Chapter 2 #2
I sat down. My posture, normally textbook, slumped for maybe the first time in my life.
“She was from my original pack, Rising Moon. Came from a wealthy family, went to Julliard. We knew of each other for years, but I’m seven years older.
I never paid much attention. Until one day I was home on leave and I ran into her in a coffee shop.
Didn’t take long for the bond to show up. ”
“Then what happened?” Parker asked, her voice gone all soft as if she was a therapist and not a hacker with anger issues.
I stared at the tabletop. “Her father. Piece of shit hedge fund manager. He didn’t like that his precious daughter was tied to someone with less money, less status, less everything.
He made her choose. I figured we’d work it out, that he’d come around.
” My mouth twisted. “Instead, she ghosted me. No call, no message. Her father told me—after—he said she realized I was a ‘low life loser’ and she didn’t want to give up her future for someone like me. ”
“Fuck,” Wrecker breathed. “That’s cold.”
“It gets better.” I flexed my hands, feeling the old anger like static under the skin.
“She was nineteen. I was twenty-seven. Her father said he’d see me in jail if I tried to contact her again.
Said I was preying on her. It was all legal; she was an adult, but I didn’t want him calling command, raising a stink. It was a fucking nightmare.”
Parker’s eyes narrowed. “You think she believed him?”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She left. I made my peace with it.” Lie. But it sounded solid.
“So why bring us in?” Wrecker asked, always direct.
“Because that’s not the life she wanted. She was going to be a fucking dancer. Not…this.” I kept my voice steady, but the image of Harper crawling on that stage made me want to break something, preferably her father’s jaw. “I need to know how she ended up in that club. And why.”
“Trafficking?” Parker said, tone clinical.
“Or blackmail,” Wrecker offered. “Pack feuds. There’s a million ways it could go south.”
I nodded. “Exactly. And I don’t care what Bronc says about waiting—I’m not sitting on my hands if there’s a chance she’s in trouble.”
Wrecker met my eyes, his expression unreadable. “You sure you can keep it together?”
“Wouldn’t ask for your help if I couldn’t,” I said, and meant it.
Parker studied me, then leaned in, voice barely above a whisper. “You want us to dig?”
“Everything. Her, her family, the club, Steiner. Leave no stone.”
She cracked her knuckles, grinned, and pulled out her tablet from a messenger bag. “I’ll start digging right away.”
“Do it.”
The silence that followed was heavy but not awkward. Wrecker clapped a hand on my shoulder, then stood. “We’ll figure it out, Jess. And if anyone’s got her locked down, they won’t live long.”
He meant it. I trusted him more than anyone.
Parker was already typing, the blue light flickering in her eyes. “She’s lucky,” she said, almost to herself. “Not many guys would come after someone who left them.”
I looked at her, then past her, to the flag on the wall.
“She never really left,” I said, my voice a low growl. “Not from here.”
Wrecker gave a rare smile. “That’s the Arsenal I know. And brother, you can’t keep this from the Alpha. He deserves to know.”
I knew he was right. I couldn’t have Wrecker and Parker go behind Bronc’s back.
“I’ll go to him. I won’t have y’all involved in some kind of deceit.”
They both nodded as they walked out. I knew they’d have the answers I needed soon. It was time to act. I’d spent my life being two things: a soldier, and a protector.
And I was done losing people.
I headed to Wrecker’s house. Their tech room looked like something you’d see at the Pentagon.
Wrecker broke down Harper’s last knowns with the focus of a bomb tech; Parker set up two laptops and a burner phone, hands flying.
I stood behind them, arms folded, willing myself not to pace.
Years of discipline kept me in place, but my wolf was pacing circles under the skin.
“She was supposed to be at Julliard,” I said, more to myself than anyone, “not dancing in a strip club for some sociopath’s pleasure.”
Wrecker grunted. “People change.”
“She didn’t,” I shot back. “Not like that. Not unless someone made her.” My voice was sharper than intended, but neither of them flinched.
Wrecker’s fingers flicked through printouts from Parker’s bag. “What’s your take, then?”
I exhaled through my nose. “She was a prodigy. Ballet was everything. Her old man controlled everything else—her money, her future, her fucking phone. If she left, it wasn’t because she wanted to.” I felt my jaw click. “Someone boxed her in.”
“Could be Steiner,” Parker offered, not looking up from her screen. “He’s got a way of taking what he wants.”
I clenched my fist, knuckles bone-white. “Or maybe he just enjoys breaking people.”
The silence was tight, but not uncomfortable. More like the loaded space before a breach.
Wrecker shuffled a file my way. “You ever try to contact her after she ghosted?”
“Once after I figured she’d graduated,” I said. “Called her home line. Her father picked up. Told me she’d moved to Europe, had a new life, didn’t want contact with anyone from Texas. Said if I tried again, he’d have my record splashed across the internet.”
Wrecker rolled his eyes. “What record?”
“Exactly,” I said. “He was bluffing. But I couldn’t afford to push it. Not with her just starting out.”
I hesitated, then nodded. “Never mailed it. Didn’t want to look desperate.”
Parker started printing out data. “If I were to guess, here’s where things really went south. About the time she’d been at Julliard for two years, her old man was accused in a Ponzi scheme. He was arrested. Look at the dates.”
She handed me a stack of arrest affidavits and other paperwork. Sure enough, he’d been indicted on several charges.
“Look at the attorney representing him. I swear I saw his name when I was pulling information on Steiner.” I was trying to remember where I’d seen the name.
Wrecker was clicking away on his laptop. “Bingo! He also represents Steiner. That’s not a coincidence.”
“Fucking fuck! I bet he sold her out! That was the last time she attended Julliard. Can we find out when she started dancing at that goddamn club?”
“It’s gonna take me a while, but I’m gonna get the timeline of when everything went down Arsenal. Just give me some time.”
I nodded at Parker. I knew if anyone could get all the information on Harper, these two people could do it.
I should have gone to see Bronc and Juliet.
I shouldn’t have kept this news to myself and tried to handle it like a lone wolf.
That’s not what we do here. Hell, nobody is more by the book than I am.
I just couldn’t risk his giving me the order to stand down.