My wolf paces beneath my skin, agitated but not aggressive, reacting to the emotional residue bleeding through the bond threads that connect us all, because even without direct contact, this kind of truth travels.
I’m still staring at the screen when Ben returns, expression tight in a way that tells me he’s been dealing with the outer edges of this all day.
“The council is asking questions,” he says.
“About what,” I ask, though I already know.
“About why your name is coming up again,” he replies. “About why private requests are bypassing protocol. About whether this is intentional.”
“And what did you say.”
“That they should ask you.”
I let out a slow breath, appreciation and dread tangling together in my chest. “They won’t like that.”
“They wouldn’t like any answer,” he says. “At least this one is honest.”
By the time afternoon settles in, the messages stop feeling individual at all.
They blur together into something larger, a pattern emerging that I can’t unsee once it takes shape, names repeating across different packs, timelines overlapping in ways that suggest coordination rather than coincidence, and language that mirrors itself too closely to be organic.
This wasn’t isolated.
It was replicated.
Contained just enough in each place to stay deniable, to avoid drawing attention, to keep anyone from realizing the scale of it until now.
My stomach tightens again, not with nausea this time, but with something colder.
Someone knew.
As evening approaches, I finally open one I’ve been avoiding, not because it looks different on the surface, but because the name attached to it has been sitting in my peripheral vision all day, familiar in a way that makes my wolf uneasy.
I take a breath before opening it, grounding myself in the weight of the tablet, the feel of the chair beneath me, the quiet hum of the room, because whatever this is, I need to read it clearly.
The message is short.
Too short.
I wasn’t sure if I should contact you.
I didn’t think what happened to me counted until I heard you were listening.
Please tell me if this isn’t appropriate.
I scroll down.
And stop.
The name at the bottom isn’t someone distant or removed from power, not a faceless figure tucked away in the past, but someone current, someone visible, someone who still holds influence and speaks often about stability and unity.


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Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Omega and The Arrogant Alpha (by Kylie)
Very great read. Could have done with out the last few chapters....
Love the story. How can I read the remaining?...