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“Whatever he promised her for defecting, she changed her mind in the end,” Mia says. “Or she tried to. And he made an example of her.”

“That asshole is dead,” Razor mutters.

Mia moves on to recounting our conversation with Ramsey. The appearance in the woods. The wolves he brought. The recruitment pitch delivered over a dead body.

“He said Grey and Lexi aren’t safe,” she says.

“He threatened our alphas.” Dutch’s voice is flat. “To your face.”

“He did.”

“And he’s still breathing,” Razor says. He glances at me like he wants to know how this is possible on my watch.

“I don’t like it either,” Mia says. “But Nash was right. Ramsey’s wolf is different.” She glances at Grey and Lexi. “He feels powerful. And unstable. Like both of you before you bonded. Besides that, we were outnumbered, and I had Lena’s body to think about. So yes, he’s still breathing. For now.”

“The smart play was getting yourselves safely back here,” Grey says firmly before Razor can argue.

“You think he’s taken the serum?” Lexi asks me.

“I do,” Mia says. There’s worry in her eyes now, but she covers it quickly. “But even worse, I think he’s taken out more of the wards than we realized.”

“Davina,” Razor says darkly.

“Likely,” Mia says. “Whoever it is, they’re not amateur. And whatever has him waiting to strike at us, it’s not access. He’s proven that. Which means he has something else up his sleeve.”

I watch as they all absorb that idea, each one recalibrating their understanding of how bad things are.

Then Razor’s chair scrapes back.

“Right,” he says, standing. “So, we go find him. Tonight. We know the general area⁠—”

“Sit down,” Mia says.

“No, fuck that. I’m going to⁠—”

“Razor. Sit. Down.”

There’s a commanding resonance in Mia that has me sitting up straighter. It only lasts a fraction of a second before it’s gone, but I didn’t imagine it. And in that moment, she was dominant enough to give an alpha a run for their money.

Razor feels it too because he sits. But with a deep scowl that tells me he won’t be benched for long.

I look around, wondering if the rest of them felt it, but no one reacts.

Dutch leans forward toward Razor. “She’s right, man. Going out half-cocked is exactly what he wants. He’d pick us off one by one in terrain he knows better than we do right now.”

“So, what, we just wait around here like sitting ducks?” Razor’s hands are flat on the table. “He killed Lena. He burned Solano’s. He's threatening Grey and Lexi in their own house, and we’re supposed to sit here and⁠—”

“We’re supposed to be smart,” Mia says. “We preserve our resources. We don’t send people into the field on emotion when we have an active intelligence problem.”

“Yeah, let’s talk about that,” Dutch says, eyes narrowing on me and Marcus.

“Hang on. Before we get there, can we just revisit the wards,” Andy says, cutting through before Razor can chime in. Her eyes are on her tablet. “If they’re failing and he has a witch actively working to take them down, how do we protect the estate? Or the city? He could come in anytime. Hit anywhere.”

Crow speaks for the first time. “He proved it once already.” Quiet. Weighted. Everyone knows he means Solano’s. Not just the restaurant itself but Bobby.

“No number of patrol schedules can possibly cover that kind of ground,” Andy adds quietly.

“It would be stupid to try,” Mia agrees, her voice heavy with regret.