Chapter 5: The Alpha’s Shadow

The Rathbone estate at night was an exercise in contradiction: serenity and menace interwoven like the ivy climbing its stone walls.

Jeremy met her in the library, the scent of old books and faint cedar smoke thick in the air. His presence filled the room like a living shadow.

“Welcome to your new reality,” he said, voice low and steady.

Lena swallowed the lump in her throat.

“I’m here for Sarah - to find out what happened.”

Jeremy nodded but did not reach out.

“Sarah was caught in the crossfire of a war you barely understand.” His gaze sharpened.

“This family has enemies, old and brutal. I am the protector - and the predator. So long as you abide by the pact, you are under my guard.”

She noticed a faint scar above his brow - a soft line that suggested battles past, not easily forgotten.

That night, Lena watched from the large windows as pack members gathered in the courtyard - tall, lithe figures moving with a feline grace that set her skin on edge. This was no ordinary family.

She realized with an uneasy clarity that her role was no longer just a reporter with a pen. She had entered an ecosystem where power was physical, ancient, and unforgiving.

That night, sleep was a fragile thing, punctuated by the unfamiliar howls echoing in the distance.

~~~

The next morning, a maid brought a simple, but elegant Rathbone dress and instructed her to dress for breakfast with Jeremy. Lena pulled the heavy fabric over her head, the silk a stark contrast to the rough cotton of her own clothes. The mirror reflected a stranger - a woman in a gilded cage.

Jeremy was waiting in the dining hall, a cavernous room where morning light filtered through stained glass windows, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. He sat alone at a long mahogany table, the silver gleaming under the sun. He did not look up from the newspaper in his hands, not even when she sat across from him.

"You're a journalist, yes?" he asked, his voice a low rumble. "You have a gift for finding things others don't want found."

Lena felt a chill run down her spine. "I was just doing my job."

He finally looked up, his eyes piercing silver. "And that job led you to us. You are a liability, Lena. A wild card. My family believes you will expose us. The pact is what keeps you alive, what keeps you safe. But it also binds you to me. You cannot leave. Not until the threat is gone."

She met his gaze, refusing to back down.

"And what about Sarah? I'm not leaving until I get answers."

Jeremy's expression softened, just for a moment.

"Sarah was like you, an outsider who was drawn into a world she didn't understand. She saw things, things she should not have seen. She got too close to the fire."

He folded the newspaper neatly and placed it on the table.

"You're not a prisoner here, Lena. But you are not free either. You are a guest of the Rathbone family. You will be provided for. But your loyalty is a luxury you can no longer afford."

He stood and walked towards the grand doors, leaving her alone in the immense dining hall, the weight of his words lingering in the silent, sunlit room. She was trapped, and the only way out was to get the answers she came for. But with every step she took deeper into this world, the more she realized that the truth about Sarah might be a truth she was better off not knowing.