Semua Bab The Forbidden Alpha’s Mate: Bab 41 - Bab 50

LEVI'S POVRay came back from the south wall an hour later and sat across from me in the office."Her name is Kai's patrol partner," he said. "She's been on south wall rotation for two years. Before that she trained under the previous patrol coordinator who taught her to read operational patterns before he retired." He paused. "She flagged the east border gaps in a written report. Three pages. Detailed. Gave it to Daniel and never heard back. Assumed it had been addressed.""It hadn't," I said."No," he said. "It was sitting in Daniel's secondary folder under things to review when time allowed. She wrote a second report two weeks later. Same folder. She thought she was doing something wrong. The way she talked about it, like she was apologizing for noticing things.""What did you tell her," I said."That she wasn't doing anything wrong. That the structure failed her not the other way around. That the role is hers if she wants it and she reports directly to me." He paused. "She asked

LEVI'S POVKira's follow up meeting lasted two hours.She came in with three folders, a hand drawn map of the east border, and the energy of someone who had spent three months being ignored and had decided that was finished now.Ray sat across from her. I sat to his left."The third report," Ray said. "Walk me through the border gap analysis.""The east border has three coverage windows," she said. "Every third week. Tuesday nights specifically. Between the second and third patrol rotation there's a forty minute gap where the northeast section has no coverage at all." She opened the map. Pointed. "Here. Here. And here.""How long has this been happening," Ray said."At least eight months based on the logs I reviewed," she said. "Possibly longer. The logs before that period are incomplete.""Incomplete how," I said.She looked at me. "Missing entries. Not blank. Missing. Like they were removed."Ray looked at me.I looked at Ray."Someone altered the logs," Ray said."I can't confirm t

LEVI'S POVThe second supply route took longer than the first.Halfway through Ray stopped his horse and sat very still and said nothing for long enough that I pulled up beside him and waited."There," he said finally. "You see it."A narrow track cutting away from the main route into dense trees. Fresh mud marks. Recent. Multiple trips."That's not on any map," I said."No," he said. "Too narrow for supply vehicles. This is foot traffic." He paused. "Or horse.""We follow it," I said."Not today," he said."Ray—""Not today," he said again. "We're two people without backup in unfamiliar terrain. If someone is using this track and they're connected to what we found in the logs—" He stopped. "We come back properly. With Daniel and enough wolves to cover the exits.""You want to walk away from it," I said."I want to survive it," he said. "There's a difference."I looked at the track. Then at him."Fine," I said. "Two days. Give Daniel time to trace the coordinator first.""If the trace

LEVI'S POVWe got back to the compound by sunrise.Daniel took the retired coordinator to the secure room. The three compound wolves went back to rotation. Ray and I went straight to the office and stood there for a moment just breathing."Someone is coming through the northeast gap tomorrow night," I said."Yes," Ray said."With people," I said."Yes," he said."To deliver a message from someone who calls themselves the successor," I said."Yes," he said."Ray," I said."I know," he said."Victor named a successor," I said. "Before his capture. Before the hearing. Before everything." I paused. "Which means this was never about Victor. Victor was just—""The visible part," Ray said. "Again.""Yes," I said.We stood there."The northeast gap," Ray said. "We don't close it.""No," I said."We let them come through," he said."Yes," I said."And we're waiting on the other side," he said."Yes," I said. "But this time we need to know who they are before we move. Not just take them. Know t

RAY'S POVThe briefing was at seven.Me, Levi, Daniel, Chris. The office. Door closed.Daniel looked at the map of the northeast section, looked at the gap timing, looked at the relay station information, and said — "We close the gap.""No," I said."Ray," he said. "Someone is coming through tonight with unknown numbers and you want to — what. Stand there and let them walk in.""We let them talk," I said."That's—" He stopped. "That's not a plan.""It is a plan," I said."It's not a good one," he said."Daniel," Levi said."No," Daniel said. "I'm sorry but no. We have a gap in our security. Someone is coming through it tonight. The correct response is to close it, position wolves and take them when they cross.""And then what," I said."Then we interrogate them," he said."And they tell us nothing," I said. "Because they're a messenger. Messengers don't carry information Daniel. They carry messages. The information is with the person who sent them." I paused. "We need to know who the s