Chapter 150
+25 BONUS
“Mason is blinded by love,” he muttered. “He’s not going to see sense or reason. Even if I backed it up with “evidence”
I blinked. “Evidence?”
He hesitated. Sighed. “Alpha Derek found documents while investigating Pierce. Moonstone correspondence. Reports. Internal logistics. It was part of what led him to suspect you were in danger–when you were in
Barbados.”
frowned. “I remember. He said something about finding burned scraps. But they were from us?”
He nodded. “Some of the markdings were unmistakable. Your mother and I verified them. Not copies. Originals.”
I straightened. “But… how?”
“That’s the question.” He leaned back in his chair, jaw tense. “Those rogue girls lived here, Elena. Under our rool. They slept in guest rooms. Ate our food. Sat at our table. What if they were acting as spies the whole time?”
My stomach twisted. “They weren’t. Carly? Erin? Maggie
He cut me off. “You think it’s impossible. I get it. You trust them. They helped you. But where did those documents come from? Who left them behind? Who had access?”
I didn’t have an answer. Not one I liked, anyway.
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his temple. “If you’re worried about Erin,” I said gently, “then invite her here. Have her over for dinner. I’m not saying interrogate her–just… see for yourself what kind of wolf she is.”
He exhaled slowly, as if the idea hurt to consider.
“I’m not asking you to change your mind,” I added. “I’m asking you to give her a fair shot. That’s all.”
He looked up at me. “How did you get to be so smart? So good at this diplomacy nonsense?”
I smiled. “I had to overcome my genetics.”
He actually laughed. A real one. Deep and brief, but real.
1 left his office with a smile on my face.
But it didn’t last long.
As I stepped into the hallway, the last thing he said started to circle in my mind again like a vulture.
Where did those documents come from?
They had lived under our roof. For weeks. Long enough to unpack, to settle in, to help me heal.
I remembered Maggie moving around the estate like a ghost, afraid to run into anyone, Erin being careful not to speak unless asked. Carly hovering near the windows, anxious, alert.
None of them ever touched the war room. They wouldn’t have had access.
Would they?
I slowed as I reached the stairs.
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Chapter 150
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What if someone else had access? What if the documents hadn’t come from my friends at all–but from someone else? A third party we’d overlooked? Someone hiding behind the same blind spot we’d all agreed not to examine too closely?
But if that was true… why were my friends the ones whose ngerprints were left behind?
My throat went tight.
I thought of Erin’s eyes when she looked at Mason. The way her hands had shaken when she told me she couldn’t come live with him–not like he wanted her too. I thought of how she’d defended me in the roguelands, even when it would’ve been easier to turn away.
She wasn’t a spy.
I knew she wasn’t.
But someone had used the timing. The proximity. The access.
And I couldn’t ignore that anymore.
As I reached the top of the stairs, I pulled out my phone and opened my message thread with Carly.
Me:
Hey. I need to ask you something weird. Do you remember anyone coming and going from the estate back when you stayed here with me? Anyone you didn’t recognize? Anyone who maybe… went places they shouldn’t? Thesitated before hitting send. Then added another line.
Me:
I’m not accusing anyone. I just need to know if there’s something I missed.
I stared at the message for another second.
Then I pressed send.
Chapter 151
Chapter 151
