The thought makes my wolf whine with distress, but I push the feeling aside. I can’t build a future on lies. If there’s any chance of making this work, she needs to know who I am and what I’ve done. She needs to make an informed choice about whether she wants me in her life.
The thought of her choosing to walk away makes my wolf snarl, but I push him down. I won’t force her. I won’t manipulate her or trick her into staying with me. That’s Bastian’s playbook, not mine, and I’ve seen firsthand how much damage that approach causes.
I’m about halfway to the border when I catch a familiar scent on the wind, and every muscle in my body goes rigid.
No. Not here. Not now.
I slow my pace but don’t stop walking. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe my senses are playing tricks on me after a night of too much whiskey and too little sleep. Maybe the stress of the morning is making me paranoid.
“Patrick!” a voice rings out from the tree line to my left, cheerful and mocking in equal measure. “What a surprise. Fancy meeting you here.”
I stop walking and turn to face the speaker. Bastian Corvelli steps out from behind a cluster of scrub brush, flanked by two other Thornridge wolves I recognize from the inner circle. Rylan and Dolph, both loyal to Mordaunt down to their bones. They’re the kind of wolves who follow orders without question and enjoy the violence that comes with it.
Bastian is smiling, and that smile makes my blood run cold.
I clear my throat and keep my voice neutral and my posture relaxed. “I didn’t expect to see you out here, Bastian.”
“I imagine not.” He saunters toward me like he has all the time in the world, and he’s preparing for idle chitchat. “We’ve been looking for you, Patrick. Two days is a long time to be off the grid. Mordaunt was starting to worry.”
“I needed some space. Time to clear my head after the last mission.”
“Understandable. Watching your packmates die can be traumatic.” The sympathy in his voice is faker than a three-dollar bill. Bastian doesn’t care about the wolves we lost. He wasn’t even there when it happened, safely tucked away at therear while the rest of us bled and died for Mordaunt’s obsession. “But you should have told someone where you were going. We’re supposed to be a family, after all.”
The word family makes me want to laugh in his face. Thornridge hasn’t felt like a family in years, if it ever did. It’s a prison with invisible bars, held together by fear and violence and the fact that leaving means death.
“I’ll remember that next time,” I tell him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to report in.”
I start to walk past him, but Bastian steps into my path. He’s still smiling, but something dangerous lurks behind his eyes. I’ve seen that look before, usually right before he does something cruel.
“Not so fast. We need to talk about what you’ve been doing out here in enemy territory.” He pauses, letting the words hang in the air between us like a blade waiting to fall. “Or should I say,whoyou’ve been doing.”
My stomach drops as Bastian reaches into his pocket and pulls out a photograph. It’s grainy, clearly taken from a distance and probably from some kind of hidden surveillance point, but the image is unmistakable. Caelan and I on the dance floor at the Rusty Fang, with her arms over my shoulders and her body against mine. We’re looking at each other like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.
“You’ve been busy,” Bastian comments. “A Llewelyn woman. That’s bold, even for you.”
“It was just a hookup. She doesn’t mean anything.”
My wolf snarls at me for saying it, for denying what Caelan is to us, but I can’t let Bastian know the truth. If he findsout she’s my mate, he’ll use her against me. He’ll use her against her own pack, just like he used Raegan Blacklock.
“Just a hookup.” Bastian tucks the photograph back into his pocket, still wearing that infuriating smile. “That’s not what it looked like to our scouts. They said you two were pretty cozy. Talked for hours. Danced. Left together.”
“Your scouts should mind their own business.”
“Their business is Mordaunt’s business. And Mordaunt’s business is making sure our wolves stay loyal. You understand, don’t you, Patrick? After everything that’s happened lately, we can’t afford to have anyone going soft on us.”
“I’m not going soft.”
“Good. Because Mordaunt has a job for you. As you know, he’s been watching the Llewelyn pack for months now. Looking for weaknesses, points of entry. And then you go and seduce one of their women without even being asked.”
My blood turns to ice in my veins. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying congratulations are in order.” Bastian claps me on the shoulder like we’re old friends celebrating a victory. “You’ve found us an in. A Llewelyn female, connected to the leadership family, based on those pretty Thornwick features. Sera Thornwick’s sister, if our intelligence is correct. Mordaunt is very impressed with your initiative.”
“I didn’t—”
“The matriarchal pack has always been our next target,” Bastian continues, talking over me like I haven’t spoken. “A territory run by women, isolated from the male-dominated alliance. Mordaunt’s convinced they’ll be the easiest to break once we’re ready to move. And now, thanks to you, we have a way inside.”
I stare at him as my mind races. He wants me to use Caelan. He wants me to exploit the connection between us, to leverage my relationship with her as a weapon against her own people.
