LOGINAuthor’s Note ♡ Let’s recap who’s SUS: Marta: Flipped on Rowan but knew Candace for 6 years 👀 Hawthorne’s ex-security: Knew about the twins 👀 Maya’s replacement: Sold her out 👀 Unknown caller: “I was there the night you ran” 👀 And Candace just walked out ALONE with a USB and a photo. Thank you for noticing every red flag with me. Question: Who do YOU think sent that photo? Hawthorne? The caller? Someone else? 👇 Chapter 29 drops shortly. She meets the trap. Add to library before your anxiety kills you. We ride at dawn, — Golden❤️
SARA.Thirty minutes felt like forever.I sat there in the command center squeezing Leo’s wolf so hard my palm hurt, counting every single heartbeat like it might somehow make time move faster. Claude kept glancing at me from his screen but didn’t say anything, which was good because I probably looked one wrong word away from completely losing my mind. My leg wouldn’t stop bouncing under the desk and every few seconds I caught myself holding my breath without realizing it.The radio crackled again and I jumped."Alpha," Claude said into it. "Eastern border. Status?"Killian’s voice came back, rough and out of breath. "Holding. Barely. Two more breaches. We pushed them back but they’re testing us hard."I leaned closer to the radio, heart pounding in my throat. "Killian? You okay out there?"A tired laugh came through. "Been better. You still waiting for me?""Yeah. Still waiting." My voice cracked and I didn’t even try to hide it. "Please tell me you’re coming soon. I can’t… I can’t s
CANDICE.I made it four steps down the corridor.A hand grabbed my wrist.Not Claude. This grip was different. Firm. Like the person had already decided and wasn’t letting go no matter what.I spun around.Killian.He was still covered in dirt and blood, shirt torn, cut on his collarbone still bleeding. He had left the border the second Darian called him and now he stood here holding my wrist like I might vanish."Where are you going?" he asked. Low. Rough."Killian, you’re supposed to be at the border—""Darian called me," he cut in. "Where the hell are you going, Candice?"I looked at my phone. The location pin. The photo of Leo and Lia holding hands."Let go of my wrist," I said."Candice.""Let go—""Show me the message," he said.I stared at him. He stared back. The hallway felt too quiet."Show me," he said again, softer.My hands shook as I turned the phone toward him.He looked at the photo. Leo and Lia. The line underneath. His jaw tightened."You were gonna go alone," he sai
CANDICE. We made it back to the pack in twenty minutes. Claude drove like the road owed him something and I sat in the backseat with Leo’s wolf clutched in both hands, my face still wet, my chest still in pieces. I watched the pack house rise through the trees and felt like throwing up. Behind us the northern trace was already being handed off to two of Killian’s warriors who would chase it while we dealt with this bullshit. Killian had jumped out the second we crossed into pack land. No goodbye. Just one long look through the car window — heavy, full of things we never said — before he shifted and disappeared into the trees. His wolf hit the pack bond so hard I felt it slam into my ribs like a second heartbeat. I pressed my hand against my sternum and tried to breathe. "Session starts in ten minutes," Claude said quietly from the front. He glanced at me in the rearview. "You don’t have to go in there, Candice. Seriously, look at you." "Yes I do," I muttered, wiping my nose
CANDICE."How far?" Killian asked."Forty minutes," I said. "Maybe less if Claude drives faster."Claude drove faster.I sat in the backseat squeezing my phone so tight my fingers ached. Leo’s number was already on the screen. I kept calling every three minutes the whole way there. Voicemail. Voicemail. Voicemail. After a while I stopped bothering with messages. What was the point of talking into empty air?Killian stayed facing forward in the passenger seat, jaw locked, murmuring orders into his phone to the warriors behind us. His voice stayed low and steady. I clung to every word like it was the only thing keeping me from screaming.I stared out the window and tried to breathe."The drive data puts them in a residential block," Killian said without turning around. "Human neighborhood. Two story building. That right?""Yeah," I muttered."How many people knew the location?""Three. Maya’s replacement. My secondary contact. And me.""The replacement isn't answering.""No."He paused.
CANDICE.I drove with both hands on the wheel and the location pin glowing on my phone screen and told myself for the fortieth time that this was a terrible idea.Nobody knew where I was going. I hadn't left a note. I hadn't told Killian. I hadn't told Claude. I had slipped out of the pack house at five forty five in the morning while the building was still dark and quiet and driven forty minutes outside pack territory on the word of an unknown number because they had said Leo and Lia and that was all it took.Terrible idea.I pulled into the clearing anyway."You came alone," the voice called out from the darkness. "Good. Smart girl."I stepped out of the car, boots crunching over dead leaves. My heart felt like it was clawing up my throat, beating so hard it hurt. I kept scanning the trees until I finally spotted him — a man I'd never seen, maybe in his forties, leaning against a black car. His face was rough, but the way he stood there, still as stone, told me everything. Trained m
CANDICE'S POV The line just cut out. I stayed there in the empty briefing room, phone still pressed to my ear like a total idiot — just listening to silence. My heart was pounding so hard I swear I could feel it in my teeth. Slowly I lowered the phone and stared at the unknown number on the screen. Whoever called was there the night I ran. They knew about Leo and Lia. They'd been watching me all along, just waiting until Rowan dropped my old name for everyone to hear, finally deciding to reach out. "Shit," I muttered. I shoved the phone into my pocket next to the photo and grabbed my folders. Walking into the corridor the pack house felt weird — quiet, like the place was holding its breath late at night. I needed to get back to the guest wing, sit, think, figure out some kind of plan before tomorrow blew everything up. Turned the corner toward the stairs and froze. Killian was sitting at the bottom step. Not pacing like he usually did — just sitting there, elbows on his knees,







