The Alpha’s Debt

Sage Monroe had her hands inside a man’s chest when Kade Blackwood walked into her operating room.She did not look up immediately because she was busy clamping a bleeding artery, but she noticed when the doors opened. The operating room had a kind of quiet tension that came with life-and-death work, and whoever just walked in had messed it up completely.“Clamp,” she said to Jenny, her surgical nurse.“Dr. Monroe.” The voice was deep and unfamiliar, it came from somewhere near the door.Sage looked up and saw three men in dark suits standing just in front of the sterile field as if they had never heard of infection protocols.The one in front was tall with black hair, with a face that looked like it had been carved from stone. She recognized him from the photos she had found in Marcus’s apartment after he died.Kade Blackwood.Her stomach dropped, but her hands stayed steady as she worked on the artery.“Gosh, this is an operating room. Get out.”“We need to talk.” He did not move

The car Kade sent arrived at eleven and Sage was grateful because her hands were shaking too badly for her to even think of driving.The driver did not ask about the bruise on her face or why she was carrying a duffel bag at this hour, he just drove quietly till they reached the edge of the city.He guided Sage to a private elevator that opened directly into a penthouse, and when she stepped out Kade was standing by the window watching the city.Kade turned when he heard Sage’s steps toward him and his eyes went straight to her face.First to the bruise that was spreading across her cheekbone and the cut in her lip that she had tried to clean but still looked terrible.“Who did that?”“Loan sharks.” She placed her bag on the floor. “Apparently Thomas owed more than just you. They want twenty thousand by the end of the week.”“How badly did those touts hurt you?” He moved toward her in three long steps and held her face, turning it toward the light so he could see the damage better.

Kade was on the phone when Sage walked into his office that evening and from the look on his face she knew something had changed.“Where?” he said into the phone. “Fine. Midnight. Bring everyone.” He hung up and reached for his jacket.“What happened?” Sage asked.“I got intel on the wolfsbane. It’s moving through Crescent Pack territory.” He checked his gun and slid it into a holster she had not noticed before. “I’m meeting their Alpha tonight.”“I’m coming with you.”“No.” He did not even look at her.“I’m a doctor. If someone gets hurt…”“You’re staying here where it’s safe.” He finally met her eyes. “Marcus will be here. You’ll be fine.”“Marcus hates me.”“He won’t touch you again.” Kade headed for the door. “I will be back in a few hours.”She waited until she heard the elevator doors close, then grabbed her medical bag and car keys. If he thought she was going to sit in the penthouse while people might be dying, he didn’t know her at all.She followed his car from a distance, t

Kade stared at the computer screen in his office until the footage blurred together and he had to blink to clear his vision.He had been watching the warehouse ambush for six hours straight. Playing it again over and over again. Focusing on different parts each time.The hunters dropping from the ceiling. The silver bullets. The wolfsbane gas. His wolves going down. The chaos and blood and screaming.And Marcus standing at the back doing nothing.Kade had watched that part at least twenty times now. His Beta was just standing there while a hunter ran past him. Not fighting. Not helping. Just watching.He played it again.Marcus turned his head when the hunter passed. Made eye contact. The hunter nodded and kept running.They knew each other.Kade held the mouse so hard that the plastic cracked.His Beta was working with the hunters. Had to be. Nothing else made sense.But he needed more than footage that could be interpreted in different ways. He needed proof that could not be argued

The Blackwood Industries building looked different at two in the morning, with most of the lights off and shadows pooling in every corner.Sage sat in the passenger seat of Jenny’s car that Riley was now driving and stared up at the tower trying to remember the access codes Kade had made her memorize. Just in case, he said. In case of emergency.She wondered if he expected the emergency to be her breaking into his building to find evidence against his Beta.“Security changes shift at three,” Riley said. He was twenty-two and had only been in the pack for a year but he worked as building security before that. “The night crew is smaller. Two guys on the main floor. One doing rounds on each floor. We have maybe thirty minutes before someone checks the executive level.”“Then we move faster.” Sage opened the car door. “Stay close to me. If we get caught, run and make sure you don’t get caught.”They crossed the empty street and approached the side entrance. Sage entered the access code a