LOGINChapter 187ANNALISA The tracking was taking longer than Kai had initially estimated, which he'd warned us about. The signal was clear and consistent, which was the good news. The process of translating that signal into a geographic location required layering it against frequency data and topographic maps and eliminating interference from structures and distance variables, which was the part that took time.I stood and watched and tried to manage myself.The trying to manage myself was getting harder as the morning went on and the signal stayed green and the map on the screen kept narrowing. Because the narrowing meant real. The narrowing meant this was not wishful thinking or technology error or a watch that had somehow activated by itself in a corner somewhere with no one wearing it. The narrowing meant someone was wearing the watch and that someone was in a location that was becoming more specific by the minute.The room was quiet in a way that felt dense. Everyone in it was doing
Chapter 186 ANNALISAI looked at Dominic.He was already looking at me, and his expression was going through a lot of changes in seconds. Surprise, confusion, alarm, anger, happiness, guilt....I removed my eyes from him and faced Dominic who was gripping onto Eli tightly and I knew he was moment away from putting Antonio through a wall."Take Eli," I said quietly."Anna—""Please." I kept my voice low and steady. Eli was still, watching all three adults in the room, seeing the tension without having any idea what it was about. "I need you to take him."Dominic stepped closer to me, and for a moment I thought he was going to argue. His hand came to my arm, a firm pressure that gave me support as he lowered his voice and whispered in my ears. "I'm not leaving you alone with him.""I'm fine.""That's not—""Dominic." I held his gaze and kept my voice small. "I'm fine. I don't want to do this in front of Eli. You know I'm right."He looked at me for a long moment. The muscle in his jaw
Chapter 186CHASE"Chase." She said my name in the way that meant she was about to tell me something honest and wanted me to be ready for it. "The watch being active tells us the watch is active. It tells us the signal is registering. Those are true things. Whatever else we build from those true things, we need to build carefully so we're not wrong." She looked at me. "But yes. It's more than we had. It's significant."I understood what she was doing. She was being careful because I'd had hope before that had been followed by hard things, and she didn't want to build me up in a way that might need to be taken back. She was protecting me.I appreciated it. And I also thought she was wrong to be quite that careful."Mum," I said. "He's wearing a rainbow watch. Dad. In wherever he is right now, he's wearing a rainbow watch with a rainbow strap that he agreed to wear because I asked him to." I looked at her. "He kept it. Through everything. He's been missing for a week and he has a rainbo
Chapter 185CHASENot a specific dot, not a location marker the way a proper GPS showed a pin on a map. Just green, the general green of the signal strength indicator, filling most of the small display.I stared at it.The watch beeped again. Three short. Pause. Three short.My hands started shaking.Green meant the other watch was on. Green meant the other watch was within the network range. Green meant the paired watch was somewhere in the world right now, being worn or carried by the person who had it.Dad had the other watch.Dad had the other watch and the other watch was showing green which meant Dad was out there somewhere and the watch was with him and that meant—I screamed.It came out louder than I meant it to. A lot louder. The kind of sound that happened when your body decided to express something before your brain had finished calculating whether that was appropriate.The door burst open approximately four seconds later.Mum came in first, which was not a surprise becaus
MATTHEW"I keep informed about the families who access our medical resources," he said. "I told you that. It's part of how the Alpha King's office ensures we're providing actual value rather than bureaucratic service." He paused. "Is that concerning to you?""It raises questions," I said honestly. "About the scope of your monitoring and what triggers that level of personal interest."He nodded as if this was a reasonable response, which it was. "Fair. I'd ask the same thing in your position." He leaned forward slightly. "Matthew, I'm here because I want to offer something concrete. The Alpha King's office has resources that extend beyond medical access. Intelligence resources, security resources, the kind of apparatus that a pack Alpha managing an internal challenge and an external threat simultaneously might find useful." He paused. "I'd like to make those resources available to you. Formally. As an extension of the relationship we began when we approved your entry."I looked at him.
MATTHEWI looked at her for a long moment. I thought about Dr. Martinez's assessment—the coercion hypothesis, the possibility that Mia was a lever being used by someone else, the behavioral escalation that didn't fit her established patterns.I thought about the frightened thing I'd seen in her expression, one second before she'd closed it off."I won't call the police today," I said. "But Mia, hear me when I say this. If you come near Theo again—if you approach him, follow him, use anyone else to get access to him—I will stop being merciful. I don't care what else is happening in your life. He is off limits."She looked at me with an expression I couldn't fully read. Something that was more than hurt and less than anger. "You're choosing a dead woman over me," she said quietly."I'm choosing my son," I said. "And yes, I'm choosing Bianca's memory. Because whatever I failed to give her when she was alive, I can at least do right by what she left behind." I moved to the door and opened
Chapter 138BIANCA I didn't know that man. Had no way of knowing whether the transformation was real or performed.But Theo did.Theo was living with him, talking to Dr. Fisher about him, calling him from school when he was frightened because he trusted his father to come.That was something.My p
Chapter 117THEOIt was a picture of me and Mama at the park. She was pushing me on the swings, and we were both smiling. Really smiling, and laughing with me. Not the fake kind that she put on, when she was with Mia or people she didn't like.I thought all the pictures of Mama were gone forever an
Chapter 99RIVERAI closed the door to my study and turned to find Klaus standing with his arms crossed, his expression somewhere between furious and disappointed. Elijah, Mikael, and Roy sat in various positions around the room, all wearing variations of the same look.I was in trouble."So," Klau
Chapter 98BIANCA"Because Rivera asked us not to," Klaus said simply. "He wanted you to get settled, to build a life here, without the pressure of knowing you were under direct Alpha King protection. He thought it might make you feel obligated or restricted."That sounded like Rivera. Protecting m







