His new stepsister His biggest threat (Claire and Elijah) novel Chapter 238

Chapter 238

Claire’s POV

The Monday morning sun was too bright. It felt like a spotlight on a stage I wasn’t ready to walk onto yet.

After our secret mission to the ravine, my body felt heavy. Every muscle ached from the climb.

Elijah was already waiting by my locker. He looked perfect, as usual. Not a single dark circle under his eyes.

Being a wolf definitely had its perks when it came to sleep deprivation.

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You look like you’re dreaming about your bed.” Elijah said. He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His touch was warm. It made my heart do that little stutter-step.

I’m dreaming about a world where ‘missions happen at noon.” Ijoked. I leaned my forehead against the cold metal of my locker. “Did Felix find anything on the dead-loop?”

Elijah checked the hallway. It was mostly empty. “The sensor is still feeding the Council fake data. As far as they know, the North Ridge is silent. But we have to move fast. There are six more nodes to hit.”

“Starting with the Iron Well.” I whispered. I pulled my history book from the shelf. “Silas said it’s in the southern marsh. That’s near the border, Elijah. It’s risky.”

“Everything we do is risky now, Claire.” He leaned in closer. His scent of cedar and rain calmed the buzzing in my head. “But we aren’t doing it alone. Jax and Miller are scouted ahead.”

The sound of clicking heels echoed down the hall. We both stiffened. I didn’t need a wolf’s nose to know who was coming. The scent of expensive cloves gave her away.

Valerius appeared around the corner. She was wearing a Red Pine High cheer jacket. It looked wrong on her. She was too sharp, too lethal for pom-poms.

“Good morning, neighbors.” Val said, she leaned against the locker next to mine. You both look exhausted. Rough night in the woods?”

Elijah’s eyes flashed gold for a split second. “We were catching up on sleep, Val. Some of us actually value rest.”

“Is that what you call it?” Val asked. She pulled out a nail file and started working on a thumb. “Because the perimeter sensors at the estate showed a lot of activity at 3:00 AM. A few ghosts wandering toward the ravine.”

I felt my pulse jump. 88 bpm. I forced myself to breathe. “The wind is high on the ridge, Val. Maybe your tech isn’t as good as your father thinks it is.”

Val laughed. It was a dry, hollow sound. “My tech is fine, Claire. But I’m not here to talk about sensors. I’m here because there’s a new face in town. A Southern face.”

Elijah stepped forward. He was shielding me now. “Who?”

“A Sentinel named Julian,” Val said. She finally looked up from her nails. Her green eyes were dead serious. “He’s a specialist. My father sent him to ‘assist’ me with the audit. He arrives at the rink this afternoon.*

“We don’t need assistance,” Elijah growled.

Julian doesn’t ask for permission.” Val replied. She tucked her nail file away. “He’s a tracker. If you’re hiding something in those woods-like, say, tampered Council equipment-he will find it. And he won’t be as nice about it as I am.”

The warning hung in the air like smoke. Val didn’t wait for a response. She just turned and walked toward the gym.

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Chapter 238

“She knows,” I whispered once she was gone. “Elijah, the know touched the node”

“She suspects,” Elijah corrected. He looked toward the exit of the school. Beat the hit reported in yet if she had the Sentinels would be at the front door, not the ice rink.”

“Why wouldn’t she report us?” I asked.

Elijah looked at me. His expression was troubled. “Becane Val plays her own game. She wants to see what we’re up to bedore she hands us over to her father. She’s looking for leverage?

The bell rang. The hallway began to fill with students. The ‘normal’ world was crashing back in Ben all I could stuck about was the Iron Well.

“We can’t go to the marsh tonight,” I said. “Not with a tracker in town”

“We have to,” Elijah said. He grabbed my hand. His grip was firma If julian finds the nodes before we neutralize them, we’re done. We go tonight. Earlier this time.

“Elijah, it’s a trap. It has to be.”

“Then we’ll bring a bigger trap,” he said. “Meet me at the gym after last period. We need to talk to Felix”

The rest of the morning was a blur. I sat through English and Math, but my mind was in the southern mank. I kept thinking about the “blueprint” Val had mentioned.

Was I really the reason the Council was here? Was my heart-the mechanical thing in my chest-putting the whole pack an risk?

At lunch, the table was quiet. Felix wasn’t cracking jokes. He was typing furiously on his laptop.

“The Iron Well is tricky,” Felix said. He didn’t look up. “It’s submerged. The Reeds built a platform over it. It’s guarded by a localized frequency shield.”

“Can you drop the shield?” Jax asked. He was tearing a piece of bread into tiny bits.

“From the house? No,” Felix said. “I have to be within fifty yards. Which means I’m coming with you”

“It’s too dangerous, Felix,” I said. “Val said Julian is a tracker. If he catches all of us out there….

“Then he catches us,” Felix said. He finally looked up. His eyes were determined. Tm not letting you two go into a manh with high-voltage shields alone. I’m the tech guy. You need me.

Elijah nodded slowly. “Fine. But we move in pairs. Jax, you and Miller stay on the ridge. Felix, you’re with us.”

“What about the tracker?” I asked. “Julian?”

“I’ll handle Julian,” Elijah said. There was a darkness in his voice that made my heart race. “If he shows up at the rink I’ll give him something else to track.”

The plan was set. But as I looked around the cafeteria, I felt a heavy sense of dread.

The school looked the same. The kids were still complaining about homework. But for us, the world was narrowing down to a single point.

I looked at Elijah. He was watching the door, his body coiled like a spring. He was the Alpha-Heir, the protector of the Red Pine. And I was the anchor.

“We’ll be okay,” I whispered, reaching for his hand under the table.

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Chapter 238

“I know,” he said. But he didn’t look at me. He was still watching the door

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The afternoon dragged on. Every time a door opened. I expected to see a man in a black sout. But Julian didn’t show up at the school. He was waiting

When the final bell rang, we moved with purpose. We didn’t look back. We didn’t talk to our friends. We walked straight to the truck.

The gear is in the back.” Elijah said as he started the engine. Felt is meeting us at the trailhead in twenty minutes

“Elijah?” I asked as we pulled out of the parking lot

“Yeah?

“If things go wrong tonight. if the Council finds out.

He stopped the truck at the edge of the school property. He turned to me his eyes burning with an intensity that took my breath away.

“They won’t” he said. Tve spent my whole life being what they wanted me to be. The perfect heir. The perfect wolf. But they touched you, Claire. They tried to turn our bond into a weapon

He leaned in, his voice a low growl. Tm done playing by their rules. Tonight, we show them that the Red Pine belongs to the Hales. All of it”

He stepped on the gas. We raced toward the mountains. The supras sening casting long bloody shadows over the trees. The mission had begun. And this time, there was no turning back

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