Chapter 4

"Move." I shoved past Freya's shoulder, not giving her a second glance.

I'd only taken a few steps when my phone started vibrating like crazy.

It was the Red Maple head of security.

"Miss Tessa! Something terrible has happened!" His voice was choked with panic. "The High Council just issued a top-level warrant! The formula for the secret healing serum… the one your father sponsored in the council… it's been stolen by the vampires! The Tribunal is launching a full investigation!"

I stopped dead. The blood drained from my face.

"That's impossible!" I choked out. "The highest level of access to that data is restricted to me, Callum, and the frontline commander, Freya! The system is physically isolated!"

Only ragged breathing came from the other end of the line.

Ten minutes later. The emergency council room.

The air was thick with tension.

Callum sat at the head of the table, his face a thundercloud.

Freya was at his right, her hands clenched so tight her knuckles were white.

"Run a full diagnostic on the internal network. Cross-reference the access logs for all three of our terminals, now." I braced my hands on the table, breaking the silence. "The formula couldn't have just vanished. There has to be a trace."

"Enough."

Callum's voice was cold. Merciless.

He looked up at me, his eyes empty of any warmth. He was looking at an enemy.

"There's no need to check." He announced it to the whole room. "The secure tablet was lost on the front lines, yes. But the vampires couldn't have cracked it without a high-level override code. Your father's political rivals have already submitted 'evidence' to the Tribunal. They're claiming he abused his authority as a sponsor to leak the code to the vampires."

My eyes widened in disbelief.

"Callum, you know that's a lie! What are you talking about?!"

"To protect the Red Maple pack, and to secure the front line, I will be writing to the Tribunal to support their claim. I will confirm that your father's negligence led to the leak. It's the most logical way to limit the damage."

The room gasped.

He was going to send my father to his execution.

The meeting ended in a stunned silence.

In the empty hallway, I blocked Callum's path.

"You and Freya lost the secure tablet on patrol last week! You were ambushed by vampires!" My voice was a raw scream, my eyes burning. "It was YOUR mistake! Why are you letting them pin this on my father?! Why are you sacrificing him to cover for Freya?!"

Callum's huge frame loomed over me.

There was no guilt in his eyes. Only the cold fury of an Alpha who had been questioned in public.

"When did you become so vicious, Tessa?" He looked down at me, his voice freezing cold. "Freya is the core of Red Maple's fighting force. If I admit the mistake was made on the front lines, she'll be executed for treason by the Tribunal. The entire northern defense will collapse!"

He grabbed my chin, his voice full of righteous certainty.

"Letting your father, a man caught in a political storm anyway, take the fall for 'negligent oversight' is the most rational decision for an Alpha. It keeps our sharpest weapon safe. Once he's served some time, once I've beaten back the vampires and become Chairman, I'll use my authority to get him out."

"Rational?" I laughed, a broken, hysterical sound. Tears splashed onto his hand. "That's my FATHER! The man you swore to honor and respect! Who the hell do you think you are, to assume you can control everything?!"

Callum shoved my hand away and adjusted his tie, irritated.

"For the good of the pack, some sacrifices are necessary. You need to learn to see the bigger picture, instead of acting like a hysterical child."

He left me there. He and Freya walked away without a backward glance.

I watched them go, my chest heaving.

Was my heart breaking?

No. There was nothing left to break.

This was the man I had loved for more than a decade.

To protect his obedient little soldier, because he arrogantly decided a politician's life was worth less than a warrior's, he had thrown my father away like garbage.

The next day.

The news was everywhere.

SILVER MOON ELDER ACCUSED OF TREASON! SECRET SERUM LEAKED TO VAMPIRES!

I watched the report on the television. I felt nothing. Just a vast, empty wasteland inside me.

Three in the afternoon.

I took off the uniform with the Red Maple crest.

I turned on the shredder. One by one, I destroyed all of it. My private notes. My unpublished formulas.

If my work was worthless to him, then it could disappear forever.

I walked into the main hall of the Pack House, carrying the last box.

Callum was on the sofa, reading a battle report. He frowned when he saw the box.

He stood up and walked over to me.

No apology. No guilt.

He even tried to put his arm around my waist.

I shifted my body, just enough to avoid his touch.

Callum's hand fell to his side. He made a small, irritated sound.

"Still sulking?" He looked down at me, his voice dripping with arrogant pity. "I've already handled the Council. I promise, your father won't be executed. After he serves his time, I'll use Red Maple's resources to get him a quiet, comfortable position. Happy now?"

In his mind, this was a massive favor.

He was sure I had nowhere else to go. Sure that his little hothouse flower couldn't survive without him.

"There's a high-level dinner tonight. For morale." He glanced at his watch, his tone a command. "You'll wait for me at home. And don't cause any more trouble."

I looked at this cold, blindly confident Alpha. And I smiled.

"Okay," I said softly. My voice was impossibly calm.

A satisfied smirk touched Callum's lips. He turned and walked up the stairs.

I looked away, clutched my box, and pushed open the heavy main doors of the Pack House.

The northern sun was setting, staining the sky the color of blood. A dry, cold wind blew away the last trace of my scent from the home I was leaving behind.

I walked out of the prison I had lived in for over a decade.

And I never looked back.

He had no idea I was never coming back.