LOGINCHAPTER 51KADE POVBy the time I reached my office, I had already made up my mind.Sera was going after Thorne.I didn't know where she intended to find him, what she believed he was hiding, or how much she already knew, but I knew her well enough by now to recognize the look she wore when she had made a decision she wasn't going to discuss with anyone.She had worn it when she refused my quarters.She had worn it when she went after the Devil's Root despite the danger.She had worn it when she walked into situations that would have made most people think twice.And she had worn it when she left the archive with that careful expression on her face, as if every thought had already been locked behind her eyes.I pushed open my office door.Rowan was waiting inside.He rose from the chair immediately.“You were looking for me?”“I need the records from the Diamond Pack meeting.”His brows drew together slightly.“The full report?”“Everything.”He reached for the folder he had brought w
CHAPTER 2Ella’s POVMy father taught me how to fight. Male or female, he said, a wolf should always know how to defend themselves.At this moment, I silently thanked him.I elbowed the man behind me, grabbed his arm in that split second of surprise, kicked the knife free, and caught it before it hit the floor.Graceful? No.Effective? Yes.I pointed it at him immediately.“Who are you?”“I should be asking you that,” he growled, stepping closer.I kept the blade inches from his face, ready to slice if he even blinked suspiciously.“How dare you? You must be out of your mind.”His voice was bold, deeper than expected.A black strand of hair fell over his cheek. His eyes were golden brown, intense—and annoyingly attractive.Why does danger always come with good hair?“How dare you enter the north wing? You must die,” he said, as if announcing the weather.He was handsome, yes.But arrogant?Absolutely.“You’ll be the one punished after I inform the Alpha that an intruder pulled a knife
CHAPTER 49CHAPTER 49KADE“My Alpha.”Rowan walked inside, carefully closing the door behind him.I turned from the window.“Keep your men away from Sera.”Rowan frowned. “My Alpha?”“Anyone assigned to watch her. Pull them back.”“But—”“I said pull them back.”He studied me for a moment before nodding. “As you wish.”Silence settled between us.My gaze returned to the window.Sera had been acting strangely ever since we returned from the mission. She had become even more guarded, as if she were carrying something she refused to let anyone see.And I knew exactly what it was.Her father.“I watched him die,” I said quietly.Rowan's expression changed.“My Alpha…”“I stood there and watched them kill him.”“You weren't Alpha then.”“It doesn't change what happened.”“You could have been killed too.”I clenched my jaw.Maybe.But that had never made the memory easier to carry.Rowan remained silent for a moment before speaking again. “Sera went to the old room.”I looked at him. “What
CHAPTER 43SERA POVI found Boyd and the other three rogues in the small courtyard behind the infirmary. The space Kade had grudgingly allowed them during daylight hours, as long as a guard stood watch nearby.Boyd didn't look up from the knife he was sharpening. "You look like a woman with something on her mind.""I have several things on my mind. Most of them aren't your business.""Fair enough." He tested the blade against his thumb and set it aside. "Ask your question anyway. I can tell you're circling one."I sat down across from him. The guard shifted his weight but said nothing."The man who hired you. I want you to think back to that meeting again. Not what he said. What you noticed about him physically. Beyond the tattoo."Boyd's brow furrowed. He glanced at the others. They'd gone quiet, listening."We already gave the Alpha everything we remembered.""You gave him what you thought mattered. I want everything. Including the details you dismissed because they didn't seem impo
CHAPTER 47SERA POVI was packing when the first shot hit the window.Glass exploded inward. I hit the floor before my brain caught up, cheek against cold stone, one hand already reaching for the bag I'd been filling. Another shot. Then another. Three rounds. Evenly spaced. The kind of pattern that comes from someone who wants you to know they're not going to stop.The door slammed open.Kade.He crossed the room in three strides. Hauled me up by the arm. Shoved me behind the heavy oak desk before I could say a word. His body blocked the window. His claws were already out. Somewhere down the hall, boots pounded against stone."Stay down.""I'm not—""Stay. Down."Another round tore through the wall above us. Plaster rained onto the desk. I heard Kyle's growl tear out of Kade's chest. Low. Vibrating. The air in the room went thick with it.Then the shooting stopped.Ellis burst through the door. Chest heaving. Two guards behind him. "Rooftop. West side. Two shooters, already moving.""
CHAPTER 46ROWAN POVThe town matching the fragment took two days to identify, buried in an old regional gazetteer that hadn't been updated since before the border war that killed Kade's father."Sanctuary Hollow," Ellis read aloud, tracing the faded map with one finger. "Renamed generations ago. Most current maps just call it Hollow Creek. No wonder the name meant nothing to either of us.""Renamed by whom.""The gazetteer doesn't say. Just notes the change, no explanation." He looked up at me. "It's a half-day's ride east, past Diamond's border. Small settlement. Mostly abandoned, from what little else I could find."I didn't like the timing of it, the way every lead we'd chased since the ambush had a habit of sitting just beyond the edge of territory anyone bothered to patrol closely. That kind of placement wasn't accidental. Whoever built this network understood exactly which stretches of land drew scrutiny and which ones didn't, and they'd built their entire operation in the gaps







