His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 27

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1:48 pm

Chapter 27

Rade

The figure on the screen could have been anyone.

That was the problem.

Ryan replayed the footage.

A hooded figure crossed the lower service corridor shortly after midnight, head down, loose black clothing hiding most of their build. They stayed close to the wall, crossed through the narrowest part of the camera angle, and disappeared through the service door in seconds.

No face.

No scent.

Nothing useful.

Except they knew exactly where the cameras were.

Ryan paused the recording.

“There.”

Liam stood beside me. “What?”

Ryan enlarged the image.

“The door.”

I looked closer.

“It wasn’t forced.”

“No.” He pulled up the access record. “It opened normally.”

“Whose authorization?”

“General senior access.”

Liam swore quietly.

That included pack leadership, senior patrol, medical command, several long-term staff.

And Sloane.

“You can’t identify anyone from that,” Liam said.

“I know.”

1:48 pm

Ryan changed feeds..

The next corridor was empty.

“Where did they go?

“There’s a blind section here.” Ryan pulled up the floor plan and tapped one corner. “Old construction. We’ve

talked about adding another camera.”

“It just became a priority.”

“Already handled.”

He switched to footage from the storage hall.

The same hooded figure appeared for barely a second at the edge of the frame.

Then vanished again.

“What’s stored there?” Liam asked.

“Patrol supplies. Spare clothing. Field equipment.”

I already knew where this was going.

“The jacket.”

Ryan nodded.

“One spare patrol jacket is missing. Same division and approximate size as the one worn by the fake runner at the

clinic.”

“When?” Liam asked.

“We can’t narrow it down. Inventory was last checked three weeks ago.”

“And nobody noticed?”

“It was a spare.”

Until someone used it to walk into our clinic and lure Abby into the woods.

“What else?”

Ryan hesitated.

“Two vials of scent suppressant are missing from secure field storage.”

Liam straightened.

I stood.

1:48 pm

“Same access group?”

“Yes.”

Scent suppressant was controlled. Patrol used it for reconnaissance beyond our borders, and every vial was supposed to be logged.

“How long have they been missing?”

“Could be anywhere within the last month.”

Liam looked at me.

We were thinking the same thing.

Sloane had moved through the woods with her scent hidden when she supposedly went looking for Abby.

Later, she had somehow found the escaped rogue while alone again.

The same suppressant she could have taken from our own storage.

Still not proof.

But the pieces were getting harder to ignore.

Ryan closed the inventory record.

“There’s more.”

“Go on.”

“The guards outside the prisoner’s cell remember seeing Sloane in the lower level before the escape.”

Knox rose immediately.

“When?”

“About an hour and a half earlier.”

“Why was she there?”

“She said she was looking for you.”

I stared at him.

“I wasn’t in the cellars.”

“They told her that. She left.”

Liam’s expression hardened.

1:48 pm

“Why wasn’t this reported?”

“It was. Nobody thought it mattered. She had every reason to be there. She’s been walking through those corridors for years.”

That was exactly the problem.

Sloane never needed an explanation.

I had trusted her enough that nobody else thought to question her.

She had been part of Moonhaven’s inner circle for years.

My trust had opened every door.

And if she had used that trust against us-

I stopped there.

We still didn’t know.

A hooded figure.

Missing supplies.

Sloane near the cellars.

Circumstantial.

All of it.

Liam leaned over the desk.

“She could have been checking the route before coming back later.”

“Could have.”

“She knows where the cameras are.”

“She helped approve some of them.”

Ryan said nothing.

I looked at him.

“What?”

“You told me to keep an eye on her.”

My attention sharpened.

1:48 pm

One of my men saw her leave her room after dinner.”

“When?”

“About twenty minutes ago.

“Where did she go?”

Ryan’s eyes lost focus for a moment as someone mind-linked him.

Then his expression changed.

“What?”

He looked at me.

“She just returned to her room.”

“From where?”

Another pause.

“Abby’s.”

Everything in me went still.

Liam was already moving.

I followed.

“How long was she there?” I asked.

“They don’t know. She entered the Alpha wing without an escort. Nobody saw her leave her own room.”

“She avoided them.”

“That’s what it looks like.”

Knox pushed hard against me.

Abby.

I reached instinctively for her through the bond.

Nothing.

Of course there was nothing.

My side was open.

1:48 pm

W

Hers wasn’t.

Liam tried the sibling mind-link.

“Anything?”

“No.”

His pace increased.

“She’s not answering.”

Fear came fast.

Not again.

I refused to let my mind go there.

We reached Abby’s corridor.

A guard stood near the stairs.

“Did Sloane come through here?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“When?”

“About fifteen minutes ago.”

“You let her into Abby’s room?”

Confusion crossed his face.

“She didn’t ask me. She’s always had access to the family wing.”

“Not anymore.”

I reached Abby’s door and tried the handle.

Locked.

“Abby.”

No answer.

Liam knocked harder.

“Abs?”

Silence.

0

1:48 pm

knocked again

“Abby, open the door”

Something moved inside.

Then her voice came through the wood.

“Who is it?”

Relief hit so hard I almost had to close my eyes.

“Me. And Liam.”

A pause.

Then the lock clicked.

The door opened a few inches.

Abby looked through the gap.

Her face was pale.

“What happened?”

My relief disappeared.

“What happened to you?”

“Nothing.”

Liam’s voice softened.

“Can we come in?”

She hesitated, then stepped back.

The room looked normal.

No blood.

No sign of a struggle.

But Abby had her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Her hands were shaking.

“Where’s Sloane?” I asked.

1:48 pm

Her eyes snapped to minc.

That was enough.

“She left.”

“How long ago?”

“A few minutes.”

“What did she want?”

Abby glanced at the door.

Liam closed it.

I forced myself to stay where I was.

“She was waiting for me when I came in.”

My anger went cold.

“She was already inside?”

“Yes.”

Liam muttered a curse.

“What did she say?”

Abby looked between us.

“She told me to stay away from you.”

“That part isn’t new,” she added quickly. “She already told me the same thing at the clinic.”

I stopped.

“When?”

“The morning I disappeared.”

Liam’s expression changed.

“You never told us that.”

“I didn’t think it mattered.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“She came to the clinic and asked to speak to me alone. She said the kiss couldn’t happen again and told me to

1:48 pm

stay away from you.”

And later that day, you were taken,” Liam said.

Abby swallowed.

“Yes.”

Knox growled.

“What did she say tonight?”

“She was angry that I moved here. Said everyone was hovering around me. Cassie. Liam. You.”

Her eyes flicked toward mine.

“She said I wanted to take her place.”

There was more.

Lcould see it.

“Abby.”

Her voice dropped.

“She warned me.”

Every muscle in my body tightened.

“What exactly did she say?”

Abby took a breath.

“She said I hadn’t learned anything. Then she said sometimes people get one warning.”

Liam went very still.

Abby looked directly at me.

“And if they’re smart, they listen before the next one is worse.”

Knox surged.

I started toward the door.

Abby caught my arm.

“Kade.”

I stopped.

T

1:49 pm

W

“Don’t.”

“She threatened you.”

“I know. But listen.”

I forced myself to stay.

Barely.

“I asked what she meant. She backed off and said she was talking about me putting myself in dangerous.

situations.”

“Bullshit,” Liam said.

“I thought so too.”

“What else?”

“Lasked if she had anything to do with my kidnapping.”

My entire body locked.

“What did she say?”

“She denied it.”

That surprised me.

Abby continued.

“But then she told me to think carefully before accusing her of something I couldn’t prove.”

Liam stared at her.

“She said that?”

“And reminded me how long she’s known both of you. How much she’s done for Moonhaven. That everyone believes the escaped rogue attacked her too.”

Abby’s arms tightened around herself.

“She basically told me nobody would believe me.”

For a second, I couldn’t speak.

Of everything Sloane had said, that was what cut deepest.

Because Abby had believed it enough to be afraid now.

“I believe you.”

1:49 pm

Her eyes lifted.

“What?”

“I believe she threatened you.”

I stepped closer but didn’t touch her.

“I don’t know yet whether she arranged your kidnapping. I’m not going to tell you something I can’t prove. But I believe what happened in this room.”

Liam moved beside her.

“So do I.”

Some of the tension left her shoulders.

“She was careful.”

“She would be.”

“What if I heard it wrong?”

“You didn’t invent the words she said.”

Her gaze stayed on mine.

“And the rest?”

“The rest we prove.”

She looked down.

“I kept thinking about the runner. The patrol jacket.”

“So have we.”

Her head came up.

“What?”

I glanced at Liam.

Then back at Abby.

“You deserve to know.”

I told her about the footage.

The hooded figure using senior access.

1:49 pm

The missing patrol jacket.

The scent suppressant

By the time I finished, she had gone very still.

“Sloane used scent suppressant when you found her in the woods.”

“Yes.”

“And she was near the cellars before the rogue escaped.”

“Yes.”

Abby sat on the edge of the bed.

For the first time, I watched suspicion become something heavier.

“She really could have done it.”

“She could have.”

Liam paced toward the window.

“Then why the hell aren’t we arresting her?”

“Because we still can’t prove she hired him.”

“She threatened Abby.”

“Enough to restrict her access and increase security. Not enough to prove kidnapping.”

“She was near the cellars.”

“With legitimate authorization.”

“The missing supplies?”

“Missing isn’t the same as traced to her.”

Liam swore.

I understood exactly how he felt.

Every instinct I had wanted Sloane somewhere locked and guarded.

But if we moved too early, we either destroyed someone based on suspicion-or warned a traitor that we were

closing in.

Abby looked up.

1:49 pm

“What do we do?”

I didn’t answer immediately.

Sloane had shown us one weakness already.

The escaped rogue frightened her.

Maybe because he attacked her.

Maybe because he knew something she couldn’t afford for us to hear.

If we were right, he was the one person who could connect her directly to Abby’s kidnapping.

And Sloane believed he was still free.

Liam stopped pacing.

“We need the rogue.”

“Yes.”

“Which would be easier if we knew where he was.”

Maybe we didn’t need him yet.

Maybe we only needed Sloane to believe we had him.

The idea came together quickly.

Liam noticed.

“What?”

“What if she thought we found him?”

He frowned.

Abby looked between us.

“The rogue?”

“Yes.”

Understanding reached Liam first.

“You want her to think he’s back in the cellars.”

“And talking.”

1:49 pm

A slow simile appeared on his face….

“She panics.”

“If she has something to hide.

Abby frowned.

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then nothing happens.”

That was the point.

I looked at Liam.

“We let it spread quietly that patrol recaptured him near the southern border. Injured. Alive.”

“No public announcement.”

“Just enough people hearing it that the rumor reaches her naturally.”

“And then we watch.”

“Yes.”

Abby rubbed her palms against her jeans.

“What if she goes to him again?”

“There won’t be anyone there.”

Liam nodded.

“Just us watching the route.”

I looked at Abby.

“She thinks she frightened you into silence.”

Her expression hardened slightly.

“Good.”

“She also thinks we don’t suspect her.”

“Do we keep it that way?”

“For now.”

Abby was quiet.

1:49 pm

Then she nodded.

“All right.”

Liam glanced at her.

“You don’t have to be involved.”

“She came into my room and threatened me.”

“I’m aware.”

“She thinks I’m too frightened to tell anyone.”

Her jaw set.

“I want her to keep thinking that.”

Lalmost told her no.

The instinct came immediately.

Protect her.

Keep her away from it.

Then I stopped myself.

This was exactly what I had promised not to do.

“What do you need from us?” I asked.

Abby looked at me, surprised.

“Nothing. Just don’t make me act friendly.”

Liam snorted.

“That would be suspicious by itself.”

She almost smiled.

I didn’t.

If Sloane had arranged Abby’s kidnapping, she had already walked into Abby’s room once tonight without

permission.

There would not be a second time.

“Your door access changes tonight,” I said.

1:49 pm

Abby opened her mouth.

“This one isn’t negotiable.”

Her eyebrows rose.

I corrected myself.

“Actually, it is. Do you want Sloane able to walk into your room whenever she feels like it?”

“No.”

“Good. Then we agree.”

Liam muttered, “Growth.”

I ignored him.

Abby’s mouth twitched.

For half a second, the room felt almost normal.

Then I looked at the locked door.

If our trap worked, we would know soon enough whether Sloane was simply jealous and cruel-or whether the woman I had trusted for most of my life had put Abby in that cave.

Unknown

They threw Jax onto the floor at my feet.

I almost laughed.

Of course it was him.

Jax had never been particularly good at following orders. He had lasted less than a month with my men before deciding he answered to no one.

Apparently independence had not been kind to him.

One eye was swollen. Fresh scratches cut across his cheek. Blood darkened the corner of his mouth.