The Blackwood pack house felt suffocating.
Usually bursting with lively chatter and the heavy scent of roasting meat, the hallways were now dead silent.
Small groups of parents huddled together in the corners.
Some wept quietly into their hands, while others desperately redialed the phone numbers of their missing children, hoping for a miracle.
Twenty children.
Gone for hours.
And nobody had a single answer.
Outside, the heavy thrum of Alpha Raquelle’s furious aura seemed to vibrate through the very walls.
Warriors patrolled the borders in tight, aggressive formations.
Yet, amid the chaotic panic, no one noticed a single hooded figure quietly slipping out of the back exit of the main building.
The figure kept their head lowered, eyes darting left and right under the shadow of their hood as they hurried toward the tree line.
Every few seconds, their heart hammered against their ribs.
They glanced over their shoulder.
The coast was clear.
No one was following.
“Oii!” The figure froze, their breath catching in their throat.
A patrol guard stepped out from the shadows near the border, his hand resting instinctively near his silver blade.
“Where are you going?” he demanded, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“Alpha’s orders.
Everyone stays indoors until the perimeter is secured.” The figure let out a shaky, quiet sigh before turning around, keeping their face deeply shadowed.
“I…
I’m sorry,” the figure murmured, letting their voice crack with just the right amount of forced emotion.
“I just needed a run.
My head is spinning.” The guard didn’t budge.
“Go back inside.” “My baby brother…” The words slipped out smoothly, dripping with a grief that wasn’t real.
“He was on that bus.
He’s one of the kidnapped children.” The guard’s stern expression instantly crumbled.
The suspicion in his eyes vanished, replaced by deep, pack-brother empathy.
“Oh…
Goddess.
I’m so sorry.” The figure nodded sadly, looking down at the dirt.
“Thank you.
I just need to breathe.” “Go ahead,” the guard said softly, stepping aside.
“But don’t go too far.
There might be rogues lurking out there.” “I’ll be careful.” The figure offered a quick nod, then broke into a fast walk toward the dense forest.
Once the trees swallowed them up and the guard was out of sight, they finally exhaled.
Safe.
Reaching into the deep pocket of their cloak, the figure pulled out a sealed manila envelope containing the Blackwood pack’s internal logistics.
Instead of dropping their clothes on the muddy floor, they carefully stashed the envelope inside a hollow tree trunk, quickly stripping off their cloak and garments to pile them safely beside it.
A second later, bone cracked and reshaped.
A sleek wolf emerged in the clearing.
The wolf grabbed the sealed envelope firmly between its teeth, snatched up the bundle of clothes in a tight grip, and sprinted blindly into the dark woods.
Twenty minutes of hard running brought the wolf to the heavily fortified borders of the Evergreen pack.
The border guards didn’t growl.
They didn’t bare their teeth.
Recognizing the wolf instantly, they swung the iron gates open without a word.
The wolf bounded through, slipping into a private changing shed near the training grounds.
Moments later, the figure emerged, fully clothed again, smoothing down their jacket with trembling fingers.
They walked up the back stairs of the Alpha’s estate, bypassing the main floor entirely, and stopped outside a heavy oak door.
Three sharp knocks.
“Enter.” The deep, commanding male voice sent a thrill straight down the traitor’s spine.
The figure pushed the door open and stepped into the dim office.
The moment Alpha George saw them, the cold, calculating expression on his face melted away.
His eyes flared with recognition.
“Mate…” He crossed the room in three long strides, throwing his arms around the traitor and pulling them flush against his chest.
He leaned down, burying his face in their neck before pressing a deep, desperate kiss to their lips.
The traitor kissed him back, letting the familiar scent of him wash away the terror of the Blackwood pack house.
“I missed you,” the traitor whispered against his mouth.
George smiled, but his gaze quickly dropped to the envelope clutched in their hand.
The romance in his eyes flickered, replaced by the sharp hunger of a predator.
“You actually got it?” The traitor nodded, but as George reached for the documents, they pulled the envelope back, out of his reach.
George’s smile vanished.
“What’s wrong?” “I need to know something first,” the traitor said, their voice suddenly tight with anxiety.
“When does this end, George?
The pack house back home is in total chaos.” George stared at them, his face unreadable.
“It ends when I say it ends.” “And the children?” the traitor pressed, searching his eyes for any sign of cruelty.
“You promised me.
You said nobody would get hurt.
My pack members are losing their minds.” “And nobody will get hurt,” George lied smoothly, stepping closer to cup the traitor’s cheek.
His thumb stroked their cheekbone, his voice dropping into a soothing, hypnotic purr.
“They are safe.
You have to trust me, sweetheart.
Everything I am doing is for us.
So we can finally be together without Raquelle tearing us apart.” The uncertainty in the traitor’s eyes lingered, but the pull of the fated mate bond was too strong to fight.
Slowly, they let go of the envelope.
George snatched it.
“Good.” He looked down at the sealed prize, a dark gleam in his eye.
“You did perfectly.” The traitor let out a shaky breath.
“I was terrified someone would catch me.” “But they didn’t.
You’re too smart for them.” Suddenly, heavy, hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway outside the office.
Both of them froze.
George’s head snapped toward the door, his inner wolf growling low in his throat.
“Someone’s coming.
A warrior.” Panic spiked in the traitor’s chest.
They quickly threw the hood back over their head, hiding their features.
“What do I do?
Where do I go?” “Out the side balcony.
Hurry,” George ordered, pushing them gently toward the glass doors.
The traitor rushed to the balcony, but right before slipping over the railing into the shadows, they paused.
They looked back at George, eyes wide with a desperate, tragic devotion.
“I love you.” George’s expression softened, the perfect mask of a loving mate.
“I love you too.
Now go.” The traitor vanished into the night just as a heavy knock sounded on George’s office door.
Alpha George waited until the footsteps outside completely faded.
Then, he looked down at the Blackwood documents in his hands.
A slow, malicious grin spread across his face.
Raquelle thought she was untouchable.
But he had just stolen her secrets from right under her nose, using the one thing she never expected: love.
Everything was going exactly according to plan.
***** Do you guys actually have your suspicions????!!!