The Forbidden Alpha's Mate

Daniel's face said everything before his mouth did. "Who," I said. He pointed at the name on the paper. I read it again. Like reading it a second time would change what it said. It didn't. "That's not possible," I said. "I verified it three times." Daniel's voice was very quiet. "Access logs. Communication records. Financial transfers through a neutral corridor account." He paused. "It's him." Ray was looking at me. "Who is it." I didn't answer immediately. The name on the paper was someone I had trusted completely. Someone who had been inside Crimson Ridge since before my father died. Someone who had stood at my shoulder through four years of rebuilding and never once given me a reason to look twice. "Levi." Ray's voice was low. "Who." I turned the paper toward him. He read it. His face gave nothing away. "I don't know that name." "Ryan Blake," Daniel said. "Crimson Ridge Beta. Victor's right hand before the assassination." He looked at me. "We thought he disappeared after your father died. Went rogue. Nobody could find him." "Because he didn't disappear," I said. "He changed his name. Came back. Worked his way into my inner circle." I set the paper down. "And I let him." The room was very quiet. "How deep does it go," Ray said. "Deep enough." Daniel crossed his arms. "He has access to everything Zayn had access to. And then some." "Where is he now," I said. "Night rotation. North wall." "Keep him there." I looked at Daniel. "Don't let him know anything has changed." Daniel nodded. Didn't move. "There's something else," he said. I looked at him. "Ryan didn't just help Victor disappear four years ago." He paused. "The financial transfers. They go back further than that." He held my gaze. "They go back seven years." "Seven years," Ray said slowly. "Two years before Victor faked his death." Daniel looked at me. "Two years before Shadowmoon burned." The silence that followed was the kind that rearranged things. "Victor was planning this for seven years," I said. "At least," Daniel said. Ray turned away. Moved to the window. Stood there with his back to both of us. I watched him. Seven years. Victor had been building toward this for seven years. Patient and methodical and completely invisible. Ryan inside Crimson Ridge. Zayn recruited later. The document. The full moon. All of it pieces in a plan that had been running longer than any of us had been paying attention. "Ray," I said. He didn't turn around. "Ray." "I'm thinking," he said quietly. I let him think. The bond sat between us in the silence. Steady and present and completely unbothered by the weight of everything in this room. Daniel looked at me. I looked back. He raised an eyebrow slightly. I shook my head slightly. He looked at the ceiling. Ray turned around. "Ryan knows about the document," he said. "Yes," I said. "Which means he knows Victor didn't find it in Shadowmoon." "Yes." "Which means he knows Victor still needs it." Ray looked at me steadily. "And if Ryan has been running communications between Victor and Zayn for three years he knows exactly what Victor plans to do with it." "Yes." "Then Ryan is not just a spy." Ray paused. "He's the logistics. He's the one making sure all the pieces land in the right place on the right night." I looked at him. "The full moon," I said. "Yes." Ray crossed his arms. "Victor needs the document. Victor needs us at the ridge. Victor needs the compound weakened enough that he can walk in afterward." He paused. "Ryan is the one making all three of those things happen simultaneously." "Then we use him," Daniel said. Ray and I both looked at him. "He doesn't know we know," Daniel said. "He thinks Zayn leaving was just Zayn running scared. He thinks we're scrambling." He paused. "We let him keep thinking that." "And feed him false information," I said. "Controlled information," Daniel said. "Enough to redirect Victor. Change the timing. Move the pieces before he realizes we've touched the board." Ray was quiet for a moment. "It won't work," he said. Daniel frowned. "Why." "Because Victor isn't operating on information alone." Ray looked at me. "He's operating on the bond." I went still. "He engineered us meeting," Ray said. "He engineered the bond activating. He needs us both at that ridge not just because of the document." His eyes held mine. "He needs us there because of what the bond does when it's fully activated in the right location." "What does it do," Daniel said. Ray looked at me. I looked at Ray. Neither of us had the answer. But the letter had said it clearly. Bring them both to the ridge. Victor will handle the rest. Not retrieve the document. Not capture the Alphas. Victor will handle the rest. Like our presence at that location on that night was the entire plan. Like the document was secondary. Like we were the weapon. "We need Aaron Thorn," I said quietly. Ray frowned. "The council elder." "He's the only one alive who knows what the original covenant was built on." I held Ray's gaze. "If Victor needs us at that ridge on the full moon for a reason that goes beyond the document, Aaron will know what that reason is." Ray was quiet for a long moment. "Can you trust him," he said. I thought about it honestly. "I don't know," I said. "But right now he's the only option we have." Ray looked at me steadily. The bond pulled between us warm and certain in a room full of things that were anything but. "Then we find Aaron Thorn," he said. "Before Victor finds out we're looking." Daniel moved toward the door. Stopped. Turned back slowly. "There's one more thing," he said. "The financial transfers. The account Ryan was using to communicate with Victor." He paused. "It received a new transmission tonight." "Tonight," I said. "An hour ago." Daniel held my gaze. "After Zayn left." "What did it say," Ray said. Daniel looked at me. "It said, both alphas are bonded. The moon is in six days. We are ready." The room went very still. "Victor already knows about the bond," Ray said. "He's known since tonight," Daniel said. "Since the moment you crossed the border." I looked at Ray. He looked at me. "He didn't just engineer us meeting," Ray said quietly. "He engineered the bond activating on a specific night. On a specific timeline." He paused. "Six days isn't a coincidence. Six days is exactly how long a newly activated bond takes to reach full strength." The silence was total. "He needs the bond at full strength," I said slowly. "At the ridge," Ray said. "On the full moon." We looked at each other. "Whatever Victor is planning," Ray said quietly. "It only works if we're bonded. Fully. Completely." He paused. "Which means the one thing we can do to stop it-" He stopped. Looked at me. I looked back. Neither of us said it, but we were both thinking it. Daniel looked between us. "What. What is it. What can you do to stop it." Ray looked at Daniel. Then back at me. "The bond only works if both wolves accept it," he said. "Fully. Completely." He paused. "Which means Victor's entire plan collapses if one of us rejects it." The room was silent. Daniel understood first. His eyes moved to me. Then to Ray. "Which one of you is going to reject the bond," he said quietly. Ray and I looked at each other across the room. The bond pulled between us. Warm. Steady. Certain. I opened my mouth. Ray spoke first. "I'll do it," he said. "I'll reject the bond." The words hit me like a blade through the chest.