เข้าสู่ระบบCHAPTER 54SERA POVKade grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the passage.The smoke was already thickening.It rolled along the ceiling first, darkening the narrow tunnel before dropping lower with every second. I covered my mouth with my free hand and stumbled after him as he moved quickly toward the sealed entrance.“Kade, the door—”“I know.”He reached it and shoved his shoulder against the stone.Nothing.He tried again.The wall didn't move.“It's locked from the outside.”My chest tightened.Behind us, something cracked.I turned.A faint orange glow had appeared at the far end of the underground room.Fire.Someone had set the room on fire.“They're burning the passage.”Kade swore under his breath.He pulled me back toward the room.“Stay close.”We ran.The smoke was getting worse, but the room itself wasn't burning yet. The fire had been started in the passage, forcing us away from the entrance.Kade moved toward the opposite wall, scanning the shelves.“There has to be an
CHAPTER 53SERA POVI barely slept.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the piece of paper on the table.The same location I had found in my father's records.The same place someone had deliberately written on a piece of coded correspondence.And according to Rowan, the place had burned down three years ago.It made no sense.That was what bothered me most.If the trading post was gone, why would someone send a message directing me there?I sat on the edge of the bed before dawn, fastening the buttons of my coat while trying to make sense of everything I had discovered.A knock sounded on the door.I stood.Kade's voice came from the other side.“We're leaving.”I opened the door.He stood in the corridor already dressed, a dark coat over his shirt, his expression serious.“You said before dawn.”“It is before dawn.”I glanced toward the window.The sky was still dark.“You really weren't joking.”His gaze moved over me briefly before returning to my face.“Ready?”“Yes.”He stepped as
CHAPTER 52SERA POVBy morning, the entire estate knew something had happened at the archive.No one said it directly.Guards had been stationed near the eastern corridor before breakfast, and two members of the records staff had been questioned before they were allowed to leave. Even the servants seemed to know better than to linger near the old wing.I sat at the breakfast table with a cup of untouched tea between my hands, listening to the faint movement outside.Kade hadn't said much since last night.That bothered me more than if he had spent the entire morning arguing with me.He had spent the first part of the night in his office with Rowan. I had seen Rowan leave sometime after midnight, carrying another stack of files.And now Kade was sitting across from me, reading a report while eating as though someone hadn't just removed a Council file from an archive connected to his father's reign.I finally put my cup down.“You've been staring at the same page for five minutes.”He l
CHAPTER 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 50 SERA POV “How long have you known about Thorne?” For a moment, I simply stared at him. Kade stood beside the old wooden table with the document still in his hand, his thumb pressed against the edge of the paper. The surprise that had crossed his face when he found my name on the page was gone now, replaced by something far more difficult to read. He wasn't shouting. That was worse. Kade never needed to raise his voice to make a room feel smaller. He had the kind of presence that made people straighten without realizing they were doing it, the kind of authority that came from being obeyed for years rather than demanded to be respected every few minutes. His eyes stayed on mine. Waiting. I walked farther into the room and closed the door behind me. “I don't know what you mean.” His jaw shifted. “You said his name before you knew I was here.” I glanced at the document. “That doesn't answer my question.” “No,” he said. “You answer mine.” I folded my arms. “You'
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







