from infecting other young Alphas with your dangerous ideas," Cole corrected. "Do you have any idea how many political alliances have been disrupted because foolish young wolves think they can chase after their 'true loves' like characters in some fairy tale?"

I stared at the man who had trained me in combat, who had stood beside my father through countless crises, who had been trusted with the most sensitive pack intelligence.

"You really believe that love is weakness," I said, understanding dawning in his voice.

"I believe that leaders who prioritize their personal happiness over their people's security are unfit to lead," Cole replied. "And I believe that someone needed to stop you before your example destroyed the entire foundation of pack hierarchy."

"By selling us out to Europeans who want to control North American pack politics."

"By ensuring that traditional values and proven systems aren't swept away by romantic nonsense."

I was quiet for a long moment, studying Cole's face and seeing something there that I had never noticed before—the rigid certainty of someone who had never questioned my own beliefs, never considered that there might be strength in vulnerability or wisdom in following your heart.

"You're going to spend the rest of your life in a cell," I said finally. "Not because you disagreed with my choices, but because you betrayed your own pack to people who wanted us dead."

"And you're going to get yourself and that girl killed because you think love conquers all," Cole shot back. "The only difference is that my consequences are immediate while yours are inevitable."

I turned to leave, then paused and looked back at the man who had helped raise me.

"There's one more difference, Marcus," I said quietly. "I'll die knowing that the people I love trusted me completely. You'll die knowing that you betrayed everyone who ever called you family."

As I walked away from the holding cells, I realized that Cole's betrayal was actually a gift—not the treachery itself, but the knowledge that they now understood exactly what they were fighting against. Not just Celeste's obsession or European political ambitions, but a fundamental belief that love was incompatible with leadership, that choosing your heart made you weak.

Tomorrow, me and Tara would prove that belief wrong.

And we would do it knowing that our love was strong enough to survive, even betrayal from those closest to us.