Chapter 22 #2
“Whoever did this doesn’t have access to standard cable or fiber internet. They’re using satellite service—the kind you’d use in a remote location.” She paused, letting him connect the dots. “Like, say, a mountain compound that hasn’t finished its infrastructure upgrade.”
His blood went cold.
“Someone in the pack.”
“Someone with enough technical knowledge to set up a sophisticated attack. Someone with access to the Council schedule. Someone with a satellite internet account registered to…” She pulled up the final piece of evidence, her expression grim. “A cabin in the northwest sector of Moonstone territory.”
He knew that cabin. Knew who owned it. Knew, with sudden sickening certainty, exactly who had been working to undermine him.
“Howard.”
The name came out as a growl.
“Elder Howard,” she confirmed. “The man who’s spent every Council meeting ranting about how technology will destroy the pack has been secretly using that same technology to attack you.”
Rage surged through him—hot, blinding, primal. His wolf demanded blood. Demanded that he shift now, run back to the compound, and tear the traitor’s throat out.
Her hand on his arm grounded him.
“Hey.” Her voice was calm, steady. “I know that look. Whatever you’re planning, we need to think this through.”
“He attacked the pack.”
“He attacked the pack’s finances. Financially, that’s attempted theft. Legally—”
“I don’t give a damn about legally.” His hands had curled into fists, claws pricking his palms. “Pack law is clear. Betrayal—”
“Is handled by the Alpha. I know.” She stepped closer, sliding her hand up to cup his jaw, and the touch helped calm him.
“But you can’t just execute an Elder without proof the whole pack will accept.
Howard has supporters. Friends. People who agree with his traditionalist stance even if they don’t know about his methods. ”
“Are you telling me to let him walk?”
“I’m telling you to be smart about this,” she said firmly. “You catch him the wrong way, and he becomes a martyr. ‘The Alpha killed an Elder for speaking his mind.’ That’s the story his allies will tell. That’s how you fracture the pack.”
He forced himself to breathe, to think past his wolf’s fury. She was right. He hated that she was right, but she was.
“Then what do you suggest?”
“We need ironclad evidence. Something that proves his guilt beyond any possible doubt.” She turned back to her screens.
“The data I have is convincing to me, but it won’t mean anything to people who don’t understand how network forensics work.
We need something simpler. Something even the most technophobic Elder can’t dismiss. ”
“Such as?”
“A confession would be nice.” She tapped her fingers against the desk. “Or physical evidence. The actual devices he used to launch the attacks. Transaction records showing what he planned to do with the money he was trying to steal.”
“You think you can find those?”
“I think I can find enough.” A fierce smile curved her lips.
“People like Howard always underestimate people like me. He probably thinks his cyber tracks are completely covered because he hired some ‘city expert’ to set up his VPN. He doesn’t realize that every time he logs in, he leaves fingerprints all over the digital landscape. ”
Pride swelled through him—pride in his mate, in her brilliance, in the sharp tactical mind that lived behind those oversized glasses.
“How long?”
“Not long now that I’ve found him. I can set up some monitoring tools, wait for him to make another move.” She hesitated. “There’s a risk, though.”
“What risk?”
“If he realizes I’m watching, he might destroy the evidence. Or escalate to something more direct.” Her hand found his again, squeezing tightly. “He’s already shown he’s willing to use underhanded methods. I don’t want to think about what he might do if he feels cornered.”
His jaw tightened. The thought of Howard targeting Harper—
“You’ll be with me,” he said flatly. “At all times. Until this is resolved.”
“Adrian—”
“No arguments.” He turned her chair to face him, leaning down until their eyes were level. “You’re my mate, kitten. My Luna. If Howard or anyone else threatens you, they will answer to me.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can.” He brushed a strand of pink hair back from her face. “But you don’t have to. Not anymore.”
He watched her struggle for a moment, knowing her fierce independence warred with her longing to be protected, but he made himself give her time.
“Fine,” she said finally. “But I reserve the right to take care of you in return.”
“I look forward to it.”
After a brief discussion with Derek, they decided to return to Moonstone that afternoon. Not only was his wolf determined to confront the traitorous male, the longer they waited, the more chance of another attack.
He spent most of the drive strategizing, turning the situation over in his mind while she worked on her laptop in the passenger seat. Just as they reached the base of the mountains, she closed the laptop with a satisfied sigh.
“Got him.”
“More evidence?”
“Yep.” She turned sideways in her seat, tucking her legs beneath her in a way that made her look impossibly young. “I found his digital trail leading back almost three months. He’s been building to this for a while.”
Three months. Before she had even arrived at the compound.
“What triggered it?”
“Best I can tell? The investment deal with TalkToMe.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “The timeline matches perfectly. He started setting up his infrastructure right after you announced the partnership with Derek’s company.”
“He said the city would corrupt us.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “He’s been opposing modernization since before I became Alpha.”
“Opposing it publicly while secretly using it against you.” Her voice dripped with contempt. “Hypocrite.”
“That’s not the word I’d use.”
“The word you’d use isn’t suitable for polite company.” She reached over to rest her hand on his thigh, and some of the tension in his body eased. “What are you going to do?”
“Call a Council meeting. Present the evidence. Let him condemn himself.”
“And if he doesn’t? If he denies everything?”
He bared his fangs, his wolf’s savage instincts rising to the surface. “Then I challenge him. Alpha’s prerogative. He’s accused me of being unfit to lead. I have every right to answer that accusation directly.”
“You mean fight him.”
“I mean end him.”
She was quiet for a long moment.
“Is that what you want?” she asked finally. “To kill him?”
“Want?” He forced himself to consider the question. “I don’t know. My father considered him a friend. Before this he served the pack faithfully. But he’s also threatened everything I’m trying to build. He threatened you, even if only indirectly.” His jaw set. “If it comes to it, I won’t hesitate.”
“I know.” She squeezed his thigh gently. “It’s just… I’ve never been part of something like this before. Politics back home meant passive-aggressive emails and stolen parking spaces. Not literal fights to the death.”
“Having second thoughts?”
“About you? Never.” Her voice was firm, certain. “About werewolf conflict resolution? Maybe a little. But I knew what I was signing up for.”
“Did you?”
“I did my research.” A hint of her usual tartness crept into her tone. “I’m very thorough.”
He laughed despite himself—a real laugh, surprised out of him by her absurdity.
“Of course you did.”
“Three separate databases. Four academic papers. And a very disturbing Reddit thread that I’m choosing to believe was fictional.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“You really don’t.”
They lapsed into comfortable silence again. Outside, the landscape shifted from rolling hills to the first hints of mountain terrain. Home was getting closer.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
“For what?”
“For being here. For not running when you learned what he’d done. For…” He struggled to find words for the tangle of emotions in his chest. “For being exactly what I need, even when I didn’t know I needed it.”
Her hand found his where it rested on the gear shift.
“Same,” she said simply.
The mountains rose ahead of them, dark green and ancient, guarding secrets older than memory. Somewhere in those peaks, a traitor waited. A reckoning loomed. But he faced it with his mate beside him, and that was all that mattered.