CHAPTER 31

Dahlia"Did someone die?"I asked it lightly, swirling my wine like the question meant nothing, watching Adrian's face over the rim of my glass. The dining hall was fuller than usual tonight, three visiting Alphas seated along the table, twice the usual number of guards stationed at the doors, servants moving with the kind of careful, efficiency that only happens when everyone's terrified of dropping something.Adrian didn't smile."Not yet."I nearly choked on my wine."Excuse me?"He didn't get the chance to clarify. Gideon rose from the head of the table, tapping his glass with a fork, and the entire room fell silent so fast it felt rehearsed."I have an announcement," he said, and every hair on my arms stood up at the tone. "Dahlia and Adrian's mating ceremony will take place tomorrow night."The table erupted in polite applause. I sat there, wine glass frozen halfway to my mouth, my whole body screaming while my face did absolutely nothing.Tomorrow night.Adrian looked pleased,

CHAPTER 32

Roman"There's no way in."Morgan said it flat, staring at the blueprint we'd spread across the table for the hundredth time."There's always a way in.""Not this time." He jabbed a finger at the schematic. "Every entrance is monitored. Cameras on the east corridor, motion sensors along the garden wall, guards rotating every fifteen minutes on the west side. And that's just what we can see.""What about underground.""That's the problem." He pulled up a second document. It looked older and faded. "This chamber wasn't built by Gideon's people. Look at the stonework. This construction predates his leadership by decades. Whoever built it originally didn't leave blueprints lying around for future generations to exploit."I stared at the aged schematic, something cold settling in my gut. "So we don't even know what we're walking into.""We know it was built for something involving blood and wolf bonds. That's it. That's all I've got."My phone buzzed. Dahlia.I know something's happening t

CHAPTER 33

Morgan"Say that again.""Which part," Roman said, not looking up from the map. "The part where your sister might be a spy, or the part where I'm starting to think everyone in your family has a secret double life.""Don't start.""I'm just saying, if it turns out your mom's secretly running an arms deal, I want credit for calling it first.""My mom sells scented candles at the farmer's market, Roman.""That's exactly what a secret arms dealer would want me to think."I would've laughed if my hands weren't shaking too hard to hold my coffee steady. I set the mug down before I dropped it and pulled the laptop closer, staring at the signal trace I'd been running for the last hour."Her phone's been active inside the estate for weeks," I said. "Lower levels. Same general area as the ritual chamber.""So she's a prisoner down there.""Maybe." I frowned at the data. "Except prisoners don't usually have access to encrypted comms with clean, consistent signal strength. This looks less like so

CHAPTER 34

RomanMorgan didn't look up from the screen, his face pale in the blue glow of the monitor. "The code used to erase the tunnel from Vale's official records. It's Lucien Argent's.""That's not possible. Lucien doesn't have access to Vale's internal systems.""He doesn't need direct access." Morgan turned the laptop toward me. "Someone used his credentials remotely. Cross pack authorization, the kind only high level Alphas exchange during alliance negotiations. Whoever did this had Lucien's code and enough technical skill to route it through Vale's own servers without tripping an alarm."I stared at the screen, at lines of access data that made less sense the longer I looked at them. "Who else would have had access to Lucien's credentials.""That's the question, isn't it." Morgan rubbed his eyes. "Because it's not a short list. Marcus, obviously, given everything we already know. Cassian, technically, as heir. Maybe even Vivien, if Lucien ever shared anything with her.""Vivien's cleare

CHAPTER 35

Dahlia"You look tired," Adrian said, setting his fork down like my exhaustion was a personal insult to his hospitality."Wedding planning," I said sweetly. "Apparently choosing which shade of white satisfies your father takes real stamina."He almost smiled at that. Ever since the warning in the hallway, something had shifted in him, a caution creeping into every interaction like he was constantly rechecking how much he could safely say around me now."You should rest," he said instead. "Big day tomorrow."I didn't need the reminder. My whole body had been counting down the hours whether I wanted it to or not.I excused myself early, claiming a headache, and made it three steps into the hallway before my phone buzzed.Roman.How are you holding up.Fine, I typed. Then deleted it and typed again.I'm lonely, actually. This place makes solitary confinement look cozy.I miss you too.I stopped walking, staring at the screen, something in my chest aching in a way that had nothing to do w

All Chapters of Teasing Her Alpha Guard : Chapter 31 - Chapter 35

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35