Caleb's Silence Breaks

Chapter 28 

 Caleb’s Silence Breaks

POV - Caleb

The snow was falling heavier by morning, each flake swirling lazily before vanishing against the pine boughs. It muffled the world into a strange kind of stillness, the kind that made you think you were the only soul alive for miles.

I stood at the kitchen counter, fingers wrapped around a mug of tea I wasn’t drinking, staring out the frosted window. My mind kept looping back to the letter in my mother’s journal. That single, haunting C. And the feeling I’d had last night the whisper, the presence that lingered like a shadow even in daylight.

I knew Caleb was hiding something. I’d felt it for weeks. He’d always been loyal, careful with his words, but lately there had been moments quick glances, silences that stretched too long where I could almost see the weight pressing on him. He was carrying something, and it was pulling him apart.

I decided today was the day I’d stop letting him protect me by keeping me in the dark.

The Waiting

When Caleb arrived midmorning, brushing snow from his shoulders, I was already waiting by the fire. I didn’t waste time with small talk.

“Sit,” I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s not usually how you greet me.”

“I’m not in the mood for polite,” I said. “We need to talk.”

The shift in his expression was almost imperceptible, but I caught it the slight tightening at the corners of his mouth, the way his eyes flicked toward the window before coming back to me.

“About?” he asked, feigning ignorance.

“You know what about.” My voice was steadier than I expected. “You’ve been holding back since the day you helped me leave Aspen. And now ” I gestured to the journal on the table. “Now I find a name my mother hid from me, and you just happen to know more than you’re saying.”

He didn’t sit. He stood there, jaw tight, as if trying to decide whether to walk back out into the snow.

The First Crack

Finally, he stepped forward and lowered himself into the chair opposite mine. For a long moment, he said nothing, staring into the fire. Then, almost reluctantly:

“You’re right. I know.”

My chest tightened. “Then tell me.”

“It’s not that simple, Ada.” His voice was quiet, but there was a rough edge to it. “Names like his… they’re not just history. They’re alive. They draw attention.”

“Then let it draw,” I snapped. “I’m tired of being hunted without even knowing who’s chasing me.”

His gaze flicked to mine then, and I saw something I rarely saw in Caleb fear.

“This isn’t just about who’s chasing you,” he said. “It’s about what you are to him.”

The Story He Didn’t Want to Tell

He leaned back, shoulders sagging slightly as if finally resigning himself to the truth.

“His name is Cormac,” Caleb began. “Cormac Vale. He’s not part of any official pack not anymore. He’s a broker. He deals in information, alliances, debts. The kind of man both Alphas and rogues go to when they need something done off the books. And he always gets paid.”

The name felt heavy in the air, like the crack of thunder before a storm.

“Why would my mother hide his name?” I asked.

“Because Cormac doesn’t just work for anyone,” Caleb said. “He works for bloodlines. He tracks them, trades them like currency. And once, years ago… he saved your mother’s life.”

I blinked. “Saved her?”

“She was being hunted much like you are now. He stepped in. Nobody knows why. But favors like that? They don’t come free. Your mother owed him.”

Debt and Danger

I felt the ground shift beneath me. My mother had always been careful, cautious to a fault. She’d taught me to run before I could even understand why. And all this time, part of that fear… had a name.

“What does he want with me?” I asked.

Caleb hesitated. “If I tell you, it might put you in more danger than you already are.”

“I’m already in danger,” I said flatly. “That’s my baseline now.”

He exhaled slowly. “Cormac was obsessed with the Moon Matron line. He believed it was the key to something bigger than pack politics something ancient. He’s been tracking it for decades. When your mother died, that line passed to you. And now…” His eyes flicked down toward my stomach, toward the life I carried. “…now it’s not just you.”

A chill rolled down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold.

Why He Stayed Silent

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” My voice cracked on the last word. “You knew. All this time, you knew.”

“Because I thought I could keep him away from you,” Caleb said, his voice rough now. “I thought if I didn’t say his name, if I kept you moving, he’d lose the trail. But I was wrong. The moment Dax rejected you, the packs started talking. Word travels fast, and Cormac listens to every whisper.”

His admission sat heavy between us. Part of me wanted to be furious, to throw the mug at the wall, to scream that he had no right to decide what I could or couldn’t handle. But beneath the anger was something harder to ignore—relief. The shadows had a shape now. A name.

The Offer

“There’s something else,” Caleb said, pulling me from my thoughts. “I know where he is.”

I stared at him. “You what?”

“He’s in the Appalachians. Not far from here, actually. He’s been operating out of an old hunting lodge. I’ve avoided crossing paths with him, but…” Caleb’s mouth twisted. “If you want answers, you’ll get them there.”

My pulse quickened. “And if I don’t want answers?”

“Then we keep running,” he said simply. “And hope he never finds us. But you and I both know that hope isn’t worth much these days.”

I turned toward the fire, watching the flames lick at the wood. Cormac Vale. The name felt dangerous in my mouth, but also inevitable. My mother had spent her life keeping me away from him, but the truth was, he was already in my orbit. He always had been.

“Why help me now?” I asked without looking at Caleb.

“Because I’ve kept your secrets long enough,” he said. “And because I think you’re strong enough to face him. Stronger than you realize.”

I thought of the way my wolf had reacted last night, restless, pacing under my skin. She wanted confrontation. She wanted the truth. And maybe… so did I.

The Road Ahead

We talked late into the afternoon, Caleb laying out everything he knew about Cormac his allies, his enemies, the rumors surrounding his power. Some said he could smell lies like other wolves smelled blood. Others claimed he’d bargained with witches and come back changed.

The more I learned, the more I understood why my mother had feared him. And yet, there was a strange pull there too, like I was already moving toward him without meaning to.

By the time the snow stopped falling, my decision was made.

“We go to the lodge,” I told Caleb. “No more running.”

He nodded once, his expression unreadable. But I caught the flicker in his eyes a mix of pride and worry.

The Night Before

That night, I packed lightly just what I could carry if we had to move fast. My dagger. The journal. A strip of leather from the Seal’s case. Every item felt like a piece of my identity, both past and present.

Sleep was impossible. I sat by the window instead, watching the moon climb high. Somewhere out there, in the deep dark of the mountains, was a man who knew my mother, who knew me before I even knew myself.

And tomorrow, I’d meet him.

For the first time in weeks, I wasn’t afraid of the hunt.

I was ready for it.