Chapter 40
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“She’s a rogue,” Caroline was saying, her voice clipped with annoyance, as if the very topic
exhausted her.
“She’s Moonstone,” I corrected, sipping my whiskey. “Try again.”
Cassandra leaned against my desk, arms crossed, her gaze careful and assessing. “She wasn’t always.”
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“Actually, she was,” I said, my voice level. “Even when she was running with the rogues she was still the Moonstone Princess. She just didn’t know it.”
Cassandra scoffed. “God, yes, her memory problem. It’s all a little too calculated.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Caroline stepped forward, her lips pressed into a thin line. “What if she was pretending the whole time? What if she was a Moonstone plant, trying to infiltrate our pack?”
“For what purpose?”
“Who knows? Who knows what they have planned? A hostile takeover? Taking us down from the inside?”
They didn’t know about the uptick in rogue attacks like I did. They didn’t know that the Alpha Council was about to ask us to throw our lot in with theirs for the sake of every other pack in the territory. They didn’t know that I’d already agreed.
Cassandra clucked her agreement. “They’re the only pack that could take down Silverclaw, Derek. They’re the only ones with enough power.”
She wasn’t wrong. But if our pack was going to fall, it was coming from somewhere other
than Moonstone.
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Chapter 40
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I thought about Elena, about those nights in her arms. About how my teeth had ached to sink them into her neck and mark her. About how I hadn’t because of an old oath I’d made
to Cassandra.
And my patience was wearing thin.
I set my glass down with a little too much force, letting the sound crack through the room like a warning. “She’s the daughter of the Moonstone Alpha. She’s their rightful Princess. And she’s not going anywhere.”
Silence settled, thick and tense.
Caroline’s lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t argue.
I could feel Cassandra bristling beside her, words she wanted to say burning on her tongue.
I didn’t give her the chance to spit them out.
“This is not a discussion,” I said, voice low and final. “Elena is Moonstone. She is their heir.
And she is not your concern.”
Caroline tensed, but she had enough sense not to push me further.
“Dismissed.”
Caroline made a displeased sound, but she turned to leave.
Cassandra lingered.
She tilted her head, watching me with something too close to amusement. “You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself,” she murmured.
I exhaled through my nose. “Don’t push me tonight, Cassandra.”
She smiled, but there was no warmth behind it. Then, she turned and walked out the door.
I barely had time to enjoy the silence before it was broken again.
The door swung open for the third time, and my Gamma stepped inside, his expression
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Chapter 40
dark.
“What now?” I muttered.
The Gamma hesitated. “We caught a rogue on patrol.”
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I leaned back in my chair, rubbing a hand over my jaw. I wondered if they were testing
defenses. “And?”
He glanced toward the doorway, then back to me.
“She has some interesting information.”
I sat up straighter. “On what?”
His eyes flicked to the door again, as if debating whether or not he should check it to make sure Cassandra was really gone.
“On Logan,” he finally said.
A pause.
“…And Elena.”
Something cold slithered down my spine.
I set my glass down slowly, every muscle in my body going still.
“Bring her in,” I said, my voice calm.
Too calm. Because whatever this rogue had to say–whatever truths she was about to spill
I had a feeling they were about to change everything.
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