22. Cayenne
Chapter 22
Cayenne
Balance isn’t something I’ve ever been good at. My life has always been extremes—all in or all out, full throttle or dead stop. But standing here in Jinx’s room, my lips still tingling from our kiss, I’m starting to understand what equilibrium feels like.
“We should find Ryker.” Jinx’s voice has lost its earlier edge, settling into something steadier. His fingers brush against my hip, a touch that feels both casual and deliberate. “He’s in the office with Finn.”
I catalog the changes in him—the way his shoulders have loosened, how his movements flow instead of snap. It’s like watching a predator settle into its skin, no less dangerous but more... contained.
“And Theo?” The omega’s absence feels deliberate, especially given what I now know about their last mission.
“Good question.” A shadow crosses Jinx’s face, there and gone like a cloud passing over the sun. “Too good a question.”
We leave his pristine room, and I can’t help but notice how he positions himself—slightly behind me, watching our six even in the safety of pack territory. Old habits or justified paranoia? After what he’s just told me, after what I’ve seen in those server files, maybe there’s no difference.
The walk to the first floor gives me time to process everything. How each member of this pack fills spaces I never knew were empty. Ryker’s structured control balancing Jinx’s chaos. Finn’s analytical calm complementing Theo’s artistic passion. And somehow, impossibly, I’m starting to fit into the spaces between.
It should terrify me. Instead, it feels like coming home.
The official pack office doors are closed, but I can hear voices inside. Finn’s lilting accent wrapped around Ryker’s deeper tones, both carrying notes of tension that make my hackles rise.
Jinx’s hand finds the small of my back as we approach. “Ready for this?”
The question carries weight beyond the immediate moment. Ready for pack business? Ready for whatever mission has Ryker wound so tight? Ready to dive deeper into this complex dynamic we’re building?
I think about the rush I get from each of them. Different flavors of the same addictive high. Ryker’s training sessions that leave me breathless. Finn’s mental chess matches that make my mind spark. Theo’s music that touches something primal in my soul. And now Jinx, who sees my darkness and raises it his own.
“Yeah,” I say, surprising myself with how much I mean it. “I’m ready.”
Jinx doesn’t bother knocking. He just pushes the door open, his hand still steady against my back. Like my presence grounds him as much as his grounds me.
The office is pure Ryker—everything in its place, tactical maps on one wall, security feeds on another. He stands behind a massive desk, hands planted on its surface, while Finn lounges in one of the leather chairs, tablet balanced on his knee.
Both of them go still when they see me.
“No.” Ryker straightens, his stance widening as the air around him seems to vibrate with his denial. “Absolutely not.”
“She stays.” Jinx’s voice carries none of the fractures from earlier. Just steel wrapped in certainty.
“This is pack business.” Ryker’s jaw clenches. “Classified pack business.”
“You told me to talk to her.” Jinx steps forward, putting himself between me and Ryker’s glare. “So I did. And now she stays.”
Finn watches the exchange like a tennis match, his blue eyes sharp behind his glasses. Always analyzing, always calculating angles I’m only starting to understand.
“This isn’t up for debate.” Ryker moves around the desk, every step measured. “This operation is already complicated enough without?—”
“Without what?” I step out from behind Jinx, meeting that steel gaze head-on. “Without the beta who found those trafficking victims in the first place?”
The room goes deadly quiet. Even Finn sits up straighter.
“What did you tell her?” Ryker’s question is aimed at Jinx, but his eyes don’t leave mine.
“Everything.” Jinx doesn’t back down. “About the alphas. About what I did. About why we’re benched.”
“And she’s still here.” A new voice cuts through the tension. We all turn to find Theo in the doorway, his usual artistic flow replaced with something darker, more primal. “That tells you everything you need to know.”
He moves into the room like smoke, all fluid grace and hidden power. “She found them, Ryker. Found what they were doing while everyone else looked the other way. And then she made sure someone would do something about it.”
“That’s different than?—”
“Than what?” Theo’s voice carries echoes of his stage presence, filling the room. “Than being in the field? Than getting her hands dirty? News flash, Alpha—her hands are already dirty. Have been since she decided to dig up truth instead of hiding from it.”
I watch the muscles work in Ryker’s jaw as he processes this. Watch the way Finn’s eyes narrow thoughtfully. Watch how Jinx seems to draw strength from Theo’s presence.
“You want her to run comms anyway,” Theo continues, now standing beside me. His shoulder brushes mine in silent support. “So what’s the real problem? That she might see the darker side of what we do?” His laugh is sharp. “Pretty sure she’s already seen it. Already understood it. Already accepted it.”
The silence stretches, heavy with possibility and danger and change.
Finally, Ryker’s shoulders drop a fraction. “Fine.” He pins me with a look that’s equal parts warning and evaluation. “But anything you hear in this room stays in this room. Understood?”
I meet his gaze steadily. “Copy that, Alpha.”
He doesn’t quite hide his wince at my tone. Good.
“Well then,” Finn speaks for the first time, his lips curved in a slight smile. “Shall we discuss why the PCA’s most notorious wet work team is being called back into the field?”
“So what’s this job?” I ask, settling into one of the leather chairs. The atmosphere in the room has shifted from tense to focused, like a weapon being primed.
Finn and Ryker exchange looks before Finn clears his throat. “Got a call at 2:30 the other morning from Quinn.”
“Aria’s Quinn?” I raise my brow at Finn’s nod.
“There was an attack,” Finn continues, his accent thickening with what I recognize as guilt. “At the Omega Guardian building.”
“What kind of attack?” Theo’s voice carries an edge I haven’t heard before.
“Someone tampered with the air filtration system.” Finn pulls up schematics on the wall screen, the Omega Guardian building’s layout glowing in harsh blue lines. “Added some kind of accelerant. If Quinn hadn’t caught it...” He swallows hard. “We still didn’t catch it in time for everyone.”
“How bad?” Jinx’s question comes out like gravel.
“One omega in a coma.” The words fall like stones in the quiet room. “Could have been dozens more. The doctors had to sedate her when the accelerant triggered an immediate heat cycle.”
My fingers itch for a keyboard. For access. For control. “You think it was Sterling Labs.”
It’s not a question. I’ve seen enough of their research to know exactly what they’re capable of.
“We know it was,” Ryker cuts in. “But we can’t prove it. Not legally.”
“Which is where we come in.” Finn brings up another schematic, this one familiar enough to make my pulse jump. Sterling Labs’ main research facility. “We need a sample of the accelerant to compare. But we can’t go through official channels.”
“Because if Sterling knows we’re coming...” I start.
“Evidence has a way of disappearing,” Theo finishes, that dangerous smile still playing on his lips.
“The team needs to infiltrate their biotech research center,” Finn explains, pointing to a location I know all too well. “Level 5 containment. Multiple security checkpoints. But we need someone who really knows their systems. Someone who can run interference while we extract the sample.”
Understanding dawns. “That’s why you need me. For remote access.”
“You’ve already been in their systems once,” Ryker says, and there’s something like reluctant respect in his tone. “We need that expertise now.”
The pieces start falling into place in my mind, but something doesn’t add up. The tension in the room feels heavier than a simple sample extraction would warrant.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I look between them, reading the subtle shifts in their expressions. “There’s more to this than just getting proof, isn’t there?”
The silence that follows confirms everything.
Ryker’s jaw works before he speaks. “Sterling Labs won’t stop at one attack. They’re testing boundaries, seeing what they can get away with.”
“Because of me.” The realization settles like ice in my stomach. “I was poking around in their systems, and now they’re retaliating against any vulnerable target they can reach.”
My mind flashes to the USB drive hidden somewhere in this mansion, filled with data about suspicious beta illnesses that I still haven’t told anyone about. That investigation had led me down a rabbit hole I hadn’t expected, and now an innocent omega was paying the price for my curiosity.
“No.” Theo moves closer, his presence both comfort and catalyst. “Because they’re monsters who’ve been waiting for an excuse. You just made them sloppy. Made them rush their timeline.”
But the guilt still claws at my chest. One omega in a coma because I kicked the hornet’s nest. Because I thought I could dig up truth without consequences. And I’m still holding back the biggest truth of all—whatever Sterling Labs is doing to betas, it’s somehow connected to all of this. I just haven’t figured out how yet.
“We’re going to give you back your tech.” Finn’s words snap me from my spiral of guilt, but my mind immediately goes to the USB drive. If I get access again, I could finally decrypt the rest of those files about the beta illnesses. “Limited access at first, but enough to get into their systems. To monitor their security feeds, their door controls, their?—”
“Everything.” I finish, understanding the magnitude of what they’re offering. Of what they’re risking. The trust they’re placing in me, while I’m still keeping secrets. My throat feels tight. “You’re trusting me with everything.”
“Yes.” Ryker’s response carries weight beyond the single word.
I should tell them. About the USB. About the pattern of betas getting sick with symptoms that don’t make sense. About how Sterling Labs isn’t just targeting omegas—they’re experimenting on all of us. But if I’m wrong, if I’ve misread the data...
“Why?” The question comes out rougher than intended.
“Because you saw something in their systems that set them off,” Jinx’s hand finds my shoulder, and I almost flinch under the weight of what he doesn’t know. “Something big enough that they’re willing to risk attacking Omega Guardian facilities. And because this...” He gestures to the schematics, to the evidence of Sterling’s latest attack. “This is personal now.”
Personal. Like the encrypted files showing beta after beta admitted to hospitals with identical symptoms. Like the rage building in my chest at Sterling Labs thinking they can use us all as test subjects. Like the secrets I’m keeping from these four men who are finally starting to trust me.
“When?” I ask, pushing down the guilt. After the mission. After I decrypt those files and know for sure. Then I’ll tell them everything.
“Tomorrow night.” Finn brings up more schematics. “Ryker, Jinx, and I go in from the west. We’ll need you to be our eyes, our ears, and our guardian angel in their systems. Theo you are our driver and lookout when we go in.”
I nod, mind already racing with preparations. With possibilities. Maybe while I’m in their systems, I can find confirmation of what I suspect. Maybe I can finally understand why they’re targeting betas, why they’re now going after omegas, how it all connects.
“What aren’t you telling me about the sample? What else are we looking for in there?”
The four of them exchange looks that carry whole conversations. Finally, Ryker steps forward, the room shrinking around his presence as others instinctively create space.
“We think Sterling Labs isn’t just making heat accelerants.” His voice drops lower. “We think they’re working on something bigger. Something that could change the entire designation dynamic. And we need to know what it is before more omegas end up in comas. Or worse.”
My heart pounds. They’re so close to the truth, yet still missing crucial pieces. Pieces hidden in the data I’ve buried in their house.
“Alright.” I stand, squaring my shoulders and making a decision. Once I’m back in their systems, I’ll find the proof I need. Then I can tell them everything. “Let’s plan a heist.”
The planning continues, each detail dissected and analyzed. I focus on memorizing access points, security rotations, the rhythm of a high-stakes infiltration. But beneath every word, every nod, every shared look between them, my mind circles back to that USB drive hidden somewhere in this mansion.
They think Sterling Labs is working on designation manipulation through omegas. They’re not wrong. But they’re missing half the equation.
Because while they’ve been focused on omega trafficking and heat accelerants, I’ve uncovered something else. Something that makes my hands shake when I think about it too long. Hundreds of betas, all showing the same impossible symptoms. All connected to Sterling Labs in ways that shouldn’t exist.
Finn pulls up another schematic, and I force myself to focus. To be present. To help plan this mission that could expose part of Sterling’s operation. But not all of it. Not yet.
“We’ll need you monitoring from the security room here,” Ryker points to a location on the basement floor plan. “It’s got the strongest signal, and the most protection if anything goes wrong.”
I nod, already planning how to partition my searches. How to look for their accelerant data while secretly confirming my theories about the beta experiments. How to help them while still investigating the truth they don’t even know to look for.
“You okay with this?” Jinx asks quietly, his hand still steady on my shoulder. “With being back in their systems?”
“Yeah,” I say, and it’s not entirely a lie. I am okay with being back in their systems. I’m just not okay with the weight of what I might find there. Of what I already know and haven’t told them.
But soon. Soon I’ll have proof of what Sterling Labs is doing to betas. Soon I’ll understand why they’re targeting both designations. Soon I’ll be able to tell them everything.
I just pray that when I do, when they learn I’ve kept this secret while they’ve given me their trust, they’ll understand why I had to be sure first.
Why I had to protect this truth until I could prove it wasn’t just another conspiracy theory. Until I could show them that Sterling Labs isn’t just trying to control omegas—they’re trying to rewrite designation biology itself.
Starting with betas like me.