All Chapters of CHOSEN LAST: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Sage’s POVFor a moment, Ethan simply stood there, the words seeming to take a second too long to fully register. Then something shifted in his face, the exhaustion of the last twenty-four hours burning away beneath a surge of pure adrenaline.“How many men does he have with him?” Ethan demanded.“Unknown,” the pack member said. “But the prisoner says it’s enough. Says Daniel’s been building toward this for weeks, waiting for exactly this kind of moment, when the pack’s defenses would be stretched thinnest.”“Get every fighter still standing,” Ethan ordered, already moving toward the clinic doors. “I don’t care how tired they are. If Daniel is making his move now, we can’t afford to wait for anyone to rest.”I followed close behind him, ignoring the ache in my own exhausted limbs. “I’m coming.”“Sage, your parents just got back…”“And they would want me to help protect this pack the same way people just helped protect them,” I said firmly. “I’m not sitting this one out, Ethan. Not the

Sage’s POV “Who?” Ethan demanded again, closing the distance to the pack member in two long strides.The young wolf’s throat worked before the words finally came out. “Dr. Jasmine.”For a moment, I thought I had misheard him completely. “That’s not possible,” I said. “She was attacked. I found her myself, unconscious, bleeding. She’s the one who gave us the location of the cabin, who came forward with everything about Beta Grant.”“I know how it sounds,” the pack member said quickly. “But Reyes is insistent. She says she heard the voice clearly while she was being held at that cabin, before we ever got there, giving direct orders to Daniel’s men. Not suggestions, not requests. Orders. And she says she had known that voice anywhere, because Dr. Jasmine treated her own children for years.”Ethan’s face had gone carefully blank, the way it did whenever he was forcing himself to process something too enormous to react to immediately. “Take us to her. Now.”We left Grant sitting in stunne

Sage’s POVThe armed figures closed in slowly, forming a tight circle around us and I felt Ethan’s body coil beside me, every muscle ready to fight despite the impossible odds stacked against just the two of us.“There’s still time to walk away from this peacefully,” Jasmine said, her voice carrying an odd, almost reasonable tone that made the whole situation feel even more surreal. “Come quietly and nobody needs to get hurt today.”“You already told us what happens if we come quietly,” Ethan said. “Disappeared. Presumed dead. I don’t think either of us finds that particularly peaceful.”Jasmine sighed, as though disappointed by our lack of cooperation. “I was hoping you would be reasonable about this, Ethan. You always struck me as someone who understood strategic necessity.”“I understand murder when I see it,” Ethan shot back. “Whatever fancy language you dress it up in, that’s exactly what you’re planning.”One of the armed men took a step closer and Ethan reacted instantly, movin

Sages’s POVThe council meeting stretched long into the evening, security protocols discussed and argued over, though the overwhelming scope of Jasmine’s supposed network left everyone in the room feeling increasingly uneasy. I sat near the back beside Ethan, watching council members debate over lists of pack members who might need closer scrutiny, the whole process feeling impossible given how many wolves called Redhollow home.“We can’t investigate everyone,” one council member said, exasperation clear in her voice. “There are hundreds of us. If Jasmine truly built a network this large, how do we even know where to start looking?”“We start with behavior,” Ethan said. “Anyone who’s shown unusual patterns lately. Anyone who had direct contact with Jasmine, Daniel, or Whitfield beyond ordinary pack business.”Councilman Reeves, seated near the head of the table, cleared his throat. He had served on the council for years, a steady, unremarkable presence who rarely spoke unless directly

Sage’s POVMy father’s words hung heavy in the kitchen and for a moment nobody spoke, the weight of what he had just suggested settling over all of us like a physical thing.“Who?” Ethan demanded, stepping back into the kitchen fully. “Who approached Jasmine first?”My father’s hands trembled around his cooling teacup. “I only learned this myself recently, overheard fragments of a conversation Jasmine had on the phone once, back before I stopped cooperating with her entirely. She was speaking to someone with obvious deference, the same way Grant described Daniel speaking to whoever he answered to. I only caught a few words but one phrase stuck with me because of how strange it sounded coming from Jasmine, who never showed weakness or submission to anyone.”“What did she say?” I pressed.“She said, ‘Of course, my Luna. I understand completely.’”The word landed like a physical blow. Ethan went completely still beside me, his face draining of color so fast I feared he might actually col